Let us be open with each other.
You did not ask me here just to be friendly with the Russian soldiers.
- No. - So what do you want of us?
To see if we can trust each other.
- Why should I trust you? We are 2 Jews in a death camp.
- Perhaps, together we can device a way of surviving past
what they have planned for us.
We must get back to the barracks.
- They lock them at 10. - Good night, Leon.
- Good night, Sasha. - Samuel.
- He wants us to trust him. - To do what?
- I do not know for sure. - An escape?
- Hmm. Maybe. - Why do we need civilians?
We are soldiers. We can handle it ourselves. He's trying to use us.
He... He knows this place. Maybe we should use him to get out.
Faster!
Wait! Wait! Just wait!
- Are you ready? - Almost, sir.
Wrong. You're ready now. They've got 10 minutes got to everybody fed.
There's extra work today. Start serving!
-10 minutes. - We... we're trying, sir.
But not hard enough!
Don't, they will kill you.
Alright, enough. Kapos get these people off to work.
I have a great deal of work planned for you.
Move out! All of you! Do it now!
Be careful. They only need us as long as the trains keep coming in.
- We must escape. Yes, escape. For how many?
- All 600. Every prisoner in Sobibor. - The whole camp?
Move on!
The more people who know of an escape plan
the less chance of success.
- Yes, of course. That's why it is absolutely essential
that it will remain a secret until the last minute.
Then everyone must get a chance.
- I will need a detailed map of the entire camp.
We can get that for you.
We can also get you a fairly good map of the minefields outside the camp. - Minefield?
Minefield. Except for the front gate,
it runs all around the perimeter of the camp.
You see how terrified they are of us.
Also, I need to know everything you can tell me about the SS and the Ukrainian guards.
- How many. What they do. - We can get that for you.
- Now, the two of us can not be seen every night, alone, talking together.
- How can we meet without causing suspicion? - Well the SS is used to see me here.
Perhaps if you had a girlfriend, you would come and visit her every night.
That would look normal to them.
I think we'd better get you a woman.
It's got to be somebody completely trustworthy. Give me 24 hours.
- Where's your brother? - He's sleeping in the carpenter shop.
How did you know to kiss me there?
I liked to look at film posters when I was a kid.
When you were a kid? - Yes, before I came here.
- Oberkapo! - Yes, sir!
They have looked long enough.
- I am sure, they now understand that no one steals from the Reich. - Yes, sir!
Dismissed!
Berliner turned them in. I saw him watching them last night.
Thank you, Toivi.
- Hello, I am Luka. - Sasha. Hello.
For such a brief acquaintance, that was a lovely smile
Love at first sight. Those are my instructions.
- It is a beautiful night. - Look at the moon, Sasha
Look at the board, Sasha.
- Do you want white? - No, you have it. - I'll take it.
We should go just before dark.
Enough light to find our way into the woods. Too dark for them to hunt us.
- That will give us a head start until the morning.
Right.
- Is there an electrician? One you can trust?
- Yes, Abraham Weiss. He does some of the electrical work here.
Because among the last things we do, is we cut the electrical lines and the telephone.
- It will leave them with now way to call for help.
I understand.
- How many SS are here? -16 and 125 Ukrainians.
- The Ukrainians are all armed, right? - Yes, there is a lot of strength there.
- But when you cut out the brains, the strength is useless.
- How do we get rid of 16 SS all at once?
- I don't know if my men are capable of killing.
- But killing the SS is the key to our plan.
I've a tailor, I.. I have a carpenter,
I.. I have two shoemakers. I.. I ran a flour mill.
Before the war I was a book-keeper. I played the piano. I wrote songs
They will manage because they have to. What is the simplest plan?
I will tell you. 600 prisoners walk out the main gate.
They just walk out. Right after evening roll-call.
They just walk out the front gate? That's impossible. That's crazy.
Except for one thing. Nothing is impossible for us. So let us create a plan.
With 600 prisoners...
.. who walk out the main gate
- Are you waiting for the Russian? - Yes.
- Are you in love with him? - I think so.
- What am I saying? I know so. - What's he like?
I don't know. I fell in love so quickly I haven't found out yet.
- Has he said that he loves you? - No, not until tonight. In about an hour.
Good evening.
