✊ October 14 – the uprising at the Sobibor Nazi extermination camp – a memorable date in Russia’s military history.

#OTD in 1943, prisoners at the Sobibor Nazi death camp rose up against their Nazi captors, staging one of the most remarkable acts of resistance during the Holocaust.

Located in German-occupied Poland, Sobibor was built for mass extermination. Between 1942 and 1943, at least 167,000 Jews were murdered there. Only a small number of deportees were temporarily spared for forced labour.

The uprising was led by Alexander Pechersky, a Soviet officer, together with Leon Feldhendler, a Polish Jewish prisoner who had helped establish the camp’s underground resistance. Pechersky’s military experience and the resolve of his fellow Red Army POWs were crucial to transforming plans for an escape into an organised revolt.

⚔️ On October 14, the prisoners lured SS personnel into the camp’s workshops, neutralised them and seized their weapons. When the alarm sounded, SS personnel and Ukrainian auxiliary guards opened fire on the prisoners, who broke through barbed wire and crossed minefields in a desperate dash for freedom.

Around 300 Sobibor prisoners managed to escape.

Many were later hunted down and murdered. Only about 50 of those who escaped survived the war. Pechersky joined a partisan unit and continued fighting the Nazis.

Following the uprising, the Nazis dismantled Sobibor, seeking to erase the evidence of their crimes. But the survivors lived to bear witness, preserving the memory of those who never returned.

🕯 We honour the courage of the prisoners who fought for life and freedom, and remember all those murdered at Sobibor.

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