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Sobibor was the most isolated of the three Reinhard death/extermination camps. It was located in a lightly populsted area near Poland's current border with Belarus, fairly close to Belzec. It was established (March 1942), close to the village and rail station of Sobibor just off the Chelm-Wlodawa rail line. The camp itself was situsated in an isolated, wooded and swampy area. SS-Obersturmführer Richard Thomalla, a staff member of the SS Construction Office in Lublin, oversaw the construction. After only a month, SS-Obersturmführer Stangl replaced him. He completed the construction and became the first Camp Commandant. Stangl proved to be Odilo Globocnik's favorite and most trusted camp commander. The camp had about 15 German SS men who ran the camp, supervising about 150 Ukranian guards. As in all the death camps, Jews were forced to participate in the killing by the SS. There were also a number of Jews and Soviet POWs who served as prisoner workers. Sobibor despite its lethality, was very small. It was a rectangle, 400 by 600 meters. There was a 3m high barbed wire fence around it. The SS had tree branches worked into the wire so as the prevent outsiders from viewing what went on inside. It was divided into three separate areas: 1) administration, 2) reception, and 3) killing. Each of the different sectioins were separated by more barbed wire. The vast majority of those sent to Sorbibor to be killed were Jews. Most were murdered by gas within hours of their arrival. About 0.25 million Jews were killed at Sorbior, many from the surrounding area. Some Dutch Jews were also killed at the camp. There was no significant forced labor work at Sobibor. The sole purpose was to kill Jews as soon as they arrived. A few healthy Jews were selected for slave labor at nearby camps. Almost all of our accounts from Sorbibor comes from those selected for labor. The worker Jews and Soviet POWs staged a rare sucessful rising (October 14, 1943). They managed to kill a few SS and Ukranian guards. A few of the prisoners managed to escape, most of those who broke out were tracked down and killed by the SS as were all prisoners who did not participate in the uprising. The camp was subsequently closed, in part because of the advancing Red Army and in part because the number of available Jews in NAZIs had already been significantly reduced by the Aktion Reinhard killings. Very few photographs were taken at Sobibor. A movie was made bout the revolt, Escape from Sobibor (1978). Although the film focuses on the revolt, the operation of the camp is explsined in some detail.
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