Sasha, this is Abraham Weiss, the electrician that I spoke to you about.
- We've just had a very interesting game.
- Yes, we have. But I am a better electrician than I am a chess player.
Good to meet you, lieutenant. I'll be seeing you tomorrow night.
Good. Good.
One thing I know. The Kapos have the run of the camp.
For any plan to succeed, when must have the cooperation of at least one of them.
But they work for the Germans. Is there anyone we can trust?
Kapo Porchek. 1 or 2 others, maybe.
One I know we can't trust is a man named Berliner.
- We must kill him. Don't leave any marks. - It will be done. My people will do it.
We talked last night about cutting out the brain.
Let us suppose, just suppose that most SS were dead. Even... even all of them.
- Alright, let's suppose. - It would have to happen secretly.
We would have to isolate them, kill them, one by one, in an hour at the most.
Now let us assume we can do that. Where would we stand?
The Ukrainians would become confused. The escape could begin.
Right.
The prisoners in compound 3, the men who cremate the bodies, how do we get them out?
This is a problem. They can't come out. We're forbidden to go in there.
We can't even get a message through to them. We've tried. I don't think we can help them.
- You wanted to see me. - Yes.
- Can you make knives in your shop? - Like this?
- Careful. Yes, just like that. - How many?
- As many as you can make, starting now. - Consider it done.
Leon, with your Kapo Berliner... the sooner the better.
Luka, let's go.
This had better be important, or it's 25 for you.
I told you sir, I don't know what's happening in there.
Kapo Porchek said for me to get you right away.
That's all I know.
Porchek! Porchek!
Only in the belly. No marks.
Go and tell sergeant Frenzel that oberkapo Berliner is very sick.
Everyone must be in position by 3:30 The killings must begin at 4.
It must be done in one hour.
2 things I've learned about the Germans. Their punctuality and their greed.
- Can we make use of that? - I think so.
For example, Samuel is making a pair of boots for lieutenant Niemann.
We can get him to the shoe shop for a fitting and kill him there.
- What about Reichleitner and Wagner? - Reichleitner is a problem.
We know he checks the entire camp at noon and then again at 5 after roll-call.
But he always has men with him. Wagner has no pattern.
Shlomo is making jewellery for him. Could you get him to the machine shop?
We need this kind of information on every SS in camp.
We must have our killers in the right place at the right time.
- Can we get some watches, so we can coordinate our timing?
- Yes, I think so, from the sorting shed.
Good.
- Sasha, I have to be one of the killers. I want Wagner.
Shlomo, my men will be in charge of the killings.
And I will make the assignments.
Sasha, I know I'm not supposed to talk about it
but it's terrifying to listen to you talking about life and death is such a cold blood.
- Well, sometimes one has to think of them that way.
No.
- No? Why not? - Because, everything is too real to me.
Too alive.
Sasha, what I feel for you... I...
No, Luka. You must nor say that.
Please, listen to me. I have a wife and a little daughter.
As far as I know they're still living.
I love them both very much.
- Why didn't you tell me? - I do not know.
- We are pretending, aren't we? - Pretending?
Lukatshka, I... never intended...
Oberscharführer Niemann! Oberscharführer Frenzel!
Wagner and I will be in Lublin for 3 days.
No transports are coming in until after we're back.
You two will be in charge while we're away. Alright, we'd better go. Gentlemen?
We just found out that Captain Reichleitner and Wagner left today for a 3-day trip.
- Leon and I have come to a decision. - We escape tomorrow.
- At last! - Oh, God.
Now let us go over the details.
The killings will start at 4 o'clock tomorrow.
Until then, it's a normal day.
Leon will be in charge of compound 2, I will be in compound 1.
Porchek, you will arrange for me and 2 of my men to be in the carpenter shop.
And Toivi will run his little legs off, carrying messages between us.
Who is scheduled to take evening roll-call with Frenzel?
- Sergeant Wolf. - He must be killed as well.
Leon and I will handle that. I promise you.
When we hear Judah's bugle, we act normal.
We go to the assembly area. By then the key SS should be dead.
And instead of dismissing us, Porchek will march us to the main gate.
We will have pistols to take care of the guards in the tower.
We kill the 2 Ukrainians at the gate,
open it and out we go. Running like Cossacks into the woods.
