Sobibor Survivors and Escapees

BLATT IN SOBIBOR FINAL 864

Tom Blatt - Second from right in Sobibor - (Chris Webb Private Archive)

ALSTER, Schlomo.

Born in December 1,1908 in Chelm, Poland. He was deported from Chelm to Sobibor during November 1942, along with Kalmen Wewryk. He worked in the death camp mainly as a carpenter, building barracks. He was also selected for the Bahnhofkommando on a few occasions. In his view Gomerski was the worst of all the SS men at Sobibor. Alster escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and he settled in Israel in 1946 and lived in Rehovot.

BACHIR, Moshe (Born SZKLAREK)

Moshe Bachir (born Szklarek) was born on July 19, 1927 in Plock, Poland. He was deported from Zamosc on May 24,1942, in one of the earliest transports. On his arrival he was among fifty men selected for work, and was assigned to the Bahnhofkommando for the first three months. After that he worked in the provisions barracks and as a �barber.� Bachir escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He later settled in Israel and he testified at the Adolf Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem in 1961.

BARDACH, Antonius

Born on May 16, 1909 in Lemberg (Lwow), Poland. He arrived on the fifty-third RSHA transport from France. He was deported from Drancy internment camp to Sobibor on March 25, 1943. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and was one of two survivors from that transport; the other survivor was Josef Duniec and he settled in Belgium.

BIALOWITZ, Philip

Born on November 25, 1929 in Izbica, Poland. As a 13-year old, he was one of 800 Jews deported from Izbica to Sobibor by truck on April 28, 1943. He was selected along with a few dozen others and worked in the sorting barracks, searching through the victims� possessions for hidden money and jewellery. He also served in the hair cutting barrack where the womem�s hair was cut off before they went into the gas chambers and on the Bahnhofkommando. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He later emigrated to the United States of America.

BIALOWITZ, Symcha

Born on 6 December 1912 in Izbica, Poland. He arrived in Sobibor along with his brother Philip on April 28, 1943. Symcha is selected to work in the camp�s pharmacy. Symcha was selected by Gustav Wagner to work in the Waldkommando. Symcha Bialowitz escaped with his brother Philip in the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943. He settled in Israel.

BISKUBICZ, Jakub

Born on March 17, 1926 in Hrubieszow, Poland. He was transported to Sobibor in May 1942 with 3,000 others, including his parents and family. He was selected to work with his father, who was later shot in the camp. He worked at the Bahnhofkommando and in the forest as a member of the Waldkommando. He escaped from Lager IV, during the night of the revolt on October 14, 1943. After his escape he fought alongside the partisans and later in the Polish army. He emigrated to Israel in 1949.

BLATT, Thomas (Toivi)

Born on April 15, 1927 in Izbica, Poland. He was deported to Sobibor from Izbica by truck on April 28, 1943 along with his father Leon, his mother Fajgele and his 10 �year old brother Hersz. His parents and brother were sent to the gas chambers on arrival and were murdered.

Karl Frenzel selected Thomas to be a putzer, polishing his boots, later he worked at repairing the fence, in the hair cutting barrack and as a fireman burning the documents and photographs of the victims. Thomas Blatt escaped during the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943. He emigrated to the United States of America, and has written two books: Sobibor: The Forgotten Revolt (1996) and From the Ashes of Sobibor: A Story of Survival (1997)

BORNSTEIN, Moshe

Moshe Bornstein escaped in the prisoner revolt on October 14,1943. Nothing more is known.

CUCKIERMAN, Hershel

Born on April 15, 1893 in Kurow, Poland. He arrived in Sobibor via Opole and Nalenczow along with his wife and family during May 1942. Although a gardener by profession, both he and his son Josef volunteered when the Germans asked for a cook to step forward. He worked in the kitchen in Lager I, right up until the revolt. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He emigrated to the United States of America during the 1950�s.

CUCKIERMAN, Josef

Born on May 26,1930 in Kurow, Poland. Josef arrived in Sobibor with his father Hershel in May 1942, aged twelve, and he became a cook�s helper. He also had to work in the SS canteen, and as a putzer, polishing the SS boots. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943, with his father Hershel. Josef fought with the partisans and later emigrated to the United States of America. Josef died on June 15, 1963.

CYBULSKI, Boris

A thirty-five year old truck driver from the Donbas. A key member of Alexander Pechersky�s group who killed Josef Wolf in the mens clothing warehouse. Boris escaped in the revolt of October 14, 1943 and after crossing the River Bug, joined the Voroshilov partisans. Boris lost his life fighting the Germans during this period.

DUNIEC, Josef

Born on December 21, 1912 in Kiev, his parents settled in Rovno, Poland. Later he left for France to study chemistry at the University of Caen. He was on the 53rd RSHA transport from France on March 25, 1943 that went to the Sobibor death camp, via Lublin. On arrival at Sobibor he was selected to work, along with thirty others, out of a transport of 1000 people.

He worked in the Waldkommando and in the sorting barracks. He escaped in the revolt on October 14, 1943 and eventually made his way back to France. Re-united with his wife, they settled in Israel and had two more children. Reluctant to talk about Sobibor he agreed to testify at the Hagen Trial of former Sobibor SS men. One day before he was due to fly to Germany he died from a heart attack on December 1, 1965 in Haifa, Israel.

ENGEL, Chaim

Born on January 10, 1916 in Brudzew, Poland. His family moved to Lodz, where his father ran a textile factory and a store. Chaim served in the Polish Army at the time the Germans invaded Poland, and he was captured by the Germans, and as a Prisoner of War he was sent to work near Leipzig. Released he returned to Poland and made his way to Lublin, where his family had been moved too. His father and step-mother were deported to Sobibor in June 1942. Chaim, his brother and a family worked and lived in a farm, decided to travel to Izbica.

All three were deported to Sobibor from Izbica and they arrived at the death camp on November 6, 1942. Chaim was selected to work sorting clothes of the victims and whilst doing this found his brothers clothes. He worked as a member of the Bahnhofkommando, and the hair-cutting workers. For a time he was also the Kapo of the women�s barrack. He formed a life �long relationship with Saartje (Selma) Wijnberg, a Dutch Jewess, who arrived in Sobibor on April 9, 1943 and on the day of the revolt Selma provided Chaim with a pointed knife that Chaim used to murder SS- Oberscharf�hrer Rudolf Beckmann on October 14, 1943, along with Kapo Pozyczki.

