The Sobibor Death Camp: History, Biographies, Remembrance

The Sobibor Death Camp was the second extermination camp built by the Nazis as part of the secretive Operation Reinhardt-with intent to carry out the mass murder of Polish Jewry. This account of the Nazis' remorseless and relentless production line of killing at the Sobibor death camp tells of one of the worst crimes in the history of mankind. Chris Webb's painstakingly researched volume ranges from the survivors and the victims to the SS men who carried out the atrocities.The book is the result of decades of research and multiple trips to the original site. Its strength lies in the close examination of the smallest details and a thorough analysis of the fates of the perpetrators and the victims. Closing a gap in the existing literature, Webb focuses on the victims and presents details of their lives which have been found and re-tells them to keep their memory alive, to show they are not forgotten.

The book covers the construction of the death camp, the physical layout of the camp, as remembered by both the Jewish inmates and the SS staff who served there, and the personal recollections that detail the day to day experiences of the prisoners and the SS. The courageous revolt by the prisoners on October 14, 1943 is re-told by the prisoners and the German SS, with detailed accounts of the revolt and its aftermath. The post-war fate of the perpetrators, or more precisely those that were brought to trial, and information regarding the more recent history of the site itself concludes this book. There is a large photographic section of rare and some unpublished photographs and documents from the author's private archive.

The publication of the 2nd edition of Chris Webb´s book on Sobibor is an important addition to the literature on the Aktion Reinhardt camps, which are still under-researched in relation to their significance in terms of the 'Final Solution'. The published literature on the Aktion Reinhardt camps is scant indeed in comparison with, for example Auschwitz-Birkenau. Of note is the new chapter on the post-war testimonies of SS personnel, many of which are published here for the first time in English. The focus on perpetrators, be it SS or Trawniki men, is important given they have been significantly under-researched to date.

I have known Chris for twenty years and met him for the first time in 2003 when we visited the sites of the Aktion Reinhardt camps in person. Chris has been researching the Aktion Reinhardt camps for more than 50 years and his knowledge is unequalled. I would highly recommend the revised edition of his book on Sobibor to all serious scholars of the Holocaust.

Chris Webb has studied the Holocaust for over 50 years. This book on the Sobibor death camp is the latest book in his trilogy of the three Aktion Reinhardt camps. Webb has acted as a consultant on a number of documentaries shown on television regarding the Holocaust as well as donating images from his extensive private archive. He is also a member of the Tiergarten4Association and a member of the Treblinka Extermination online group.

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