Now, if anything goes wrong before we get out, it is everyone for himself.
I've been working on the stoves in the Ukrainian barrack.
I think I can steal some rifles and ammunition from there tomorrow.
- What do you think? - Good.
Meet my men just before roll-call in the kitchen.
- Shlomo, do not take any unnecessary risks. - In Sobibor?
- Did you know that tomorrow is the beginning of Succoth?
Yes. It is a holy day.
- I forgot. And my father was a rabbi. - They kill on holy days.
- Why not the other way around? God will forgive.
- There are those here who wonder if we can forgive God.
This plan of ours, do you think it can really work?
Yes, but it would not hurt to pray.
What's wrong with you? Today's supposed to look like a normal day,
you're dressed like you're going to a wedding.
I'm sorry. It's going to be cold in the forest. I'll go and change.
No, it's too late. You'll just draw more attention to yourself.
- Who can work? - You can. It makes the time pass by.
Oh my God! It's the SS. Look at this.
- They're new, aren't they? - Yes.
SS men just arrived. I've never seen them before.
- How many? 25, 30 I don't know.
- Where? In the canteen.
Damn! What are they doing here today? We've got to get word to Sasha right away.
God almighty, if word gets out we're all dead.
They've been there over 2 hours already.
What are they doing here?
- Maybe they're just visiting? - Visiting? A death camp?
Supposedly there's a very good canteen there. A lot of vodka.
But in any case, with all those SS we don't have a chance.
But the longer we wait, the more chance of something leaking out.
We have 2 choices. Neither of them is good.
- We postpone. - Agreed. I'll pass the word.
Postponed. Postponed.
Thank God we waited. That would have been a disaster.
Yes, it would have. but we have to go tomorrow no matter what
before Reichleitner and Wagner get back. Too many people know now.
Tomorrow.
Stop!. You, work here! Come on!
Sasha will be here in a few minutes-
- Have you seen sergeant Frenzel? - No.
- Where is Frenzel? - Outside the sergeant's barrack.
- Do you know where he is to be killed? - Yes, the carpenter shop.
Do not get him in there before I tell you.
- You're ready? - Yes, take us to the clothing store.
Also pick up Mundek on the way. - Right.
Please, sir. They're late.
So far so good. Go tell Sasha we are ready.
- Oberkapo! - Yes, sir!
- Fix three men from the sorting shed. - Yes, sir!
- For what job, sir? - For heavy labour in the north camp.
- Do it! - Yes, sir!
You, you, you, come with me now.
- Toivi! - Leon, look! It's Porchek!
He's going the wrong way!
Toivi, tell Sasha an SS corporal with a machine-gun
is taking away Porchek with 3 prisoners.
I don't know where they're going! I don't know what it means,
but we may have to do without Porchek now.
Hurry! You have 10 minutes before you bring sergeant Wolf back here.
Sergeant Wolf! I've been looking for you.
Tailor Mundek has found a beautiful leather coat for you.
If you can stop in the clothing storeroom, sir?
He says, it'll just take a minute.
Alright, in a minute.
Look out! Klat is coming in. What are we going to do?
Get back. - Get back!
- Yes, sir. can I help you, sir? - I want a wool shirt.
They're in the back. Please help yourself.
You! You don't work here. You work in the sorting shed. What are you doing?
It begins.
There's no turning back now.
Hide the body.
Good afternoon, sir.
- The princelet said you had a leather coat for me.
Yes, sir. I think you are going to like it very much, sir.
I might have to let it out at the waist.
It's a beautiful leather, sir. Very expensive.
Handsome. Very handsome. Good. You can fit me at the tailor tomorrow.
But, sir? Wouldn't you like to see how it looks now?
What was that?
Sergeant Beckmann, I've been looking for you.
The tailor Mundek has found a beautiful jacket for you.
If you could stop in the clothing storeroom, sir?
- He said it would just take a second. - A jacket? Who said I wanted a jacket?
I don't know, sir, but the tailor said it would be perfect for you.
Alright, I'll look at it.
- Yeah? - There are 2 dead so far. Sergeant Wolf and corporal Klat
I though we had sergeant Beckmann, but he walked away.
- Where's Beckmann? Have you seen sergeant Beckmann?
Yes, he was here, but he left.
