All language subtitles for Sobibor.14.Octobre.1943.16.Heures

SS officers giving the Nazi salute...

before the coffins of comrades...

killed during the Sobibor uprising

(Sobibor Museum)

Had Mr Lerner ever killed before?

No
No, I had never killed anyone

Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 pm

For my friend, Gilberte Steg

in memory of her sister, Hedy Nissim

gassed at Sobibor in March 1943

WARSAW 2001

Everything began on July 22, 1942

when we were forced
out of the Warsaw ghetto

We were gathered together
on Umschlagplatz and...

told that we were being sent somewhere,
we didn't know where

Umschlagplatz is the place
where the Jews were gathered

At this spot,
you found the cattle cars...

into which the deported Jews
were herded

I'm still with my parents and family...

but we are soon parted

I'm sent to one side,
my family to another

I am alone from then on

My mother, father, brother and sister,
as I later learned

were sent to Treblinka

In this life and death story

over 300,000 Jews were transported
in 1942-1943

from the ghetto in Warsaw
to the gas chambers···

in the Nazi extermination camps

I was taken from Umschlagplatz
to be led outside the ghetto

We spent a few days there

We were given a slice of bread
and some water each day

A precise number of young men
was required

That's probably why
we waited a few days

There were a lot of us,
a few thousand young men...

capable of working

I had just turned sixteen

After a few days,
we were put in wagons...

to be taken to a work camp,
or so they told us

For almost one week,
we travelled in those wagons

Each day, we had a little water
through the door

Before boarding, each of us
had received a loaf of bread

We arrived in Belorussia...

and we were unloaded
to be put to work

The place that we had arrived at
was near an airport

I can't remember the name
but it was an airfield

And we built huts there

Conditions were very harsh,
very little to eat

The Germans there would shoot
at the Jews for no reason

In particular, the pilots
would get drunk after missions and...

amuse themselves by shooting Jews,
usually in the head

They enjoyed stepping behind you

pressing the barrel to your temple···

and trying to blow your eyes out

Death was a permanent threat

Dozens of people died...

simply because of the hidden
marksmen who'd shoot at you

Not to mention
those who died of hunger

Each day, we'd bury dozens of people

The conditions were truly terrible

When I saw how bad things were

I told myself
that I had to get out of there

I said to a friend,
Let's escape!

Whatever happens
it's better than starving here

We stayed hidden until evening

After dark,
we passed through the barbed wire

tearing our clothes

and then set off
across the fields

We walked for two whole days
without meeting anyone

We fed ourselves
with what we found in the fields

We had civilian clothes···

but they bore a number
on a red and white patch

a personal number

On the third day,
we met some Russian peasants...

whom we asked for something to eat

We spoke to them in Polish:

Polish and Russian are alike

Bread is the same word
in Polish and Russian

So, that day, the Russians fed us

We then carried on walking
across the fields

After a few days,
the Germans recaptured us

They made us board a truck···

and took us to another camp

The Jews in this camp asked:

Why didn't the Germans
shoot you on the spot?

It was probably our luck

Because usually they hanged you
or shot you immediately

It was my luck, our luck

In each new camp

I'd see people dying of hunger
in their hundreds and thousands

Each time, I thought,
I'd rather be shot in the head or hanged...

than starve like this

I could see people swell up
or become very thin...

and I thought:
this is a terrible way to die

Each time I escaped,
I was recaptured and put elsewhere

The conditions
were just as terrible each time

I was in a number of camps

Eight
Eight camps, in all

He escaped from eight camps?

He was in eight camps in Russia
and escaped from them all?

Yes

Over how long?
Six months

Eight camps in six months?

Yes

Why this thirst to escape?

Was it that easy to escape?

A man who wants to live...

If a man wants to live,
nothing is difficult for him

When I saw that in those camps,
in those conditions, it wasn't life

I thought,
I have nothing to lose

It's better to try anything···

than live this non-life

Was it that easy
to escape from these camps?

