Escape from Sobibor
Encyclopedia
Escape from Sobibor is a 1987
British
made-for-TV film which aired on CBS
. It deals with the extermination camp at Sobibor
, the site of the most successful uprising by Jewish prisoners of German
extermination camps (there were two other uprisings, at Auschwitz and Treblinka). The film was directed by Jack Gold
.
On October 14, 1943, members of the camp's underground resistance succeeded in covertly killing eleven German officers and a number of Ukrainian guards. Of the 600 inmates in the camp, roughly 300 escaped, although most were later re-captured and killed. The escape forced the Nazis to close the death camp, dismantling it and planting a forest.
The screenplay was based on the book of the same name written by Richard Rashke. Alan Arkin
, Joanna Pacuła and Rutger Hauer were the primary stars of the film. After it was filmed at Avala
, Yugoslavia
, Rutger Hauer received a Golden Globe Award
for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Television). Camp survivor Thomas Blatt
served as a technical consultant.
1987 in television
The year 1987 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1987.For American TV schedule, see: 1987–88 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
made-for-TV film which aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. It deals with the extermination camp at Sobibor
Sobibór extermination camp
Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...
, the site of the most successful uprising by Jewish prisoners of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
extermination camps (there were two other uprisings, at Auschwitz and Treblinka). The film was directed by Jack Gold
Jack Gold
Jack Gold is a British film and television director. He was part of the British Realist Tradition that followed Free Cinema.-Career:...
.
On October 14, 1943, members of the camp's underground resistance succeeded in covertly killing eleven German officers and a number of Ukrainian guards. Of the 600 inmates in the camp, roughly 300 escaped, although most were later re-captured and killed. The escape forced the Nazis to close the death camp, dismantling it and planting a forest.
The screenplay was based on the book of the same name written by Richard Rashke. Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
, Joanna Pacuła and Rutger Hauer were the primary stars of the film. After it was filmed at Avala
Avala
Avala is a mountain in Serbia, overlooking Belgrade. It is situated in the south-eastern corner of the city and provides a great panoramic view to Belgrade, Vojvodina and Šumadija, as the surrounding area on all sides is mostly a lowlands...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Rutger Hauer received a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Television). Camp survivor Thomas Blatt
Thomas Blatt
Thomas "Toivi" Blatt was one of the few survivors who successfully escaped Sobibor extermination camp. While fleeing the SS he was betrayed by a farmer who was hiding him resulting in a gunshot injury to the jaw. The bullet remains there to this day...
served as a technical consultant.
Cast
- Rutger Hauer as Alexander PecherskyAlexander PecherskyAlexander Aronovich Pechersky was the chief organizer and leader of the most successful uprising and mass-escape of Jews from a Nazi extermination camp during World War II; this occurred at the Sobibor extermination camp on 14 October 1943.-Early life:...
- Joanna Pacuła as Luka
- Hartmut BeckerHartmut BeckerHartmut Becker is a German actor. He played Sgt. Gustav Wagner in Escape From Sobibor in 1987. He also starred in the 1970 film o.k, which was also entered into the 20th Berlin International Film Festival...
as Gustav Wagner - Simon Gregor as Stanislaw 'Shlomo' Szmajzner
- Jason Norman as Thomas 'Toivi' BlattThomas BlattThomas "Toivi" Blatt was one of the few survivors who successfully escaped Sobibor extermination camp. While fleeing the SS he was betrayed by a farmer who was hiding him resulting in a gunshot injury to the jaw. The bullet remains there to this day...
- Robert GwilymRobert GwilymRobert Gwilym , sometimes known as Bob Gwilym, is a Welsh actor.Robert Gwilym is from Neath in south Wales, where his family owned a clothes shop...
as Chaim Engel - Jack ShepherdJack ShepherdJack Shepherd is an English actor, playwright, theatre director, saxophone player and jazz pianist, who made his film debut in 1969 with All Neat in Black Stockings and The Virgin Soldiers. He is perhaps best known for his television roles, most notably the title role in detective drama Wycliffe...
as Itzhak Lichtman - Kurt RaabKurt RaabKurt Raab was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with cult German film director, Rainer Werner Fassbinder with whom he collaborated on 31 film projects.-Biography:Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland, what is...
as Karl FrenzelKarl FrenzelSS-Oberscharführer Karl August Wilhelm Frenzel was the commandant of Sobibor extermination camp's Lager I section, which was the section for the Sonderkommando forced-labor prisoner-workers, who also herded victims into the gas chambers... - Klaus GrünbergKlaus GrünbergKlaus Grünberg is a German actor.-External links:*...
as Erich BauerErich BauerHermann Erich Bauer , sometimes referred to as "Gasmeister", was a SS-Oberscharführer . He participated in Nazi Germany's Action T4 program and later in Operation Reinhard, serving as a gas chamber operator at Sobibor extermination camp... - Henry StolowHenry StolowHenry Stolow was a stamp dealer in Berlin, New York, and Munich who was behind the issue of numerous stamps of doubtful vailidity.-Early life:...
as Johann Niemann - Ellis Van Maarseveen as Selma Wijnberg-EngelSelma Wijnberg-EngelSelma Engel-Wijnberg is a Dutch Holocaust survivor and the only known Dutch prisoner of Sobibor extermination camp who escaped and survived.Wijnberg grew up in Zwolle where her parents had a hotel ....
- David Miller as Mundek
- Sara SugarmanSara SugarmanSara Sugarman is a Welsh actress and film director whose work includes Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Very Annie Mary...
as Naomi - Irfan MensurIrfan MensurIrfan Mensur , is a Serbian theatre, television and film actor.* He is living and playing roles in Serbia for 30 years. He is married for the 2nd time to Serbian actress Srna Lango...
as Kalimali - Howard K. SmithHoward K. SmithHoward Kingsbury Smith was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original Edward R. Murrow boys.-Early life:...
(narrator) - Alan ArkinAlan ArkinAlan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
as Leon Feldhendler - Misa Janketic as Kapo Berliner
- Svetislav Goncic as 1st prisoner
- Erol Kadic as 2nd prisoner
- Predrag Todorovic as 1st Guard
- Predrag Milinkovic as Kapo Jacob
- Bozidar Pavicevic as Ivan Klatt
- Miroljub Leso as 3rd prisoner
- Ratislav Jovic as Shlomo's father
- Jelena Zigon as Toivi's mother
- Zoran Stojiljkovic as Boris
- Dejan Cavic as Kapo Spitz
- Dragomir Stanojevic-Bata Kameni as 2nd guard
- Eric Caspar as Franz Reichleitner
- Hugo Bower as Sgt. Beckmann
- Milan Erak as SS. Corporal
- Svetolik Nikacevic as Elderly man
- Wolfgang Bathke as Sgt. Hurst
See also
- List of films in the public domain
- List of Holocaust films
- The Grey ZoneThe Grey ZoneThe Grey Zone is a 2001 film directed by Tim Blake Nelson and starring David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Daniel Benzali. It is based on the book Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account written by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli....
, 2001 movie about uprising in Auschwitz-Birkenau