The only mass escape from a concentration camp occurred on Oct. 14, 1943. Sobibor was an extermination camp located in eastern Poland. As part of Operation Reinhard, trains full of Polish Jews were taken to the camp starting in May, 1942. In the next 18 months, 170.000-250,000 Jews were killed in gas chambers. Not all of the arrivals were killed immediately. Some Jews were put to work in shops like jewelry-making (some using gold from Jewish fillings) or tailoring. Others sorted the belongings of the gas chamber victims. When word arrived that a similar camp at Belzac had been shut down with everyone killed, some of the Jews realized they could be next. A few organized an escape committee led by Leon Feldhendler, but soon it appeared their task was impossible. Things changed when about 20 Jewish Red Army prisoners arrived. Feldhandler felt these men had the skills to aid an escape. The Russians leader, Alexander Pechersky, was invited to join the committee. It was decided the best plan should involve killing the SS officers and guards and escaping through the front gate. Only a select few knew of the plan. Some were tasked with doing the killings by luring the SS officers to shops. At 4 P.M. on Oct. 15, the acting commandant (the actual commandant was on leave) was lured to the tailors to be fitted for a jacket (taken from the belongings). He was killed with an axe. Similar killings occurred. 11 SS officers were killed, as well as some of the guards. Szlomo Szmajzner stole six rifles from the German barracks. When the inmates gathered for roll call, rumors spread that something big was happening. At this moment, shots were heard and the Jews panicked. Guards in the towers opened fire. The six rifles were used to exchange fire. A large group of Jews charged the camp gate. Many were killed by machine gun fire, but some broke out. Two other groups escaped by going over or through the fence. They knew the camp was surrounded by 50 feet of mines. But the lure of freedom was so great that they chanced the run. Some stepped on mines and were killed. Out of the 600 internees, 300 got outside the wire. About 150 made it. 50 survived the manhunt and the war. The camp was destroyed by the SS and plowed over, but they couldn’t obliterate what happened there.
https://explorethearchive.com/escape-from-sobibor-true-story
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobibor_extermination_camp
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/sobibor
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