From the camps, very hard

but I always escaped from work-sites

Were the camps in the same area?

They were between
30 and 40 kilometres apart

He was always recaptured?

What did he tell
the Germans who caught him?

The truth

The simple truth

I said that I'd just escaped

There was no other solution

I didn't want to lie

I simply told the truth,
that I had escaped

There was no alternative

A Jew could seek nothing
outside death...

but I still preferred to be shot...

rather than go back there

In any case,
I hardly had any clothes left

I couldn't lie

They could see I had my number

I was just skin and bone

You couldn't lie

He was incredibly lucky not to be shot

That's true

When a lucky star guides you, you live

I think it was my lucky star because

if I'd been arrested by the Germans...

who were in charge
of fugitives from the camps

they'd have taken me back
and hanged me like all the others

They were caught,
brought back and hanged

But it seems that my luck...

was that Germans passing by chance···

caught me and took me with them...

and I ended up in another camp

I always escaped
with the same friend

When the Germans caught us
after our last escape

after a car journey of a few hours,

we ended up in the city of Minsk

And I realised
that we were in a city

In Minsk, there was a ghetto

The Germans put us in a locked room

After a few hours

we were led before two men

from the Minsk Judenrat
(Jewish Council)

as well as a Jewish ghetto policeman

The Germans handed us over to them

with the order
to take us to the ghetto

When the Jews in the ghetto saw us,
they were amazed...

because we looked like walking corpses

The Judenrat people told us

You'll never survive here
because, in the ghetto

anyone who can't go to work
each day dies of hunger

But just next door

there's a camp with prisoners of war...

from the Red Army, all of them Jews

If you can get into that camp

perhaps you'll have a chance...

to look human again...

and recover the strength to work

We were in a terrible state...

infested with thousands of lice

We were welcomed
by a prisoner...

So, we were in a terrible state,
infested with lice

We were taken
to the Russian Jews' POW camp

We were welcomed by a prisoner...

who asked where we were from
and who we were

After we told him,
he said he'd protect us

They made us undress,
they gave us a bath···

and we spent a few days there

After a while,
I came down with typhus

And so I spent some weeks, ill

in a building used as a sickbay

We were able to have
just about edible food there...

and that helped me to recover

The camp prisoners left each morning

escorted by Germans

to work inside the city of Minsk

When I recovered from typhus,
I could feel my strength return···

and I asked to go and work too

There were many of us in the camp,
1,200 in all

So when the Germans...

won a victory over the Red Army
and took prisoners

they separated the Jewish ones
from the Soviet ones?

Apparently...

that was the case...

since there were only Jews there

I was told...

Yes, that seems right...

since there were only Jews
in this camp

I was told later...

that when the Germans took prisoners

they asked who was Jewish...

and the Jewish ones
were taken to separate camps

Was there a difference for him...

between the Jewish Red Army prisoners...

and the Jews in the work camps
or the Minsk ghetto?

Did he see them
as being different?

There was a huge difference

Their physical condition was better

They had food, not good food

but it kept them alive

In addition, their camp
was clean and orderly

They didn't wear their rank on them...

but you could see they were soldiers

They were men

Another difference between life
in this camp and others...

lay in the relationship
of the prisoners with civilians

They were able to talk to
and meet the civilians

and that allowed them
to return after a day's work...

with a little extra food

They seemed healthy

unlike the unfortunates
in other camps

I AM A: THE HOLE

HERE, THE JEWS
OF THE MINSK GHETTO

WERE KILLED EN MASSE

Both in Russian and Yiddish,
with variations

An eternal and bright memory
of the 5,000 Jews...

murdered at the hands
of humanity's bloodiest enemies:

the Fascist German executioners

March 2, 1942

We had already been in Minsk
for some months...

when one night

in early September 1943

we were woken by the lights...

coming on in the middle of the night...

and our huts were suddenly surrounded
by the Germans shouting:

Come out! Get dressed!

There were German army vehicles
at the gates

We were taken, we didn't know where

and we ended up at the station...

where we were put in wagons

As they were loading us,
we realised...

