“Escape from Sobibor” was a
British made-for-TV movie that appeared in 1987. It was directed by Jack Gold and is based on
a nonfiction book by Richard
Rashke. It is based on the most
successful escape from a concentration camp.
A camp survivor named Thomas Blatt served as technical advisor. The camp was located in Poland and
approximately 250,000 Jews were murdered there.
The movie opens with three
inmates cutting through the wire and making a run through the mine field
surrounding the camp. A new train
arrives to waltz music. There is realistic chaos, but the Jews are in pretty
good shape and there is no evidence that any died on the trip. The “selection” occurs and most of the Jews
are taken to be “disinfected”. The
expendables march off waving bye to the lucky few who have skills
(seamstresses, tailors, etc.) or are adult men. A good scene and not overly emotional.
We are introduced to the main
characters. One of them is a new arrival
who is hiding a baby. Some of the other
women in the barracks are not thrilled about this. Another character is a man who is told what
actually happened to his wife and son when they went to the “showers”. Others get a similar revelation.
Life in the camp is tense. The woman’s baby is discovered and it does
not end well. I hope that Nazi bastard
gets his! During a work detail, thirteen
men escape but are soon caught. They are
ordered to select a partner to die with them or the guards will execute 50 at
random. Everyone is forced to
watch. It appears that escape attempts
have severe consequences at this camp.
This causes the escape committee led by Leon Feldhendler (Alan Arkin) to
adjust the escape plan to include all
600 inmates.
The seemingly impossible plan
gets juiced upon the arrival of some Soviet Jews in September, 1943. Many of them are prisoners of war. Their acknowledged leader is a charismatic
fellow named Aleksandr Pechersky (Rutger Hauer). He is called Sasha. Sasha is put in contact with Leon and agrees
to help with the escape. In fact, he
becomes the leader. His developing
relationship with a woman named Luka gives him an excuse to visit the Polish
Jews’ barracks for plotting purposes.
The camp allows a shocking amount of socializing (which does allow for
character development and dialogue). It
is decided that the only hope for success is to kill the guards and exit
through the front gate. Home-made
weapons and reliable Jews are recruited to do the killing.
The big day arrives and there
are complications, naturally. Several of
the guards are lured into workshops on pretenses of measuring for boots and
clothing. The killings are appropriately
amateurish. Unfortunately, the scheme is
discovered before it reaches fruition and the alarm is sounded making the front
gate exit impossible. It’s every person
for himself at this point and after several moments of chaos, the leaders
determine that exit through the fence and across the mine field is the only
viable option. The randomness of death
is apparent as every step could be your last.
This a powerful scene, if a bit cheesy.
A postscript informs us that about 300 managed to make it into the
forest.
How accurate is the film? I have no major complaints with any of
it. The elements that seem most likely
Hollywoodized appear to be based on reality.
My research confirmed that some of the Jews shipped to this camp did not
have a particularly nightmarish experience on the train. The disposal of most of the arriving Jews was
pretty standard procedure at any of the death camps. What the movie does not show and I found
interesting was Sobibor used exhaust fumes from a Soviet tank engine to do the
job in the gas chamber. It was the
policy of the camp to kill one inmate for every escapee although I could not
determine if they chose who would be murdered with them. Let us assume technical advisor Blatt vetted
this.
The main characters were real
people. Pechersky was an above average
Soviet soldier before his capture and he did have a strong personality. When he first arrived at the camp he got a
lot of cred for standing up to one of the more sadistic guards. He did have a relationship with a woman named
Luka, but claimed it was just platonic.
She did not survive the minefield.
Surprisingly, the camp had a reputation for allowing an amazing amount
of socializing. Feldhendler is
accurately depicted as the leader of the Polish Jews. The breakout is essentially as shown. Eleven S.S. guards were killed as well as an
unknown number of Ukrainian guards. They
did have to exit through the minefield with results as reenacted.
The film ends at the right moment
for entertainment purposes because what happened after was not very
positive. Pechersky led about fifty
survivors in the forest. He and the few
in the party who were also Soviet soldiers hatched a plan to sneak into the
local town to get food. They took most
of the groups’ weapons and then did not come back. Pechersky later claimed that it was every man
for himself. The movie conveniently does
not mention that the vast majority of the 300 were rounded up in the manhunt
and were executed along with all the inmates who did not get out of the camp. As a matter of fact, the camp was bulldozed
and trees were planted on the site after the incident. Many of the successful escapees died after
joining partisan groups. Only about 60
survived the war. Feldhendler hid in the
city of Lublin and ironically was murdered at the very end of the war. Pechersky survived the war, no surprise
there.
If we can just get through this fence, then cross the minefield, then get through the woods, then escape the man hunt, then survive the war ... |
“Escape from Sobibor” is no
“Schindler’s List” but it is one of the better members of the Holocaust
subgenre. It deserves a substantial
amount of credit for covering a significant event that is not well known. Most Holocaust films depict the passivity of
the Jews. It is exhilarating to see them
shown fighting back. People need to know
that there was a successful escape (actually there were two). The movie does a service to history and the
strict adherence to what actually happened is an added bonus.
As entertainment goes, the film
is not great. This is mainly due to the
made-for-TV budget. The camp set is satisfactory,
but not memorable. The cinematography
and score are average. The strengths are
in the acting and characterizations.
Hauer and Arkin are very good.
Hauer won the Golden Globe for Supporting Actor. The cast is fine, if basically B-List. You do care about the characters and there
are some poignant deaths. The S.S. are
appropriately heinous. The Jews are
courageous.
In conclusion, “Escape from
Sobibor” is a must see for anyone interested in the Holocaust. It covers a unique event that should be
better known. Film can sometimes play an
important role in bringing history to the masses. As much as I complain about cinema abusing
that power, it is fair to emphasize the times cinema gets things right.
grade = B+
This sounds not bad at all. I've got a novel called Sobibor. I wonder on what they focus. I hadn't heard of this event. No wonder they stopped the story when they did. The real ending is not Hollywood material. I like Rutgr Hauer, that alone would make me want to see it and, as you know, I^m interested in the sub genre.
ReplyDeleteWho wrote the novel. I'd like to check on it. The handling of the Pechersky character reminds me of "Defiance".
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ReplyDeleteThat is some excellent stuff. Thank you so much!
DeleteThe moive was very scary to watch but it is really l did not like the moive were he killed the bady and the woman he was heartles
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