This is a list of survivors of the Sobibor extermination camp. The list is divided into two groups. The first comprises the 58 known survivors of those selected to perform forced labour for the camp's daily operation. The second comprises those deported to Sobibor but selected there for forced labor in other camps.
This list is as complete as current records allow. There were 58 known Sobibor survivors: 48 male and 10 female. Except where noted, the survivors were German: Arbeitshäftlinge, inmates who performed slave-labour for the daily operation of the camp, who escaped during the camp-wide revolt on .
The vast majority of the people taken to Sobibor did not survive but were shot or gassed immediately upon arrival. Of the German: Arbeitshäftlinge forced to work as German: [[Sonderkommando]] in German: Lager III, the camp's extermination area where the gas chambers and most of the mass graves were located, no one survived.
| Name | Birth | Death | Age at Death | From | Ethnicity | Arrival | Other names/spellings | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | 83 | Chełm, Poland | Jewish | (approximately) | Worked as a carpenter, and served on the German: Bahnhofskommando. Emigrated to Rehovot, Israel. | ||||
| [2] | 75 | Płock, Poland | Jewish | , from Zamość | Changed name from Moshe Szklarek. | Worked in provisions barracks, in the German: Bahnhofskommando, and as a barber. Emigrated to Israel, where he wrote a testimony for the Ghetto Fighter's House and testified at the Eichmann Trial. | |||
| (approximately) | 50 | Lemberg, Poland | Jewish | from Drancy, France. | Later settled in Belgium. | ||||
| Izbica, Poland | Jewish | or | Surname also "Białowicz". First name sometimes "Fishel" or "Fiszel".[3] | Brother of Symcha Bialowitz. Worked in sorting barracks and provisions barracks, and as a barber and German: Bahnhofskommando member. Emigrated to the US and co-authored the memoir A Promise At Sobibor with his son Joseph. | |||||
| [4] | 101 | Izbica, Poland | Jewish | Brother of Philip Bialowitz. Worked in the German: Waldkommando and in the camp pharmacy. Participated in the revolt. Married a survivor from Zamość and settled in Israel. | |||||
| 75 or 76 | Hrubieszów, Poland | Jewish | or | Was unloading a truck full of vodka for SS Erich Bauer when the revolt began. Hid in Camp IV and escaped that night. Joined the Parczew partisans[5] and later settled in Israel, where he gave testimony in the Eichmann trial. | |||||
| [6] | Izbica, Poland | Jewish | Name also rendered as Toivi Blatt and Tomasz Blatt. Used the Polish name Bolesław Stankiewicz[7] for a short period after the war. | Escaped over the fence in the German: Vorlager. Witness in post-war trials. Wrote Sobibor memoir From the Ashes of Sobibor and history Sobibor: The Forgotten Revolt. Worked as an assistant to Richard Rashke in writing Escape from Sobibor and acted as a consultant on the movie adaptation. Interviewed Karl Frenzel. | |||||
| [8] | Kurów, Poland | Jewish | Hershel Zuckerman, including in Escape from Sobibor. | Father of Josef Cukierman. Arrived with wife and daughters who were gassed on arrival. Worked as a gardener before the war, but told the SS that he was a cook in order to be selected for work. Had an excellent memory which helped him identify SS officers in postwar trials. | |||||
| [9] | Kurów, Poland | Jewish | from Opole Lubelski Ghetto | Joseph Zuckerman | Son of Herschel Cukierman. Worked with his father in the kitchens. After the war, lived in Stuttgart before moving to Karlsruhe. | ||||
| Josef Duniec | Równo, Poland | Jewish | Sent to Sobibor from Drancy, having emigrated to France in 1932 in order to study chemistry. Moved to Israel after the war, where he died of a heart attack the day before he was expected to testify at the Sobibor trial. | ||||||
| 73 | Chełm, Poland | Jewish | Spring | Leon Szymiel | Stayed in Poland after war. Testimony available at ushmm.org | ||||
| Brudzew, Poland | Jewish | Killed German: [[SS-Oberscharführer]] Rudolf Beckmann during the revolt. Escaped with Selma Wijnberg-Engel and survived the rest of the war in hiding. The two later married and moved to Connecticut. | |||||||
| Zwolle, Netherlands | Jewish | Saartje Engel, Selma Engel, Saartje Wijnberg, Selma Wijnberg, Selma Wynberg | Worked in the sorting barracks and German: Waldkommando. Escaped with Chaim Engel during the revolt. They survived the rest of the war in hiding together. The two later married. | ||||||