We realised at dawn...

that Minsk ghetto Jews
were being brought too

We realised
because they wore the star

so we knew they were ghetto Jews

But we, the prisoners of war

we were in several wagons,
all together

For five or six days, we travelled...

without knowing where to...

and we arrived in Poland,
at Lublin

At Lublin, we later learned

there was an extermination camp,
Maidanek

IN THE BACKGROUND, LUBLIN

We spent about half a day there

just outside the camp

Apparently,
there was no room for us...

and so we set off again

After another two or three hours,
we arrived at Chelm

A Pole who was working...

at the station
for the Germans

came over to us

and, in Polish, told a Jew

who was near a tiny window...

He told him

Get away,
they're taking you to Sobibor

He was there to...

The others didn't understand Polish
so they got me to try to understand···

but the man was already walking away

His job was to write
the numbers on the wagons

He had just enough time
to tell me, Get away

they're taking you to Sobibor
to burn you

That was what I managed to grasp

I told my comrades
what the Pole had said

that the Jews would be burned

but no one believed him

We didn't believe him

We carried on travelling
and could have escaped then

Why? Since we needed
to relieve ourselves

we'd made a big hole
in the van's floor with a knife

We could have jumped through
but no one believed it

We couldn't imagine
they transported people to burn them

We'd never heard of such a thing

Night had already fallen
when we reached a place

but it was too dark by then...

for us to make out a name on a sign

At that point,
the Germans surrounded the train

shouting that anyone who looked out
would be shot immediately

that we'd spend the night there
and be let out the next day

At around 10 pm,
we heard a bugle call

and thought that it was probably
a large camp...

if they sounded lights-out
in this manner

We spent the remaining half-night
without being able to sleep...

because everyone was asking
where we were...

and what would become of us

In the morning, we were able
to read the name of the place:

Sobibor

We knew then
that the Pole had been right...

but it was too late:
we could no longer escape

The train entered the camp,
section by section

When our section stopped

they yelled at us to get out:
Raus! Raus!

There were Germans and
numerous Ukrainians in black uniforms

All the POWs formed a single group

We were kept separate

A German came over to us

He said:
I need sixty strong men

I thought that if hard labour
is required...

there is surely food,
count me in

He wanted sixty men
but only fifty stepped forward...

so he started yelling

So you won't work?
You can go to Moses straightaway!

We didn't understand
what that meant

He chose a few more men himself...

and when there were sixty of us,
he led us off to one side

Just then, we heard...

the rest of the convoy being led off...

and the air started filling
with cries and screams...

and the cries of geese, really geese

It lasted for an hour or so...
and then suddenly silence again

We were told later
that the Germans...

had a flock of several hundred geese...

and when the Jews were taken
and began screaming

the Germans probably started
panicking the geese...

so that they would cry out too

and the crying of the geese
would cover the men's cries

That's definitely right
since some Poles told me that too

in Sobibor and in Treblinka too:

the Jews cried like geese
when they were gassed

Especially as they were real geese

The flocks were raised
specially for that

to drown out the men's cries

The reason was that since they took
several thousand people at once

the Germans wanted to avoid...

Thousands of people
composed each convoy...

so they wanted to make sure

that the people
at the end of the convoy

wouldn't hear the screams
of those at its head

So he heard the geese's cries
and then silence, is that it?

When silence fell

a kapo, a Jew, came over...

and told us to get in line

He took us to a place
inside the camp···

where some huts stood

The sixty chosen men
ended up in a single hut

It was early afternoon
and people were walking around

When we came into the hut

we were given new clothes
and blankets...

such as we hadn't seen in years

In fact, these clothes and blankets...

had been taken
from people in our convoy...

and previous ones

Once we were dressed,
they took us to the kitchen...

and gave us some excellent food

as much as we wanted

PATH TO EXTERMINATION

After we came out, we started talking...

to the Jews who were strolling around

We spoke in Yiddish and Polish...

and they explained to us that here,
in Sobibor

the Jews were burned

First, they were gassed...

and then they were burned

We realised that no one...

would leave Sobibor alive

In fact, they told us
that no one could escape

All night long, we talked...

about what to do

The next morning...

