The Janowska Camp: The (In)visible Space of Tragedy

In many cities that have survived wars, there are spaces that are complex in terms of their history and the (in)memory surrounding them. They are often shrouded in (un)certainty about what to do with sites of forced isolation, violence, and mass killings, which, over time, are built over, repurposed, and sometimes turned into abandoned areas.

In Lviv, such a space is the site of the former Janowska сamp. Established in the fall of 1941 and liquidated in the summer of 1944 on Janowska Street (now Shevchenko Street), this camp served both as a penal labor camp and a transit camp. And although there were never any gas chambers or crematoria on the camp grounds, as in other places of forced imprisonment during the Nazi occupation, Janowska became a death camp for over 80,000 Jews.

Unlike other death camps, Janowska never became a museum; its grounds are not marked, and only a few modest memorials remind us of the tragic events that took place across this vast area. Janowska Camp, as a site, remains largely unexplored by researchers. Yet there is much to be said.

During our walk, we will discuss the history of the Janowska camp and the surrounding area, those who ran it and those who were imprisoned there, dignity and memory, landscapes and buildings. We will try to understand the camp’s boundaries and layout, and we will reflect on its complex history, the disordered space, and us — its modern inhabitants — within it.

The walk will last about two hours.

To participate in the city walk, please register via the link. We will notify you about the location separately.

The walk is part of the public program of the "REHERIT 2.0: Shared Responsibility for Common Heritage” project — "Weaving the Heritage." "REHERIT 2.0" is implemented by the Center for Urban History and the "Regional Development" Center of the PPV Economic Development Agency with financial support from the European Union.

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the partners of the “REHERIT 2.0” project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Credits

Cover image: The ZAL-L administration building shortly after the camp’s liquidation / From the materials of the Soviet Extraordinary Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes, 1944 / Urban Media Archive of the Center for Urban History, collection of the State Archives of Lviv Oblast