Last survivor of Sobibor tells his story
Jason Cohen
August 15, 2008
Philip Bialowitz, the lone survivor of the Sobibor death camp, spoke at the Chabad of Western Monmouth County on Aug. 10 to mark the 65th anniversary of the largest Jewish uprising in the Nazi death camps.
"It stands as a symbol where people fought for their lives and their destiny," Bialowitz told a packed house at the Chabad of Western Monmouth County in Manalapan.
It was one of the three death camps built by the Nazis in
He grew up in the small town of
"At the age of 14 my life was over," he said.
His mother was shot by the Germans and his father and sister were gassed in Sobibor.
"I was put in front of a firing squad, I didn't get shot, but fell to the ground and played dead as nine men laid on top of me," he said. "Several hours later I climbed out from the bottom of the corpses."
After surviving the firing squad, Bialowitz, along with his brothers and sisters that had survived, hid in a cold basement until the Germans found them along with many other Jews and brought them to Sobibor.
"In
There were only 600 laborers needed to run the camp, therefore very few Jews had the chance to live before being murdered, Bialowitz said.
"When we first arrived, the Nazis needed workers because they had just killed many of their workers, therefore my brother, Simcha, raised our hands and said we were pharmacists," Bialowitz said.
Their lives were saved, but their 7-year-old niece along with their sisters were crying and they saw them for the last time that day.
Bialowitz along with his brother and other men that were selected cut people's hair and took their valuables before and after their death.
Bialowitz said a neighbor of his growing up was the man that cut his sister's hair before she died.
Before she died she asked them man that cut her hair, "How long will the gas take to kill us?"
People were too sick and weak to resist the Nazis, Bialowitz said.
"People were truly deceived by the Germans, thinking they settled in a work camp," he said. "They were not aware of the fate that awaited them."
Sobibor was a colorful village, which was all an illusion -- and it worked, Bialowitz said.
"When people would arrive at Sobibor my heart was bleeding for them and I knew they would be murdered and reduced to ashes," he said.
Bialowitz said everyone would go to large rooms where they left all of their personal belongings and if they became suspicious of anything, they were beaten. Then, prisoners including Bialowitz would go through their belongings to obtain valuables for the Nazis.
"The Germans would then apologize for not letting the people relax and would tell them to go shower to be disinfected, and to write postcards home telling their family about the place," he said. "People then got undressed, we took their watches and jewelry, but they still had no idea that the showers were as chambers."
The Nazis would then put people in the gas chambers -- 12-by-12 cubicles.
"I heard a horrible mass cry, it was strong, and then 15 minutes later it was silent," Bialowitz said. "It went like this day after day."
Bialowitz said that for six months, people were beaten, whipped, and he watched friends and family die. He and fellow prisoner wanted to get revenge.
"We believed escape was impossible, not only because of the Nazis, their weapons, and our weak conditions, but because Sobibor was deep in a forest, had minefields and barbed wire," he said.
The escape was planned for everyone and the goal was to develop a plan that left no one behind, Bialowitz said.
"We were blessed with a miracle," he said. "Russian soldiers in the Russian army that were Jewish were taken as prisoners of war by the Nazis and sent to Sobibor."
There were 80 of the strongest Russian soldiers that helped the Jews and the two that masterminded the escape were Sasha Pechersky and Leon Feldhendler, Bialowitz said.
The Nazis needed to be secretly eliminated without the escapees being noticed, he said.
The escape occurred on Oct. 14, 1943.
"Our plan had to two phases: one was to tell the Nazis that we had very valuable boots and coats for them that they should try on and then when they came to the room to get the valuables, we ambushed them killing them with knives," Bialowitz said.
After killing the Germans, he felt a rush of happiness and satisfaction, not only for himself, but for his family.
Bialowitz, along with the other Jews, then cut the telephone lines so the Nazis couldn't call for help.
"My brother's moment of destiny came when he stood in front of everyone and said, ‘let's destroy this or at least die fighting with honor and if anyone lives you must tell this story'," Bialowitz said.
The prisoners used knives, guns, axes, and all of the fight that they had left in them to kill as many Germans as possible in their escape.
"During the escape, I climbed the barbed wire, cutting my finger, and I still have the scar today," he said. "Once we past the fences, we made it to the minefields where we believed the German wouldn't activate them be cause of the fear of destroying their land. Luckily for us they didn't and we made it through the minefields."
There were 140 Jews killed during the escape and 160 killed after, Bialowitz said.
"Once I made it to the forest I met my brother there and we lived safely for a year with a non-Jewish Polish family until the Russians liberated us in 1944," Bialowitz said. "We were the only two brothers that survived Sobibor."
This was the largest revolt at the death camps after
"Two-hundred and fifty Jews died at Sobibor, but we owe Sasha and Leon the most, they gave people a second chance to live," Bialowitz said. "They gave us the will to live and freedom."
Bialowitz has dedicated his life to telling the story of innocent people who died and because of Sasha and Leon he has become a proud father of five kids and 15 grandchildren, he said.
He said, "People like Leon and Sasha and everyone else that helped in the revolt against the Nazis fought for their lives, for a better tomorrow, and a future without war, genocide and racism."
Bialowitz said that every day, he along with the other prisoners, would wish that the planes flying over them would bomb them because even if they died, the gas chambers would be destroyed.
"Along with my fellow survivors, I felt abandoned by the world in a time of need and you can't abandon people in a time of need," he said. "The Sobibor uprising stands for injustice and what's wrong in the world."
Bialowitz said that time is running out for the witnesses to tell this story.
Rabbi Baruch Chazanow of the Chabad of Western Monmouth County said, "It was very powerful to hear from a Holocaust survivor."
Chazanow's niece, Hindi said, "I read the book; to hear it from him is very personal, and to see him express his feelings is very inspiring and very moving."
Simon Zelingher, a resident of Morganville who recently visited the death camps in
"As a child, I always dreamed of Jews in concentration camps actually standing up against Nazis, and when I heard this story it was the most amazing thing," Rabbi Levi Wolosow said.
Bialowitz has testified at many war crimes trials and in 1987 he was a consultant for the CBS television movie "Escape from Sobibor." Also, in the fall he has a book coming out about his life at Sobibor.
He is 79 years old and currently resides in Littleneck,