Damn it! We lost him. He must have gone back to his office.
Leon, if you need me, I want to help.
- Can you deal with Beckmann? - Yes, I can.
I'll find a way to get you there.
Sergeant Frenzel, they like to see you in the carpenter shop at 4:30.
Why?
- To pick the colour of the stain for you book case.
To pick the colour? Why didn't that idiot ask me when I was in there yesterday?
I don't know, sir. Should I tell them 4:30?
No! I'll be there when I decide to be there. Today, tomorrow or whenever!
Lukatshka!
Sasha...
- Will you stand next with me at the roll-call?
If you will do one thing for me?
I will try. Tell me.
If you will wear this. For good luck.
Luka, it is beautiful.
I made it for you.
- You! - Yes, sir! - Take my horse to the stables. - Yes, sir!
- Good afternoon, sir. - Are my boots ready?
- Yes, sir. I hope you'll be pleased with them, sir.
I want to try them on.
Yes, sir. By all means, sir. Please...
See if anyone heard.
- It's all clear. - Sasha, take his pistol.
You keep it. Clear up! Fallaster is next.
Meet me in the kitchen just before roll-call.
I'm going to steal some rifles from the Ukrainian barrack.
- Now, Moses, if I'm killed... - No, Shlomo.
Don't worry. We'll be alright.
Good luck, Shlomo.
It's sergeant Fallaster.
You'd better hide.
- Scharführer Fallaster. - What is it?
A message from Scharführer Beckmann
- Tell him I took care of this yesterday. And not to bother me about it again.
Yes, Scharführer.
Are my boots finished?
- Yes, sir. They're finished. Please sit down.
- I've stretched them, sir. So I think you'll find them a lot more comfortable now.
It's for my wife... my child
- We need help. Go and ask Klat. - Yes, sir.
Sturmmann Klat?
Where's Klat?
- I don't know. He's not there, Scharführer Bauer.
- Well, I haven't got all day. Get 2 men to unload this.
Yes, sir!
Here's Porchek.
- Where have you been? - They took me to the north camp. I couldn't get out of it.
So far, we've been very lucky,
but Frenzel is missing and we may have trouble with Beckmann.
Go over to compound two. Leon needs help.
I just can't believe it. We're actually killing SS-men.
I mean that's a hard thing to believe. Killing them.
It's beautiful. I just can't believer it.
- Mmm... Magnificent. The aroma alone... Words fail me.
Tell me how you do it. You are a plumber, are you not?
Of course you are. Only a Jewish plumber could
concoct something so obviously delicious.
So tell me how you do it.
- You do speak, don't you? Yes, sir.
What's your Christian name? I'm just trying to be friendly.
What's your Christian name?
- I have no Christian name, only a Jewish name.
My name is Hershel Zuckerman and don't you forget it!
We can't wait any longer, it's almost time for roll-call
Go to Beckmann’s office. If everything looks alright, kill him.
You come right back here, get Kalimali and the other Russians, take them to compound 1.
- Chaim, this one we didn't plan. - I know. Thank you.
Here, use this.
No, please let him use this one.
Good luck.
I'll be back.
- Two more, eh? - Come on, move! Move!
Sergeant Beckmann.
What are you doing here...?
Kill him. Do it! Do it!
We'll put him behind the desk.
- It went well. We killed 5. - That makes 10 all together. - Eleven.
20 would have been better Here are some pistols. Leon has the rest.
Good man, Kalimali.
- What's in the box? -2 rifles.
- Ammunition? - Just one clip. Each.
Go to the kitchen. You take him.
Ask Shlomo if he has any ammunition. - Right.
So far, we've been too lucky. Someone is bound to catch on soon.
- Judah, you'd better sound the bugle. Now. - Still no sergeant Frenzel.
If he shows up at roll-call we can get him there.
If not... God help us.
Follow me!
Columns of fours. We do it every day. Line up!
Follow me!
- Are you wearing it? - Did you think I would not?
It's going to be cold at night.
- Where is Shlomo? Have you seen him? - He'll be here. He'll be here.
Put the bullets here. You see.
Here. I don't know how to use this.
- Is everything going alright? - Yes. Everything's fine.
- How long do we stay here? - Until I blow the whistle for roll-call.
