Sonderkommandos were prisoners in Nazi death camps tasked with assisting in the mass murder of other prisoners in exchange for better treatment and a slightly extended lifespan of 6-8 months. Their duties included removing corpses from gas chambers, sorting through victims' belongings, and operating crematoriums and bone crushing machines. While granted some privileges over regular prisoners, Sonderkommandos were ultimately still victims who faced a short lifespan before being murdered themselves. A few survivors later wrote about their traumatic experiences.

1. The Sonderkommando A Historical Profile

2. A Sonderkommando (center) assists in prisoner selection at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Sonderkommando’s themselves were given to option to risk death with the rest of the prisoner population. They were guaranteed to survive for 6-8 months, lived in heated barracks, given clean uniforms, warm meals and decide who would live and die from incoming trains. After their tenure was completed, the entire unit was liquidated.

3. Several Sonderkommandos standing next to a bone crushing machine. Units like this were also used to help destroy the remains of prisoners from the incoming trains. They used machines like this to grind up any remaining bones from the ovens such as the ones used at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

4. A Sonderkommando unit by the side of a road with a work detail. There were many perks compared to the lives led by other prisoners. They also had the choice of taking particular items they wanted from prisoners when they arrived. They also could communicate with their relatives in the mainstream population or in other camps.

5. A Kapo (left) leads a work detail before an SS cameraman. Not unlike the Kapos, Sonderkommandos could be put in charge of work details and other groups of prioners. They were also treated with disgust by the regular population.

6. The Memorial Wall of Sobibor death camp. Sonderkommando were also the ones who had the best means of starting an uprising. The one at Sobibor was started by a unit who was able to steal enough German weapons to start the only successful death camp uprising.

7. The aftermath of the Auschwitz Uprising. A Sonderkommando unit in Auschwitz-Birkenau was able to store enough explosives destroy two of the four smokestacks in Auschwitz. The resistance was ultimately unsuccessful leading to the liquidation of the unit and any prisoners suspected to be involved.

8. SS Officer, Martin Sanderberg poses for a picture for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Sonderkommando units were lead by SS officers who were responsible for their unit’s behavior and recruitment. Officers like Sanderberg were put on trial for war crimes because of the inhumanity that Sonderkommandos faced during their tenure and for their execution.

9. Surviving Polish Sonderkommando, TadeuzRozewicz sitting for an interview. Survivors like TadeuzRozewicz detailed their experiences through writing or telling journalists of their stories. Rozewicz went on to write many books and poems based on his experiences in his brief time as a Sonderkommando.

10. HenrykMandelbaum poses with his translator. Surviving Sonderkommandos like Rozewicz and Mandelbaum are incredibly rare. They only had a lifespan of a few months during the war and those who survived had the highest suicide rate of all survivor populations due to extreme survivor guilt coupled with guilt from participating in the persecution.