We talked all night about our fate...

and about what we could do

The next morning

we were told to go out to work

We were taken out

Our work was to fell trees
and build underground munitions stores

We decided that in this place...

it was forbidden to waste time...

and since the men I was with
were all POWs, soldiers that is

they knew what to do

They founded a committee
in charge of getting in touch...

with the Jews who already knew
Sobibor a little

The head of the committee
was a Red Army Jewish officer...

called Sacha Petchersky

After contacting the Jews of Sobibor

he brought us the following information:

two previous uprisings had failed

The first time, a group of fifty people
had been burned...

and, the second time, the Jews
rebelling had tried to dig a tunnel...

and had also failed

We realised
that if we wanted to succeed

we had to keep our scheme secret

with very few people informed of it...

and that our only chance
was to kill the Germans

All trades were represented
in the camp:

cobblers working for the Germans,
others for the Ukrainians

tailors working for both groups

even goldsmiths

A German going away on leave,
for instance

could have a gold ring
or some other jewellery made

All these craftsmen
were Jews working for the Germans

We selected a site...

where we decided to build
a new hut

The idea
was to say that there were...

a number of carpenters in the camp...

and so we needed a new hut

for this particular trade,
carpentry

We received permission
to build the new hut

We also thought about the tools...

we could use to kill the Germans...

and, as carpenters,
we would be allowed axes

We knew how amazingly precise
the Germans were

Our plan was to summon,
every few minutes

the officers
to the different workshops

to the tailors' and the cobblers'

That was the plan

We had to bring them to the workshops

And for each workshop

two men had been selected
by the committee

Their task was to contact
the Jewish craftsman...

in charge of each workshop

For instance,
along with a comrade

we always went in twos

we had to go to the tailors' workshop

The tailor had to summon
a German at 4 pm...

and we had to wait
for that German

How was the tailor sure
he would come at 4 pm?

What reason did he give
to summon him?

For instance, in my workshop,
the tailors' workshop...

our task was to kill
a German called Greischutz...

who was in charge of the Ukrainians...

who was in charge
of the Ukrainians in the camp

He was having a leather coat
made in the workshop...

with a fur lining...

and so he had to come at 4 pm
to try it on

We had set the time for the uprising
in the whole camp...

for October 14,
at 4 pm precisely

All the Germans would be summoned
to the workshops at that time

Was there a precise reason...

for organising the uprising
on that date?

Yes, there were children
who worked in the canteen...

Some of the children also went
to the homes of the Germans...

to clean their shoes

These children
had overheard some information...

according to which the camp
had to be destroyed very soon

We decided,
after hearing this information

that we needed to act fast...

because, if we waited

we risked extermination
with the rest of the camp

So very little time elapsed···

between their arrival at Sobibor
in early September···

and the uprising on October 14

They acted very quickly?

Yes, in all,
since my arrival at the camp

six weeks had passed

In the tailors' workshop

my friend and I were ready...

with our well-sharpened axes...

and our task was to kill
a German summoned at 4 pm...

and a second one due to arrive
at 4:05 pm

How many men were to take part?

Jews, you mean?

Yes, of course

More than twenty

We were spread out in all the places...

where we could summon Germans

What criteria were used
to choose those who took part?

The committee in charge
of the camp uprising...

had chosen those
who would take part in the mission...

but I don't know
what their criteria were

Personally,
I felt that it was an honour...

to be given the task
of killing a German

I was fairly young,
still a kid

but I was already well-built

I truly felt that it was an honour
to be chosen to kill a German

The plan was to kill all the Germans
in the camp?

