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NY Times, June 5, 2019
Semyon Rozenfeld, Last Known Survivor of Death Camp Escape, Dies at 96
By Palko Karasz
Semyon Rozenfeld first escaped death in the gas chambers by inventing a
trade for himself when he arrived at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in
occupied Poland, in the fall of 1943. Questioned by a German officer, he
said he was a glazier and was taken aside for work detail.
About a month later he was among about 600 prisoners who staged a
historic uprising against their captors and tried to escape. Only about
300 made it to the fences, and most of the rest were recaptured in the
surrounding countryside. But some managed to make it to freedom, Mr.
Rozenfeld among them.
He died at 96 on Monday at a hospital in Rehovot, Israel, near Tel Aviv,
and was believed to be the last known survivor of Sobibor. The Jewish
Agency for Israel confirmed his death.
He was cited as the last survivor after the death of Selma Wynberg Engel
last December in East Haven, Conn., also at 96. She had been one of the
first to tell the world of the camp’s existence.
Mr. Rozenfeld was born in 1922 in Ukraine, the son of a tailor. He was
drafted by the Red Army before falling prisoner to the Germans and was
held first in Minsk, in today’s Belarus, and later in Sobibor.
The camp in Sobibor began operating in the spring of 1942 as part of
Operation Reinhard, the Nazi plan to exterminate Polish Jews. Only a
small minority of detainees were allowed to work, mostly in operating
the camp, including the disposal of bodies. Most people were killed in
gas chambers shortly after their arrival. At least 167,000 people and
possibly as many as 350,000 were murdered there.
The site of the former Sobibor concentration camp. After about 600
prisoners staged an uprising and a mass escape there, 300 or so made it
only to the fences, and most of the rest were recaptured in the
surrounding woods. But some made it to freedom, Mr. Rozenfeld among
them.CreditAnton Denisov/Sputnik, via Associated Press
Mr. Rozenfeld was part of a group of prisoners who planned an escape in
October 1943. They were to kill as many guards as they could with knives
and axes before storming the main gate. They vowed to tell the world
what had happened at Sobibor.
In testimony to the Ghetto Fighters’ House museum, Mr. Rozenfeld said
Alexander Pechersky, who led the escape, had asked him if he felt
capable of killing someone with an ax. “I’m not capable of killing a
human being,” Mr. Rozenfeld recalled saying. “But a Nazi — yes.”
On Oct. 14, the revolt was set in motion. Hundreds of prisoners didn’t
make it out of the camp, but 300 or so did, under fire, and then only to
face minefields.
Mr. Rozenfeld climbed a nine-foot fence and kept running despite a
bullet wound to his leg. “I was not afraid,” he said, “because I didn’t
have time to think about fear. I only thought about life.”
Those who escaped and made it through the minefields went into hiding in
the surrounding forest, and some sought help from local residents. Many
prisoners were captured by Nazi guards and Polish collaborators. The
camp was closed soon after the revolt. Fewer than 60 escapees survived
the war.
The last of the guards to be tried for killing Jews at Sobibor was John
Demjanjuk, a former autoworker in Ohio. In 2011, in a German court, he
was found guilty of taking part in the murder of 28,000 people and
sentenced to five years in prison. He died in a nursing home in 2012
while appealing the conviction.
As the Red Army arrived in the city of Chelm, where Mr. Rozenfeld had
taken refuge, Mr. Rozenfeld again joined their ranks and fought to
liberate Berlin. He returned to Ukraine, married and lived there until
moving to Israel in 1990.
He was most recently living in a nursing home in Yad Binyamin, south of
Tel Aviv. He is survived by two sons, Michael and Roman; four
grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
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