Chaim and Selma escaped from the camp and hid on a farm near Chelm and they were liberated by the Red Army in June 1944. They travelled to the Netherlands �via Odessa and Marseille, losing their little baby Emilchen in 1945 from food poisoning. They stayed in Holland until 1951, and they emigrated to the United States of America via Israel in 1957. Chaim died on July 4, 2003 in New Haven.

ENGEL, Saartje (Selma) born WJNBERG

Born May 15, 1922 in Groningen, Netherlands.Saartje went into hiding, but was arrested by the Gestapo. She was imprisoned in Utrecht then Amsterdam. She was sent to Vught camp and then onto Westerbork transit camp. Saartje arrived in Sobibor with 2,019 others from Westerbork on April 9, 1943. She worked mainly in the sorting barracks, but also in the Waldkommando.

She formed a life �long relationship with Chaim Engel at Sobibor. On the day of the revolt Selma provided Chaim with a pointed knife that Chaim used to murder SS- Oberscharf�hrer Rudolf Beckmann on October 14, 1943, along with Kapo Pozyczki. Selma and Chaim escaped from the camp and hid on a farm near Chelm and they were liberated by the Red Army in June 1944. They travelled to the Netherlands �via Odessa and Marseille, losing their little baby Emilchen in 1945 from food poisoning. They stayed in Holland until 1951, and they emigrated to the United States of America via Israel in 1957.

FAJGENBAUM, Jakub

Escaped from the death camp in the revolt on October 14, 1943. No other details known.

FELDHENDLER, Leon

Born in 1910 in Zolkiewka, Poland. His father was the Rabbi. Leon was deported to Sobibor in early 1943, he ended up working in the provisions barracks and occasionally he worked as a member of the Bahnhofkommando. He and Alexander Pechersky planned and led the revolt on October 14, 1943. Leon Feldhendler made his way to Lublin. Shortly after he married Miss Perlmutter, a survivor from Krasnystaw, he was shot and killed on April 2, 1945 by Polish anti-Semites where he lived at Kowalska Street 4 in Lublin.

FELENBAUM- WEISS, Hella

Hella was born on November 25, 1924 in Lublin, Poland. She was taken along with her two brothers and others from the labor camp at Staw-Nowosiulki, by horse-and cart to Sobibor on December 20, 1942. Her two brothers escaped from the cart, one was killed immediately, the other ran, but he too did not survive. She was selected to work knitting socks for the SS and Ukrainians and ironed shirts. She escaped from the death camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and fought with the partisans and in the Russian army. She received six decorations for fighting against the Germans including the Red Star. In Czechoslovakia she met a Jew in General Swoboda�s army, whom she married and settled in Israel. She died in December 1988 in Gedera, Israel.

FREIBERG, Dov

Born on May 15, 1927 in Warsaw. He left Warsaw for Turobin in autumn 1941. In May 1942 the Germans deported the Jews and Dov walked with others to the regional city of Krasnystaw. At Krasnystaw the Jews were loaded into boxcars and taken to Sobibor death camp. Dov was selected to work sorting the bundles of clothes, under the supervision of SS-Unterscharf�hrer Steubel. Dov was employed at cleaning the Ukrainian barracks along with another prisoner called Tsudik. Dov Freiberg escaped from the death camp during the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943 and he settled in Israel in 1948.

FREIBERMAN, Szama

Szama Freiberman from Wlodawa was a member of first successful escape attempt from Sobibor along with Szmul Machles and Matys already naked and on their way to the gas chambers, managed to hide in bushes and slip under the barbed wire to freedom. They returned to Wlodawa during May 1942, but no further details known.

GOKKES, Catharina (Kathy)

Born on September 1, 1923 in Den Haag, Holland. She was an office clerk and was deported to Westerbork via Vught camp and Utrecht prison. She was deported on April 6, 1943 on the same transport as Ursula Stern. During the revolt on October 14, 1943, Kathy was shot in the leg by Frenzel, but she managed to escape into the forest, along with Ursula Stern and Eda Lichtman and join a partisan group. There seems to be some confusion over her death, Ursula Stern testified at the Sobibor war crimes trial in Hagen that Kathy Gokkes on June 22, 1944, one day before the Germans retreated from the area, was shot dead by them. Other reports claim she died of typhoid fever, but given the closeness of the two women, we believe she was killed in action.

GOLDFARB, Moshe

Born on March 15,1920 in Piaski. He was deportedwith his brother and Kurt Thomas on November 6, 1942 from the Piaski Transit Ghetto. He worked as a caligrapher. His brother was murdered in Sobibor, but Moshe escaped from the death camp during the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943. He joined a partisan group along with Yehuda Lerner.

HANNEL, Salomea

Salomea Hannel was deported from Ustrzyki Dolne to Sobibor. She escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and hid in the forest, before making her way to Cracow.

HERSZMANN, Josef

Born in 1925 in Zolkiewka, Poland. Josef was transported from Chelm to Sobibor in one of the early transports in 1942. He was selected to work in the sorting barracks, the Bahnhofkommando and the Waldkommando. He escaped from the death camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He later settled in Israel.

HOCHMAN, Moshe

At the end of spring 1942 Moshe Hochman and his family were deported from Zolkiewka to Krasnystaw on foot. At Krasnystaw they were herded into cattle cars and transported to Sobibor. He worked in the tailor�s barracks as a foreman. It was Moshe who requested that Johann Niemann visit the tailor�s barrack on the day of the revolt. After Niemann had been killed, Moshe wrapped his body in a blanket and hid it. He escaped from the camp on October 14, 1943 and hid in farmer�s barn in Papierzyn until liberation by the Red Army in 1944.

HONIGMAN, Zyndel

Born on April 10, 1910 in Kiev, USSR. He was a slave worker in Gorzkow near Izbica, Poland. He was taken to Sobibor by truck in November 1942. Two days later he escaped by crawling underneath the barbed wire fence into Lager II, and finding his way out. In April 1943 he was taken back to Sobibor this time, via Trawniki. Claiming to be a butcher he was put to work in the kitchen. He escaped from the death camp a second time from the Waldkommando escape on July 20, 1943. He later settled in the Unted States of America. He testified at the Sobibor Trial in Hagen on December 13, 1965.

ITZKOVICH, Michael

A member of Alexander Pechersky�s group who escaped in the revolt of October 14,1943 and joined the partisans.

