11. There were escapes from the camps, and conditions within them were known as a result
Majdenek was originally built to house slave labor in Poland when it was opened in the fall of 1941. It was later expanded to serve as an extermination camp as well in the late winter of 1942, under orders from Himmler. In July of that year, Dionys Lenard escaped from the camp and brought back the first confirmation of the existence of the extermination camps, delivering it to an underground resistance group in Slovakia. He also brought detailed information about the daily life in the forced labor camp at Majdanek based on his personal experience there.
Lenard described 3,150 men crowding to use the latrine and washroom which was large enough to accommodate fifty. The same conditions occurred at breakfast, and with only thirty minutes allowed between being awakened and reporting for roll call, few managed to get anything to eat or drink before beginning their work day. The same conditions prevailed at lunch and dinner, each followed by a roll call. According to Lenard, “We tried various ways of sharing out the food fairly, if it is even possible to use such terms, but we never managed it”.