Bernolf Kramer

On October 14, 1943, 80 years ago, an act of courage and resistance took place that would go down in history as the Sobibor Uprising. This event, in which prisoners in the German Sobibor death camp revolted against their oppressors, is commemorated annually. This year there was not only an intimate commemoration on Oct. 14, but also an international commemoration on Oct. 12, with outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Rutte in attendance.

 A powerful message from outgoing Prime Minister Rutte of The NetherlandsA

During the international commemoration, spoke outgoing Prime Minister Rutte of The Netherlands with deep emotion about the importance of remembering and honoring those who revolted in 1943 and those who were murdered in Sobibor. He quoted Jewish tradition: “May their memory be a blessing. May they never be forgotten, as their murderers intended.” With these words, he emphasized the lasting memory of the victims and the strength of the resistance.

Prime Minister Rutte added that attendance at this commemoration sends a clear message: evil will not prevail. By coming together, mentioning the names of the victims and telling their stories, we remind ourselves how important it is to be vigilant, especially in the present. We must stand up against anti-Semitism and other forms of exclusion, against oppression and stand up for freedom, compassion and humanity.

The example of Jules Schelvis, Ursula Stern and Selma Engel-Wijnberg shows us the way. We must continue to tell, so that the horrors of Sobibor will never be forgotten.

A Major Development: Reconstruction of the Camp Site

Another momentous event in the commemoration of the Sobibor Uprising is the completion of the reconstruction of the camp site. Thanks to intensive archaeological research, it has been possible to reconstruct the floor plan of the camp, including the location of the gas chambers. This reconstruction sheds new light on the horrific history of Sobibor and helps to tell the story more completely.

Shiwwe for Sobibor

Simultaneously with the commemoration at Sobibor, a memorial service was also held at Memorial Camp Westerbork. Dutch research journalist Rosanne Kropman presented her new book about Sobibor and young people from Roestvrij Theater played the play Shiwwe for Sobibor. In collaboration with Theater Na de Dam and the Sobibor Foundation and the Westerbork Memorial, Roestvrij theater developed the performance series Shiwwe for Sobibor. This new way of commemorating was played at the former camp site and other locations starting in the spring of 2023. As part of the commemoration of the uprising, the performance was performed again.

The Darkest Dark: Stories of Human Destruction

Another important aspect of the 80th commemoration is the publication of the book “The Darkest Dark” by Rosanne Kropman. This book digs deep into the stories of human destruction at the German death camp Sobibor in occupied Poland. The book offers an indispensable insight into the personal experiences of some of the victims and survivors, allowing us to continue to tell and remember their stories.

An Intimate Commemoration on Oct. 14

On Oct. 14, exactly 80 years after the uprising, an intimate commemoration took place in Sobibor. Relatives of survivors and victims, together with the Sobibor Foundation, the Dutch ambassador to Poland, Bildungswerk Stanisław Hantz e.V., the Majdanek and Sobibor state museums and schoolchildren from the Netherlands, Poland, Germany and Austria gathered on the historic ground.

At the site where the uprising began, moving speeches were given by Tagan Engel, granddaughter of Sobibor survivors Selma Engel-Wijnberg and Chaim Engel, and Rena Smith-Blatt, daughter of Thomas Toivi Blatt.

Then the commemoration moved along the Memorial Lane to the site of the mass graves. Here a Kadish was said and the names of the victims of Sobibor were read aloud. The commemoration ended with a moving piece of music.

Participants also visited the lane with the memorial stones, where Jetje Manheim, former president of the Sobibor Foundation, and Steffen Hänschen, member of Bildungswerk Stanisław Hantz, spoke about the significance of these stones and the special history of their placement. Naomi Koster spoke about her uncle’s life at the stone for Manfred Levie.

Remembering the Sobibor uprising is not only a tribute to those who lived through the unthinkable, but also a commitment to pass on their stories to future generations. It is a reminder of the horrors of the past and a call for vigilance in the present, so that we never forget and always continue to stand up for freedom and humanity. Together we stand strong against evil.

The Dutch broadcaster NOS made a beautiful reportage of the commemoration of the uprising in both Sobibor and at Remembrance Center Camp Westerbork.

Watch the coverage here

Very impressive and it definitely stays with me throughout my life. It is something I carry with me a little bit every day.

The first youth conference took place prior to the Sobibor Commemoration in 2013, when we commemorated that the Sobibor uprising had taken place 70 years earlier. Now, 10 years later, the Sobibor Foundation is curious to what extent this trip has made a (lasting) impact on the lives of participants and their behavior and opinions regarding discrimination and exclusion.
Below are the main conclusions.

 

“I went on the trip as a girl and came back as a woman.”

On May 14, 2023, Sophia Engelsman-Huisman passed away quietly in Herzliya, Israel. She was 97 years old. Sophia Engelsman-Huisman was one of 18 Dutch survivors of the Sobibor extermination camp. And (presumably) the last survivor of the 34313 Jews deported from Westerbork to Sobibor.

