The Sobibor Death Camp was located in Poland, which was at the time occupied by Germany. The terrain was swampy, densely wooded and there weren't many people living there at the time.
In early 1942 Germans sent a small aircraft to the Sobibor Village where two of the SS Officers, Richard THomalla (SS-Zentralbauleitung Zamosc) and, Baurath Moser. They were assigned to walk around the railway station, take measurements and take a look at the surrounding wooded area.
By March 1942 a new railroad spur was built, the Sobibor Death Camp. The nazis built it so that the railway spur and the ramp were inside the camp so that people who rode the train wouldn't see what was going on inside of the camp. The Germans brought in Jews from nearby ghettos to build the Death Camp, they were lead by SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Neumann who was head of the Construction Offices. Once the Jews finished building they were gassed in one of the very first trials of experimental gassing.
The camp was small compared to others, because it's purpose was to exterminate not to house. Sobibor was a 400 x 600 m rectangle that had 3m high double barbed wire fence that was woven in with Pine Trees so that Outsiders couldn't see what was happening inside the camp. When Jews were brought in they were separated by gender, gave up their valuables and possessions, and were stripped of their clothing and hair. The Nazis had formed a cynical plan to keep the jews calm, when they arrived they were told they were being "re-housed", and apologized for any "inconveniences" or "rough travel." They were even given postcards to send to family members to let them know that they had "arrived safely."
Sobibor had something the Germans called "the tube" it was a long tube that people were led into when they arrived after they had been stripped of everything they had. "The Tube" led to a gas chamber.
SS- Oberscharfuhrer Kurt Bolender testified how the extermination process operated:
“Before the Jews undressed, Oberscharfuhrer Hermann Michel made a speech to them. On these occasions, he used to wear a white coat to give the impression he was a physician. Michel announced to the Jews that they would be sent to work.
But before this they would have to take baths and undergo disinfection, so as to prevent the spread of diseases. After undressing, the Jews were taken through the ‘tube,’ by an SS man leading the way, with five or six Ukrainians at the back hastening the Jews along. After the Jews had entered the gas chambers, the Ukrainians closed the doors, the motor was switched on by the Ukrainian Emil Kostenko and by the German driver Erich Bauer from Berlin. After the gassing, the doors were opened and the corpses were removed by a group of Jewish slave workers.”
"Sobered by both the sense that killing operations in the facility were winding down and information that Belzec had been dismantled and all surviving prisoners liquidated, prisoners at Sobibor organized a resistance group in the late spring of 1943. After considering several options for escape and augmented in numbers and military training skills by the arrival of a number of former Soviet-Jewish prisoners of war from the Minsk ghetto in late September, the prisoners opted for an uprising, following the liquidationAd by Solid Savings of key German camp officials. On October 14, 1943, with approximately 600 prisoners left in the camp, those who knew the plan for the uprising initiated the operation. The prisoners succeeded in killing nearly a dozen German personnel and Trawniki-trained guards. Around 300 prisoners succeeded in breaking out of the killing center that day; around 100 were caught in the dragnet that following and more than half of the remaining survivors did not live to see the end of the war
After the revolt, the Germans and the Trawniki-trained guards dismantled the killing center and shot the Jewish prisoners who had not escaped during the uprising. Pursuant to discussions in the SS hierarchy in the summer of 1943, the Germans had intended to transform the facility first into a holding pen for women and children deported west from occupied Belarus after their fathers and husbands had been murdered in so-called anti-partisan operationsAd by Solid Savings, and later, into an ammunition supply depot. Although there is no information that new prisoners ever arrived in Sobibor after the murder of remaining Jewish prisoners in November 1943, a small Trawniki-trained guard detachment remained at the former killing center through at least the end of March 1944."
In early 1942 Germans sent a small aircraft to the Sobibor Village where two of the SS Officers, Richard THomalla (SS-Zentralbauleitung Zamosc) and, Baurath Moser. They were assigned to walk around the railway station, take measurements and take a look at the surrounding wooded area.
By March 1942 a new railroad spur was built, the Sobibor Death Camp. The nazis built it so that the railway spur and the ramp were inside the camp so that people who rode the train wouldn't see what was going on inside of the camp. The Germans brought in Jews from nearby ghettos to build the Death Camp, they were lead by SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Neumann who was head of the Construction Offices. Once the Jews finished building they were gassed in one of the very first trials of experimental gassing.
The camp was small compared to others, because it's purpose was to exterminate not to house. Sobibor was a 400 x 600 m rectangle that had 3m high double barbed wire fence that was woven in with Pine Trees so that Outsiders couldn't see what was happening inside the camp. When Jews were brought in they were separated by gender, gave up their valuables and possessions, and were stripped of their clothing and hair. The Nazis had formed a cynical plan to keep the jews calm, when they arrived they were told they were being "re-housed", and apologized for any "inconveniences" or "rough travel." They were even given postcards to send to family members to let them know that they had "arrived safely."
Sobibor had something the Germans called "the tube" it was a long tube that people were led into when they arrived after they had been stripped of everything they had. "The Tube" led to a gas chamber.
SS- Oberscharfuhrer Kurt Bolender testified how the extermination process operated:
“Before the Jews undressed, Oberscharfuhrer Hermann Michel made a speech to them. On these occasions, he used to wear a white coat to give the impression he was a physician. Michel announced to the Jews that they would be sent to work.
But before this they would have to take baths and undergo disinfection, so as to prevent the spread of diseases. After undressing, the Jews were taken through the ‘tube,’ by an SS man leading the way, with five or six Ukrainians at the back hastening the Jews along. After the Jews had entered the gas chambers, the Ukrainians closed the doors, the motor was switched on by the Ukrainian Emil Kostenko and by the German driver Erich Bauer from Berlin. After the gassing, the doors were opened and the corpses were removed by a group of Jewish slave workers.”
"Sobered by both the sense that killing operations in the facility were winding down and information that Belzec had been dismantled and all surviving prisoners liquidated, prisoners at Sobibor organized a resistance group in the late spring of 1943. After considering several options for escape and augmented in numbers and military training skills by the arrival of a number of former Soviet-Jewish prisoners of war from the Minsk ghetto in late September, the prisoners opted for an uprising, following the liquidationAd by Solid Savings of key German camp officials. On October 14, 1943, with approximately 600 prisoners left in the camp, those who knew the plan for the uprising initiated the operation. The prisoners succeeded in killing nearly a dozen German personnel and Trawniki-trained guards. Around 300 prisoners succeeded in breaking out of the killing center that day; around 100 were caught in the dragnet that following and more than half of the remaining survivors did not live to see the end of the war
After the revolt, the Germans and the Trawniki-trained guards dismantled the killing center and shot the Jewish prisoners who had not escaped during the uprising. Pursuant to discussions in the SS hierarchy in the summer of 1943, the Germans had intended to transform the facility first into a holding pen for women and children deported west from occupied Belarus after their fathers and husbands had been murdered in so-called anti-partisan operationsAd by Solid Savings, and later, into an ammunition supply depot. Although there is no information that new prisoners ever arrived in Sobibor after the murder of remaining Jewish prisoners in November 1943, a small Trawniki-trained guard detachment remained at the former killing center through at least the end of March 1944."
The YouTube video below is a movie remembering and honoring those who fought and escaped the Sobibor Death Camp during WWII. The movie tells the stories of how the escape took place and those who were affected by it. There is brief nudity to display the historical accuracy of the actual gas chambers in Sobibor. The movie also has a few gruesome scenes on how the prisoners killed the SS officers and how prisoners themselves were punished and/or killed. The historical accuracy of this movie is almost 100%, although viewer discretion is advised.