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Behind these gate the Sonderkommando planned a Revolution

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Behind these gate the Sonderkommando planned a Revolution

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View of the entrance to the main camp of Auschwitz (Auschwitz I). US Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Ella Gärtner. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Anna and Joshua Heilman

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September 1944 only concentration camp still functioning

The resistance was composed of Jews and Non-Jews alike

Ester Wajcblum, Ella Gärtner, and Regina Safirsztain smuggled gun-powder from the munition factory

Róza Robota was one women who worked in the clothing detail-the munition workers would smuggle the ammunition to the clothing detail workers who would then smuggle them to the sonderkommandos

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12th Sonderkommando knew they too were going to die, so planned a revolution.

Gathered gun powder and

made grenades out of sardine tins.

Used women to help smuggle the materials needed from other areas of the camp.

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Roof of the underground gas chambers of Crematorium II. The low structure to the right is where the ventilations system and single chimney were.

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Crematorium II. The structure above is the collapsed roof, dynamited by the SS.

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All that is left of Crematorium IV. It was burned by the Sonderkommando in their revolt of October 1944 and subsequently dismantled by the SS before running from the advancing Soviet Army.

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Crematorium IV at Birkenau in 1943

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Two Women Who Helped with the Revolt Left Words of Encouragement to Those They Left Behind:

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Two Women Who Helped with the Revolt Left Words of Encouragement to Those They Left Behind:

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To a friend, Ester Wajcblum wrote: “I know what is in store for me, but I go readily to the gallows. I only ask you to take care of my sister Hanka. Please don’t leave her, so that I may die easier.”

Róza Robota’s final message to her comrades in the underground was, “Hazak v’ematz,” “Be strong and have courage.”

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https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-sonderkommando/

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http://www.annaheilman.net/About%20Anna%20Heilman.htm

This article tells of a survivor who helped smuggle gun powder to the sonderkommando.

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Róza Robota. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Yad Vashem Photo Archives

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200 Sonderkommandos were laid flat on the ground face down and shot in the back of the heads outside the crematorium. The Nazi guards did spare a few men for a while, just long enough to interrogate and get the names of people who helped in the revolt. They gave names and then were killed. The 13th Sonderkommando disposed the bodies of the 12th Sonderkommando. The Nazis found those that helped in the revolt, and four names given were women. These women helped smuggle the gun- powder to the men. They were beat, raped, and their genitals were electrically shocked, but never once did they give the names of anyone else that were still alive. The only names they ever gave were of those Sonderkommandos that had already died. On
1-5-45, the four women were hung in front of an assembled women’s camp, where Roza Robota shouted, “Be strong, and be brave.”

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This revolt led to the destruction of Crematorium 4 which saved the lives of many Jews. It also gave purpose for those in the camp. They knew they were going to die, so why not try to save others. This revolt also led to the death of everyone in the 12th Sonderkommando.

Several hundred prisoners escaped but were later caught and killed-

200 additional prisoners who joined the revolt were killed.

The 4 women who were ratted out were tortured and later hanged, but inspired others to withstand the death march which led to survival.

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Auschwitz-Birkenau Not a Pretty Place to Be:

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Auschwitz-Birkenau Not a Pretty Place to Be:

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Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp, this is the camp where the Sonderkommando revolt took place.

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The Camp was opened on May 20, 1940 and the 12th Sonderkommando planned and revolted on October 7th, 1944, the time was 3 pm. The Poles or Polish of Crematorium 1 began the revolt, and the Hungarians in Crematoria 3 and 4 joined in quickly. While they were fighting, the Sonderkommando of Crematorium 2 broke through the barbed and electric wires of the camp. The Nazis began shooting through the roof of the Crematoriums and shooting all prisoners in sight. The Sonderkommandos of Crematorium 4 decided to detonate their demolition charges in the oven rooms in an act of defiant suicide. They attacked every SS guard in and around the gas chambers and the crematoriums. They were about 300 meters apart in Camp II. There were 451 Sonderkommandos, and they greatly outnumbered the SS guards, but the SS guards had better weapons. The Sonderkommandos killed about 2 dozen SS guards with axes and knives, and threw 2 guards into the ovens alive. After killing these 2 dozen guards, they stripped them of their weapons and continued to kill over 70 guards. All Sonderkommandos were killed because of the revolt. It didn’t matter if they were a part of the revolt or not. Crematorium 4 was blown up in the revolt.The revolt quickly stopped and the escaped men were recaptured with the help of the local citizens.

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Sonderkommando burning corpses in an open air pit at Birkenau

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Video: https://www.salon.com/2015/12/15/auschwitz_as_an_industrial_workplace_devastating_holocaust_drama_son_of_saul_finds_a_new_story_in_the_nazi_death_camp/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

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Jewish prisoners who were forced to dispose of dead bodies by burning them in big ovens for supposedly better treatment and more food while in the concentration camp.