On This Day in Jewish History: October 14, 1943
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#onthisday, 1943, the prisoners at the Sobibor Death Camp revolted and fought back against the Nazis in an act of defiance and ultimate resilience.
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During the summer of 1943 the prisoners in Sobibor noticed that there was a decrease in the number of people who were murdered in the gas chambers.
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This caused the rumor to spread that Sobibor was going to be liquidated, the prisoners would all be killed, and the death camp would close.
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In response, a group of Polish Jews led by Leo Feldhandler formed a committee to plan a revolt and escape. The issue was that no one in the group had any military experience and, therefore, they made very little progress.
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This was solved when a group of Jewish Soviet Army POWs arrived at Sobibor in September. The committee asked for help and they were happy to assist. It took only three weeks for Lieutenant Alexander Pechersky to plan a very detailed plan.
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The plan was for the POWs to secretly kill SS officials by luring them into rooms to try on coats or be fitted for suits.
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The POWs would then steal their uniform and weapon and take their place. Then during the evening roll call, when about 600 prisoners were lined up, the POWs who were dressed as SS officers would kill the guards at the gate to the camp and let the prisoners flee.
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Around 4 pm #onthisday the uprising began. The POWs were able to kill the deputy commandant, Johann Niemann and SS NCO Josef Wulf as well as 6 SS personnel and a Trawniki guard.
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The escape turned south when the remaining camp personnel were alarmed during roll call and opened fire on the prisoners.
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The POWs who had guns returned fire and over 300 prisoners escaped. Unfortunately, many prisoners were shot while trying to escape or they died in the minefield which surrounded the camp.
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100 of the 300 escapees were caught during a manhunt conducted by the SS. Of the 200 escapees, 50 were able to survive the war.
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The prisoners who remained in Sobibor continued fighting throughout the night with anything they could find – by 10/15 they were all dead.
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#judaism#jewish#jewishhistory#onthisday#Holocaust#NeverAgain#Sobibor#revolt#resistance#pride#otdjh
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Text Source:
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-overview-of-sobibor
Image Source:
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