(Wikipedia.org)

On the afternoon of 14 October 1943, members of the Sobibor underground covertly killed eleven of the on-duty SS men and then led roughly 300 prisoners to freedom.^[193] This revolt was one of three uprisings by Jewish prisoners in extermination camps, the others being those at Treblinka extermination camp on 2 August 1943 and at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 7 October 1944.^[194]

Lead up

In the summer of 1943, rumors began to circulate that Sobibor would soon cease operations. The prisoners understood that this would mean certain death for them all, since the final cohort of Bełżec prisoners had been murdered at Sobibor after dismantling their own camp. The Sobibor prisoners knew this since the Bełżec prisoners had sewn messages into their clothing:^[195][196]

We worked at Bełżec for one year and did not know where we would be sent next. They said it would be Germany… Now we are in Sobibór and know what to expect. Be aware that you will be killed also! Avenge us!^[195]

An escape committee formed in response to these rumors. Their leader was Leon Feldhendler, a former member of the Judenrat in Żółkiewka. His job in the sorting barracks gave him access to additional food, sparing him from the hunger which robbed other workers of their mental acuity.^[197] However, the escape committee made minimal progress that summer. In light of previous betrayals and the ever-looming threat of collective punishment, they needed to keep their discussions limited to roughly seven Polish Jews, but this insularity severely limited their capacity to form a plan, since none of their members had the military or strategic experience necessary to carry out a mass escape. By late September, their discussions had stalled.^[197]

On 22 September, the situation changed dramatically when roughly twenty Jewish Red Army POWs arrived at Sobibor on a transport from the Minsk Ghetto and were selected for labour. Among them was Alexander Pechersky, an actor, songwriter, and political commissar who would go on to lead the revolt. The members of the escape committee approached the newly-arrived Russians with excitement, but also caution. On one hand, the Russians were soldiers and thus had the expertise to pull off an escape. But on the other hand, it was not clear whether there was sufficient mutual trust.^[198][199]

Feldhendler introduced himself to Pechersky using the alias “Baruch” and kept an eye on him for his first several days in the camp.^[79] In those days, Pechersky distinguished himself by not only standing up to the SS officers, but by showing discretion in how he did so.^[200] Feldhendler invited Pechersky to share news from outside the camp at a meeting in the women’s barracks. Feldhendler was initially shocked to discover Pechersky’s limited ability to speak Yiddish, the common language of Eastern European Jews. However, the two were able to communicate in Russian, and Pechersky agreed to attend. At the meeting, Pechersky gave a speech and took questions while his friend Solomon Leitman translated into Yiddish. (Leitman was a Polish Jew who had befriended Pechersky in the Minsk Ghetto.) Feldhendler and the other members of the escape committee were concerned about Pechersky’s blatant communist propaganda, but were nonetheless impressed by him.^[201] They were particularly struck by Pechersky’s response to a question about whether Soviet partisans would liberate the camp: “No one can do our work for us.”^[81][202]

Over the next few weeks, Pechersky met regularly with the escape committee. These meetings were held in the women’s barracks under the pretext of him having an affair with a woman known as “Luka”.^{[203][204][205]} Pechersky and Feldhendler agreed that the revolt would allow all 600 prisoners at least some chance of escape, though they later concluded that they would not be able to include the over fifty sonderkommando workers who were kept under strict isolation in Lager III.^[206][203] At first, Pechersky and Leitman discussed a plan to dig a tunnel from the carpenter’s workshop in Lager I, which was close to the south fence. This idea was abandoned as too difficult. If the tunnel was too deep, it would hit the high water table and flood. Too shallow, and it would detonate one of the mines surrounding the camp. Furthermore, the organizers doubted that they could get all 600 prisoners through the tunnel without getting caught.^[203]

The ultimate idea for the revolt came to Pechersky while he was assigned to the forest brigade, chopping wood near Lager III. While working, he heard the sound of a child in the gas chamber screaming “Mama! Mama!”. Overcome with his feeling of powerlessness and reminded of his own daughter Elsa, he decided that the plan could not be a mere escape. Rather, it would have to be a revolt. Over the next week, Pechersky and Leitman developed what became the ultimate plan.^[207]

Revolt

The revolt began late in the afternoon on 14 October 1943. The plan consisted of two phases. In the first phase, the prisoners would lure the SS officers to secluded locations around the camp and kill them. These covert killings would take place in the hour before evening roll call. The second phase would begin at evening roll call, after all the prisoners had assembled in the Lager I roll call yard. The kapos would announce that the SS had ordered a special work detail in the forest outside the camp, and the entire group would calmly march to freedom out the front gate. If the watchmen found this unusual, they would not be able to confirm their suspicions or coordinate a response since the SS men would be dead.^[207]

