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''Sonderkommandos'' (, ) were
work units A work unit or ''danwei'' () is the name given to a place of employment in the People's Republic of China. The term ''danwei'' remains in use today, as people still use it to refer to their workplace. Prior to Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, a ...
made up of
German Nazi Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
death camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...
prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber victims during
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. The death-camp ''Sonderkommandos'', who were always inmates, were unrelated to the ''
SS-Sonderkommandos The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It bega ...
'', which were ''
ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
'' units formed from members of various SS offices between 1938 and 1945. The German term was part of the vague and
euphemistic A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...
language which the Nazis used to refer to aspects of the
Final Solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...
(e.g., ''
Einsatzkommando During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellect ...
'', "deployment units").


Death factory workers

''Sonderkommando'' members did not participate directly in killing; that responsibility was reserved for the SS, while the ''Sonderkommandos'' primary duty was disposing of the corpses. In most cases, they were inducted immediately upon arrival at the camp and forced into the position under threat of death. They were not given any advance notice of the tasks they would have to perform. To their horror, sometimes the ''Sonderkommando'' inductees would discover members of their own family amid the bodies. They had no way to refuse or resign other than by committing suicide. In some places and environments, the ''Sonderkommandos'' might be euphemistically called ''Arbeitsjuden'' (Jews for work). At other times, ''Sonderkommandos'' were called ''Hilflinge'' (helpers). At
Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
the ''Sonderkommandos'' numbered up to 400 people by 1943 and, when Hungarian Jews were deported there in 1944, their numbers swelled to more than 900 persons, in order to keep up with the increased rounds of murder and extermination. Because the Germans needed the ''Sonderkommandos'' to remain physically able, they were granted much less squalid living conditions than other inmates: they slept in their own barracks and were allowed to keep and use various goods such as food, medicines and cigarettes brought into camp by those who were sent to the gas chambers. Unlike ordinary inmates, they were not normally subject to arbitrary killing by guards. Their livelihood and utility were determined by how efficiently they could keep the Nazi death factory running. As a result, ''Sonderkommando'' members survived longer in the death camps than other prisonersbut few survived the war. As they had detailed knowledge of the Nazis' practice of mass murder, the ''Sonderkommando'' were considered ''Geheimnisträger''bearers of secrets. As such, they were held in isolation away from prisoners being used as slave labor (see
SS Main Economic and Administrative Office The SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (; SS-WVHA) was a Nazi organization responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects of the (a main branch of the ; SS). It also ran the concentration camps and was instru ...
). There was a belief that every three months, according to SS policy, almost all the ''Sonderkommandos'' working in the death camps' killing areas would be gassed themselves and replaced with new arrivals to ensure secrecy, and that some inmates survived for up to a year or more because they possessed specialist skills. Usually, the task of a new ''Sonderkommando'' unit would be to dispose of the bodies of their predecessors. Research has calculated that from the creation of a death camp's first ''Sonderkommando'' to the liquidation of the camp, there were approximately 14 generations of ''Sonderkommando''. However, according to historian Igor Bartosik, author of ''Witnesses from the Pit of Hell: History of the Auschwitz Sonderkommando'' (2022) published by the
Auschwitz Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum () is a museum on the site of the Nazi German Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz I and the remains of the concentration and ex ...
, the renewed exterminations of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Sonderkommandos are a myth, since such an extermination only took place there once. "Nor was it true that prisoners were selected for their technical expertise. After a cursory inspection, they were selected merely in view of their apparent ability to work," wrote Bartosik.