Yes, the plan was to kill
the 16 Germans in the camp

In fact, there were 30 Germans...

but, since they could take leave
and go outside the camp

they split up into twos
and, in general

when we decided on the uprising

there were 16 Germans present

But there were
a few hundred Ukrainians...

in charge
of guarding the whole camp

There was also an electrified fence
around the camp

with minefields on the other side
of that fence

At 4 pm, when the uprising started

we had given
an electrician comrade the task...

of cutting off
the camp's electric system

This Jewish electrician
always worked...

for the Germans as an electrician...

and his role on that day...

was to cut the power

He also cut the phone lines

Had Mr Lerner ever killed before?

No, I hadn't even killed a fly

Me?
It was the first time

It was simply reality

We knew that if we didn't act

we'd be taken like all the Jews
before us and killed

so it was simply reality
that forced us to act like this

For me, it was a great honour
to be chosen...

as one of the men
who would kill the Germans

Did the idea of killing scare him?

Of course,
I was very scared of killing...

but sometimes
reality forces man to act...

in a way that he wouldn't
necessarily have chosen

In this camp, we also knew
that we had no choice:

we would be killed

But we didn't want
to be killed like sheep

we wanted to die like men

and it was better to be killed
than to be led to the gas chambers

It was reality that forced us to act

Well then... It's 4 pm
on October 14, 1943

or 3:30 pm, I don't know

He's in the tailors' workshop, waiting

We took our positions
in the tailors' workshop...

one hour before the time
set for the uprising

We had agreed on this
with the tailor...

in charge of the workshop...

and it was understood
that we would be there...

as if we were tailors ourselves...

but we had to find a moment,
a mere second...

when we could get behind the German...

in order to deal the deathblow

We... That means
there were two of them?

Yes, a comrade and myself,
both waiting for the Germans

What we had agreed
was that at the moment when the tailor...

got the German to try on the coat...

and marked on the coat

on the front of the coat

the place for the buttons

at one point,
he would kneel down...

and that was when...

we could rush at the German
to kill him

Did they decide
who would strike first?

Since my comrade was a soldier

we had planned
that he would be sitting the closest...

and that the tailor would make sure,
as he moved

that my comrade could step forward
and strike the first blow

So it was the Soviet Jewish prisoner
who was to strike first?

Their weapons?

Axes

Axes that we already had
or that we'd sharpened...

in the carpentry workshop

Because we had claimed
to be carpenters

we were working
in the carpentry shop

What were the axes like?

What does that mean?

Like any axe

They weren't very big

They were quite small, in fact

and, above all,
we had sharpened them so much...

that they were like razorblades

At 4 pm, the time planned...

for the German to enter our building

or rather 3:55 pm to be precise

we saw through the hut door...

that a horse was being led
from another hut...

which was the signal that the German
in that hut had been killed

My comrade and I
were already sitting...

in the tailors' workshop, working

I had a coat that covered my knees...

and I was pretending
to stitch buttons on it

The axes were hidden under the coat,
between our knees

The German whom we were expecting

who was coming for his fitting,
Greischutz, came in

At 4 pm sharp?

As precise as clockwork

In fact, our whole plan was based on that...

because we knew the Germans
were very punctual

We only succeeded
because Germans are punctual

If they hadn't been punctual
that day

everything would have failed

When Greischutz came in,
he stepped forward

removed his belt that held his gun

put the gun down on the table...

and stepped forward in such a way
that suddenly...

he was just next to me

but we had planned
my friend would be closest

My friend was a soldier...

whereas I had never killed
anyone before...

and I ended up with the German
just next to me

What was Greischutz like?

Greischutz was...

I can't really say

He was about six foot

In any case, he was very tall
with broad shoulders

A huge man, tall,
of exceptional size

A large stature

I had seen him before...

but being just next to him

well, to tell the truth,
I was petrified

Being next to such a monster...

genuinely fills you with terror

Did Greischutz suspect anything?

No, even in his dreams, Greischutz
couldn't have imagined such a thing

The Germans in the camp
felt so confident

they were so sure of themselves
after killing so many Jews...

that they couldn't imagine
such a thing

In this camp...