Covert killings

At 4:00 pm, Deputy Commandant SS-Untersturmführer Johann Niemann rode up to the Lager I tailor’s barracks on his horse.^[208][209] Earlier in the day, the head tailor had scheduled an appointment with him to be fitted for a leather jacket taken from a murdered Jew.^[210] The conspirators had prioritized Niemann’s execution, since he was acting commandant while Commandant Reichleitner was on leave. Even if the rest of the plan failed, they anticipated that Niemann’s death alone would cause enough chaos to allow some chance of escape.^[209][211] While admiring the jacket, Niemann spotted one of the Russian prisoners standing by with an axe. Niemann asked what he was doing there, but was satisfied with the head tailor’s explanation that he was simply there to repair a table.^[212] At the tailor’s request, Niemann removed his pistol holster and put on the jacket.^[212] The tailor asked Niemann to turn around, ostensibly to check if any alterations were needed in the back. When Niemann complied, two prisoners crept up behind him with axes and split his head open.^[212][213] Niemann’s body was shoved under a table^[212] and his blood was covered up with sawdust.^[214]

Over the next hour, one SS officer was killed roughly every six minutes.^[215] Other than Niemann, those killed in Lager I included SS-Unterscharführer Josef Vallaster, SS-Oberscharführer Siegfried Graetschus, Sturmführer Ivan Klatt, SS-Unterscharführer Friedrich Gaulstich, and SS-Unterscharführer Fritz Konrad. Those killed in Lager II included SS-Scharführer Josef Wolf and SS-Oberscharführer Rudolf Beckmann. Unterscharführer Walter Ryba was killed in the Vorlager.^[216][217] Other officers killed include Max Bree, Anton Nowak, Thomas Steffl, Ernst Stengelin.^[218] The details of many of these killings are unknown.^[219]

The conspirators had originally planned to kill SS-Oberscharführer Rudolf Beckmann in a Lager II storage barracks, but on his way to the appointment, Beckmann had suddenly turned around and headed back to the administration building.^[220] Chaim Engel volunteered to kill Beckmann in his office, after overhearing Feldhendler discussing the situation with Kapo Hersh Pozyczki, the younger brother of Oberkapo Pozyczki.^[221] Engel and the younger Pozyczki went together to the administration building, and Engel stabbed Beckmann while Pozyczki restrained him. When Engel stabbed Beckmann, he shouted “For my father! For my brother! For all the Jews!” Beckmann struggled as Engel stabbed him, causing Engel’s knife to slip and cut his own hand.^[222] Once Beckmann was dead, the two prisoners pushed his body under the desk, not having time to better hide him or clean up.^[223]

While the killings proceeded, Szlomo Szmajzner went to the Vorlager to acquire additional guns from the watchmens’ barracks. During the last organizational meeting, on 12 October, he had offered to do so himself.^[224] As the camp machinist, Smajzner was often called to the Vorlager to clean and repair the stoves there, so he was able to enter the barracks carrying a replacement stovepipe over his shoulder.^[225] He entered the watchmens’ barracks and helped himself to six rifles and ammunition. However, he could only fit two of the rifles inside the stovepipe, so he wrapped the others in a blanket. Once he was ready to go, he decided that it might be safer to hunker down in the Vorlager and not return to Lager I until the bugle call. That way, it would seem like he had been acting alone if he was caught.^[226] Just before the bugle at 5:00 pm, he found two child prisoners and ordered them to carry the blanket with the rifles. They were scared, so he forced them to do it at knifepoint.^[227] After the bugle call, he delivered the rifles to the Russians, but demanded that they let him keep one for himself.^[228]

Breakout

As roll call drew closer, Pechersky became increasingly concerned that the revolt would soon be discovered. He was surprised that the plan had succeeded so far, but nonetheless several killings had not gone as intended.^[229] In particular, while his plan had required that the SS men be killed discreetly, an impulsive prisoner had killed Unterscharführer Walter Ryba in the outdoor Vorlager garage.^[212] Pechersky considered beginning the breakout early, but was reluctant to do so while SS-Oberscharführer Karl Frenzel was still alive. Frenzel, regarded as one of the most dangerous officers in the camp, had dallied in the shower and was late for his appointment in the carpenter’s shop.^[230][231] Close to 5:00 pm, Pechersky and Leitman finally decided to give up on Frenzel and sent the bugler Judah to climb the forester’s tower and blow the bugle announcing the end of the workday.^[232][233]

At this point, many prisoners in Lager I had already left their jobs and were standing around in the roll call yard or hiding in the adjacent buildings.^[232][234] In Lager II, the prisoners were confused by the early bugle call and gathered haphazardly for the march back to Lager I. Feldhendler was concerned that their unusual and disorderly lineup would attract attention from the guards, so he decided to lead the march on his own. He lined them up and they marched, singing the German sentimental tune “Es war ein Edelweiss“.^[235] As the prisoners gathered in the roll call yard, rumours about the revolt began to spread among them.^[234] When a watchman prodded them to line up faster, a group of prisoners shouted “don’t you know the war is over” and killed him out in the open, to the shock of many others.^[232] Realizing that the yard had become a powder keg, Pechersky attempted to inform the group of what was going on. Blatt recalled Pechersky’s speech as follows:^[236]

Our day has come. Most of the Germans are dead. Let’s die with honor. Remember, if anyone survives, he must tell the world what has happened here!

