Sigmund Sobolewski

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Sigmund Sobolewski on the resistance in Auschwitz (1992)

Sigmund Sobolewski (actually Zygmunt Sobolewski ; born May 11, 1923 in Toruń , Poland ; † August 7, 2017 in Bayamo , Cuba ) was a Polish Holocaust survivor and activist. He was the 88th prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp and was interned there for more than four and a half years. He gained notoriety through his actions against neo-Nazis , anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers , which he repeatedly confronted with his experiences.

Life

Sobolewski was born in Toruń in 1923 as the eldest of four children of the mayor. At the age of 17 he was deported on June 14, 1940 on the first transport to the Auschwitz concentration camp because his father had campaigned against the National Socialists. Since the father could not be interned because of a tuberculosis disease, the son was taken with them. Since Sobolewski spoke fluent German, he was used as an interpreter.

“I also survived because I was young,” said Sobolewski. “I didn't realize how serious what was happening was. Most of the people who survived were simple people; Workers, peasants from Polish villages who could neither read nor write, but who could be used for hard work. Lawyers, doctors, engineers and academics: Many of them committed suicide after three or four weeks in Auschwitz because they realized that their chances of survival were very, very slim. "

Sobolewski was the only surviving witness of the uprising of October 7, 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, when a group of Jewish prisoners blew up crematorium No. 4 and then tried to escape. Sobolewski was with the campfire and was used to put out the fire. He witnessed the execution of 450 Jewish Sonderkommando prisoners who were killed in reprisal.

Three weeks later he was transferred to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp with the campfire brigade . On April 21, 1945, during the evacuation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, he escaped and reached the American troops.

After the war Sobolewski traveled the world and finally settled in Canada in 1949 , where he worked as a hotelier, among other things. From 1967 he became involved against neo-Nazis. He took part in a demonstration in Toronto where 6,000 people demonstrated against the rise of right-wing extremists in Germany. On a trip through Europe he campaigned for compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany for the former prisoners of concentration camps. He began to speak out openly. One of his first protest actions against neo-Nazism was his appearance on Canadian television, where he demonstrated against the appearance of a German neo-Nazi on Canadian television in a prisoner uniform from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

In 1983, during the trial of the Holocaust denier James Keegstra , he offered to pay for a trip to Auschwitz. The Alberta teacher not only denied the Holocaust, he also propagated the myth of a Jewish world conspiracy . In 1989 Sobolewski organized the first memorial service in the Holy Rosary Polish Catholic Church in Edmonton , which was also attended by Jewish representatives. After the event, he told a reporter that it was terrible to be a Catholic in Auschwitz, but that it was hopeless for Jews and that he was convinced that “National Socialist crimes against humanity will be forgotten and swept under the carpet . ”He said that he had advertised in a local paper that he was looking for an assistant for his memoir and that 43 people had contacted me. Only four of the respondents had ever heard of Auschwitz.

In 1990 he traveled on his deportation route from Tarnów to Auschwitz in order to campaign for the creation of “meditation gardens” in the death camp. In the same year he organized a demonstration against the "Aryan Festival", a neo-Nazi festival organized by Terry Long in Alberta. In 1991 he was part of an activist group that accused the Polish Cardinal Józef Glemp of being insensitive to Holocaust survivors.

Sobolewski traveled around the world and gave numerous lectures about his experiences in Auschwitz. He repeatedly warned against trivializing the Holocaust. His life is recorded in the biography Prisoner 88: The Man in Stripes by Rabbi Roy Tanenbaum.

Sobolewski died in August 2017 of complications from pneumonia at the age of 94. He had lived in Cuba for four years because his wife was from here. The couple has three sons.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Auschwitz Prisoner 88 celebrates 88th birthday , Macleod Gazette. May 10, 2011. 
  2. ↑ a b Tu Thanh Ha: Alberta activist Sigmund Sobolewski was among first Auschwitz inmates , The Globe and Mail, August 8, 2017
  3. ↑ a b Auschwitz, 2005 . El Mundo. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b Andrew Tomlison: "Living through the Holocaust: One concentration camp survivor remembers Auschwitz" ( Memento of the original February 21, 2014 Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gauntlet , Nov. 1, 2001 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thegauntlet.ca
  5. ↑ "The only organized revolt at Auschwitz: The sole surviving witness marks the 50th anniversary of the historical rebellion" , CBC News , 6 October 1994
  6. ^ Alberta activist Sigmund Sobolewski was among first Auschwitz inmates ( English ) The Global Mail. August 8, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  7. ^ "Toronto businessman pilgrim to Auschwitz", Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , April 14, 1967, p. 37
  8. ^ Peter Lust: Rally in Toronto Flails Nazi Revival , Canadian Jewish Chronicle Review , February 3, 1967.
  9. ^ Auschwitz Group Offered 'Bribe , Calgary Herald , April 13, 1967, p. 2.
  10. ↑ a b c Phil Heidenrich: Canadian Holocaust survivor known as 'Prisoner 88' dies in Cuba: family , Global News, August 7, 2017
  11. ↑ Keegstra Offered trip to Auschwitz , Calgary Herald , May 17, 1983, page E10
  12. ^ Carol Ritch: Catholics, Jews Recall Auschwitz Anniversary , The Jewish Star (Edmonton Edition), February 1989, Volume IX, p. 1
  13. ^ Carol Ritch: Oasis' Project at Auschwitz Moves Slowly , The Jewish Star (Edmonton Edition), March 1990, Volume X, p. 1
  14. ^ "Auschwitz: Protesting hatred. An Auschwitz survivor comes face to face with neo-Nazis in rural Alberta" , CBC News , September 9, 1990
  15. ↑ Scott Fornek: Prayer, pride, protest mark Glemp's visit ( memento of the original from June 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Chicago Sun-Times , September 30, 1991 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.highbeam.com
  16. ^ Andy Powell, Survivor tells students about Auschwitz , The Gadsden Times , March 31, 2009
  17. ^ Roy Tanenbaum: Prisoner 88: The Man In Stripes , University of Calgary Press , Calgary 1998, ISBN 1-895176-74-3
personal data
SURNAME Sobolewski, Sigmund
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish Holocaust survivor and activist
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Toruń , Poland
DATE OF DEATH 7th August 2017
Place of death Bayamo , Cuba