The revolt was planned and led by the Sonderkommando, prisoners who had the special job of disposing of bodies from the crematoriums. Since they knew how the camp worked, they were kept apart from the rest of the prisoners, eventually executed because they were witnesses and their bodies were removed by the next generation of Sonderkommando. The rebellion took place on the 7th because they had received word that they were to be killed that day.
Female prisoners in the munitions factory at the camp aided the Sonderkommando by gathering gunpowder and smuggling it to the men. The men used the secret stash of gunpowder to fashion hand grenades that they planned to use it to blow up the crematoriums to begin the revolt, thereby severely damaging the operations of the death camp.
Photo: Hilary Grabowska
The revolt was begun in Crematorium 1, where a Nazi guard was stuffed into the oven to be burned alive. Other crematoriums joined the revolt, with Crematorium 4 setting off the grenades and destroying themselves as well as the Crematorium for further use. Hundreds of others escaped.
Image by David Olere, a former Sonderkommando and artist.
Despite the valiant effort, the Nazis took back control of the camp, captured the escapees and executed most of the participating Sonderkommando before torturing the others for information. The men gave up the names of the women who had smuggled them the gunpowder, resulting in the torture of the women until they were executed.
The Sonderkommando were always destined to die, but in this case, the men of the crematoriums had the chance to make their deaths an inspiration to others. Though they were unsuccessful, the day of their revolt is remembered and commemorated and perhaps their actions helped some prisoners to hang onto life just a little bit longer because only three months later, January 26, 1945, the camp was liberated.
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