The monument and its symbolism

The main entrance to the cemetery has been located in the place where the siding was situated. The cemetery consists of two parts: the “Ramp” and the building of the Museum, both of which form a cemetery wall from the side of the gateway. At the end of the "Ramp", there is a railroad track sculpture. It symbolizes the siding where trains carrying the deportees stopped upon arrival at the camp as well as pyres on which the bodies of the victims were cremated. On the wall behind the sculpture, there is a fragment of a poem by the Israeli poet Dan Pagis, entitled "Written in pencil in a sealed freight car". The only way from the “Ramp” is the “Road” leading to the “Crevasse,” which resembles a crack in the ground. Those two elements create the “Crevasse – Road,” which cuts the ground in half and uncovers the hidden elevation of the ground, thus revealing the dimension of the crime. At the very beginning of the "Crevasse-Road", there is rectangular relief. The cast-iron platform depicts expressive lines arranged in the
shape of the Star of David. It delineates the symbolic border between life and death. The soaring walls, which give the impression of immersing in the ground, render the horror of one of the biggest graves of the world. What forms the top of the “Crevasse – Road” is the granite wall, which contains an engraved quotation from the Book of Job. Together with stone plaques containing symbolic names of the victims, it forms “Ohel Niche,” which is a place of reflection on the tragedy of the people who died in the camp.

The way out from this underground square is by means of the stairs leading to the left and to the right. The next stretch of the road is a concrete path which runs through the “Stone Pile.” The path contains cast-iron names of the towns from which people where deported to Bełżec. The trees that were the “Witnesses” of the tragic events still grow in the area of the graves. The surface of the graves has been covered with metallurgical clinker, which reflects the natural land form. It is supposed to show the uniqueness of this place and commemorate the tragedy that took place here.