Eyewitness testimony

Fewer than 20 of several thousand members of the ''Sonderkommandos'' are documented to have survived until liberation and to have testified about the events (although some sources claim more). Among them were
Henryk (Tauber) Fuchsbrunner ''Henryk (Tauber) Fuchsbrunner'' (8 July 1917 – 3 January 2000) was a Polish Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during the Holocaust, who gave detailed testimony at the end of World War II. Tauber was his mother's maiden name. His p ...
,
Filip Müller Filip Müller (3 January 1922 – 9 November 2013) was a Jewish Slovak Holocaust survivor and a member of the ''Sonderkommando'' at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German concentration camp during World War II, where he witnessed the murders of tens ...
, Daniel Behnnamias,
Dario Gabbai David Dario Gabbai (September 2, 1922 – March 25, 2020) was a Greece, Greek Sephardi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Jew and List of Holocaust survivors, Holocaust survivor, notable for his role as a member of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz concentration ...
,
Morris Venezia Maurice Venezia (25 February 1921 – 2 September 2013), later Morris Venezia, was an Italian-Greek Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. A member of the special squads, Sonderkommando, he was one of the few remaining eyewitnesses t ...
, Shlomo Venezia, Antonio Boldrin, Alter Fajnzylberg,
Samuel Willenberg Samuel Willenberg, ''nom de guerre'' Igo (16 February 1923 – 19 February 2016), was a Polish Holocaust survivor, artist, and writer. He was a ''Sonderkommando'' at the Treblinka extermination camp and participated in the unit's planned revol ...
, Abram Dragon, David Olère,
Henryk Mandelbaum Henryk Mandelbaum (15 December 1922 – 17 June 2008) was a Polish Holocaust survivor. He was one of the prisoners in the ''Sonderkommando KL Auschwitz-Birkenau'' in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who worked in the crematory. Only 110 ...
and Martin Gray. Another six or seven are confirmed to have survived, but did not give witness (or at least, such testimony is not documented). Buried and hidden accounts by members of the ''Sonderkommando'' were later found at some camps. Between 1943 and 1944, some members of the Birkenau ''Sonderkommando'' were able to obtain writing materials and record some of their experiences and what they had witnessed. These documents were buried in the grounds of the crematoria and recovered after the war. Five men have been identified as the authors of these manuscripts:
Zalman Gradowski Zalman Gradowski or Chaim Zalman Gradowski (1910 – 7 October 1944) originally from Suwałki, was a Polish Jewish prisoner of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during the Holocaust in occupied Poland, who kept a secret diary. On Nov ...
, Zalman Lewental, and
Leib Langfus Leib Langfus, or also Leyb Langfus, was one of the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau. A rabbi and Dayan (rabbinical judge) in Maków Mazowiecki, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, where he was forced to work as a Sonderkommando. After th ...
, who wrote in
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
; Chaim Herman, who wrote in French; and Marcel Nadjary, who wrote in Greek. Of the five, only Nadjary survived until liberation; Gradowski was killed in the revolt at Crematorium IV on 7 October 1944 (see below), or in retaliation for it; Lewental, Langfus, and Herman are believed to have been killed in November 1944. Gradowski wrote the following note, found buried at an Auschwitz crematorium site: The manuscripts are kept primarily in the archive of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Memorial Museum. Exceptions are Herman's letter (kept in the archives of the ''Amicale des déportés d'Auschwitz-Birkenau'') and Gradowski's texts, one of which is held in the Russian Museum of Military Medicine in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
, and another in
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
, Israel. Some of the manuscripts were published as ''The Scrolls of Auschwitz'', edited by Ber Mark. The Auschwitz Museum published some others as ''Amidst a Nightmare of Crime''. The Scrolls of Auschwitz have been recognised as some of the most important testimony to be written about the Holocaust, as they include contemporaneous eyewitness accounts of the workings of the gas chambers in Birkenau.


Revolts

''Sonderkommando'' prisoners participated in uprisings on two occasions.


Treblinka

The first revolt occurred at
Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...
on 2 August 1943. Prisoners used a duplicate key to open the camp arsenal and steal 20 to 25 rifles, 20 hand grenades, and several pistols. At 3:45 p.m., 700 Jews launched an attack on the camp's ''SS'' guards and
trawniki Trawniki is a village in Świdnik County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Trawniki. It lies approximately south-east of Świdnik and south-east of the regional capital Lu ...
s that lasted for 30 minutes. They set buildings and a fuel tanker ablaze. Armed Jews attacked the main gate, while others attempted to climb the fence. About 200 Jews escaped from the camp, but the well-armed guards slaughtered hundreds of others. They phoned for ''SS'' reinforcements from four towns, and these set up roadblocks and pursued escapees in cars and on horses. Partisans of the ''
Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...
'' (Polish: Home Army) transported some of the surviving escaped prisoners across the
Bug River The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of . while others were helped and fed by Polish villagers. Of the 700 Sonderkommando who took part in the revolt, 100 managed to survive and escape from the camp, and around 70 of these are known to have survived the war. These include
Richard Glazar Richard Glazar (November 29, 1920 – December 20, 1997) was a Czech-Jewish inmate of the Treblinka extermination camp in German-occupied Poland during the Holocaust. One of a small group of survivors of the camp's prisoner revolt in August 1943, ...
,
Chil Rajchman Chil (Enrique) Meyer Rajchman a.k.a. Henryk Reichman, nom de guerre ''Henryk Ruminowski'' (June 14, 1914 – May 7, 2004) was one of about 70 Jewish prisoners who survived the Holocaust after participating in the August 2, 1943, revolt at the Treb ...
,
Jankiel Wiernik Jankiel (Yankel, Yaakov, or Jacob) Wiernik (; 1889–1972) was a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor who was an influential figure in the Treblinka extermination camp resistance. He had been forced to work as a ''Sonderkommando'' slave worker ...
, and
Samuel Willenberg Samuel Willenberg, ''nom de guerre'' Igo (16 February 1923 – 19 February 2016), was a Polish Holocaust survivor, artist, and writer. He was a ''Sonderkommando'' at the Treblinka extermination camp and participated in the unit's planned revol ...
, who co-wrote the ''Treblinka Memoirs''. ''Also in:''


