Sobibor was a Nazi death camp located in occupied Poland that was part of Operation Reinhard. Between May 1942 and October 1943, around 250,000 Jews were murdered at Sobibor. The camp had areas for administration, reception, and a gas chamber. In October 1943, a prisoner uprising led by Leon Feldhendler and Alexander Pechersky succeeded in killing 11 SS officers, and about 300 prisoners escaped into the forest. After the uprising, the camp was dismantled and planted with trees to hide what happened. Memorials now exist at the site to honor and remember the victims.
2. Map of the camps in Poland as part of Operation Reinhard
3. The Camp Operation Reinhard: Belzec , Sobibor, and Treblinka . Location: Near the Sobibor village Deeply forested and swampy area High fence and wires Hidden completely from view Camp Areas: Administration (offices and barracks) Reception (belongings) Killing (gas chamber) Percentage of Jews deported to Sobibor “After 66 years I cannot even remember the face of my father,” says Mr. Blatt — whose parent was clubbed to death in Sobibor.
4. Railroad leading to Sobibor, watch tower in distance The famous ID card showing (Demjanjuk) Train officers awaiting the arrival of Jews Sobibor office at the train station
7. The Guards They were Ukrainian. Came from a SS training camp in Twaniki. In the 18 months Sobibor was open there was about 100 Germans and 300 Ukrainian guards. An average of 30 guards, who rotated with half going on vacation.
8. The Uprising Occurred on October 14, 1943 Led by Leon Feldhendler and Alexander Pechersky (Sasha) Succeeded in killing 11 German SS Officers. 300 managed to escape into the forest 50-70 survived
9. Leon Feldhendler Group photo of participants of the uprising Alexander Pechersky (Sasha)
10. List of SS Officers Killed Johann Niemann Josef Wolf Rudolf Beckmann Siegfried GraetschusJosefVallaster Thomas Steffl Walter Ryba FreidrichGaulstich Fritz Konrad Walter Nowak Ivan Klatt Klaus Schreiber
12. The Plan To Lure SS Officers to the workshops to pick up finished boots or coats and kill them off individually. After all SS officers had been killed, roll call would be announced and they all would walk out of the front gate. Phone lines would be cut off early. They couldn’t find Karl Frenzel, he didn’t show up for his appointment.
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14. Aftermath Days after the uprising, camp was ordered closed, dismantled and planted with trees by SS chief Heinrich Himmler Estimated that 250,000 Jews were murdered Archaeological Excavations have been conducted ever since
15. Archaeological Excavations at Sobibór Extermination Site Picture on left shows what was found of old house and suitcase keys. Picture on right shows a pathway leading to gas chambers.
20. Memorials - Ways to Remember Site Memorial established in 1961 Marek Bem is the head of the memorial Small museum containing artifacts Statues and monuments Funding from government “Escape from Sobibor” British film that was aired to millions Living memorial Remembering the holocaust victims on Remembrance day Meeting of the Sobibor survivors Plaques on one of the monument statues
21. “Surely these stones cannot embody the endless mental and physical distress each individual human had to suffer.But every stone should tell us - not 250000 human beings were murdered here, no, one human being was murdered here - and this has happened just at this place 250000 times." (Ernst Klein at the opening of the memorial avenue on the 14th October 2003 in Sobibor) “Road to Heaven”
22. (Thomas) Blatt – survivor of Sobibor Inside the Sobibor Museum “Escape from Sobibor” movie Mound of ashes and human remains