| [10] | 34 or 35 | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | early | First name sometimes Lejb or Lejba. Surname sometimes Felhendler. | One of the co-organizers of the revolt. After fighting as a partisan, made his way back to Lublin, where he was murdered under disputed circumstances. | |||
| [11] | 80 | Warsaw, Poland | Jewish | First name also Berek. | Deported to Sobibor from Krasnystaw, where he had been sent from the Warsaw Ghetto. After the revolt, hid with Simeon Rosenfeld after the revolt. Gave testimony at the Eichmann trial. Author of memoir "To Survive Sobibor". | ||||
| [12] [13] [14] [15] | Netherlands | Jewish | First name also Kitty, Katty, Kathy. | Was shot in the leg by Karl Frenzel during the escape. Joined Parczew partisans but was killed before liberation. | |||||
| Piaski, Poland | Jewish | First name also Moshe. | Worked as a sign painter in Sobibor. Joined the Parczew partisans after the revolt and later settled in Israel. | ||||||
| [16] | 80 | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | Worked in the sorting barracks. Later moved to Israel. Gave testimony at war crime trails. | |||||
| [17] [18] [19] | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | Worked as the foreman in the tailor's shop. He hid Niemann's body after getting him to try on a new jacket. | ||||||
| [20] | 79 | Kiev, Ukraine | Jewish | Escaped from the camp twice. Taken to Sobibor in November 1942 from Gorzków near Izbica, he escaped by crawling under a fence. Was captured and sent back in April 1943, where he worked in the kitchen and in the forest brigade. Escaped from the forest brigade and joined the Parczew partisans. | |||||
| [21] | Łódź, Poland | Jewish | Abraham Kohn | Worked in the kitchens, the sorting barracks, and forest brigade. Later moved to Australia. | |||||
| or 1945 | Biłgoraj, Poland | Jewish | Allegedly escaped by killing a Ukrainian guard on while on duties outside of the camp in the nearby village of Zlobek; did not survive World War II. | ||||||
| 79 | Izbica, Poland | Jewish | Worked in the forest brigade. Unclear whether he escaped with the forest brigade or in the ultimate revolt. Later moved to Italy, then Brazil. | ||||||
| [22] | unknown | Polish | Jewish | Testimony available.[23] | |||||
| [24] | Unknown | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | Lajst | Little is known about him except that he worked in Sobibor as a gardener and that he settled in Israel after the war. | ||||
| [25] [26] | 93 | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | Szmuel | Worked in the stables and later in the Erbhof, taking care of chickens and ducks. During the revolt, he escaped with Ester Raab and hid with a friend of her family. In 1949, he and Raab encountered Sobibor "gasmeister" Hermann Erich Bauer in Berlin, leading to his arrest. Moved to New York City and became a cab driver. | ||||
| 81 years | Warsaw, Poland | Jewish | Jehuda Lerner, sometimes went by "Leon" | He and Arkady Wajspapir killed two guards, German: [[SS-Oberscharführer]] Siegfried Graetschus and Volksdeutscher Ivan Klatt during the revolt. Joined the Parczew partisans and later settled in Israel. Interviewed extensively in the documentary Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. | |||||
| 78 | Jarosław, Poland | Jewish | Eda Fisher, Eda Lichtman | Worked in the laundry and as a knitress, where she was regarded as a "surrogate mother" to other prisoners. Joined the Parczew partisans. Moved to Israel, married another survivor, and gave testimony at the Eichmann trial. | |||||
| [27] | 83 or 84 | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | Itzhak Lichtman | Joined the Parczew partisans. Married Ada Lichtman (Fischer). | ||||
| [28] | 71 | Soviet | Jewish | Red Army soldier in Pechersky's group. Was a participant of the uprising and subsequently rejoined the Red Army. | |||||
| 62 or 63 | Żyrardów, Poland | Jewish | late | Worked in the Bahnhofskommando, as well as kitchens and sorting barracks. Joined the Parczew partisans with Hela Felenbaum-Weiss, then emigrated to Israel, where he worked as a printer. | |||||
| 73 or 74 | Koło, Poland | Jewish | Worked in sorting barracks then as a shoe shiner and hat maker. Emigrated to Australia after the war. | ||||||
