From the Ashes of Sobibor: A Story of SurvivalWhen the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Thomas Toivi Blatt was twelve years old. He and his family lived in the largely Jewish town of Izbica in the Lublin district of Poland - a district that was to become the site of three of the six major Nazi extermination camps: Belzec, Sobibor, and Majdanek. Blatt's account of his childhood in Izbica provides a fascinating glimpse of Jewish life in Poland after the German invasion and during the periods of mass deportations of Jews to the camps. Blatt tells of the chilling events that led to his deportation to Sobibor, of his separation from his family, and of the six months he spent at Sobibor before taking part in the most successful uprising and mass breakout in any Nazi camp during World War II. Blatt's tale of escape, and of the five horrifying years spent eluding both the Nazis and later anti-Semitic Polish nationalists, is a firsthand account of one of the most terrifying and savage events of human history. From the Ashes of Sobibor also includes a moving interview with Karl Frenzel, a Nazi commandant from Sobibor. |
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afraid Akcja arrived asked barrack began BLATT Bojarski bread brother bunk camp cell close dark death door Engels escape Escape from Sobibor eyes farmer father felt fence forest Fredek FRENZEL gas chambers gate German Gestapo ghetto girl hand head heard hiding place Izbica Jewish Jews Jozek Judenrat Kapo Karl Frenzel Karolek killed knew Kraków Krasnystaw Krauze KRIPO Lager later leave live looked Lublin morning moved Nazis nearby night Oberscharführer opened passed peasant Poland Poles Polish Poźycki prisoners Red Army returned rifles roll call Sasha screaming shot shtetl sleep Sobibor someone soon Soviet stood stopped straw Stryj Suddenly survive Szlomo Szmul talk Thomas Blatt thought Toivi told Tomek took town train station transport turned Ukrainian guards Unterscharführer village vodka voice Volksdeutscher waited walked wanted yard yelled Yiddish Zamość Zelinger