![]() And opposite them three wooden houses in the familiar style of the Shtetl - like Potemkin villages for those arriving. Only the ramp and the train tracks remain. The Germans and their helpers killed the remaining prisoners and then dissolved the death camp, removing most of the traces. A gesture of victory over the murderers of their families. A triumph of the victims over the perpetrators. And yet these 47 survivors and the uprising are the only consolatory thing in this desolate place. Most of these heroes were afterwards sought out with the help of search dogs and shot on the spot.Īs far as we know, only 47 people survived Sobibór, most of whom had managed to escape during the uprising. The Eastern Front was coming closer and there was an uprising in Sobibór, which saw 600 prisoners overcome and kill twelve SS guards, while 350 fled into the surrounding forest. Only at the end, on October 14, 1943, did things get out of control. The machinery of extermination worked for around one year without a single survivor. According to eye-witness reports, they had to wait two or three days before they were murdered using exhaust gases before the eyes of the head of the SS in a demonstration of diligence and efficiency. Because no deportation trains were to arrive during the days he spent there, a truck transport of Jewish women and girls from Lublin had been organized beforehand. On February 12, 1943, Himmler travelled here with a cohort of SS men to see for himself the progress being made in the efficient extermination of the Jews. Of the more than 200,000 Jews murdered in Sobibór, most of them came from Poland, around 33,000 from the Netherlands, and a few thousand from other countries. A certain death for those taken prisoner as part of Hitler’s “Final Solution”. The small station is now a through station, but the bumping post signalizes that the end of the line has been reached. The old bumping post still stands today at the end of the ramp, its two ends bent upwards like the Devil’s horns. They did not use Zyklon B here, instead filling the chambers with the exhaust gas from running engines. Without exception, everyone who arrived here against their will was forced straight into the gas chambers. Those arriving from Arab and Muslim societies who seek their identity in hating the Jews.Ī railway hut sits at the entrance of Sobibór.Ī “selection at the ramp” did not take place. ![]() And unfortunately, also in the utterings of a few, sadly too many, who have not been at home in Germany for very long. In the hate-filled statements of left-wing extremists who call upon us to boycott the country where those who survived the Holocaust found refuge. At the concerts of radical right-wingers in Germany’s east. In the anti-Israeli comments of some media. Today, it finds an outlet in hate comments posted on Facebook. Our journey takes us to where hatred of the Jews reached its zenith. ![]() Anti-Semitism, whose most extreme, darkest and most brutal side we will encounter on our trip, is still very much alive today. But they are still discriminated against and threatened by many. Jews are not persecuted in Europe today, or systematically murdered. We embarked on a journey into Germany’s past, wanting to visit the extermination camps of Sobibór, Bełżec and Majdanek over a period of two days. One of the main sites of the industrial-like genocide, it was and still remains hidden to the present day. In trains with up to 60 freight wagons each, they were transported directly to the gas chambers, exterminated like vermin. In only a few months in 19, more than 200,000 Jews were brought to these grounds, which were hidden behind trees and surrounded by a minefield. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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