View taken from a watchtower in the Sobibor killing center
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View of the Sobibor killing center

View of the Sobibor killing center and the German personnel living quarters, taken from a watchtower in the early summer of 1943.

A Jewish forced laborer can be seen standing next to the barrack on the left side of the images, as well as in the foreground between the stacks of firewood. On the right, in the passageway between the camp fences, two Trawniki men patrol. The light roof of the railway building is visible between the fence lines. 

This photo comes from a collection donated by the descendants of Sobibor deputy camp commandant Johann Niemann. The images in the collection provide never-before-seen views of the killing center, including photos of barracks buildings, workshops, and SS and Ukrainian guards. The album complements and re-enforces the testimonies of the few Jewish survivors of this notorious camp. Niemann was killed during the Sobibor prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943, after which the camp was closed and demolished.


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  • US Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Bildungswerk Stanislaw-Hantz
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