KATZ, Serka

Serka Katz was deported from Dubienka via Hrubieszow to Sobibor along with Eda Lichtman and Bella Sobol in the middle of June 1942. She worked at cleaning the quarters of the SS. She escaped from the camp on the day of the revolt on October 14, 1943, but in all probability perished in the forest.

KOHN, Abram

Born on July 25, 1910 in Lodz. He was taken to Sobibor on a transport of several hundred Jews from Wisocka in May 1942, and was selected for work along with eighty other men, including his brother. He worked in the sorting barracks, in the kitchen and in the Waldkommando. He escaped from the death camp on October 14, 1943. He settled in Austalia and turned down the opportunity to testify against Frenzel at Hagen in 1983. He died on January 19, 1986 in Melbourne.

KOPF, Josef

Born in Bilgoraj, Poland. He was deported to Sobibor on one of the earliest transports. He worked in the Waldkommando and he and Szlomo Podchlebnik on July 20, 1943 went to the village of Zlobek with a Ukrainian guard. On the way back Kopf and Podchlebnik killed the guard and escaped. Josef Kopf was murdered in August 1944 by Polish anti-Semites.

KORENFELD, Chaim

Born on May 15, 1923 in Izbica, Poland. Chaim arrived in Sobibor from Izbica on April 28, 1943 � on the same transport as Thomas Blatt. He escaped from the Waldkommando on July 20, 1943. Chaim later claimed that his uncle Abraham Wang had covered for him, and that he escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943. However, both Honigman and Wang claimed that Korenfeld had been with them. Chaim settled in Brazil in 1949 via Italy.

KOSTMANN, Fredek

Fredek Kostmann, aged twenty-one from Krakow, escaped fom Sobibor on October 14, 1943 with his friend Szmul Wajcen and they met up with Thomas (Toivi) Blatt in the forest. They formed a small group had headed for Thomas Blatt�s home town of Izbica.

They were sheltered by a farmer named Bojarski for five and a half months but on April 23, 1944, Bojarski and his accomplices shot all three hiding in a barn. Fredek Kostmann was killed outright. Szmul Wacjen and Thomas (Toivi) Blatt were only wounded and they escaped into the forest.

LEITMAN, Szlomo

Szlomo was a cabinetmaker from Warsaw. He escaped to the Soviet Union after the German invasion and was incarcerated in the Sheroka camp in Minsk, where he befriended Sasha Pechersky. Szlomo arrived in Sobibor on the same transport as Boris Taborinskij on or near the September 15, 1943. Szlomo was a key member of the Underground in Sobibor and he killed SS � Unterscharf�hrer Friedrich Gaulstich in the carpenters workshop on October 14, 1943 during the prisoner revolt. He was wounded during the escape and he managed to reach the woods before his strength ran out.

LEJST, Chaim

Born in Zolkiewka, Poland, his father was a farmer. He fled to Izbica and was deported from there arriving in Sobibor on April 23, 1943. He was selected by Wagner to grow vegetables and flowers. He escaped from the death camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He later settled in Israel.

LERER, Samuel

Born on October 1, 1922 in Zolkiewka, Poland. He was transported to Sobibor in May 1942 and he was selected for work in Lager II, looking after the horses and later on the chickens. On October 14, 1943 he escaped from the death camp during the prisoner revolt. In 1949 he and Estera Raab came across former Sobibor SS-man Erich Bauer in Berlin, which led to Bauer�s arrest. Samuel lived in Berlin for a number of years before settling in the United States of America.

LERNER, Yehuda

Born on July 22, 1926 in Warsaw, Poland. Yehuda and his family were rounded up on the first day of the mass deportation on July 22, 1942, and they were deported to Treblinka death camp, whilst Yehuda was deported to work in Smolensk building an airfield, for the Organisaton Todt. He escaped in September 1942 but was recaptured and sent to the Minsk ghetto. He was transferred from there to the Sheroka Labour Camp and in September 1943 was deported to Sobibor death camp via Chelm. On the day of the revolt on October 14, 1943 he along with Arkadij Wajspapir killed SS- man Siegfried Graetschus and the Ukrainian guard Ivan Klatt in the shoemakers shop. After the revolt Yehuda joined a partisan group in the forest along with Moshe Goldfarb. From January 1945 until the summer of the same year he was deputy commander of the police in Radom. He and his wife Manja settled in Bayreuth, Germany until 1949 when they moved to Israel. He worked for the police in Haifa from 1951.

LICHT, Aron

Aron Licht escaped from the Waldkommando on July 20,1943. No further information known

LICHTMAN, Eda

Eda Lichtman, nee Fischer was born on January 1, 1915 in Jaroslaw, Poland. When the war broke out she lived with her husband in Wieliczka, and they left for Mielec. She was then transported to Berdychow for a few days and then onto Dubienka on the River Bug. From Dubienka a brief stop at Hrubieszow she was deported to Sobibor death camp in the middle of June 1942. She was selected to work in the SS laundry and the SS Ironing Room in Lager II. She escaped from the death camp in the revolt on October 14,1943, along with Ursula Stern and Kathy Gokkes. She settled in Israel in 1950.

LICHTMAN, Itzhak

Born on December 10, 1908 in Zolkiewka, Poland. On May 22, 1942 Itzhak and his family were deported on foot from Zolkiewka to Krasnystaw station, where they were loaded into cattle cars bound for Sobibor death camp. He was selected to work in the shoe-makers workshop in Lager I with five others including Berek Lichtman his cousin. He escaped during the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943 and in the forest he joined the Zukow partisans on December 15, 1943. He later settled in Israel with his wife Eda in 1950.

LIBERMAN, Pesia

Pesia Liberman was one of three Jews who escaped from Sobibor on the night of December 25,1942 along with two Ukrainian guards Viktor Kisilew and Emil Zischer. In the forest the two Jewish men went their own way and Pesia Liberman stayed with the two Ukrainians who were armed. Five days later they were betrayed by a farmer whilst hiding in the village of Kozia Gorka. They were surrounded in a village hut, they were killed in a shootout by three Polish police officers, Misnerowiec, Piescikowski and Kwiatkowski.

LITWINOWSKI, Yefim

A member of Alexander Pechersky�s group who escaped in the revolt of October 14, 1943 and re-joined the Red Army.

MACHLES, Szmul

Szmul Machles from Wlodawa was a member of first successful escape attempt from Sobibor along with Szama Freiberman and Matys already naked and on their way to the gas chambers, managed to hide in bushes and slip under the barbed wire to freedom. They returned to Wlodawa in May 1942, but no further details known.

