Sobibor
Extermination camp, 1942–1943. Today Sobibór, Poland.
Sobibor was one of the three killing centres of "Aktion Reinhardt", alongside Bełżec and Treblinka. SS and police authorities built it in spring 1942 in woodland near the village of Sobibór in the Lublin District, about three miles west of the Bug river on the Lublin–Chełm–Włodawa railway. Called the "SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor", it was run by about 50 German and Austrian SS and police personnel and a guard unit of 90 to 120 auxiliaries, largely former Soviet prisoners of war. Its commandants were Franz Stangl and then Franz Reichleitner.
Regular gassing began in early May 1942. Victims were forced into gas chambers into which an engine piped carbon monoxide. In the first phase, from May to July 1942, at least 61,400 Jews were murdered there (USHMM). Most of those killed were Jews from Poland; others were deported from the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech lands, Germany, Slovakia and France.
On 14 October 1943 about 600 prisoners still alive in the camp rose up; around 300 escaped, and about 50 of them survived the war. The camp was then closed, the site ploughed over and planted with pine trees. Estimates of the number of people murdered at Sobibor range from at least 167,000 (USHMM) and about 180,000 (Museum and Memorial in Sobibór) to 250,000 (the earlier Polish official figure cited by Yitzhak Arad).
From Berlin
One deportation train from Berlin went to Sobibor, leaving from the Moabit freight station. The Bundesarchiv chronology and the Berlin transport list based on Gottwaldt and Schulle date it to 13 June 1942, with 748 or 1,030 deportees, arriving on 15 June. statistik-des-holocaust.de, citing a covering letter in the files of the Berlin-Brandenburg Oberfinanzpräsident, argues that the train actually left on 2 June 1942; it counts 746 deportees from Berlin and 35 from the Potsdam area, among them children of the Jewish educational institution in Beelitz with its head, Sally Bein.
According to statistik-des-holocaust.de, all transports sent "east" in the first half of June 1942 were routed via Lublin to Sobibor. At Lublin 36 men were taken off this train for forced labour at Majdanek. The other deportees – men judged unfit for work, women and children – were presumably taken straight on to Sobibor and murdered there.
1 transport from Berlin brought 746 people here.
Transports from Berlin to Sobibor
| Date | Designation | From | People | Known survivors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02.06.1942 | XIV. Transport | Güterbahnhof Moabit | 746 |
The memorial today
The Museum and Memorial in Sobibór, a branch of the State Museum at Majdanek since 2012, opened a new museum building and permanent exhibition in 2020. The site includes the memorial path from the railway ramp to the mound of ashes and an Alley of Remembrance with stones commemorating individual victims and communities.
Sources
- USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia: Sobibor Location, staff and auxiliary guards, commandants, carbon monoxide gassing, at least 167,000 victims and their origins including Germany, uprising figures, site ploughed and planted with pines
- USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia: Sobibor: Key Dates Construction spring 1942; regular transports from 3 May 1942; at least 61,400 Jews killed May–July 1942; uprising of 14 October 1943
- Museum and Memorial in Sobibór: Discover History Name 'SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor'; one of three 'Einsatz Reinhardt' killing centres; about 180,000 murdered; countries of origin; about 50 escapees survived
- Museum and Memorial in Sobibór: About the Museum Branch of the State Museum at Majdanek since 2012; new museum and exhibition 2020; memorial path, ash mound, Alley of Remembrance
- Yad Vashem: Yitzhak Arad, "Operation Reinhard": Extermination Camps of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka Polish official figure of 250,000 Sobibor victims; most camp staff formerly in the 'euthanasia' programme
- Bundesarchiv Gedenkbuch: Chronologie der Deportationen aus dem Deutschen Reich Berlin–Sobibór, 13 June 1942, 748/1,030 deportees, arrival 15 June 1942
- Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf: Liste der Deportationszüge aus Berlin 1941–1945 List based on Gottwaldt/Schulle: 13 June 1942, 748 (1,030) deportees, arrival 15 June, Sobibor
- Statistik des Holocaust: XIV. Transport (Berlin, June 1942) Dating to 2 June 1942; 746 from Berlin, 35 from Potsdam area incl. Beelitz children and Sally Bein; routing via Lublin to Sobibor; 36 men selected for Majdanek; the rest presumably murdered in Sobibor
- Gleis 69: Der Deportationsbahnhof Transport of 13 June 1942 (Berlin/Potsdam to Sobibor) departed from Moabit
- Wikipedia: Sobibor extermination camp coordinates
