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what I have not lived to see.
The murderer flies into a rage and shoots him at once.
I try my best to lift my feet high. With a song we march half-
dead into the barracks.
As a result of the filth, scabies began to appear. Almost all of us
became sick with it. Having no medicines, we used ordinary brine.
From that we get boils all over our bodies. The pain is unbearable.
But in Treblinka you had to bear and survive that too . . .
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16
We prepare for the revolt. Passover in the barracks.
The revolt in Treblinka.
As has already been mentioned, in the most recent period work-
ers have been remaining where they were for longer than before.
This has been a great stroke of luck for us. As a result, we have
been able to get to know each other better. We have begun to trust
one another more and to think about the possibilities of escape.
We know that this is a difficult undertaking and are even afraid to
discuss it among ourselves for fear of denunciation. We examine
various possibilities. But the plans are difficult to carry out. We
are unarmed and yet we plan all sorts of things. Our conversa-
tions take place in the corners of the barracks, and there is always
a guard consisting of our own people to keep an eye out in case
one of the murderers comes into the barracks.
In January 1943, fifteen workers from Camp 1 are brought to
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us. It often happens that instead of shooting people in Camp 1
they are brought to us to work with the corpses, which amounts to
the same thing . . . a swift and certain death. Among the fifteen
new workers, there are two, Adolf, a former sailor, and Zelo Bloch,
a Czech Jew and an officer in the Czech army, who are devoted
comrades. In a few days we become friends with them. They
inform us that in Camp 1 they are planning a revolt. In that camp
there are more possibilities, since a weapons store is located
there. They therefore plan to make a copy of the key to the store-
room and steal weapons. These two comrades are very energetic,
devoted and honest. They console us and begin to work inten-
sively. We make every effort to establish contact with Camp 1. It is
very difficult, but we make the most of the opportunity created by
the fact that several of us work at the Schlauch removing the blood
of the murder victims. The Schlauch extends to the border of Camp
1, and there our people come in contact with the Schlauch workers
from the other side. We succeed in reaching an understanding
with them despite the fact that we are guarded by an S.S. man and
a Ukrainian. Our method of communication is the following: a
comrade speaks with another from our camp in a loud voice. The
people from Camp 1 who are working nearby hear the conver-
sation and respond in the same way with a loud conversation
among themselves. The criminals are particularly watchful to see
that we do not speak to each other. I remember one case: after
great effort we succeeded in persuading the section chief to allow
several of our comrades who had brothers in Camp 1 to meet with
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them. His permission came with a warning: they may ask each
other how they are. There can be no talking about work or about
what our work consists of. The meeting took place in Camp 1.
The conversations lasted at most for five minutes.
Our comrades came back content. Despite the fact that an S.S.
man stood between each man and his brother, and that they were
only permitted to speak German, they were nevertheless able to
bring back some important news. The news was the following:
in Camp 1 they had made a copy of the key to the weapons
store and soon they would begin the work of liberation.
Our joy was indescribable. We, the broken cripples, gained
new strength, and each of us wanted to believe that we would
succeed.
In the meantime the work continues. Fifteen Jewish women
are brought to us from a transport from BialD ystok. Some of them
are to work in the kitchen, the rest in the laundry, which has been
specially built. The sanitary conditions are being improved to a
certain extent, and orders have been issued to give us a clean
shirt every week, and warm water to wash with every Sunday. Life
becomes a bit easier. At the same time a toilet is constructed, and
a worker named Schwer, an engineer by profession, is assigned
to it.
He is ordered to dress like a clown. He must wear a skullcap, a
long black coat like a rabbi and a red scarf, and carry a black stick.
In addition he has an alarm clock hung around his neck. This
toilet supervisor is given the order that no-one can spend longer
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than two minutes in his toilet. If anyone sits there longer, he will
be whipped. The camp chief often hides in a corner to observe
how long people sit in the toilet and if the toilet supervisor is
admitting only those who have numbers. We had to have special
numbers to go to the toilet, and it often happened that the
bandits refused to issue the numbers. You could be close to burst-
ing, but instead of a number you got the whip.
The murderers like to amuse themselves at the expense of the
toilet supervisor. He is constantly being given new things to wear
so that he will look even funnier. He must clean the toilet wearing
a rabbi s clothes. In the evening at roll-call he has to stand in his
uniform and the murderers often ask him: Rabbi, how goes
it with the shit?
He must answer: Very good!
The season of Passover is approaching. The murderers wish
to turn it into a farce and give us flour for baking matzo and in
addition a bottle of wine. A seder is prepared and the S.S. men
come to our barracks as guests. Among us there is a cantor from
Warsaw who bakes the matzos and directs the seder. The murder-
ers poke fun at this comedy and after a few minutes they leave
the barracks.
I recall the night of the seder: several comrades performed the
ceremony. It was breezy outside, the ovens were burning, and the
flames were flaring. That evening ten thousand Jews were burn-
ing; in the morning no trace would be left of them. And we carried
out the seder according to all the rules.
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The next morning, as we were starting work, the oven special-
ist turned to us (as if anyone had asked him) and said that he
knew very well that our work was very difficult and very dirty as
well. So he pretended to ask us if we would like him to increase
our number by fifty workers, thereby making our work easier. But
he set the condition that we would receive the same food rations
as before, which we would have to share with the new arrivals. He
did not wait for our reply and said that he thought we would
prefer to work a bit harder so long as our rations were not
reduced. At the same time he assured us that it wouldn t be long
before we were finished with this Scheisse and then life would be
easier for us. Each of us would then receive a new set of clothes,
and the work would become less arduous.
The next day we found out that what we were meant to have
said was that the fine, clean life we would have after removing the
traces of their criminal activity would be our deaths. The bandit
came to us yet again and explained yet again that nothing bad
would happen to us. We listened yet again and thought of our
freedom . . .
We decide together with the workers in Camp 1 to blow up the
camp. Not everyone knows. The decision is kept secret. Only the
leaders and those comrades who have been assigned special
tasks know.
The plan of the revolt is as follows: everyone will work norm-
ally, very carefully, not revealing the least change in our routine.
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