MARGULIES, Abraham

Born on January 25, 1921 in Zyradow, Poland. He was sent to Belzec in 1940 to build the so-called Otto Line, the defence ramparts along the Soviet demarcation line. Abraham was deported from Zamosc at the end of May 1942 to the Sobibor death camp. He was selected to work in the Bahnhofkommando, cleaning the carriages under the supervision of Paul Groth. He also worked in the sorting barracks and in the kitchens. Abraham befriended Hella Weiss, and the two of them ended up together during and after the revolt on October 14, 1943. He later settled in Israel where he became a printer.

MATYS

Matys � forename unknown from Wlodawa was a member of first successful escape attempt from Sobibor along with Szama Freiberman and Szuml Machles already naked and on their way to the gas chambers, managed to hide in bushes and slip under the barbed wire to freedom. They returned to Wlodawa but no further details known.

MAZURKIEWITCH, Semion

A member of Alexander Pechersky�s group who escaped in the revolt of October 14,1943 and joined the partisans.

MENCHE, Chaskiel

Born on January 7, 1910 in Kolo, Poland. In 1937 he married Hella Podchlebnik � the sister of Schlomo, who escaped from the Waldkommando. In June 1942 he was transported to Sobibor with 2,000 others from Izbica. Selected for work in the sorting and tailors� barracks. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and hid in the Parczew forest. He settled in Australia in 1949 and he died in 1984 in Melbourne.

MENDEL

Mendel escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He was wounded in the escape and according to Mordechai Goldfarb, he was a tailor, although Thomas Blatt, recalls a baker in the camp called Mendel. Goldfarb remembered that Mendel asked that they kill him due to his injury. He perished in the forest.

METZ, Zelda

Zelda Metz, born Kelberman was born on May 1, 1925 in Siedliszcze, Poland. Deported with her family to an Arbeitslager in Staw -Nowosiulki. Zelda arrived in Sobibor on December 22, 1942 on a horse �drawn cart, along with her cousin Regina Feldman (Zielinski) and Estera Raab. She was selected to work and she knitted socks and pullovers and she also worked in the laundry and ironing barracks. In the summer of 1943 she was employed in the construction of the Lager IV � the Nordlager. She escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and hid with peasants. She obtained false papers stating she was an Aryan and she worked as a nanny for a family in Lwov. Zelda settled in the United States of America in 1946.

PECHERSKY, Alexander Aronowitz (Sasha)

Born on February 22, 1909 in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, but his family moved to Rostov on the Don. He fought in the Red Army against the Germans and was captured in October 1941. After trying to escape in May 1942, he was taken to Borisov, where a medical examination exposed him as being of Jewish extraction.

He was imprisoned from September 1942 in the Sheroka Street Labour Camp in Minsk, and when the ghetto and labour camp was liquidated he was taken to Sobibor on September 22, 1943, along with 2,000 other Jewish Prisoners of War and inhabitants from the Minsk ghetto. He was among eighty men selected by Hubert Gomerski for work in the Nordlager, clearing the forest. Along with Leon Feldhendler, Alexander Pechersky planned the prisoner revolt and on October 14, 1943, the prisoners killed a number of SS �men as planned by Pechersky and escaped from the camp. Pechersky and a small band of former Soviet Prisoners of War crossed the River Bug on the night of October 19 -20, 1943, and joined the Voroshilov partisans fighting the Germans, his comrades Boris Cybulski and Alexander Shubayev (Kali-Mali) lost their lives during this period. He re-joined the Red Army and in August 1944 he was severly wounded in the leg and as a result spent a short time in hospital, and received a medal for his bravery. Sasha returned to his homeland and resumed his civilian career as a music teacher. But he was arrested and thrown in prison along with his brother who died in prison due to a diabetic coma. Sasha died in Rostov on the Don in 1990.

PELC, Josel

In June 1943 Josel Pelc, a carpenter from Tyszowice and Yasha, a bricklayer from Chelm, successfully escaped in the middle of the night by cutting the barbed wire and evading the mines and the guards.

PODCHLEBNIK, Schlomo

Born on February 15, 1907 in Kolo, Poland. He arrived in Sobibor on April 28, 1943 from Izbica � the same transport as Thomas (Toivi) Blatt � and found his brother-in-law Chaskiel Menche.Schlomo was selected for work digging wells outside the camp and in the Waldkommando. Schlomo escaped from the Waldkommando on July 20, 1943 along with Josef Kopf who killed a Ukrainian guard whilst fetching water in the nearby village of Zlobek. After the war he settled in the United States of America.

POPPERT � SCHONBORN, Gertrud (LUKA)

Gertrud Poppert nee Schonborn was born on June 29, 1914 in Dortmund, Germany. She was married to Walter Michel Poppert and they emigrated to Holland. She was deported to Sobibor on May 18, 1943. She became as �girlfriend� known as Luka, as cover for Alexander Pechersky, who was the leader of the Jewish revolt. She escaped from the camp on October 14, 1943, but it is thought she lost her life in the forest. She is listed as having perished on November 30, 1943.

POWROZNIK, Haim (POSNER, Herman)

Born in Liubomil, Poland in 1911. Taken prisoner in 1939 he was released then put to work in a labour camp in Chelm. In March 1943 he was deported from Chelm to Sobibor. Selected for work as a carpenter by Gustav Wagner. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and after the war settled in the United States of America.

POZYCKI, Yankel

The father of two sons in the death camp, Hersz and Symon. He was a shoemaker and he escaped from the campduring the revolt on October 14, 1943 and he survived the war.

RAAB, Estera

Estera Raab, born Terner was born on June 11, 1922 in Chelm, Poland. Estera arrived in Sobibor on a horse �drawn cart from the Arbeitslager Staw � Nowosiulki, arriving on December 22, 1942, along with Regina Feldman and Zelda Metz. Selected to live she worked in the knitting barracks for a few months, and later on she worked in the sorting barracks.She escaped from the camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943, though she sustained a head injury. Along with Samuel Lerner, Estera recognised SS-man Erich Bauer walking on a street in Berlin. She settled in the United States of America.

