the victims were not killed and lay wounded in the trench as more bodies piled on top of them, cursing the SS. Around 14:00, the executions were halted for a lunch break and the drunk executioners were relieved. The trenches turned out to be too shallow and bloody corpses spilled out of the edges. Some prisoners in Poniatowa had formed a resistance group and had acquired a few weapons. At 18:00, a group of around 100 Jews set fire to some barracks full of clothing and then barricaded themselves in another barracks. The Germans set this on fire, killing all of the resistance members. Polish fire fighters were brought in to put out the fires and observed the Germans throwing wounded Jews into the flames. The executions finished around 17:00. Afterward, German soldiers checked the trenches, executing survivors. The corpses were sprinkled with lime and covered with fir branches. Three women survived, climbed out of the mass grave that night, and survived the war with the help of Żegota. Overall, 14,500 people were killed within the span of a few hours. Coverup Removing all traces of the killing was a priority of the Nazi leadership because of Soviet military victories on the Eastern Front. After the German defeat at Stalingrad, Soviet forces recaptured most of Ukraine, Russia, and eastern Belarus by the end of 1943. At Majdanek, the cleanup took two months and was done under the supervision of Erich Muhsfeldt, previously an executioner at Auschwitz. The 600 men and women from the airfield camp had to sort the clothing of the Jews murdered at Majdanek. Then, the women were deported to Auschwitz and killed in the gas chambers. The men had to cremate the bodies, and they were either killed or recruited into Sonderkommando 1005. Witnesses recalled that for months, the stench of burning flesh hung around the vicinity. The ditches were filled with soil and leveled. The Jews at Milejowo concentration camp were sent to Trawniki on 5 November to clean up the massacre. Six women had to work in the kitchen while the men were ordered to extract gold teeth and hidden valuables from the corpses. After eight days (or two to three weeks), the men were executed, except for Yehezkel Hering, who disguised himself as a woman and hid with them. The women remained at the camp and sorted the belongings of the murdered Jews until