| 86 | Polish | Jewish | Worked with Felhendler to plan revolt. | ||||||
| 54 or 55 | Siedliszcze, Poland | Jewish | Zelda Kelbermann | Cousin of Regina Zielinski. Worked as a knitress and in the laundry. Went to Lviv after the escape, where pretended to be Catholic and worked as a nanny. Emigrated to the US in 1946. | |||||
| Ukrainian | Jewish | Chief organizer and leader of the revolt. Red Army soldier who joined the Parczew partisans. | |||||||
| unknown | Belarusian | Jewish | Surname also listed as Plotnikow; | Lived in Pinsk, Belarus after the war. | |||||
| Shlomo Podchlebnik | 66 | Polish | Jewish | He and Josef Kopp escaped by killing a Ukrainian guard on while on duties outside of the camp in the nearby village of Zlobek. | |||||
| 29 | German | Jewish | Luka, Loeka | Identified by Jules Schelvis as likely identity of "Luka". Presumed dead following mass escape.[29] [30] | |||||
| [31] | 92 | Polish | Jewish | Née Terner, she became known as Esther Raab after her 1946 marriage to Irving Raab. | She identified gas chamber executioner Erich Bauer after the war in Berlin, leading to his arrest. | ||||
| [32] | 96 | Soviet | Jewish | Semion Rosenfeld, Semyon Rosenfeld, Semion Rozenfeld. | Red Army soldier under Pechersky's command. Was separated from the other Russians and survived in hiding. Rejoined the Red Army and fought in the Battle of Berlin, where he carved the name "Sobibor" into the wall of the Reich Chancellery. Returned to the Soviet Union, but eventually emigrated to Israel. | ||||
| 69 | Polish | Jewish | Joined the Parczew partisans. Murdered in 1994 in Israel by two Palestinian terrorists. | ||||||
| 74 | Polish | Jewish | Surname also spelled Serczuk. | Joseph and his brother David escaped the day after arriving when on forest duty. | |||||
| Polish | Jewish | Surname also spelled Serczuk. | David and his brother Joseph escaped the day after arriving when on forest duty. | ||||||
| Belarusian | Jewish | Often referred to in accounts by the nickname "Kali Mali". | Red Army soldier. Killed deputy commandant Johann Niemann with an axe to his head. Joined the Parczew partisans after escaping the camp, but was killed.[33] | ||||||
| 58 or 59 | German | Jewish | Changed her name to Ilana Safran after the war. | Joined the Parczew partisans. Witness at Hagen trial. | |||||
| Polish | Jewish | Shlomo Smajzner, Szlomo Smajzner | Goldsmith and machinist in Sobibor. Made the knives used in the revolt, and also stole rifles. Shot a guard in one of the guard towers. After escaping, joined the Parczew partisans and eventually emigrated to Brazil where he worked as an executive in a paper factory. Testified against Franz Stangl, and identified Gustav Wagner at a police station in Goiana. | ||||||
| Belarusian | Jewish | Job was to cut the barbed wire fence as a backup exit. | |||||||
| Czech | Jewish | Kurt Thomas | Worked as a nurse in Sobibor. After the war, he brought charges against SS officers Hubert Gomerski and Johann Klier. | ||||||
| Polish | Jewish | Shrulke | Camp bricklayer and German: Bahnhofkommando train station worker. After the war moved to Israel. | ||||||
| Ukrainian | Jewish | autumn | Worked in sorting room.[34] | ||||||
| [35] [36] | 96 | Russian | Jewish | He and Jehuda Lerner killed two guards with axe blows, German: [[SS-Oberscharführer]] Siegfried Graetschus and Volksdeutscher Ivan Klatt, during the revolt. A Red Army soldier, he joined the Parczew partisans. | |||||
| 57 | Polish | Jewish | Escaped on, along with four other prisoners. | ||||||
| Hela Felenbaum-Weiss | 63 | Polish | Jewish | Joined the Parczew partisans; later joined the Red Army. | |||||
| Unknown | Polish | Jewish | Joined partisans after the revolt. | ||||||
| Polish | Jewish | Née Feldman | Worked as a knitter in Sobibor. After the war, married a Polish Catholic army officer and settled in Australia. Her son wrote a book "Conversations with Regina" which recounts her experiences as well as his own later-in-life discovery of his Jewish origins and his mother's status as a Holocaust survivor. | ||||||
| [37] [38] | Żółkiewka, Poland | Jewish | Arrived on one of the first transports. After the war, he moved to Venezuela and then to Israel, where he worked in electronics. |
