The Sobibór Uprising
Sobibór was one of the three extermination camps in the
German-Occupied area of Eastern Poland created by the Nazis as part of
Operation Reinhardt .
The Camp opened in the spring of 1942 and operated until
October 1943. It was made up of three smaller areas known as Sub-Camps. Camp I
contained the main entrance to the Camp, the living quarters for the SS and Guards,
and workshops where Prisoners carried out Forced Labour. Camp II contained the Reception
Area, which was where Prisoners initially arrived and had their clothing and
belongings taken from them. Camp III contained the Gas Chambers and a living
area for the small number of Prisoners who were forced to work.
Sobibór was staffed by experienced SS officials, who were
assisted by Ukrainian auxiliaries. In total, over 180,000 people were murdered
at Sobibór.
Conditions inside Sobibór Sobibór was a Death Camp, and as such almost all of
those who were transported to Sobibór were murdered in the Gas Chambers on
arrival.
When the need arose, however, very small numbers of people
who arrived in the camp were selected, separated and used for Forced Labour.
This group were referred to as the Arbeitshäftlinge (Workers). The
Arbeitshäftlinge were forced to complete a range of jobs across the various
different areas within Sobibor. These jobs included removing the bodies of
those who had died on the journey to the Camp, and sorting through the clothes
and possessions taken from those who were murdered. Arbeitshäftlinge who were
skilled in trades such as Goldsmiths or Tailors also worked in workshops in
Camp I.
Other Prisoners known as the Sonderkommando were forced to
work in Camp III, where they assisted with the mass murder of Prisoners. The
Sonderkommando were isolated from the other Arbeitshäftlinge at Sobibór, and
were banned from telling any new Prisoners who arrived on transports at Camp
III what was about to happen to them.
Conditions for those forced to live inside Sobibór were
extremely difficult, unsanitary and uncertain. As well as Forced Labour, the
Arbeitshäftlinge were sometimes made to take part in recreational activities,
such as dancing or singing, as a form of humiliation and entertainment for SS
officials. Female prisoners were also frequently victims of sexual violence and
assault by SS officers working at the camp.
The Sobibór Uprising On 14 October 1943, an armed uprising at Sobibór took place
and hundreds of Prisoners were able to escape.
The Revolt was planned after rumours spread in the summer of
1943 that Sobibór was due to be closed down and dismantled, and all of those
who still worked at the site would be murdered. In response to these rumours, a
small group of Polish Prisoners in the Camp formed a Resistance Group and began
planning an armed uprising, so that they could escape before being killed. In
September 1943, a group of Red Army Soldiers, including Lieutenant Alexander
Petjersky, were imprisoned in the Camp and joined the Resistance Group – using
their military experience to create a more detailed strategy for the revolt.
The Uprising began at 4pm on 14 October 1943, when Johann
Niemann, the acting Commandant, was killed after being lured into the Tailors’ Workshop
in Camp I. Over the following hour the Prisoners managed to kill nine other SS Officers.
At around 5pm, the daily Roll Call began and other SS Staff Members
became aware that something unexpected was happening. The SS opened fire and
began shooting at the Prisoners who had gathered for the Roll Call. In
response, some Prisoners returned fire at the SS, while others in the Camp
began to make their escape on foot. To do so, they had to cross the minefields
which surrounded the Camp, some of which were triggered and began exploding.
Chaos reigned, and many Prisoners were shot by guards or fatally wounded by the
mines as they tried to escape.
In total, approximately three hundred Prisoners were able to
escape during the Uprising. In the hours and days following revolt, Nazi SS Officers
searched extensively for those who had escaped, and managed to re-capture and
then kill around one hundred people. Of the remaining two hundred Escapees,
approximately fifty survived until the end of the Second World War. Along with
a handful of others, these escapees were among the only Survivors of Sobibór.
On 15 October, all remaining Prisoners in Sobibór who were
unable to escape were murdered.
Aftermath and Closure Following the Uprising in October 1943, Sobibór was
dismantled by Prisoners who had been transferred from another Extermination Camp,
Treblinka , and the Camp was closed.
To further erase any evidence of the Camp’s existence, the
Treblinka Prisoners were also murdered in November 1943, and a pine forest was
planted over the former Camp.
In total, over 180,000 people were murdered in Sobibór during
its existence.
https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-camps/case-study-sobibor/the-sobibor-uprising/
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