ROSENFELD, Semion

Born in 1922 in Baranowitz, Poland. He arrived in Sobibor on September 22, 1943, from Minsk, in the same transport as Pechersky. He was put to work hauling bricks in the Nordlager. He escaped from the camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He fought with the Red Army and ended his military career in Berlin, where he left a permanent mark on the Reichstag building by scratching the words �Baranowitz � Sobibor � Berlin� into one of the walls. He remained in the Soviet Union until the mid-1980�s when he settled in Israel.

ROTENBERG, Aizik

Born in 1925 in Wlodawa, Poland. He arrived on foot along with the rest of his family on May 12, 1943 at the Sobibor death camp. Both he and his brother were selected for work by Frenzel. He worked as a bricklayer building an arsenal and he also worked on the ramp as part of the Bahnhofkommando. Whilst his brother was killed during the revolt Aizik managed to escape from the death camp on October 14, 1943 with other prisoners. They were captured by members of the Schutzpolizei and were taken to Adampol, where a German called Zelinger tied them up with chains in a stable.They managed to free themselves and fled into the forest where they joined the Jewish Yehiel partisan group, and they fought the German occupiers. Finally he settled in Israel where he raised a family whilst still working as a bricklayer.

SAFRAN, Ilona (Born Ursula Stern)

Ilona Safran (Born Ursula Stern) was born on August 28, 1926 in Essen, Germany. When the Nazis came to power her father Albert Stern sold their business and sought refuge in Epe, Holland. Her father joined the resistance, but was captured by the Nazis and he and his wife were deported to Auschwitz where they both perished. Ursula went into hiding with the Pompe family, but the hideout was discovered and Mrs Pompe was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Ursula was sent to Utrecht prison then Amstelveen and onto Vught camp where she made friends with amongst others Kathy Gokkes, Selma Wijnberg and Mimi Katz. In April 1943 they were transferred to Westerbork and Ursula was deported from Westerbork on April 6, 1943 and she arrived in Sobibor three days later on April 9, 1943. Selected for work she worked mainly in the sorting barracks and the Waldkommando. She also worked in the Nordlager � Lager IV where she cleaned captured munitions. She escaped from the death camp on October 14, 1943, along with Katty Gokkes, and reached the forest where they met Eda Lichtman. She fought with the partisans and Katty Gokkes lost her life just before liberation. She made her way back to Holland after the war, and settled in Israel.

SCHWARZ, Walter

The camp electrician who was in charge of the generator. According to Thomas Toivi Blatt, he was one of their group in the forest after escaping from the death camp. He was a German Jew aged thirty-five. He separated from the group Thomas Blatt was part of. His fate is unlnown but in all probabilty he perished in the forest.

SIEGEL, Josel

Around 14-years of age. He was from Siedliszcze who worked in the sorting sheds. He was remembered by Philip Bialowitz in his book �A Promise At Sobibor.� After he escaped from the death camp after the revolt on October 14, 1943, Philip came across Josel lying on the floor, bleeding profusely, near the forest. It is probable that he died that day.

SOBOL, Bajle

She was deported from Dubienka via Hrubieszow to Sobibor along with Eda Lichtman and Serka Katz in the middle of June 1942. She worked at the laundry. She was remembered by Stanislaw Szmajner in his book, �Hell in Sobibor,� that Bajle was twenty-four years old, serene, kind and affable. She had arrived in Sobibor with her husband and little daughter who had been gassed on arrival. She escaped from the camp on the day of the revolt on October 14, 1943, but in all probability perished in the forest.

SZMAJZNER, Mosze

He was deported to Sobibor on May 12, 1942 along with other members of his family. He was selected to work as a jeweller, assisting Stanislaw his brother. According to Stanislaw in his book �Hell in Sobibor � The Tragedy of a Teenage Jew,� his brother escaped with his Jewish sweetheart, and was free for one month. He was killed by Polish anti-Semites in the town of Lubartow.

SZMAJZNER, Stanislaw

Born on March 13, 1927 in Pulawy, Poland. He was deported to Sobibor on May 12,1942 from Opole Lubelski along with his father Josef and his mother Posel, and sister Rryrka who were all gassed on arrival. Stanislaw was selected to work along with his brother Mosze and cousin Nojech by Gustav Wagner as a goldsmith, and he made rings and jewellery for the Nazi guards. Wagner later appointed Stanislaw better known as Schlomo as Chief of the Mechanics shop. Schlomo joined the resistance and was responsible for stealing weapons from the Ukrainian living quarters, to assist the uprising on October 14, 1943, he visited their quarters in the Vorlager under the pretext of repairing a stove.

He participated fully in the revolt and escaped from the death camp and joined the partisans, his brother and cousin did not survive the revolt. He joined the partisans. He settled in Brazil after the war and in 1968 published a book in his adopted Portugese-language titled �Hell in Sobibor. The Tragedy of a Teenage Jew.� In May 1978 he identified Gustav Wagner at a Sao Paulo police station. He committed suicde on March 3, 1989, in Goiania, Brazil.

TABORINSKIJ, Boris

Born in 1917 in Minsk. He was deported to Sobibor from Minsk on or near September 15, 1943, along with Szlomo Leitman. He and Szlomo were selected for work as carpenters, although they were unskilled for this type of work. They worked on covering the roofs in Lager IV � the so-called Nordlager.He escaped from the death camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He joined the partisans and fought the Germans.

THOMAS, Kurt Max (original name Kurt Ticho)

Born on April 11, 1914 in Brno in Moravia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. Kurt was deported from Theresienstadt along with his father, mother and sister to Piaski in Poland on April 1, 1942. In June 1942 his whole family were deported from the Transit ghetto of Piaski to Sobibor and he followed them from Piaski to Sobibor death camp on November 6, 1942 with around 3,000 other Jews.

Kurt selected to live initially worked in the Sorting barracks and then was appointed as a medical orderly by Karl Frenzel, tending to the sick. Kurt escaped with Stanislaw Szmajner during the revolt on October 14, 1943. To honour his Dutch girlfriend Mini Hanny Cats, whom he had got to know in Sobibor, he wrote an extensive account about Sobibor on September 3, 1946 for the Dutch Red Cross. He settled in the United States of America, applying for citizenship in 1948 and in the 1990�s he wrote another account of his time in Sobibor.

