Historical Events of the Revolutionary World Movement

Uprising in the Death Camp Sobibór

Of 600 insurgents, only 47 survived.

On 14 October 1943, the resistance organisation in the Nazi murder factory Sobibor in occupied Poland dared to revolt. Twelve SS perpetrators were killed, but only a few of the inmates lived to see the end of the war.

14 October 1943

80th anniversary

Uprising of the Death Camp at Sobibor

The year 1943 was full of severe blows to fascist Germany, and not only on the fronts outside the borders of the "Thousand-Year Reich" (Stalingrad and Kursk), but also in the very heart of occupied and tormented Europe. The uprisings in the Warsaw and Bialystok ghettos, the revolts in the concentration camps at Treblinka and Sobibor.... The anniversary of the latter rebellion is being celebrated today.

The camp was built from March to May 1942. The first commandant was Franz Stangl, known as the "White Death," because of the white riding uniform he wore. In August 1942, he was sent back to Treblinka, and Franz Reichleitner took his place. The prisoners gave him the nickname Trottel ("idiot"), as this was the word he used most often to address them.

Most of Sobibor's victims were Polish Jews. However, Jews from outside our country also ended up there: from the Netherlands (34,000), Slovakia (24,000), the Third Reich (7,500) the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (6,600), France (4,000) and the USSR (2,500-5,000).

Usually Jews were brought to Sobibor by rail. Sometimes the Germans also used carts or trucks to transport the victims. In addition, it happened that Jews from the nearest towns and labor camps were rushed on foot to the extermination center. The journey was very hard, especially for Polish Jews. The Germans crammed up to 150 people into wagons that were capable of holding 60-70 people. Travel time could extend up to two days, and the Jews locked in the wagons died en masse from thirst, exhaustion and lack of air (and during winter from freezing).

As soon as the wagons stopped at the ramp, prisoners from the "station commando" would open the doors and order the passengers out. At the same time, they helped them disembark and carry out their luggage. Then the Germans and wachmans brutally separated the women and children from the men. Those unable to move on their own were gathered separately: the elderly, invalids, wounded and sick, small children without guardians. Sometimes a selection was carried out, during which professionals or young and strong people were chosen from the crowd to work in the camp's labor commands

Jews able to move on their own were led first to a large barrack in Camp II, where they were forced to leave their luggage behind. Next, the victims were led into the yard-dressing room. One of the SS men from the camp staff waited there. Usually it was SS-Oberscharführer Hermann Michel, who wore a white apron for the occasion, making him look like a doctor. He spoke to the Jews in a polite tone, apologizing for the inconveniences of the trip and assuring them that they would be able to rest in their new quarters after bathing and disinfecting. He sometimes claimed that Sobibor was only a transit camp, and that the Jews would be given their clothes and luggage back after the necessary bath, after which they could continue their journey to the East for "productive work" there. Sometimes the victims were encouraged to write postcards to their loved ones with assurances that they had arrived safely and were enjoying good health. In this way, the Germans wanted to allay the fears of those Jews who had not yet been deported to death camps, and at the same time get their addresses. However, the procedure for liquidating the transports did not always proceed peacefully. It happened that the entire route from the ramp to the gas chambers had to be covered by Jews in a great hurry, beaten and barked at with dogs by the Germans and the wachmans. Polish Jews, who were more aware of the fate awaiting them than citizens of other countries, were most often treated in such a brutal manner.