The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 52

Soviet Russia’s Reaction to t
Implications of the Suppr
of Jews—the relatively small complex
grounds were a mere shadow of what
the camp was during its prime operation.
Grossman points out that despite
the camp being physically destroyed,
“it was the Red Army that stopped
Himmler from [completely] keeping
the secret of Treblinka.” Based on interviews
and eyewitness accounts from
locals and some who escaped, which
were “from a variety of sources” and
“consistent in every detail,” Grossman
constructed an understanding of the
camp’s inner workings, broken down
into “the circles of the Hell of Treblinka.”
From the construction of the camp
(and the rail spur leading to it) to the
demography of those trained into the
camp to the process of separating and
exterminating new arrivals each day,
Grossman “came to believe that what
[he] had heard was true.” 14
Part of the reason prisoners escaped
from Treblinka and lived to give
eyewitness accounts stems from the fact
that a prisoner uprising occurred in
August 1943. Richard Glazar, a survivor,
recounted the uprising led by “prisoner
functionaries,” 15 describing the
underground network of prisoners who
organized and carried out the uprising,
the logistics of planning, the gathering
of weapons and using them against the
guards, and finally escaping the camp
and hiding out in a nearby pond until
it was clear to move on. 16 Others made
it out after their stint at the work camp
(Treblinka I) ended or they escaped the
train prior to its arrival at the camp.
Many accounts were ignored or held in
disbelief; it would not be until the Allies
liberated more camps that news spread
2