In this camp, for the Germans,
things ran like clockwork

Everything was well-oiled

They would yell, run

and sow terror inside the camp...

and we, we were the poor,
the unfortunates

Indeed, we were unfortunates...

so the Germans couldn't even imagine...

that something would change
from our side

Hundreds of thousands of people
had passed through this camp

So Greischutz is in front of him

instead of in front of his comrade···

Yes, he was three or four feet
from me

So, it had been agreed...

Yes, he was about
three or four feet from me

So, it had been agreed...

that when the tailor
tried the coat on him

marked the spot for the buttons
and bent down

my friend would step forward

But since I was now the closest

I stood up

I had the coat covering my hands...

and the axe under the coat

so I stood up
and dropped the coat

gripped the axe

took one short step towards him...

and it all lasted
a thousandth of a second

It was even...

so rapid that I can't even...

Imagine: a quarter of a thousandth
of a thousandth of a second...

I gripped the axe...

and he gave a loud cry and he fell...

and I had raised the axe...

and I had brought it down on his head
in one blow

The axe, the whole axe,
on his head in one blow

He struck his skull?

The axe lodged
right in the middle of his skull

I can say that I split his skull
in two halves

It was as if I'd been doing it···

as if I was a specialist all my life

I cut precisely here and I succeeded

You split his skull open completely?

Completely, and he fell

My comrade came over

It lasted a fraction of a second

So I hit him, he weakened

he slumped down, he fell...

and my comrade came over
to hit him a second time

Then the people
working in the workshop...

came to help us remove the body···

since we knew a second German
would arrive straight after

How many were they?

There were other tailors
and other cobblers

Ada's husband worked
in that workshop

Ada's husband...

Yes, I know

All the people in the workshop...

rushed over to make
Greischutz's corpse vanish

In a tailor's workshop,
there's a table...

where the tailors iron
the finished clothes

There was a table there···

under which there was a pile of coats
ready for the Germans

We dragged the body to the table...

and buried it
under the pile of German coats

Was there any blood?

A lot of blood

The people working there
immediately cleaned it up...

and spread blankets over the floor

It took us
just a few seconds to wash

remove our coats and sit down

as if nothing had happened

When was the second German due?

At 4:05 pm

At 4:05 pm, yes!

I think it all lasted half a minute

Incredible

Yes, it is incredible

But the whole plan
hinged on German punctuality...

and our own rapidity...

and indeed the Germans were punctual
and it went like clockwork

Who was to kill the second German?

Both of us, at the same spot

We were waiting,
waiting for the second German

At 4:05 pm exactly,
the second German comes in

looks around

says something about the place
being very dirty

that we need to whitewash the walls...

and tidy up a little

Then he steps forward and looks around

Greischutz was hidden
under the pile of coats...

but his arm was sticking out

We probably hadn't noticed
that his arm was sticking out...

and, as he walked, this German...

treads on Greischutz's hand

Perhaps it was covered...

but when you step on a hand

you realise it's not some clothing

So the German started shouting

Was ist das? Was ist das?

What is it?

My comrade immediately leaped forward
and struck him

The German collapsed from the blow...

and then I ran forward
to hit him a second time

I think I'll always remember

The axe blade struck his teeth...

and there was a sort of spark

You never forget something like that

How did he feel, immediately afterwards?

To be honest, we above all felt joy...

at having succeeded
in what we set out to do

Straight after, we washed
and changed our clothes...

and we learned that 11 Germans
had already been killed

There were children
going from hut to hut...

to tell us and keep us informed

There was also a kapo on our side
who told us

It's all going according to the plan

Am I mistaken or has he turned pale?

Of course I'm pale

When you recall things like that...

The joy of succeeding...

When you recall things like that

you necessarily feel
something bubbling inside

It's a feeling of joy
at having succeeded...

with tears welling up in your eyes...

because so many people died there

the satisfaction of succeeding

of avenging those who died...

and the feeling
of having done the right thing

At five o'clock,
we had finished everything

We had already gathered

ready for the rest of the plan

An experience like this
happens once in a lifetime

It's the experience of life and death

Has he ever killed again since then?