- More than 10 minutes before roll-call. - I don't think we can wait that long.
Look what's happening.
- We must go. - Now...? Now!
Come on, line up in fours!
Line up in fours! Line up!
Everybody in line! Come on!
Beckmann...?
Beckmann! Hey!
Hello? Hello!
Everybody in line!
- Scharführer Bauer! Niemann is dead in the shoe shop.
And Fallaster. Both murdered. - No.
Stop! Stop!
We'll never make it to the front gate now.
Listen to me. Our day has come. Most of the SS are dead.
It's everyone for himself now.
Those of you who survive, bear witness. Let the world know what has happened here.
God is with you. Now let nothing stop you.
Move! Move! Come on!
Go on! Go on, save yourselves. You are free.
- The gate is down! Move! Move! Move! - Come on, Leon!
- Get up! Get up! - Leon! - Move! Move!
Leon, come on, we must go1
Cover me.
- Shlomo! - Are you hurt? - No, Shlomo.
Then get out. Take Moses with you, and I'll find you in the forest.
Go!
No. No, Samuel! Get up! Get up!
Samuel, we're almost at the woods.
Over 300 prisoners escaped safely to the forest.
Here, Eda and Itzhak Lichtman found each other.
On the run, they managed to stay alive.
After the war they were married and emigrated to Israel,
where they till live in Holon, near Tel Aviv,
close to other Sobibor survivors.
Toivi with 2 other boys was hidden by a Polish farmer
who eventually shot them for the money.
With a bullet in his jaw, Toivi pretended to be dead
and managed to stay alive until liberated.
Thomas "Toivi" Blatt married and has 3 children.
Today he lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Yet he returns each year to Sobibor in remembrance of his family who died there.
Chaim and Selma made it to a small farm
where they were given shelter until the liberation.
Happily married for more than 40 years, and the parents of 2 grown children,
Chaim and Selma Engel now live in Connecticut.
Stanislaw "Shlomo" Szmajzner joined the partisans and
became an active fighter against the Nazis in Poland.
There is no record of what happened to his younger brother Moses.
After the war, Shlomo emigrated to Brazil, where he married and raised 2 sons.
In South America he was largely responsible
for the discovery of sergeant Gustav Wagner in 1978.
Brazilian law did not allow for sergeant Wagner's extradition,
but a year later he was found, stabbed to death.
The records list Wagner's death: suicide.
Captain Franz Reichleitner was re-assigned to Trieste,
and was killed by partisans less than 3 months after the Sobibor revolt.
Esther Terner managed to hide from Germans
and hostile Polish nationals until the Russian liberation.
She moved to the United States
and now lives with her husband, Irving, in New Jersey.
Esther has testified in many war-crimes trials in West-Germany.
Including the trial of sergeant Eric Bauer who died in prison.
Esther and Thomas Blatt testified at the trial of sergeant Frenzel
who was convicted and is still alive, serving a life sentence.
Sasha Pechersky and many of his men made it back to Russian lines
to rejoin the fight against the Nazis.
In 1963 Sasha gave key testimony in a war-crimes trial against
11 Ukrainian guards at Sobibor. 10 of them were sentenced to death.
Today at 77, Sasha is retired and lives with
his wife Olga on Rostov-on-the-Don in the Soviet Union.
Luka vanished in the Polish countryside.
All efforts, including Sasha's, to locate her proved unsuccessful.
The good-luck shirt she gave to Sasha is now displayed in a Russian museum
honouring those who fought and died for freedom during World War 2.
Leon Feldhendler fought his way back to Lublin in Poland
where he remained safe until the liberation.
There he ran a small business employing and helping many Jews
who had survived the camps, including Sobibor.
14 months after the escape, in a confrontation with a group of Anti-Semites,
Leon was murdered by his countrymen because he was a Jew.
October the 14th 1943. Sobibor.
A Nazi death camp where over one quarter of a million Jews were killed.
But in the revolt that day, over 300 of the 600 prisoners made it to freedom.
Something which had never happened before, and would never happen again in World War 2.
Within days, SS-chief Himmler ordered the camp closed,
dismantled and planted with pine trees.
In that forest now stands this monument to the dead.
It is also a reminder of the valiant fighters of Sobibor
who were among those who began to make the idea a vow "never again" a reality.