TRAGER, Chaim (Israel)

Born on March 5,1906 in Chelm, Poland. He was transported from Chelm to Sobibor on May 22, 1942 and he was selected to work as a bricklayer and he helped construct a bakery. He claimed to have seen into Lager III, whilst building a chimney on a roof top. He also worked in the Bahnhofkommando.Chaim escaped from the death camp during the revolt on October 14, 1943. He later settled in Israel and he died on August 1, 1969 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

WAJCEN, Aleksy

Born on May 30, 1922 in Grigoriw, Russia. He arrived in Sobibor in the autumn of 1943 in a transport of Jews from Ternopol and was one of thirty men selected for work. He was selected for work sorting the victims clothing. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and after the war in a court in Donetsk he declared that he was not Jewish but had been unable to convince the SS at Sobibor of this fact.

WAJCEN, Szmul

Szmul Wajcen was employed in the death camp burning the photographs, documents, prayer books etc in an open pit until an incinerator was built in mid-1943. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943. After the escape he teamed up with Fredek Kostman and Thomas (Toivi) Blatt in the forest. They were hidden by the farmer Bojarski in a barn in Izbica. He survived an attack by Bojarski and his accomplices, they shot him but did not kill him on April 23, 1944. He however was killed in the forest shortly afterwards.

WAJSPAPIR, Arkadij Moishejewicz

Born in 1921. Before the war he worked as an enginner in Donetsk.He served in the Red Army and was wounded and captured in Kiev. After his recovery he was sent to Minsk as a Prisoner of War. He was incarcerated in the Sheroka Street Labour Camp in Minsk and on September 22, 1943, along with Sasha Pechersky arrived at the Sobibor death camp.He was selected for work, along with eighty others, on building the barracks in Lager IV � the so-called Nordlager. He played a leading role in the killing of the guards on the revolt on October 14, 1943. Along with Yehuda Lerner he killed SS-Untersturmf�hrer Siegfried Graetschus and the Ukrainian guard Ivan Klatt in the shoemakers shop. After his escape from the death camp Arkadij as part of the Pechersky group crossed the River Bug and joined the partisans. After the war he returned to his profession as an engineer in Dontesk.

WANG, Abraham

Born on January 2, 1921 in Izbica in Poland. He was taken to Sobibor by truck, along with 280 other Jews from Izbica on April 23, 1943. He was selected for work mainly in the sorting barracks , but also in the Waldkommando.On July 20, 1943 whilst working in the Waldkommando, he was one of six prisoners who managed to escape. After the war he settled in Israel and he died in 1978 in Rehovot, Israel.

WEWRYK, Kalman

Born on June 25, 1906 in Chelm. He arrived at Sobibor on the same transport of Schlomo Alster. Selected to live he worked as a carpenter. He escaped during the revolt on October 14,1943. He joined the partisans in the forest. After the war ended he married an Auschwitz survivor and moved to France in 1956. In 1968 they settled in Canada where he wrote a book about his experiences during the war � �To Sobibor andBack. An Eyewitness Account.�

ZIELINSKI, Regina (born Feldman)

Regina was born on September 2, 1924 in Siedliszcze, Poland. She was taken on a horse-and cart transport from the Staw �Nowosiulki labor camp, arriving at Sobibor on December 20, 1942. Along with eleven other young women, she was selected to knit socks for the SS. Later she was put to work in the laundry and after that in the sewing room. She also worked in Lager IV sorting and cleaning captured munitions. She escaped during the prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943, she eventually ended up in Frankfurt am Main, where she worked as a nanny with a German family. She married on December 24, 1945 in Wetzlar and settled in Australia on August 3, 1949. She told her story to her son Andrew, who published it in 2003 under the title �Conversations with Regina.�

ZISS, Meier

Born November 15, 1927 in Lublin, Poland. He arrived in Sobibor in May or June 1942 and worked in the sorting barracks for six months and then as a barber. He also worked with Szmul Wajcen burning personal documents, photographs, prayer books in an open pit, until an incinerator was installed in a barracks in Lager II. He escaped during the revolt on October 14, 1943 and later settled in Venezuela and then Israel.

Those Selected in Sobibor for Labour in Other Camps

This is a partial listing, in alphabertical order.

ADEJES, Albert

Albert Adejes was transported from Drancy on Convoy Number 50 on March 4, 1943 to Sobibor via Chelm. He was selected in the camp to work in Lublin. He was also incarcerated in Auschwitz. He survived the Holocaust.

COHEN, Alex

Alex Cohen along with his Saartje his wife and Abraham his four �year old child were deported from Westerbork to Sobibor on March 17, 1943, they arrived in Sobibor on March 20, 1943 in the dead of night. Cohen volunteered as a metal worker and was put back on the same train and sent to the Lublin Concentration Camp � where he worked in the kitchen. After three months in this camp Alex was transferred to Skarzysko- Kamienna Labour Camp, digging pits for corpses. He was evacuated to a labor camp near Czestochowa. As the Red Army advanced he was sent first to Buchenwald and then Theresienstadt where he was liberated by the Soviet forces.

CZAPNIK, Zina

Zina Czapnik was deported from Minsk along with her husband to Sobibor in September 1943 and cousin Raja Mileczina. She and her cousin were selected for work at the Trawniki Labor Camp. She survived the Aktion Erntefest massacre on November 3, 1943, although her husband was killed in Trawniki in this aktion. She stayed at Trawniki until the spring of 1944, then she was sent to Lublin Concentration Camp, then Auschwitz and as the Red Army advanced she was sent to Bergen �Belsen, then Oschersleben and finally Theresienstadt, where she was liberated.

ELIAZER, Judith

On March 10, 1943 Judith Eliazer a 28-year old hairdresser from Rotterdam was deported from Westerbork to Sobibor. At Sobibor she was immediately selected for work in another camp and was sent to Lublin Concentration Camp, where she was put to work building barracks, and mending roads. After 6 months Judith was taken to Milejow to work in a marmalade factory, and from there she was sent in November 1943 to Trawniki Labor Camp to sort the clothes of those murdered as part of Aktion Erntefest. In the summer of 1944 she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp, but as the Red Army advanced she was forced to march to Auschwitz �Birkenau. From Auschwitz she was sent to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany. Judith was liberated by the Allies at Salzwedel Labour Camp.

ENSEL, Bertha

On March 10, 1943 Bertha Ensel a 18-year old seemstress from Amsterdam was deported from Westerbork to Sobibor. At Sobibor she was immediately selected for work in another camp and was sent to Lublin Concentration Camp, where she was put to work building barracks, and mending roads. After 6 months Bertha was taken to Milejow to work in a marmalade factory, and from there she was sent in November 1943 to Trawniki Labor Camp to sort the clothes of those murdered as part of Aktion Erntefest. In the summer of 1944 she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp, but as the Red Army advanced she was forced to march to Auschwitz �Birkenau. From Auschwitz she was sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany. Bertha returned to Holland via Lippstadt.

