The Treblinka Uprising: The Plan Behind the Great Escape from the Death Camp

The concentration camps established during the Holocaust by the Nazis were meticulously planned as part of a systematic scheme to completely prevent any spark of independence, initiative, or action from the masses of oppressed Jews. It was extremely difficult to rebel against the Nazi forces. Every little action was met with collective punishment. The Jews arrived at the camp after days of starvation and months of hiding and oppression, within a well-oiled system of deception.

Nevertheless, there were several rebellion events. Besides the famous Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, there were also uprisings within the concentration camps. One of the relatively successful uprisings was the revolt in the Treblinka camp.

Treblinka concentration camp was established near the Polish town of Treblinka, about 50 miles from Warsaw. The purpose of the camp was the extermination of Jews, with the vast majority being led to their deaths through various cruel means, while a minority was tasked with exploiting the loot and clearing the bodies. In this way, about 800,000 Jews were exterminated.

Jews built the camp through forced labor, and Jews operated the system of killing and looting under coercion. For about a year, a vast number of Jews were exterminated, while about 200 Jews were forced to manage this in practice, under the supervision of only about 40 SS Nazi officers.

As mentioned, it was extremely difficult to revolt against the Nazis. Jews were led helplessly between rows of SS officers and Ukrainian guards wielding automatic weapons and attack dogs. Every small action ended with impossible, brutal retaliation. In September 1942, one Jew stabbed the Nazi Max Biala and killed him with a knife he had hidden for this purpose. In response, the Nazis killed 150 Jews, deterring others from revolting, which would lead to collective punishment of their brethren.

The uprising was planned by three people: Zhelomer Bloch, a former Jewish officer in the Czechoslovak army, Moshe Lubling, and Tzvi Lebkind from the city of Czestochowa. They were joined by sixty people from the camp inmates. The rebels seized the Germans' armory and cut the telephone lines to prevent reinforcements from being called. Although they did not manage to cut the electricity before the uprising was discovered, they fought bravely, killed many of the Nazis and the Ukrainian guards, broke through the camp fences, and escaped into the surrounding forests. About 200 prisoners managed to escape, of whom about 130 were shot or betrayed by the "good Poles" in the area.

Seventy survived the war.

During the uprising, the camp was set on fire, and the Nazis forced the Jews who could not escape to dismantle the entire camp and destroy all traces of the abhorrent killing facilities, as they understood the escapees would spread descriptions to the outside world. After the camp was dismantled, all remaining Jews were shot, and the Nazis established a Ukrainian farm there to cover up their crimes.

Of all the Nazis who ran the despicable camp, only five were sentenced to life imprisonment. The camp's commander at the time of its establishment, Imfried Eberl, committed suicide.

In this camp operated a notorious Ukrainian murderer nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible." He was extradited to Israel about forty years ago, but the Israeli court acquitted him due to doubt, lest his identification was not unequivocal.