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NAZIS were slaughtering as many as 15,000 Jews a day at the height of World War 2, as a new study reveals the terrifying scale of the Holocaust.

The genocide was so severe that more than a million Jews were killed in just three months in 1942.

Treblinka extermination centre was one of those used during Operation Reinhardt
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Treblinka extermination centre was one of those used during Operation Reinhardt
An image showing the SS doctors selecting Hungarian Jews in May 1944 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied Poland
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An image showing the SS doctors selecting Hungarian Jews in May 1944 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied PolandCredit: Media Drum World
This aerial photo of the Sobibor death camp in German-occupied Poland in 1944 – a few months after the revolt of prisoners in October 1943 after which the camp operation ended
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This aerial photo of the Sobibor death camp in German-occupied Poland in 1944 – a few months after the revolt of prisoners in October 1943 after which the camp operation endedCredit: Alamy

Many of the Jews killed in the second World War were murdered during Operation Reinhardt, a vicious genocide programme.

New research in Science Advances by Professor Lewi Stone, a mathematical scientist at Tel Aviv University, suggests that the murder rate has previously been greatly underestimated.

According to Stone, a quarter of all Holocaust victims were killed during a three-month period.

This period fell during Operation Reinhardt, which lasted from 1942 to 1943.

These are shoes taken from Jews at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, found in storage during the July 1944 liberation by the Russian Army
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These are shoes taken from Jews at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, found in storage during the July 1944 liberation by the Russian ArmyCredit: Alamy
This 1943 photo shows a group of Polish Jews being led away for deportation by German SS soldiers during the Warsaw ghetto uprising
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This 1943 photo shows a group of Polish Jews being led away for deportation by German SS soldiers during the Warsaw ghetto uprisingCredit: PA:Press Association
Prisoners here are seen pouring concrete for the ceiling of an underground undressing hall of gas chamber and Crematorium II at Auschwitz II-Birkenau
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Prisoners here are seen pouring concrete for the ceiling of an underground undressing hall of gas chamber and Crematorium II at Auschwitz II-BirkenauCredit: Media Drum World

Part of the problem with uncovering the scale of the Holocaust is that many records of killings were destroyed by the Nazis.

But Stone found a major clue in railway records.

The Nazis used Deutsche Reichsbahn – the German National Railway – to transport millions of Jewish victims to death camps.

These "special trains" were kept on strict time schedules, and reveal how deadly the Holocaust really was.

Late Israeli historian Yitzhak Arad compiled German data on 480 train deportations from 393 towns and ghettos in German-occupied Poland to three death camps: Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka.

Using Arad's data, Stone was able to estimated the number of victims on each transport, and then work out the rate at which the Nazis were killing Jews.

Nazi guards pictured at the Belzec death camp in German-occupied Poland, 1942
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Nazi guards pictured at the Belzec death camp in German-occupied Poland, 1942Credit: Yad Vashem
These imprisoned children were photographed by Russians at Auschwitz in January 1945, during liberation
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These imprisoned children were photographed by Russians at Auschwitz in January 1945, during liberationCredit: Alamy
This Memorial is built on the grounds of Treblinka, a former German Nazi death camp in occupied northeast Poland
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This Memorial is built on the grounds of Treblinka, a former German Nazi death camp in occupied northeast PolandCredit: AP:Associated Press
Jewish men who have been selected for forced labour await further processing at Auschwitz
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Jewish men who have been selected for forced labour await further processing at AuschwitzCredit: Media Drum World

Operation Reinhardt explained

Here's what you need to know...

  • Operation Reinhardt was the codename for a secret German plan to exterminate Poland's Jews during World War 2
  • It is widely considered to be the deadliest phase of the Holocaust, the Nazi Germany genocide that resulted in the systematic slaughter of 6million European Jews
  • Operation Reinhardt took place between October 1941 and November 1943
  • It is notable for marking the introduction of extermination camps, which were dedicated facilities used to murder Jews
  • It's believed that as many as 2million Jews were sent to the Bełżec, Sobibór, and Treblinka concentration camps, where they were put to death in gas chambers
  • The cyanide-based pesticide Zyklon B was also used extensively, with a million people reportedly killed using the chemical
  • Death camps were notable for using "subterfuge and misdirection" to trick victims into cooperating
  • In November 1943, as Operation Reinhardt came to a close, the Nazis implemented a secret order called Sonderaktion 1005
  • This operation was designed to remove all traces of the genocide, including the exhumation of bodies from mass graves, and subsequent cremation
  • Many SS officers and guards involved with Operation Reinhardt were tried and sentenced at the Nuremberg trials, although some escaped conviction
Jewish women and children walk toward the gas chambers at Aushwitz-Birkenau
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Jewish women and children walk toward the gas chambers at Aushwitz-BirkenauCredit: Media Drum World
Pictured is fencing at the Nazi concentration camp Treblinka, in German-occupied Poland 1944
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Pictured is fencing at the Nazi concentration camp Treblinka, in German-occupied Poland 1944Credit: Alamy
The Arbeit Macht Frei gate pictured at Auschwitz – it translates as "work sets you free"
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The Arbeit Macht Frei gate pictured at Auschwitz – it translates as "work sets you free"Credit: Reuters
Women and children seen being deported by train to death camps in Eastern Europe by the Nazis in 1942
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Women and children seen being deported by train to death camps in Eastern Europe by the Nazis in 1942Credit: World History Archive
A group of Polish women and children waiting to be led off by Nazis in German-occupied Warsaw, 1943
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A group of Polish women and children waiting to be led off by Nazis in German-occupied Warsaw, 1943Credit: Corbis - Getty

The study found that most of the murders occurred in August, September and October of 1942.

Of the 1.7million victims of Operation Reinhardt, roughly 1.32million (or 78%) were slaughtered during these three months.

It works out at around 15,000 Jews being killed every single day.

It also suggests that around 25% of all Holocaust victims were murdered during these three months.

General-SS Jurgen Stroop pictured questioning Jews during the razing of the Warsaw ghetto
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General-SS Jurgen Stroop pictured questioning Jews during the razing of the Warsaw ghettoCredit: Corbis - Getty
Jews pictured in the transit camp of Westerbork, Netherlands in 1943
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Jews pictured in the transit camp of Westerbork, Netherlands in 1943Credit: Getty - Contributor
SS guards walking along the arrival camp at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied Poland
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SS guards walking along the arrival camp at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied PolandCredit: Media Drum World

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Most upsetting is the fact that Stone believes the Nazi murder campaign could've continued at this staggering rate – but only if there had been more victims living in German-occupied Poland.

Instead, the murder rate "tapered off in November 1942, as a result of there being essentially no one left to kill".

Did you realise the devastating scale of the Holocaust? Let us know in the comments.

-A previous version of this article referred to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and Treblinka as being in Poland. To clarify, they were in German-occupied Poland.

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