Simjon Rosenfeld (October 1, 1922 – June 3, 2019) was a survivor of the Sobibor death camp and a participant in the prisoner revolt which took place in that camp. Born in

Baranowicze Baranavichy ( ; be, Бара́навічы, Łacinka: , ; russian: Бара́новичи; yi, באַראַנאָוויטש; pl, Baranowicze) is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus, with a population (as of 2019) of 179,000. It is not ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, in 1940 he was recruited to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

. In 1941, the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

captured him and sent him to build a labor camp in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

. On 20 September 1943 he was transferred to Sobibor. The Germans separated the Jewish and non-Jewish soldiers but refrained from killing the Jews as they had war prisoner status. On October 14, 1943, Rosenfeld participated in the uprising that resulted in his escape. Acting commander SS Untersturmfuehrer

Johann Niemann Johann Niemann (4 August 1913 – 14 October 1943) was a German SS and Holocaust perpetrator who was deputy commandant of Sobibor extermination camp during Operation Reinhard. He also served as a ''Leichenverbrenner'' (corpse cremator) at Gr ...

entered the tailor shop in which Rosenfeld worked. While Isaac Lichtman held Niemann's leg tight – seemingly in an effort to pull off his boots – Rosenfeld and Arcady Wajspaper came out of the back room and split his skull with an axe. Rosenfeld escaped together with Dov Freiberg and later they joined

Joseph Serchuk Joseph (Yozhik) Serchuk ( he, יוסף סרצ'וק) born Józef Serczuk or Josef Sierczuk (Chełm, 1919 – 6 November 1993, Tel Aviv) was the leader of a Jewish partisan unit in the Lublin area of occupied Poland during the Holocaust. After W ...

's partisan unit. Was separated from the other Russians and survived in hiding. Rejoined the Red Army and fought in the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

, where he carved the name "Sobibor" into the wall of the Reich Chancellery. After the war, he moved to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

and then to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the 1980s. Rosenfeld had two sons and five grandchildren at the time of his death. He received a eulogy from Israeli

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenfeld, Simjon 1922 births 2019 deaths Sobibor extermination camp survivors People from Baranavichy People from Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939) Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Soviet emigrants to Israel