What is Sobibor?
Officials outside the station at Sobibor
Sobibor was established March 1942. It was located near the Sobibor village in Poland, strategically located near large populations of Jewish people. It was the second extermination camp to come into operation due to a program called the Aktion Reinhard program. There were about 700 Jewish workers temporarily staying at the camp who aided in constructing the site and served the SS men. The site measures approximately 1,300 by 2,000 feet and was constructed to resemble a rectangle. The camp was enclosed with barbed wire and guarded by watch towers constantly. The camp was engineered to accommodate up to 20 railroad wagons filled with Jewish prisoners who were told they were entering a transit station. Sobibor consisted of two camps divided into three parts: administration, barracks, storage for goods, and the extermination section. Sobibor started out with three gas chambers using carbon monoxide, but three more were later added. The road to the extermination section was called "the street to heaven".
Diagram of Sobibor
The first camp held the prisoners that serviced the SS men and officials. On the way to the second camp, people were required to undress and proceed up the passage way to shaving stations for women, and ultimately towards the gas chambers. The passage way to the chamber was labeled "showers". The second camp also held storage huts for clothing and belongings of the Jewish people. The third camp housed three gas chambers, measured 12 feet by feet, that could hold about 160-180 people at a time. After, the dead bodies of the prisoners were removed and buried in large pits. Roughly 200 to 300 Jews worked in the gas chambers removing gold teeth for collection, pushing carts filled with deceased bodies after gassing, and cleaning out the rooms after a group of Jews were killed. Between August and September of 1942, the deaths stopped in Sobibor while the main rail track was repaired. The number of gas chambers increased to six allowing the SS men to kill approximately 1,200 people at the same time. The camp was now being controlled by Franz Reichsleiter and continued operations through the spring of 1943. Sobibor ultimately shut down in October 14, 1943 due to inmate revolt leading to the escape of around 300 prisoners but only about 50 survived. They succeeded in killing roughly a dozen SS personnel. It is estimated that 250,000 Jews were killed at the Sobibor death camp.