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Alexander Pechersky, 1909 - 1990 (Aged 80 at time of death)

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Alexander Pechersky, a Jewish lieutenant from the Soviet Union, is well known for his role in the planned and successful revolt in Sobibor, the Nazi death camp.

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Pechersky was born on the 22nd of February in 1909 in Kremenchuck. While Pechersky originally had been working in the music industry, the German invasion of the Soviet Union forced Pechersky to be drafted into the Soviet military to fight off their invaders. Unfortunately for Pechersky, the same year he was drafted, he was caught by the Germans. Seven months into imprisonment, Pechersky escaped but was not fortunate enough to stay in a free state for long, as he was caught once more and sent to Borishov. Upon further examination of the unfortunate soldier, the Nazis soon learned he was Jewish due to his circumcision, and was sent to a camp in the Minsk ghetto. Even worse, once the Minsk ghetto was destroyed, Pechersky was relocated once more to the Nazi death camp in Sobibor on September 18th of 1943. However, unbeknownst to the Nazis, Alexander Pechersky’s assignment to Sobibor was the perfect opportunity for the Soviet prisoner to retaliate against his oppressors.

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"I did not take revenge. I fought for my Motherland as a soldier, not a murderer." - Alexander Pechersky

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"I did not take revenge. I fought for my Motherland as a soldier, not a murderer." - Alexander Pechersky

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Another Photo of Pechersky

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One day, after watching his fellow prisoner be whipped repeatedly by an SS senior officer named Karl Frenzel, the officer told Pechersky that if he did not finish chopping a tree in five minutes, the officer would whip Pecherksy twenty-five times, but if Pechersky did finish, the officer would provide Pechersky a cigarette. Pecherksy, up for the challenge, cut down the tree within the time limit, but upon being allowed to claim his prize, the defiant Pechersky told the officer that he did not smoke. Later, the same officer tried to make Pechersky take some fine bread and butter as a reward instead, but Pecherksy insisted that the prison rations were enough. Frustrated, the officer left their post, leaving another officer in charge. News of Pechersky’s brave actions spread around the camp, eventually leading to Pechersky being requested to take part in creating an escape plan.

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On October 14th of 1943, the Nazi death camp of Sobibor, while the day began off like any other, was in reality, the beginning of Alexander Pechersky and a few other’s schemes to take down the camp and liberate their fellow prisoners. The attack began around 4 PM, but the men had assembled beforehand with weapons the hour before. Some were given specific German officers to kill, but others were going blind. The first two kills went as planned, some men lured Nazi officers into a secluded area and killed them in cold blood. To hide the blood, the killers used sawdust to disguise the crimson substance. However, a German SS Officer, Eric Bauer, found out of their scheme and promptly began shooting at the prisoners. Left with no other options, Pechersky gave the code words for the full-scale version of the revolt to begin, launching Sobibor into an intense battlefield between the prisoners, who were now equipped with some weapons and gear from the guards they killed, and the guards, who were caught off guard by the sudden attack. It was pure chaos, the thundering booms of mine explosions and ear-piercing screams of agony all mixing into one perfect symphony as the full revolt commenced. The oppressed prisoners finally had their opportunity to avenge all of those who were precious to them and retaliate against their persecutors. The Ukrainian guards and the SS personnel were put into a circle of hell as they struggled to maintain control of Sobibor while neutralizing the threats all around them. Pechersky himself tried to liberate as many prisoners as he could, and once the dust finally settled, Pecherksy and all of the survivors of the revolt had already escaped.

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Around half of the 600 prisoners in Sobibor escaped, 80 died in the revolt, 130 chose not to participate, and all of those who decided to stay in the camp or were caught after escaping were killed by the Nazis. The revolt of Sobibor would result in the closing of the death camp a few days later, resulting in the execution of all prisoners that remained in the camp, similar to the events of what occurred in other closed concentration camps during the year.  After the revolt, the escapees parted ways, and Pecherksy returned to his post in the Soviet Union. He would go on to eventually meet his wife and have kids after the war and his experience would later be recorded in the Uprising in Sobibor report by the Commission of Inquiry of the Crimes of Fascist-German Aggressors and their Accomplices. If Pechersky never arrived at Sobibor, he wouldn’t have been able to be responsible for saving the people he saved, for out of those who escaped Sobibor, 58 escapees survived the war, with all of them sure to remember Alexander Pechersky, one of the brave men who organized the event that would save their lives.