Selections sometimes took place at the point of departure, often well before people were forced to board the trains, but there are also reports of selections from trains already en route to the camps. In his June 20, 1942 report, Revier-Leutnant der Schutzpolizei Josef Frischmann, in charge of the guard unit on the train, wrote that "51 Jews capable of work" were removed from the transport at Lublin station. The train had departed Vienna on June 14, 1942, ostensibly for Izbica, but the remaining 949 people on board were delivered to their final destination in Sobibor.[39]
The precise number of those spared upon arrival in the Sobibor extermination camp is unknown, but there were occasional selections there, for forced labour in other camps and factories, amounting to a total of several thousand people. Many of those selected subsequently perished due to harsh conditions in the slave-labour details. A number of them were murdered after internal selections, following transfers to Majdanek and Auschwitz, where people were also routinely murdered by hanging or shooting for arbitrary offences. Thousands of Jews initially selected for slave-labour were among those killed in the Lublin district during German: [[Aktion Erntefest]], and many were shot or succumbed on the death marches in the closing stages of the Nazi regime. However, some of the people selected at Sobibor ultimately survived beyond the total defeat and unconditional surrender of the Nazis in May 1945.[39]
On August 17, 1943, a survivor from Sabinov in Slovakia, who has remained anonymous, wrote a report in which he described his selection in Sobibor, together with approximately 100 men and 50 women, upon arrival. For slave-labour in the drainage works in the vicinity of Sobibor they were taken to Krychów. He had arrived following the violent clearance of deported Slovakian Jews and the few remaining Polish Jews from the Rejowiec ghetto on August 9, 1942. He described how a few additional skilled workers, technicians, blacksmiths and watchmakers were separated upon arrival in Sobibor. He further wrote that fire was visible in the night sky in the vicinity of Sobibor, and that the stench of burning hair permeated the air.[39]
Approximately 1,000 people were selected from the 34,313 named deportees who had been deported from the Netherlands via Westerbork to Sobibor between March 2 and July 20, 1943. Only 16 of them, 13 women and three men, survived.From the group of approximately 30 women selected from the train which left Westerbork with 1,015 people on March 10, 1943, 13 survived the various camps. Although they were split up after arrival in Lublin and returned to the Netherlands via different camps and routes, this was the largest single group of survivors from any one of the 19 trains which departed the Netherlands.Upon arrival they were separated from the other deportees and shortly afterwards taken by train to Lublin, where they spent the next months in various work details divided over Majdanek and the Alter Flugplatz camp, on the site of an airfield. Eventually, eleven of the women were transferred to Milejów, where they worked for a brief period in a Wehrmacht operated provisions factory, but were soon taken to Trawniki, with a larger group of men and women of mixed nationality, in the immediate aftermath of German: Aktion Erntefest in November 1943. Here, their first assignment was assisting in body disposal and sorting the looted possessions of those murdered at the Trawniki camp. After body disposal had nearly been completed, the remaining men were also murdered.Elias Isak Alex Cohen was the only survivor of the March 17, 1943 transport. He was taken to Majdanek with a group of approximately 35 people selected based on profession. His experiences include a period operating machinery in the ammunition factory in Skarżysko-Kamienna, where the poisonous materials and lack of protections decimated the forced-labourers. Jozef Wins was the only one to return to the Netherlands from the May 11 transport. He was among a group of 80 men taken to Dorohucza. Jules Schelvis was the sole survivor of the 3,006 people on the deportation train of June 1, 1943, He too was taken to Dorohucza, with a group of 80 other men. From the remaining 14 trains, people were also selected but no one survived the Holocaust.[40] [39] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48]