Janowska was a forced-labor camp for Jews in German-occupied Poland. It also served as a transit camp during the mass deportations of Polish Jews to the killing centers in 1942. Jews underwent a selection process in Janowska similar to that used at Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek. Those classified as fit to work remained at Janowska for forced labor. The majority were deported to Belzec and killed or were shot at the Piaski ravine north of the camp.
![Prisoners in the Janowska concentration camp orchestra, which performed as workers were taken to and from forced labor. [LCID: 78710]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/da66f25c-198e-4dd0-9a48-638a7d2f00f0.jpg "Prisoners in the Janowska concentration camp orchestra, which performed as workers were taken to and from forced labor. [LCID: 78710]")
Prisoners in the Janowska camp orchestra, which performed as workers were taken to and from forced labor. Poland, between 1941 and 1943.
Item View![SS Second Lieutenant Gustav Willhaus, camp commandant, rides past the main gate of the Janowska concentration camp. [LCID: 69974]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/40145127-7913-41dc-b164-20557ccf0a27.jpg "SS Second Lieutenant Gustav Willhaus, camp commandant, rides past the main gate of the Janowska concentration camp. [LCID: 69974]")
SS Second Lieutenant Gustav Willhaus, camp commandant, rides past the main gate of the Janowska concentration camp. The road from the street and into the camp was paved with tombstones the Nazis removed from Jewish cemeteries. Janowska, Poland, between September 1942 and November 1943.
Item View![Two SS officers and a guard dog in the Janowska concentration camp. [LCID: 69984]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/dccb1375-c8b8-4aad-86b9-702b2f59cddd.jpg "Two SS officers and a guard dog in the Janowska concentration camp. [LCID: 69984]")
Two SS officers and a guard dog in the Janowska concentration camp. Janowska, Poland, January 1942–November 1943.
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Bone-crushing machine used by Sonderkommando 1005 to grind the bones of victims after their bodies were burned in the Janowska camp. August 1944.
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![Shoes of victims in the Janowska camp were found by Soviet forces after the liberation of Lvov. [LCID: 85615]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/945a0d9a-ca9a-4bcd-8cbf-89bc2b8e7852.jpg "Shoes of victims in the Janowska camp were found by Soviet forces after the liberation of Lvov. [LCID: 85615]")