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Name:xushuo chen
Instructor: Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
Course: UWRT-1102-016
Date:11/01/2015
Survivors and Sobibor Revolt
The Sobibor revolt was a mass killing that took place on 14th October 1943, and many
prisoners were killed in from the uprising. The mass killings took place in the Sobibor camp and,
as a result, the name, Sobibor revolt. There was a lot of preparation before the revolt, and a lot
of caution was taken to ensure that the prisoners were prevented from escaping. These attempts
were successful in the first time, which was at the end of 1942 and the first half of 1943. One
prisoner is said to have escaped by hiding in a train that was loaded with clothing and was
headed for the West. The escaped prisoner managed to escape through a small window of the
train as it came to a brief halt outside the camp.
The SS often retaliated on the remaining prisoners when there was a successful escapade.
They retaliated with executions, and they would execute one prisoner for everyone that had
managed to escape. One major escape story was in 1943 when two prisoners from the
Waldkommando managed to kill the Ukrainian guard that was in charge of them and get away
with his gun. The Waldkommando consisted of the Polish and the Dutch Jews. The Polish Jews
who were prisoners too tried to take advantage of the confusion that was brought about by killing
the guard and get away. However, they were not successful as two of them were shot dead and
thirteen others recaptured. The Polish Jews were then executed in front of all the other prisoners.
In mid-1943, there were less transported prisoners arriving at the Sobibor camp, and there were

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many rumors that the camp was going to be shut down. This resulted in a lot of unrest from the
prisoners, as they feared for their lives. They feared that they would be killed like other prisoners
from the Belzec camp had been killed before.
The reality, however, was that there were high-level decisions and plans that had been
made to expand the functions of the camp. The expansions aimed at making the Sobibor camp a
suitable workshop that could be used to salvaging captured ammunition. The expansion
construction of the camp began in 1944 from the Northern side of the camp. Bunkers were
constructed that had parts partly buried underground, and the placements of the barracks in Lager
four began. This construction helped to dispel and get rid of the rumors that the camp was being
closed. Shipment of the first ammunitions arrived started arriving at the campsite, and a new
workforce was set up to start the sorting process.
Perl explains that before the construction of the underground bunkers and stores had
begun, the rumors that the camp would be closed down had led the prisoners who greatly feared
that they would be killed to devise escape plans (Perl 122). The Polish Jews had recruited an
underground committee to devise escape plans. Among some of the plans that were devised was
poisoning of the SS, burning the camp down, or digging underground escape tunnels. The
challenge, however, was organizing a mass escape without being captured. Prisoners from
another chamber that was referred to as Lager 3 were also considering an escape plan. They had
settled on digging escape tunnels underground. However, some of them betrayed the plan to the
SS, and they were shown no mercy as the SS retaliated by executing all of them. The
underground committee of the Polish Jews, however, had their plans going well ad they received
unexpected help in the September of 1943. This was after an arrival of 2,000 Jews arrived from
Minsk as they had been selected to help in the construction of the Lager4. They were able to get

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into contact with Soviet service members who contacted the military. They then came up with
the most daring escape plan, and this is what is referred to as the Sobibor revolt.
Blatt recounts that the Sobibor revolt involved a large-scale escape plan that included
all the prisoners in the Sobibor camp except the prisoners in Lager3 (Blatt 108). The Lager3
prisoners were excluded because they were unreachable and any effort that would have been
made for their escape would have compromised the whole escape plan. The plan involved, first,
the Soviet soldiers killing as many SS as they could and seizing their weapons and their
uniforms. The prisoners would come for their evening roll call as usual and march to the camp
gates as the Soviet soldiers who were dressed as the SS were leading them. They would do this
as if they were supposed to be led out to work outside the camp. The Soviet soldiers would then
let the prisoners escape into the night that would not be difficult as it was night. Any effort by the
SS to recapture the prisoners would be futile, as they would not see anything in the night. A small
group of people arranged the revolt. This was aimed at preventing panic, anxiety and betrayal
from the others. The plan was that the prisoners were not to be informed until the last minute.
Blatt describes that the revolt was planned for 13 October 1943 as this was the only
day that the most feared commander and his right-hand man were out of the camp (Blatt 119).
However, on the day of the planned escape and revolt, a group of SS from the nearby labor camp
visited Sobibor, and this led to the putting off, of the plan for one more day. The escape plan took
to plan the next day as planned and the Soviet soldiers lured the SS into the stores and offices
under the guise of trying on new clothes where they murdered them either by the axe or by
stabbing. They managed to smuggle guns and ammunitions, food and valuables and any other
things that would come in handy in surviving outside the camp. These were divided among a
small group of insurgents. The killings of the SS had gone as planned except for one Karl
Frenzel. He had not shown up at the workshop where he had been summoned. One of the

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insurgents had also killed an SS in the garage as he had panicked and Petsjerski feared his body
would be discovered.
He, therefore, called the roll call earlier than usual, and that is when the daring plan
went off the rails. The prisoners were restless as the roll call had been made earlier than usual
and they were not seeing the familiar faces of the SS. The prisoners started spreading across the
roll call area, and one guard who tried to stop them was killed. The leaders of the revolt urged
them to escape, and the prisoners run for the gate. Some of them managed to escape before an SS
man drove his truck into the compound and realized what was going on. He immediately opened
fire on the fleeing prisoners, followed by a gunfight between the armed soldiers and the camp
guards (Perl 133). Ukrainian guards from watchtowers were also shooting at the escaping
prisoners. The exploding mines just outside the camp killed other escaping prisoners.
In total, however, only 47 prisoners were able to escape the camp successfully and
among them were two women. The escapees had taken refuge in hiding places where they stayed
under false identities. They lived lives filled with fear and hardship and finally emerged after the
Germans retreated from Poland in 1944. After the revolt, Sobibor camp was burned to the ground
and all traces of its existence done away with. The prisoners who had not been able to escape
were killed, and the ammunition was recovered and sent to a different camp known as Treblinka
where the prisoners there were put into work

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.Works Cited
Blatt, Thomas T. Sobibor, the Forgotten Revolt: A Survivor's Report. Issaquah: H.E.P, 1998.
Print.
Perl, Shaindy. Tell the World: The Story of the Sobibor Revolt. Lakewood: Israel
Bookshop, 2004. Print.

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Peer review response for Yuelin Liu
His inquiry topic is Concerning Education of the Holocaust. The holocaust has happened
in the history, but we have to think of ways to let people know. When we indoctrinate the history
of holocaust to next generation, we also can tell them the terrible of killing in order to critical
thinking. The last but not least, he use this inquiry topic to extend other topic such as Sinti and
Roma, people with disabilities, political opponents, homosexuals. This mode of thinking is very
fabulous.