On August 2nd, 1943, something remarkable happened at Treblinka concentration camp in Poland. Two hundred Jewish prisoners rebelled, setting fire to buildings and trying to escape. Sadly, most were caught and killed by guards.
The plan to revolt had started that spring, led by Marceli Galewski. Though appointed by the Germans, he gained trust among prisoners. Soldiers like Polish Captain Julian Chorążycki and Czech Lieutenant Želomir Bloch played key roles. They copied a key to the German weapons store, getting rifles and grenades. Others armed with axes, crowbars, knives, and Molotov cocktails.
It wasn't easy. The date changed due to accidents. Dr. Chorążycki died when Germans found money for the escapees. News of the Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired them.
On August 2nd, at 4 pm, with some guards swimming, the prisoners struck. Few guards were killed, but they burned much of the camp, leaving only the gas chamber building. About 300 fled, but 850 were there, many dying under gunfire. Sadly, most escapees were killed later.
Around 90 survived, including Jankiel Wiernik, Samuel Willenberg, and Richard Glazar, who later wrote about Treblinka.
After the revolt, Treblinka II closed. The last Białystok Jews died on August 19, 1943. The camp became a farm, and over 800 thousand Jews died there in a year, many from Warsaw, Radom, and Białystok, including nearly 300 thousand from the Warsaw ghetto.
Treblinka wasn't alone. There were uprisings in Sobibór on October 14, 1943, and Auschwitz-Birkenau on October 7, 1944.
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