On Feb. 26, 1943, Sophia was rounded up during the raid on the Jewish hospital “Megon Hatsedek” in Rotterdam and Sophia Huisman was forwarded to the Westerbork transit camp. Deportation to Sobibor followed on March 10, 1943. Thirteen women from this second transport survived the war.

Sophia was selected as an “Arbeitsjude” in Sobibor and was sent via the Majdanek and Lublin-Alter Flughafen camps as a forced laborer in the Milejow marmalade factory. Here she survived Aktion Erntefest, the November 3 and 4, 1943 mass murder of more than 43,000 Jews, following the Sobibor and Treblinka uprisings. The Germans forgot about the prisoners in Camp Milejow.

She was then transferred to Trawniki, where she was forced to clean the exterminated camp, pull gold teeth and molars from the shot Jews and burn the dead.

Because of the approaching Red Army, she went via Majdanek concentration camp on foot to Auschwitz, where she became number 13879. In Auschwitz, she worked in the Scheissekommando, which meant cleaning up all the poop in the camp. Then she was sent to Bergen-Belsen, where she met Anne Frank, according to a 1966 testimony at Yad Vashem.

On May 8, 1945, Sophia was liberated in Theresienstadt by the Red Army and quickly moved across the demarcation line to safety by the French. She was deathly ill with typhoid fever and weighed only 37 kilograms.

Through the Batafactories in Best, The Netherlands, she returned to Rotterdam, where she went to live with her uncle Jo, a brother of her father and his wife. In Rotterdam, she met the student Jaap Engelsman, who had survived the war in hiding. They had a relationship, which ended when Jaap suddenly disappeared because she had reported to the Haganah, a Zionist-Jewish paramilitary organization. This was disbanded in 1948, after which Jaap went to study in Jerusalem.

In August 1949, Sophia left for Israel via Marseilles on the ship the Galilah. On August 29, 1949, she arrived in Haifa. It was not much later in Jerusalem that Sophie and Jaap found each other again and married shortly thereafter. Sophie fulfilled her dream in Israel by becoming a midwife. In the 1950s Jaap and Sophia returned to The Netherlands because of Jaap’s work at the embassy and later at Unilever. Their four sons were born in the Netherlands. In 1959 the family returned permanently to Israel and she spent her remaining life working as an midwife. and attended the births of her 21 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. In recent years she lived at the Beth Juliana care center.

May her memory be a blessing.

Namens Stichting Sobibor legde bestuurslid Bernolf Kramer en zijn dochter een bloemstuk.

Dit jaar was het 80 jaar geleden dat de Kindertransporten vanuit Kamp Vught via Westerbork naar Sobibor plaatsvonden. Hier vind je een terugblik in foto’s, het NOS Jeugdjournaal en enkele toespraken.

Lineke de Vries

Sara de Vries vertelde het verhaal van haar nichtje Lineke de Vries, die als 6-jarige met moeder Eva naar Sobibor moest. Sara de Vries is gastspreker bij het Landelijk Steunpunt WOII-Heden. Lees hier haar bijdrage.

Opperrabbijn Binyomin Jacobs hield een overdenking. Die kun je hier lezen.

De leerlingen vervulden ook dit jaar verschillende rollen: als ceremoniemeester, interviewer of Kids Reporter. Ook lazen de kinderen de namen voor van in 1943 weggevoerde Joodse kinderen, en hielpen zij bij het leggen van de bloemstukken.

Na de herdenking was de voorstelling ‘Sjiwwe voor Sobibor’ te zien. Ditmaal in een speciale versie met teksten die te maken hebben met de kindertransporten van juni 1943.

Sjiwwe is de zevendaagse rouwperiode in de Joodse traditie. Het woord betekent ook ‘zitten’ en is het woord voor het getal zeven in Hebreeuws. Jonge theatermakers onderzochten nieuwe manieren van herdenken, tachtig jaar na de negentien transporten vanuit Nederland naar Sobibor.

Sjiwwe voor Sobibor is een samenwerking van Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork, Theater Na de Dam, Roestvrij theater en Stichting Sobibor.

Het NOS Jeugdjournaal maakte onderstaande reportage over de herdenking op 4 juni:

“Maar zeker ook het programma na afloop van de herdenking: een toneelstuk, uitgevoerd door jongeren: Sjiwwe, heette het. Imponerend en confronterend. Ik kan het niet beschrijven, omdat de opvoering van de weg die de kinderen van de Kindertransporten moeten afleggen, zo echt was dat woorden tekort zouden schieten. Alle Middelbare scholen zouden verplicht dit moeten zien, in de strijd tegen antisemitisme en ieder andere vorm van rassenhaat.”

Opperrabbijn Binyomin Jacobs

De Kids Reporters van BS De Schalm maakten een verslag van de herdenking.

Foto’s: Monique van den Brink, Lisette Broess, Bernolf Kramer en Jan van de Ven.  

Met dank aan de leerlingen en docenten Mart, Lieke en Natalie van BS De Schalm, Defensie, Kids Reporters (filmpje volgt nog), Landgoed Huize Bergen, Politie Oost-Brabant, het Revesz Trio, het Rode Kruis en Buurtpreventie Vught.