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The Last Jew to Leave the Sobibor Death Camp Alive

(Israel Hayom) Tal Ariel Yakir - At the Eichmann trial, Yaakov Biskowitz presented a detailed map of the Sobibor death camp that he drew himself, which contributed significantly to exposing Nazi atrocities and assisted in archaeological excavations that uncovered gas chambers and crematoria that had remained buried and hidden underground for decades. The camp was established in 1942, and shortly afterward, Yaakov, 15, arrived there with his parents and sister Hinda. His mother and sister were immediately sent to the gas chambers, while his father was selected to work in the camp as a carpenter and Yaakov worked with him. Yaakov witnessed how those who didn't work were shot or sent to gas chambers, and he worried about his father, who had fallen ill with typhus. "I would carry him to work every day," he recounted. "He sat in the corner, and I worked for him too." "I did my best, but the day came when I could no longer carry him. That day, two SS men came, removed him from the barracks, and led him to the shooting pit, accompanied by beatings and shouting. They shot him in front of me. I wanted to run after him, but the workers who were with me held me back." Biskowitz remained in Sobibor for one year and four months, making him one of the few Jews who survived so long in a death camp, where the average life expectancy did not exceed two months. The Israel Police Heritage Center has produced a virtual reality exhibit dedicated to Yaakov's work exposing the mass murder at Sobibor. Dr. Yossi Hemi from the History Department of the Heritage Center explains, "With the cessation of frequent transports to the camp, towards spring 1943, the Jews understood that the place would be closed and all its inhabitants eliminated. Then the Jewish underground members began to organize for the revolt, in which hundreds of prisoners participated." The Jewish prisoners invited the Nazis to try on new leather coats, shoes, or to inspect items they had crafted for them. Every SS man who entered was attacked with axe blows or knives. Sixteen camp staff members were eliminated. Yaakov himself stabbed one of them. The guards eventually shot hundreds of the Jewish prisoners. Only 47 camp residents survived. During the revolt, Yaakov failed to reach the fence and was forced to flee toward the crematoria. He hid in a shooting pit until after midnight, when only guards remained in Sobibor. Under the cover of darkness, he managed to escape and became the last living Jew to leave the camp. At 17 he joined the partisans. In 1947, he boarded an immigrant ship bound for Palestine that the British intercepted and diverted to Cyprus. Two years later, he immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. In 1952, he began a long career in the Israel Police.
2025-04-24 00:00:00
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