HUISMAN, Sophia

On the night of February 26, 1943 all patients and staff of the Jewish hospital in Rotterdam were rounded up by the SD and the Dutch WA forces and taken to Westerbork. 17-year old Sophia Huismann, a trainee nurse was deported from Westerbork on March 10,1943. Selected to work Sophia and a number of other Dutch women were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Concentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. In October 1943 she volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow. Ater the Aktion Erntefest massacre in November 1943, she was transferred to the labor camp at Trawniki, until June 1944, where she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp. With the advancing Red Army, Sophia was transferred to Auschwitz � Birkenau. She was deported to a munitions factory in Raghun, as the Allies advanced. She was moved for the last time to Theresienstadt near Prague, where she was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945.

LOWENSTEIN, Kurt

Born on June 10, 1904 in Barmen- Elberfeldt, Germany. He emigrated to Holland. He was deported from Westerbork on 20 July 1943 along with his wife Rosa. He was selected at Sobibor on 23 July 1943 to work in another camp and he was sent to Dorohucza, whilst his wife was killed on arrival on July 23, 1943. He perished in Dorohucza Sobibor on November 30, 1943.

MILECZINA, Raja

Deported to Sobibor from Minsk in September 1943 along with her cousin Zina Czapnik. She was selected to work in the Trawniki Labor Camp and survived the war.

PENHA - BLITS, Eddy

Eddy Blits was arrested with his wife Mirjam on February 25,1943 in Amsterdam by the Sicherheitsdient (SD). They were taken to Westerbork and then deported to Sobibor with his wife on March 10, 1943. On arrival he was selected to work in Dorohucza a labor camp. According to Mirjam�s post-war account Eddy wrote to his sister �in-law who was in hiding, two months after their deportation from a camp near Lublin. He perished in the Holocaust.

PENHA � BLITS, Mirjam

On February 25, 1943 in Amsterdam, 26-year old Mirjam Penha �Blits and her husband Eddy were arrested by the German Sicherheitsdienst (SD). First they were taken to the SD headquarters in the Euterpeststraat. They were then taken to Westerbork and then deported to Sobibor on March 10, 1943. They were both selected to work, she was taken to a barrack and handed over all her personal possessions. Returned to the train they had arrived in, along with Judith Eliazer, Bertha Ensel, Sophie Hulsman, Cato Polak sisters Suze and Surry Polak and Sientje and Jetje Veteman and they were transferred to the Lublin Concentration Camp.

After several days they were moved the short distance to the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) camp in Lublin and there the Dutch women were employed in the clothes hall sorting the clothes that belonged to the victims who were murdered in the Aktion Reinhardt camps of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. In October 1943 Mirjam and the other Dutch women volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow and they worked there until they were moved to the Trawniki Labor Camp, just after the Aktion Erntefest (Harvest Festival) masacre, where they were employed sorting the clothes of those murdered. In May 1944 the Trawniki camp was evacuated and Mirjam was once again sent to Lublin Concentration Camp where she worked in the SS laundry. With the advancing Red Army, Mirjam and the others were forced to walk to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a short stay there she was moved to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. As the Third Reich shrunk, she ended up in Salzwedel Camp, where she was liberated, via the camp at Fallersleben.

PEPERWORTEL, Nathan

Born on January 29, 1898. He was a driver in Amsterdam, Holland. He was deported from Westerbork to Sobibor on 20 April 1943. At the Sobibor death camp he was selected to work in Dorohucza Arbeitslager, where he became a Kapo. His wife Saartje perished in Sobibor on May 7, 1943. Nathan was murdered in Dorohucza on November 30, 1943.

POLAK, Cato

On the night of February 26, 1943 all patients and staff of the Jewish hospital in Rotterdam were rounded up by the SD and the Dutch WA forces and taken to Westerbork. 22-year old Cato Polak, a nurse from the Hague, worked again in Westerbork as a nurse until March 10,1943, she was put on a passenger train to Sobibor. Selected to work Cato and a number of other Dutch women were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Cncentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. In October 1943 she volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow. Ater the Aktion Erntefest massacre in November 1943, she was transferred to the labor camp at Trawniki, until June 1944, where she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp. With the advancing Red Army, Cato was transferred to Auschwitz � Birkenau. She was deported to Bergen �Belsen Concentration Camp in November 1944 and with the Allies advancing she was sent to a munitions factory in Raghun. She was moved for the last time to Theresienstadt near Prague, where she was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945.

POLAK, Surry

On March 10, 1943 sisters Surry and Suze Polak were deported from Westerbork to Sobibor death camp. Selected to work Surry and a number of other Dutch women, including her sister were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Cncentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, and helped construct barracks. In October 1943 she volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow. Ater the Aktion Erntefest massacre in November 1943, she was transferred to the labor camp at Trawniki, until June 1944, where she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp. With the advancing Red Army, Surry was transferred to Auschwitz � Birkenau. She was deported to a munitions factory in Raghun, as the Allies advanced. She was moved for the last time to Theresienstadt near Prague, where she was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. Surry contracted spotted typhus after the liberation and the sisters returned to the Netherlands after Surry had recovered.

POLAK, Suze

On 10 March 10, 1943 sisters Surry and Suze Polak were deported from Westerbork to Sobibor death camp. Selected to work Suze and a number of other Dutch women, including her sister were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Cncentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, and helped construct barracks. In October 1943 she volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow. Ater the Aktion Erntefest massacre in November 1943, she was transferred to the labor camp at Trawniki, until June 1944, where she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp. With the advancing Red Army, Suze was transferred to Auschwitz � Birkenau. She was deported to a munitions factory in Raghun, as the Allies advanced. She was moved for the last time to Theresienstadt near Prague, where she was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. Surry contracted spotted typhus after the liberation and the sisters returned to the Netherlands after Surry had recovered.

