Escape from Sobibor

It’s extremely difficult to look at a book like Escape from Sobibor with a critical eye. The usual concerns of characterisation, plot, setting etc don’t come into play. These are facets that cannot be changed if the story is to be told accurately. Therefore, when I review a book like this I have two main considerations: 1) the quality of the writing, 2) the accuracy of the details.

Escape from Sobibor is related in a unique manner, almost as if it were a work of fiction. In this way we are introduced to the men and women whose stories form the basis of this incredible book. Richard Rashke has combined eye witness accounts with a wealth of research to provide a comprehensive account of life at Sobibor.

While I was impressed with Rashke’s narrative, attention to detail and obvious thorough reading and research, I was equally impressed by his respect for the Sobibor survivors and the lengths he went to to try and avoid causing additional distress (above and beyond the clear distress recounting their experiences caused). It is clear he came to care very much about the book but – more importantly – about the people behind the story.

Escape from Sobibor is an incredible book. It tells some of the stories that must be told, that must never be buried or forgotten. There are millions of stories from the victims of the Holocaust that go unheard. We must make all the more effort to honour the voices that could share. Rashke does this beautifully. ( )

If you are interested in the Holocaust, particularly in the Operation Reinhard camps, this is a must read. The book is very well written and as horrifying as the subject is, it was difficult to put down. The author interviewed several survivors, and I am grateful to those brave people for being willing to share their stories. The book is based around their experiences in Sobibor and after the escape. There are several people the author follows through the book, so you get to hear from several different perspectives, but the narrative is easy to follow. Although it reads as smoothly as a novel, the book is well-researched and suitable for academic projects. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the Holocaust, as well as to public and academic libraries. ( )

Escape from Sobibor is the telling of the revolt and escape - the largest from any camp, concentration, POW or otherwise - by 300 Jews.

The book is well-researched, and was written with the interviews and cooperation of 18 of the survivors of the escape, including 2 of the leaders. By using interviews, Rashke created a historical work where there are no two-dimensional cardboard characters. Each viewpoint (there are 7 in total) is rich with detail and, more importantly, historically accurate. The book covers not only lives prior to being transported to Sobibor, but also post-escape where we learn that Jews, even in the advance of the Russian Army, were still being hunted down and killed by Nazis and Poles alike. The final section of the book deals with the interviews that Rashke conducted in 1981, as he tracked down and convinced survivors that he could tell their story. Notably, Rashke's work also corrects many of the errors that permeated many previous works regarding the Shoah and Sobibor in particular.

The book is, by turns, compelling, horrifying, and saddening, but, over all of it, it is full of heroism, hope, courage and determination to live and to tell the world of what happened at Sobibor. You will come away from reading this book changed and shaken to your core. ( )

NO OF PAGES: 371 SUB CAT I: Holocaust SUB CAT II: SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Sobibor. Nazi death camp. Men, women and children were sent there to suffer and to die. At Sobibor, the victims fought back against their tormentors, and won.NOTES: SUBTITLE:

This is a brilliant, heartbreaking book and put together very well. It's a non-fiction story about a real event, but the way it's written, it reads like a Frederick Forsyth novel. If you didn't know if was non-fiction you wouldn't guess from reading it. Yet the author also includes endnotes where he explains what sources he uses, and how he dealt with conflicting sources, and his opinions as to what was reliable and what wasn't -- just like in a regular history book.

I read this book feeling a lot of rage and frustration. At the Allies mostly, who knew perfectly well what was going on and were united in their indifference to it. At the Poles, for being so brutal and inhuman to their fellow countrymen, to the point where they were as dangerous to Jews as the Nazis themselves if not more so.

Even after their escape from Sobibor, things did not really improve for the survivors sometimes until years had passed. One group of three were hidden in a farmer's barn and he gradually milked them of all the money and gold they had, then ambushed and shot them in their hiding place. (Two of them survived the ambush by playing dead and then escaped, wounded; a third was killed outright.) A couple who had met and fell in love in Sobibor were hidden by a somewhat nicer farmer who also charged them a bundle for it but did not kill them. This couple married and had a baby right after the war...only to see it die a few months later, at sea, as they were on a ship home to Holland. One of the leaders of the uprising, Leon Feldhander, made it back to Lublin and settled in his own apartment...only to be murdered there by anti-Semetic Poles after liberation.

Given all they went through, I'm amazed that the survivors Rashke interviewed for his book had come out as well as they did, psychologically speaking. The last part of the book, where he describes tracking down these people and interviewing them, kind of dragged a bit, but I still think it was a valuable addition to the book.

This is definitely one of the best Holocaust books I've read. And I think the story was told just in time. I'd be surprised if there were any Sobibor survivors left today, and even most Holocaust researchers know very little about the camp. But this is a story worth knowing. ( )