Thomas Blatt
Encyclopedia
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. Toivi went on to write From The Ashes of Sobibor about his experience in Sobibor, including his part in the plot that led the 600-prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943, as well as his life before the war leading up to the German occupation of his village, Izbica.
Blatt also interviewed a former German guard from Sobibor, Karl Frenzel
, who was given life in prison for his actions at Sobibor, but after serving 16 years, was released on appeal due to a technicality. Blatt believes his interview was the first time after World War II during which the accused spoke face-to-face with the victim.
The award winning 1987 TV movie Escape from Sobibor
depicts the events at the death camp Sobibor. Blatt was portrayed in the film as well as revolt leaders Leon Feldhendler and Alexander Pechersky
. Blatt assisted Richard Rashke in the making of the book called Escape from Sobibor. Escape from Sobibor gives varied accounts of Jewish escapees on the escape itself.
Blatt currently lives in Santa Barbara, California
.
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...
. 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. Toivi went on to write From The Ashes of Sobibor about his experience in Sobibor, including his part in the plot that led the 600-prisoner revolt on October 14, 1943, as well as his life before the war leading up to the German occupation of his village, Izbica.
Blatt also interviewed a former German guard from Sobibor, Karl Frenzel
Karl Frenzel
SS-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...
, who was given life in prison for his actions at Sobibor, but after serving 16 years, was released on appeal due to a technicality. Blatt believes his interview was the first time after World War II during which the accused spoke face-to-face with the victim.
The award winning 1987 TV movie Escape from Sobibor
Escape from Sobibor
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...
depicts the events at the death camp Sobibor. Blatt was portrayed in the film as well as revolt leaders Leon Feldhendler and Alexander Pechersky
Alexander Pechersky
Alexander 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:...
. Blatt assisted Richard Rashke in the making of the book called Escape from Sobibor. Escape from Sobibor gives varied accounts of Jewish escapees on the escape itself.
Blatt currently lives in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
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