The Nazi extermination camps that were intended to murder every Jew in Europe, and were much worse than the concentration camps liberated by the U.S. Army, must never be forgotten. However, 80 years ago this week, during hell there was hope for new life in the October 1943 revolt of the inmates at the Sobibor Extermination Camp in Poland. This hope inspires us today when remembering Israel, a tiny nation surrounded by enemies, as well as what the Jewish people in the world bravely face every day in the face of hatred.
In 1942 Operation Reinhard, Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was formally launched throughout Europe. Hitler’s Mein Kampf and January 1939 Speech to the Reichstag, Kristallnacht, and other events foretold it but Operation Reinhard formalized the Holocaust. Sobibor was selected as one of the six extermination camps for the Jews though others had “informally” been operational since the previous year.
In the largest prison revolt of the Second World War, over 300 of the 600 Sobibor inmates were able to escape the camp on October 14, 1943. Some chose not to leave as they were frozen with fear. They were all later murdered as were those Jews who were recaptured. Ultimately over 50 Jews that escaped Sobibor survived World War II; fifty more living instead of fifty eventually dying in the camp, fifty new beginnings of now multiple generations that are with us today.
The October 1943 Sobibor revolt was chronicled in a powerful book called Escape from Sobibor as well a similarly moving 1987 television film of the same name. Escape from Sobibor shows revolt leaders Leon Feldhendler and Soviet POW Lieutenant Aleksandr “Sasha” Pechersky, played by the late actors Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer, lead their fellow Jews to safety.
The revolt led by Leon and Sasha Pechersky speaks loudly to the generations alive today, that the Nazis could not be exterminated, that there are things worth fighting and dying for, even if the chances of living are small. It also shows us that doing nothing in the face of murder will eventually result in the killing of those persecuted who, either by fear, ignorance or choice, choose not to face the murderers directly.
There were some who may say that the prisoners should have done nothing and awaited whatever came, knowing that their actions that day would lead to the death of some of their other loved ones in the camp. However, the camp inmates were faced with a reality that all of them would eventually be killed. Doing nothing was not an option. This is exactly what Israel faces today.
The enemies of Israel want her exterminated. Her enemies may not always say it loudly, in every single utterance, but they do it enough to take note and for us to bear witness. Further Hamas plays on the sensitivities of the Judeo-Christian heritage of the West. The Hamas’ propaganda logic says Israel must do nothing because innocent people will get hurt or that Israel is the true murderer amid defending herself. Hamas’ logic says, “What about this child that Israel killed in fighting Hamas?” even though it is Hamas’ purposefully raping and murdering women and children, as well slaughtering infants and Holocaust survivors.
Hames perpetuates these murders and the subsequent demonic propaganda offensive despite Israel making every effort, short of moving Heaven and Earth, to avoid civilian casualties even amongst the enemy. Further, Israel increases the risk to her own Soldiers by doing so while Hamas uses its own people as shields.
Hamas’ propaganda demands nothing short than absolute perfection in war by Israel. Heck, one cannot even have perfection in peacetime. Even if Israel was able to provide this perfection in wartime, the call for extermination of Israel would still be the agenda of Palestinian leadership and other hate filled people. The humanitarian/perfection argument is a propaganda cover for extermination.
The Sobibor Revolt teaches us that it is never too late to escape the shackles of tyranny to include racist and religious hatred. There is also no timetable for justice. Sobibor SS Sergeant Wagner was found in 1978 living in Brazil by Nazi Hunters. Brazilian law did not allow for Wagner’s expedition. In 1980 Wagner was found dead due to a stabbing. His death was ruled a suicide.
At the time of the writing and production of the 1987 film, SS Sergeant Frenzel was still alive and had been released in prison on a technicality from his life sentence, yet was back in jail awaiting retrial. He met with Sobibor survivor Thomas Blatt, admitting to what had happened and denouncing the Nazis. His interview with Thomas Blatt may be the only journalistic and “friendly” encounter between an SS guard and one of his inmates post war.
The SS used the remaining Jewish inmates to destroy Sobibor before killing them. Today, the shoddy work of the Germans destroying the camp has left an archeological record that continues to yield further proof of the Holocaust; proof that is used against the deniers, many of them Palestinian.
And on an internet often laden with anti-Semitism, Escape from Sobibor is also available for free to tell the story of the revolt, as well as to warn and inspire us.
The Sobibor escapees did their duty to G-d and their loved ones. The last camp survivor died in 2019. To those of us the living, who are seeing a new attempt at Holocaust, we take counsel and inspiration from the words of Leon Feldhendler in a speech to camp inmates during the escape. The speech, paraphrased by Alan Arkin, said:
“Those of you who survive, bear witness. Let the world know what has happened here. G-d is with you. Now let nothing stop you!”
*Views expressed are those of the author and not any government agency.