SCHELVIS, Jules

Born in Amsterdam on January 7, 1921. Jules worked as a typographer and was arrested with his wife Rachel who was 20-years old, on May 26, 1943 and sent to Westerbork with other members of Rachel�s family. They were all transported to Sobibor from Westerbork on June 1, 1943, and they arrived there on June 4, 1943, where they were all murdered, apart from Jules who was selected for work on the ramp and sent in the train that brought them onto the Dorohucza Labor Camp, where he worked cutting peat in very harsh conditions. Schelvis and others volunteered for work in a print-shop at the Alter-Flugplatz (Old Airfield), but there was no print shop, just heavy labour. After a short time on June 28, 1943 he was transferred to the Radom ghetto along with other Dutch Jews, this time to work in a genuine print-shop. When the Radom ghetto was finally liquidated on November 8, 1943 he was moved to the nearby Szkolna camp. With the advance of the Red Army Schelvis was forced to walk to Tomaszow Mazowiecki where they were locked in a rayon factory. Schelvis was sent to Auschwitz- Birkenau where he was again selected on the ramp for forced labour in another camp. He was sent to work in a labour camp in Vaihingen near Stuttgart where he was liberated by the Allies on April 8, 1945.

SCHELVIS, Salomon

Born on July 26, 1916 in Amsterdam. He lived and worked in Amsterdam as a Rag Sorter. He was deported to Sobibor death camp. He was selected on the ramp to work in the Dorohucza labor camp. He perished in Dorohucza on November 30, 1943.

STODEL, Abraham

Born on July 2,1920 in Amsterdam. He lived and worked in Amsterdam as a Leather Worker. He was deported with his wife Chaja on June 1, 1943 from Westerbork. She was gassed on arrival, but he was selected to work in Dorohucza labor camp. He perished in Dorohucza on November 30, 1943.

STRAUSS, SIEGFRIED

Born on March 8, 1905 in Ober-Seemen, Germany. He emigrated to Holland. He was deported from Westerbork to Sobibor. At Sobibor, he was selected to work in Dorohucza labour camp and he perished there on November 30,1943.

TROOTSWIJK - HIJMANS, Annie

Annie Trootswijk � Hijmans was born in Amsterdam on September 29, 1917. She was deported from Westerbork to Sobibor on March 10, 1943 along with her husband Menno who was gassed on arrival. She was selected for work in Lublin at the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) Camp sorting clothes of the murdered victims of the Aktion Reinhardt camps. She volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow, in October 1943 and around November 12, 1943, her and the other Dutch girls were sent to Trawniki Labor Camp where they sorted the clothes of the victims of the Aktion Erntefest (Harvest Festival). Annie died in Trawniki from TB in November 1944.

VERDUIN, Sophie

On March 7, 1943 Sophie Verduin, 16 �years old was taken to Westerbork. Three days later on March 10, 1943 she was deported to Sobibor. Selected to work Sophie and a number of other Dutch women, including her sister Lena were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Cncentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka,In September 1943 Sophie and her sister Lena were sent to the Blizyn Labor Camp where they knitted clothes for the Germans. Lena died in Blizyn of TB on November 30, 1943. In the spring of 1944 Sophie was taken to Radom and the Szkolna Labour Camp where she worked on the land. As the Red Army advanced she was taken to Auschwitz- Birkenau and on new-years eve was sent to Bergen � Belsen Concentration Camp where she was liberated by British forces on April 15, 1945.

VETERMAN, Jentje

In November 1942 Jentje Veterman a 19-year old and her sister Sientje were arrested and sent to Westerbork . On March 10, 1943 the two sisters were deported from Westerbork to Sobibor death camp. Selected to work Jentje and a number of other Dutch women, including her sister were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Cncentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, and here she contracted typhoid fever, but recovered and returned to work. In October 1943 she volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow. Ater the Aktion Erntefest massacre in November 1943, she was transferred to the labor camp at Trawniki, where she made clothes for the Germans, until June 1944, where she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp, where she worked in the vegatable gardens. With the advancing Red Army, Jentje was transferred to Auschwitz � Birkenau. In September 1944 she was put on a transport to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, without her sister. She was liberated from there by the Allies and returned to the Netherlands.

VETERMAN, SIENTJE

In November 1942 Sientje Veterman and her sister Jentje were arrested and sent to Westerbork . On March 10, 1943 the two sisters were deported from Westerbork to Sobibor death camp. Selected to work Sientje and a number of other Dutch women, including her sister were put back on the same train and sent to Lublin Cncentration Camp, the final destination was the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) where she sorted the clothes of the murdered victims of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. In October 1943 she volunteered to work in a marmalade factory in Milejow. Ater the Aktion Erntefest massacre in November 1943, she was transferred to the labor camp at Trawniki, where she made clothes for the Germans, until June 1944, where she returned to the Lublin Concentration Camp, where she worked in the vegatable gardens. With the advancing Red Army, Sientje was transferred to Buchenwald and Lippstadt and saw the end of the war in Kaunitz. She returned to the Netherlands and was reunited with her sister Jentje.

WINS, Jozef

Jozef Wins a typographer was arrested on March 12, 1943 in Amsterdam. He was sent to Westerbork and was deported to Sobibor on May 11, 1943. Three days later he arrived in Sobibor and was selected to work in the Dorohucza Labor Camp. Jozef and other typographers were taken to the Alter Flugplatz (Old Airfield) and on June 28,1943 they were taken to the Radom ghetto to work in a print-shop. When the ghetto was liquidated on November 8, 1943 he was sent to the nearby Szkolna camp, and after a while was forced marched to a factory in Tomazow � Mazowiecki. Jozef Wins was liberated in Dachau on April 29, 1945 after a spell in the labor camp in Kochendorf near Heilbronn.

Sources

Y. Arad, Belzec, Sobibor Treblinka,Indiana University Press USA 1987

M. Novitch, Sobibor Martyrdom and Revolt, Holocaust Library New York 1980

Shlomo Szmajzner, Inferno in Sobibor � unpublished copy

Thomas Toivi Blatt, Sobibor - The Forgotten Revolt, H.E.P 1998

Kalman Wewerik � Report

R. Kuwalek, Extermination Camp in Sobibor, Zeszyty Majdanka Vol XX1 � 2001

Jules Schelvis, Vernichtunslager Sobibor, Metropol Verlag Berlin 1998

Jules Schelvis, Sobibor A History of a Nazi Death Camp, Berg, Oxford, New York 2007

Philip Bialowitz, A Promise At Sobibor, The University of Wisconsin Press, 2010

Dov Freiberg, To Survive Sobibor, Gefen, Jerusalem, New York 2007

Joodse Digitial Monument

Bundesarchiv Gedenkbuch

Photograph - Chris Webb -Private Archive