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Trailer for the 2019 movie SOBIBOR which details the heroic story of Alexander "Sasha" Pechersky and his role in the Sobibor Revolt.

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Photo of Alexander Pechersky with his family

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Photo of Alexander Pechersky with his family

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(From left to right) His wife, Olga Kotova - His daughter, Eleanora Pechersky - And himself, Alexander Pechersky

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On the first workday of arriving at Sobibor, Pechersky and the rest of the Soviet POWs (prisoners of war) were ordered by SS German Officer Karl Frenzel to sing a Russian song as they marched to their assigned work for the day. In a dangerous act of passive rebellion, Alexander Pechersky told his fellow prisoners to sing with him a song called, "If Tomorrow War Comes (or Если завтра война in Russian)". Originating from the Soviet Union, the song was about the USSR pushing back, resisting, and defeating an enemy force, appropriately used in the situation. So the group of imprisoned Soviet soldiers went, marching down to their work while singing loudly, for every soul in the camp of Sobibor to hear.

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Если завтра война/ If Tomorrow War Comes

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Если завтра война/ If Tomorrow War Comes

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The song that Pechersky and his fellow Soviet POWs sang

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"Если завтра война" - Soviet Pre-war Army Song

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The German officer that stood as an adversary to Pechersky at his time in the camp.

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Named after Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking SS officer and one of the notorious individuals behind the making of the Holocaust, Operation Reinhard was the malicious plot to kill the entirety of Jews of the General Government and Polish Jews. With the introduction of Operation Reinhard came the creation of extermination camps, or "death camps". The main concept behind these Nazi death camps was to exterminate as much as Jews as possible to rid of the evidence and efficiently accomplish their goal at the same time. There were three main camps of Operation Reinhard, being the one in Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. While the victims amassed from Sobibor were the second highest out of the three camps, the location and identity were not heard of by many. Unfortunately, this worked in the favor of the Nazis, for when the other two camps had shut down and Operation Reinhard was closing, Sobibor remained the only camp that still was up. As a result, Sobibor was scheduled soon to be shut down by August of 1943 and the Jewish prisoners residing in the camp were to be killed to rid of the evidence.

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Several people worked alongside Pechersky to make the Revolt of Sobibor possible. One of these people was Leon Feldhendler, a Polish Jew who had lived in Sobibor for quite some time, and also led the underground organization of the camp. Feldhendler told Pechersky the true dark nature of Sobibor, informing him of the killings that occurred in the camp that day. Feldhender would eventually recruit Pechersky into the cause and play a huge role in the Revolt, working alongside him and providing assistance from his group whenever it was necessary. There's also Shloim Leitman, a Warsaw Jew who Pechersky met back at the previous death camp he was in, the Shirokaya Street camp. Leitman became Pechersky's translator and also a close friend, as they would both go to Sobibor together. The two of them would stick close and build a strong bond through their companionship and camaraderie through the rough times, even making preparations for the Revolt together. There was also Boris Tsibulsky, another fellow prisoner in Sobibor who Pechersky met after a few days into the camp, who happened also to be quite strong, for he served as a butcher and miner from Donbass before the Holocaust. They also met previously in a "Jewish cellar", a sort of underground bunker meant to imprison and hold Jews until they were placed somewhere. Finally, there was Luka, an eighteen-year-old girl who accompanied Pechersky to help act as a cover for the meetings that Feldhendler and Leitman had with him. Luka never learned to speak any of the languages they spoke, for she was from Hamburg and only knew how to speak German, so she worked perfectly for the secretive, strategic conference the three had. While Pechersky insisted that their relationship was but platonic, the cover story made up by him was that Luka was his "girlfriend" for any guards who got curious about Pechersky's activities.

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A document confirming the supplies for "special unit Sobibor".

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Unfortunately, after the Holocaust, Pechersky never got the opportunity to meet his old companions. Leitman was badly wounded and died during the Revolt, and Luka's fate remained unknown to Pechersky's knowledge. On the other hand, Pechersky heard Tsibulsky and Feldhendler had survived and escaped. Sadly, Boris Tsibulsky soon contracted pneumonia and was left behind by the group, eventually leading to his untimely death. However, no matter the fact, these people would always be kept and cherished close in Pechersky's memories for the rest of his life.