No

Well, yes, I've killed
as a soldier and fighter...

with the partisans
but that was different

Then we were fighters
facing other armed fighters...

whereas in the camp

we weren't even human,
not even subhuman

we no longer knew what we were

It was an indescribable feeling

After, it was soldiers
pitted against soldiers

It was another type of war

Whereas there...

It was extermination, not war

There, they made wild animals of people

Not even animals...

not human beings, nor numbers

We were already nothing

Succeeding in killing then

when you kill a German...

who has just done such things

who has killed hundreds
of thousands of people...

of course you feel joy in your heart

At that time, I already knew
what German power represented

I already knew
what their cruelty could lead to

a cruelty that the human mind
can't even imagine

I knew what kind of wild animals
they were

So, it's 5 pm...

Every day,
there was a roll-call at 5 pm

Roll-call meant bringing
all the camp prisoners together

We had to line up and,
at that point

a German called Franzel

who is in fact
in prison in Germany today

this German would call our names···

and then we could go

At 5 pm, we were already waiting

ready for roll-call

Some of our comrades had weapons...

since we had been able
to take the guns...

of the Germans we had killed...

and, at 5 pm,
we were waiting for Franzel

But he doesn't appear

That had never happened before

Franzel was always there
for roll-call

But perhaps he sensed
that something was happening

because he had no phone,
no electricity, nothing

In any case, at 5 pm,
Franzel doesn't turn up

We realised that time was short...

so our comrades who knew Russian...

shouted out to the Ukrainians...

who were around the camp,
guarding it

Hurrah, we've succeeded
in killing the Germans! Let's flee!

Everyone runs toward the fence

At that point,
there's a stampede in the camp

Everyone runs to the fence

the Ukrainians open fire

some manage
to pass through the fence...

and you hear explosions
all over the camp

Even those who get through the fence...

fall in the minefield

Explosions everywhere...

We had managed to reach a store...

that housed the camp's weapons...

and, with those weapons,
we crossed the fence...

and, between the fence
and the forest surrounding the camp

it was only 500 yards at the most

The whole camp
was surrounded by forest

We could hear Franzel's voice
in the camp

giving the order to pursue us
and shoot us

Everyone runs through the fence...

and I'm already on the other side

It starts to rain

Not heavy rain, just drops

It was winter in Poland

In October, at 5 pm, it's already dark

I ran into the forest and,
at that point, I think...

maybe the emotion
of everything that had happened

the exhaustion, the night

my legs could no longer carry me
and I collapsed

I fell and I fell asleep

We'll stop there

It's so beautiful
when he collapses in the forest

The rest is an adventure of freedom

The death devices and gas chambers
were demolished by the Germans...

immediately following the rebellion

No other convoy
arrived at Sobibor station

There, at least, the extermination
had been brought to an end

People transported to
the Sobibor extermination camp···

by the Polish army

that means the part belonging to Poland,
which was not annexed to Nazi Kingdom:

2 April 1942 from Rejowiec, 2400

April from Zamosc, 300

Avril from Krychow, 250

3 May from Komarow, 2000

5 May from Opole Lubelskie, 2000

6 May from Deblin-Irena, 2500

7 May from Ryki, 2500

7 May from Jozefow, 1270

8 May from Baranow, 1500

8 May from Konskowola, 1580

9 May from Markuszow, 1500

9 May from Leczna, 200

10 May from Michow, 2500

12 May from Opole, 2000

12 May from Turobin, 2000

May from Pulawy, 2500

12-15 May from Zolkiewka, 1000

13-14 May from Gorzkow, 2000

14-15 May from Krasnystaw, 3400

15 May from Izbica, 400

15-16 May from Zamosc again, 5000

18 May from Siedliszcze, 630

21-23 May from Chelm, 2300

23 May from Wlodawa, 1200

25-30 May from Chelm again, 1500

May from Lysobyky, 500

May from Wawolnica, 500

May from Krasniczyn,
the figure was not provided

May from Rudnik, figure unknown

May from Wysokie, 1000

May from Cycow, unknown

May from Krasnystaw, unknown

May from Staw, 800

1-2 June from Hrubieszow, 3049

2 June from Belzec, 1000
Belzec had to be obstructed certainly

2 June from Dubienka, 2670

6 June from Krasnicyn, 800

7 and 9 June from Hrubieszow, 500

8 June from Grabowiec, 1200

10 June from Uchanie, 1650

10 June from Biala Podlaska, 3000

13 June again from Biala Podlaska, 6000

June from Cycow, 500

June from Slawatycze, 1000

June from Dubeczno, figure unknown

1942 still

June from Olchowiec, figure unknown

June from Pawlow, unknown

June from Sawin, unknown

June from Krzywowierzba, unknown

June from Krasniczyn, unknown

29 June from Majdanek, 5000

24 July from Wlodawa / Dzieci, 100

July from Chelm, 300

10 August from Rejowiec, 2000

10 August from Zolkiewka, 1000

6 September from Ustrzyki, unknown

8 September from Ryczywol, 69

1 and 5 October from Puchaczow, 150

8 October from Izbica, 1500

10 October from Rejowiec, 2400

11 October from Lubartow, 3000

October from Wojslawice, 1200

22 October from Siedliszcze, 500

22-30 October from Piaski-Izbica, 5000

23 October from Leczna, 3000

24 October from Wlodawa, 5000

27-28 October from Chelm, 3000

28 October from Hrubieszow, 2000

30 October from Wlodawa, 500

October from Belzyce-Bychawa, 7000

2 November from Chelm, 10000

It is definitely the largest clearance

2 November from Izbica, 1750

6 November from Chelm,
figure unknown

6 November from Staw, 800

December from Dubeczno, 650

January from Izbica, 750

January from Chelm, nobody knows

February from Chelm, 300

February from Zamosc, 500

4 April from Izbica, 300

28 April from Izbica, 200

29 April from Leczna, 200

30 April from Wlodawa, 2000

1-7 May from Lwow, 150

26 May from Lwow, nobody knows

26 June from Belzec, 306

4 July from Lwow, nobody knows

8 August from Debica, 2000

August from Bialystok, nobody knows

15 September from Zamosc, 800

10 September from Dorohucza,
nobody knows

20 September from Bialystok,
nobody knows

25 September from Trawniki,
nobody knows

20 October from Treblinka, over 100

People transported to···
extermination camp in Sobibor···

from foreign countries

From April to June.
Protectorate of Czech I Moraw, 6000

From April to June.
Germany and Austria, 10000

From April to October.
Slovakia, 24378

5-6 March 1943.
Westerbork, Holland, 1105

6 March from France, 71

11 March from France, 200

24 March from Holland, 1105

18 March from France, nobody knows

20 March from Holland, 964

26 March from Holland, 1250

31 March from Germany, nobody knows

2 April from Holland, 1255

9 April from Holland, 2020

16 April from Holland, 1204

21 April from Berlin, Germany, 938

23 April from Holland, 1166

25 April from France, 2000

30 April from Holland, 1204

7 May from Holland, 1187

14 May from Holland, 1446

21 May from Holland, 2511

28 May from Holland, 2862

4 June from Holland, 3006

8 June from Holland, 1266

11 June from Holland, 3017

2 July from Holland, 2397

9 July from Holland, 2417

16 July from Holland, 1988

23 July from Holland, 2209

18-19 September from···
Soviet Socialistic Republic of Lida, 2700

September from Wilna, nobody knows

September from Smolensk,
nobody knows

September from Mohylew, nobody knows

September from Bobrujsk, nobody knows

18-23 September from Minsk, 6000

Whether they were transported
from Lerner was uncertain

23-24 September from Wilna, 5000

September from Tryj, nobody knows

There were a total of
over 250,000 victims