As the prisoners began to disperse, they heard shots from Lager II. These shots were fired by SS-Oberscharführer Erich Bauer, who had returned from Chełm with a truck full of vodka. Just before the bugle sounded, Bauer had ordered two child prisoners to unload the vodka and carry it into the storeroom in the administration building where Beckmann had been killed. At approximately the moment when Pechersky was making his speech in Lager I, a watchman ran over to Bauer shouting “Ein deutsch kaput!” Thinking that the children were responsible, Bauer fired his pistol, killing one of the children but missing the other.^[236] When the prisoners in Lager I heard these shots, they ran in every direction.^[236] A group of them dragged a watchman off his bicycle and killed him.^[232] Many prisoners had to make a split-second decision without knowing exactly what was going on.^[237][238] The plan had been kept on a need-to-know basis, so even those who were aware of the revolt knew few details.^[232] Pechersky and Feldhendler ran around the yard trying to shepherd prisoners out, but around 175 nonetheless stayed back.^[237]

As the crowd surged forward, there was a moment of confusion in which the watchmen in the towers did not react.^[239] Itzhak Lichtman reported seeing some of the remaining SS men hiding, perhaps thinking that the camp was being attacked by partisans.^[239] After a moment, the watchmen began shooting into the crowd,^[239] and some of the prisoners shot with the rifles procured by Szmajzner and with pistols taken from dead SS officers.^[222] Szmajzner hit a watchman in a tower, later recalling “I did not do that; God did.”^[239][240]

One group of prisoners ran behind the carpenters shop. The carpenters had left ladders, pliers, and axes lying in the weeds next to the south fence, as a backup plan in case the main gate in the Vorlager proved inaccessible.^[241][242] These prisoners scaled the fence, traversed the ditch, and began running through the minefield towards the forest. As they ran, the mines exploded, killing some of the escapees and attracting the attention of the watchmen in the towers who began shooting.^[243] Esther Raab felt a bullet graze her head above her right ear. She kept running, but felt herself losing strength. She reached out to hold onto a woman running next to her, but the woman pushed her off and shouted “leave me alone!”^[244]

A larger group of prisoners headed for the Vorlager.^[239] These prisoners tried to escape through the main gate or over the south fence, while a group of Soviet prisoners attempted to raid the armoury.^{[239][245][246]} There, they were met with Frenzel, who at this point had gotten out of the shower and was getting himself a pre-roll call drink in the canteen. Attracted by the commotion, Frenzel had grabbed a machine gun and run outside. Seeing the crowd of prisoners heading to the main gate, he opened fire, spraying the crowd of prisoners.^[241] Pechersky fired at Frenzel using Vallaster’s pistol but missed.^[241][247] A group of prisoners attempted to rush the main gate, but were met with another SS officer there shooting into the crowd. Some scattered, but others were pushed forward by the force of those behind them. They trampled the main gate and flooded out.^[241]

Others in the Vorlager tried to escape over the barbed wire behind the SS officers’ barracks, correctly guessing that there would be fewer mines there. Many prisoners who attempted to get out this way got stuck on the barbed wire.^[248][243] Among these prisoners was Thomas Blatt, who survived because the fence collapsed on top of him. As he lay on the ground, he saw the prisoners in front of him blown up as they crossed the minefield.^[248][243] Blatt freed himself by slipping out of his coat which was stuck on the barbed wire and running across the exploded mines and into the forest.^[241][249]

Roughly 300 prisoners escaped to the forest.^[250][251]

Aftermath

Immediately after the escape, in the forest, a group of fifty prisoners followed Pechersky. After a few days, Pechersky and seven other Russian POWs left, claiming that they would return with food. However, they instead left to cross the Bug River and make contact with the partisans. After Pechersky did not return, the remaining prisoners split into smaller groups and sought separate ways.^[252]

In 1980, Blatt asked Pechersky why he abandoned the other survivors. Pechersky answered,

My job was done. You were Polish Jews in your own terrain. I belonged in the Soviet Union and still considered myself a soldier. In my opinion, the chances for survival were better in smaller units. To tell the people straight forward: “we must part” would not have worked. You have seen, they followed every step of mine, we all would perish. […] what can I say? You were there. We were only people. The basic instincts came into play. It was still a fight for survival. This is the first time I hear about money collection. It was a turmoil, it was difficult to control everything. I admit, I have seen the imbalance in the distribution of the weaponry but you must understand, they would rather die than to give up their arms.— Pechersky ^[253]

Dutch historian and Sobibor survivor Jules Schelvis estimates that 158 inmates perished in the Sobibor revolt, killed by the guards or in the minefield surrounding the camp. A further 107 were killed either by the SS, Wehrmacht soldiers sent by Siegfried Haenicke, or Orpo police units pursuing them. Some 53 insurgents died of other causes between the day of the revolt and 8 May 1945. There were 58 known survivors, 48 male and 10 female, from among the Arbeitshäftlinge prisoners performing slave-labour for the daily operation of Sobibor. Their time in the camp ranged from several weeks to almost two years.^{[254][page needed]}

More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobibor_extermination_camp