In July and August, Jewish prisoners in the Sobibor extermination camp established a resistance cell under Leon Feldhendler to prepare a prisonersΓÇÖ uprising and a general escape. In the second half of September, Jewish prisoners of war from the Red Army were brought to the camp. One of them, Lt. Aleksandr (Sasha) Pechersky, was recruited by the resistance and installed as its commander. The plan was for the prisoners to kill the SS men, obtain weapons, and break through the fence at an area that was not mined.
The painstakingly prepared uprising broke out on October 14. In its course, 11 SS men and several Ukrainians were killed and some 300 prisoners managed to escape, most of whom were killed by their pursuers. Those who had not joined the escape for various reasons were all murdered. Only 50 escapees survived to witness liberation day. After the uprising, the Germans abandoned the idea of turning Sobibor into a concentration camp and closed it down.
