The Chelmo killing center in German-occupied Poland was the first stationary facility where poison gas was used for the mass murder of Jews. The SS and police began killing operations at Chelmno on December 8, 1941. At least 172,000 people were killed there between December 1941 and March 1943 and in June/July 1944.
![View of the village of Chelmno. To the left of the church is the Schloss, one of two sites of the Chelmno camp. [LCID: 74883]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/a8b6d2f8-f2d2-43f9-a940-31606dacfec6.jpg "View of the village of Chelmno. To the left of the church is the Schloss, one of two sites of the Chelmno camp. [LCID: 74883]")
View of the village of Chelmno. To the left of the church is the Schloss, one of two sites of the Chelmno camp. The Schloss, an old country estate, served as the reception and killing center for victims until it was demolished in April 1943. Chelmno, Poland, 1939–1943.
Item View![Postwar photograph of a building in Dabie where the possessions of Jews killed at the nearby Chelmno camp were stored. [LCID: 51702]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/934b480d-9fce-4a8b-9f82-c63732da3c21.jpg "Postwar photograph of a building in Dabie where the possessions of Jews killed at the nearby Chelmno camp were stored. [LCID: 51702]")
Postwar photograph of a building in Dabie where the possessions of Jews killed at the nearby Chelmno killing center were stored. Dabie, Poland, June 1945.
Item View![Site at which the SS shot and burned the last 45 of 48 prisoners at Chelmno. [LCID: 43201b]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/b8ec77ad-f5ca-4034-8496-f62473449bf7.jpg "Site at which the SS shot and burned the last 45 of 48 prisoners at Chelmno. [LCID: 43201b]")
Site at which the SS shot and burned the last 45 of 48 prisoners at Chelmno. The other three prisoners escaped. Chelmno, Poland, 1945.
Item View![SS personnel stand guard while Lodz ghetto police board Jews onto a deportation train bound for Chelmno or Auschwitz. [LCID: 30037]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c49dfd00-b81a-4ee9-a223-7576b9166b25.jpg "SS personnel stand guard while Lodz ghetto police board Jews onto a deportation train bound for Chelmno or Auschwitz. [LCID: 30037]")
SS personnel stand guard while Lodz ghetto police board Jews onto a deportation train bound for Chelmno or Auschwitz. Lodz, Poland, between May and August 1944.
Item View![Family members say goodbye to a child through a fence at the ghetto's central prison where children, the sick, and the elderly were ... [LCID: 89772]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/f846e3f5-0f6b-4c6a-9e87-a1a95cc075c0.jpg "Family members say goodbye to a child through a fence at the ghetto's central prison where children, the sick, and the elderly were ... [LCID: 89772]")
Family members say goodbye to a child through a fence at the ghetto's central prison where children, the sick, and the elderly were held before deportation to Chelmno during the "Gehsperre" action. Lodz, Poland, September 1942.
Item View![Jews carrying their possessions during deportation to the Chelmno killing center. [LCID: 10047]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/82cbdfa5-e49f-4de8-8a2d-47d55228a9c3.jpg "Jews carrying their possessions during deportation to the Chelmno killing center. [LCID: 10047]")
Jews carrying their possessions during deportation to the Chelmno killing center. Most of the people seen here had previously been deported to Lodz from central Europe. Lodz, Poland, January–April 1942.
Item View![Jews from the Lodz ghetto are forced to transfer to a narrow-gauge railroad at Kolo during deportation to the Chelmno killing center. [LCID: 25025]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/a911bee0-6630-4a03-a770-cb8a599ff39c.jpg "Jews from the Lodz ghetto are forced to transfer to a narrow-gauge railroad at Kolo during deportation to the Chelmno killing center. [LCID: 25025]")
Jews from the Lodz ghetto are forced to transfer to a narrow-gauge railroad at Kolo during deportation to the Chelmno killing center. Kolo, Poland, probably 1942.
Item View![View of the manor house in Chelmno that became the site of the Chelmno killing center. [LCID: 43097]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/28f42d5e-4560-483c-aa13-1aaa56f6c29d.jpg "View of the manor house in Chelmno that became the site of the Chelmno killing center. [LCID: 43097]")
View of the manor house in Chelmno that became the site of the Chelmno killing center. Chelmno, Poland, 1939.
Item View![Young German soldiers assist in the deportation of Jews from the Zychlin ghetto to the Chelmno camp. [LCID: 18876]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c2088b68-613c-4fce-8705-01d9761c6e60.jpg "Young German soldiers assist in the deportation of Jews from the Zychlin ghetto to the Chelmno camp. [LCID: 18876]")
Young German soldiers assist in the deportation of Jews from the Zychlin ghetto to the Chelmno killing center. The Nazis planned this deportation to fall on the Jewish holiday of Purim. Poland, March 3, 1942.
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![Postwar photo of a church in the village of Chelmno. [LCID: 51706]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/86fab219-ff9c-4f49-a721-b6600e5378ad.jpg "Postwar photo of a church in the village of Chelmno. [LCID: 51706]")