THE UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION
On April 28 1943 a transport of
Polish Jews from the town of lzbica arrived at Sobibor. Because of Sobibor’s
planned expansion the Nazis selected 40 Jews to work in the camp. Those Jews
brought to the hermetically isolated prisoners of Sobibor the stunning news
about the Warsaw ghetto uprising. It was the spark to fight back.
A nucleus of a conspiracy was
established. Its leader was Leon Feldhendler, a thirty-three year old. A tall
man, about thirty-five years old, still wearing his Red Army lieutenant’s
uniform attracted Feldhendler’s attention. His name was Alexander (Sasha)
Aronowich Pechersky, who as a former military man emerged as the factual
leader.
On October 10, a consolidated command
was formed. The number of the conspirators Involved was kept to an absolute
necessary minimum. From a total of about 550 Jews alive at the time, less that
10% had any knowledge of the escape plan.
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The escape was divided into three
phases; Phase I - prepare the assault teams [3:30 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.]; Phase II-
eliminate the Nazis noiselessly [4:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.]; and Phase Ill -
mobilization of all prisoners for an open revolt and mass escape [5:30 P.M].
In the first phase members of the
Underground who had access to the warehouses and sorting sheds were told to
remove and to deliver knives and small axes to the conspirators command post.
Next was the placement of sax combat groups, of three people each in
preparation for the secret killing of the Nazis.
In the second phase the Germans were
to be trapped and executed in selected places. In lager I mainly in the
workshops. The killings in Lager II were to take place in the warehouses and in
the incinerator building. The Nazis should be lured to those place under
various pretexts.
Put in the broadest terms, the plan
called for killing as many Germans and Ukrainians as possible within one hour,
and then ignite a total revolt by the rest of the by now uninformed prisoners.
In its details the plan utilized the Germans’ brashness and their confidence
that they had total control over the seemingly subdued prisoner population. It
also depended upon the predictability of their daily
routine. Most important, we utilized their greed.
A special group of prisoners was
designated to attack the armory. All of them would be armed with knives and
axes prepared to fat inconspicuously under belts when covered with jackets.
A few youthful prisoners were given
responsibilities as message carriers, luring the Nazis to the traps and to
steal weapons. Because of their functions in the camp their movement was not
strictly scrutinizes by the Nazis. They had access to places that were
strategically important to the underground, including the Nazi quarters,
canteen and the incinerator.
All preliminary preparations were to
be completed by 4:00 P.M. Then the telephone wires should be cut at two ends
and the middle section hidden to prevent the Nazis from quickly reconnecting
the line. Just before 5:00 the electrician Walter Schwarz - a German Jew, was
ordered to damage the electric generator supplying power to the camp. Then the
elimination of the SS Staff should begin, all the Germans within reach would be
quietly killed. So as not to betray the action, no one was to use at this phase
the weapons acquired from the death enemy. Above all, everything had to have
the appearance of routine. Even the behavior of the Kapos in the conspiracy was
not to change, and Leon urged them to make use of the whips as usual, until all
workers were returned to their quarters in Lager I.
If everything went well to that
point, Kapo Pozycki would blow a whistle for the regular roll-call a little
earlier than usual. The Jews would form a column, but instead of waiting for
the Germans, they would be led by the Kapos in regular formation toward the
main gate. The idea was that the guards would think it was a German order for
some work assignment; this would allow the prisoners to come as close as
possible to the main gate without arousing suspicion. Then the gate would be
taken by storm and the guards overpowered
To the organizers’ dismay, there was
no way of contacting the Jews in Lager Ill. The escape date was originally set
for October 13. Later due to unforeseen circumstances moved to the next day
October 14.