Sobibor was one of the three pur-
pose-built death camps that were
established by the Nazis in the east
of Poland as part of thew "Final So-
lution", code-named "Operation
Reinhard" ... the most
"industrialized" part of
the Holocaust. These camps,
which were much smaller in size
than the "normal" concentration
camps, were built solely for the
purpose of systematic mass murder
by means of gas chambers.
The site is somewhat better known
than its counterparts because of the
Sobibor revolt of 1943. As a memo-
rial site, however, it is the least de-
veloped one of all the former camps
in Poland.
Almost all of the victims, who were
transported to the camp by freight
trains were sent straight to the gas
chambers on arrival. Only a small
number were selected to do work
and actually stayed for any period of
time as inmates/prisoners. In particular, they had to serve as
"Sonderkommandos" ('special commandos' – specifically selected by
the SS for this purpose).
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