Sobibor - Holocaust Propaganda And Reality - Unity of Nobility ...

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 91
they cannot rely on them in any way. “We have privileges, but when the
time comes to liquidate the camp, we’ll find ourselves standing next to
you. They will kill us too. That is clear,” the Polish “kapo” Brzecki allegedly
tells Pechersky (p. 38). 213 In other words, the guards can join
the Jews at any time against the SS guards. Under those circumstances
one would assume that the SS would be at high alert all the time – but
that is the very thing that does not occur, according to Pechersky. Pechersky
explains to his men:
“My plan is as follows: first we must do away with the officer
group that administers the camp. Naturally one by one, and without
the slightest sound.” (p. 41)
That is exactly what happens:
“Unterscharführer Ernst Berg rode up to the tailor’s shop, as
was arranged beforehand, dismounted from his horse and left it
standing with the reins hanging down. From what I learned later,
this is what happened inside: When the Unterscharführer entered,
everybody rose as usual. Shubayev (Kalimali) walked over to the
edge of the table. In the corner, near one of the table’s legs, lay a
hatchet wrapped in a shirt. The Unterscharführer removed his belt
together with his holster and pistol and laid them on the table. Then
he took off his jacket. Juzef, the tailor, immediately came over with
the uniform and began to take the fitting. Senie moved up to the table
to be able, if necessary, to grab the pistol. Juzef turned the German
around with his back to Shubayev, explaining that he did so in order
to get a better light on the uniform. At that moment, Shubayev
clouted the Hitlerite on the head with the flat side of the hatchet. He
let out a frightful scream. Outside, the horse quivered and pricked
up its ears. The second blow silenced the Hitlerite for good. […] Ten
minutes later, the chief of the guards, Oberscharführer Erbert Helm,
entered the tailor shop. He never came out again. He was waylaid
by Senie as soon as he crossed the threshold. At exactly four o’clock,
as had been arranged beforehand, Oberscharführer Goettinger, the
chief of camp III, entered the shoemakers’ shop. Arkady Vaispapir
was repairing a stool. Grisha was standing near the door. The chief
executioner was in a happy mood. ‘The sun is shining, it is warm,
213
zyklopädie des Holocaust (op. cit. (note 15), p. 1330), there were “between 90 and 120
Trawniki men” at Sobibór.
The literature about Sobibór does not mention the presence of Polish guards at that camp.
In his report Pechersky apparently replaced Ukrainian guards by Polish ones in order to
conceal the fact that certain Soviet citizens had voluntarily cooperated with the Germans.