Auschwitz

In October 1944, the ''Sonderkommando'' rebelled at Crematorium IV in
Auschwitz II Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
. For months, young Jewish women workers had been smuggling small packets of
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
out of the Weichsel-Union-Metallwerke, a munitions factory in an industrial area between the main camp of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II. The gunpowder was passed along a smuggling chain to ''Sonderkommando'' in Crematorium IV. The plan was to destroy the gas chambers and crematoria and launch an uprising. However, on the morning of 7 October 1944, the camp resistance warned the ''Sonderkommando'' in Crematorium IV that they were to be killed, and the ''Sonderkommando'' attacked the ''SS'' and ''Kapos'' with two machine guns, axes, knives, and grenades, killing three and injuring about a dozen more. Some of the ''Sonderkommando'' escaped from the camp, but most were recaptured later the same day. Of those who did not die during the uprising itself, 200 were later forced to strip and lie face down before being shot in the back of the head. A total of 451 ''Sonderkommandos'' were killed that day.


Media portrayals

The earliest portrayals of the ''Sonderkommando'' were generally unflattering. Miklos Nyiszli, in ''Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account'', described the ''Sonderkommando'' as enjoying a virtual feast, complete with chandeliers and candlelight, as other prisoners died of starvation. Nyiszli, an admitted collaborator who assisted
Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...
in his medical experiments on Auschwitz prisoners, would appear to have been in a good position to observe the ''Sonderkommando'' in action, as he had an office in Krematorium II. But some of his inaccurate physical descriptions of the crematoria diminishes his credibility in this regard. Historian
Gideon Greif Gideon Greif (; born 16 March 1951) is an Israeli historian who specializes in the history of the Holocaust, especially the history of the Auschwitz concentration camp and particularly the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz. He served as a visiting lec ...
characterized Nyiszli's writings as among the "myths and other wrong and defamatory accounts" of the ''Sonderkommando'', which flourished in the absence of first-hand testimony by surviving ''Sonderkommando'' members.
Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...
, in ''
The Drowned and the Saved ''The Drowned and the Saved'' () is a book of essays by Italian-Jewish author and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi on life and death in the Nazi extermination camps, drawing on his personal experience as a survivor of Auschwitz ( Monowitz). Th ...
'', characterizes the ''Sonderkommando'' as being "akin to collaborators." He said that their testimonies should not be given much credence, since they had much to atone for and would naturally attempt to rehabilitate themselves at the expense of the truth. But, he asked his readers to refrain from condemnation: "Therefore I ask that we meditate upon the story of 'the crematorium ravens' with pity and rigor, but that judgment of them be suspended."
Filip Müller Filip Müller (3 January 1922 – 9 November 2013) was a Jewish Slovak Holocaust survivor and a member of the ''Sonderkommando'' at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German concentration camp during World War II, where he witnessed the murders of tens ...
was one of the few ''Sonderkommando'' members who survived the war and was also unusual in that he served on the ''Sonderkommando'' far longer than most. He wrote of his experiences in his book ''Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chambers'' (1979). Among other incidents he related, Müller recounted how he tried to enter the gas chamber to die with a group of his countrymen but was dissuaded from suicide by a girl who asked him to remain alive and bear witness. Since the late 20th century, several other more sympathetic accounts of the ''Sonderkommando'' have been published, beginning with Gideon Greif's own book '' We Wept Without Tears'' (1999 in Hebrew, 2005 in English), which consists of interviews with former ''Sonderkommando'' members. Greif includes as his prologue Gunther Anders' poem "And What Would You Have Done?", which says that one who has not been in that situation has little right to judge the ''Sonderkommando'': "Not you, not me! We were not put to that ordeal!" The first depiction of the ''Sonderkommando'' revolt was titled ''Ikh leb'' (I live), a play written by Jewish author Moshe Pinchevski. It was also the first post-World War 2, Yiddish-language performance at the Idisher Kultur Farband Teater in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
,
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, in 1945. A theatre play that explores the moral dilemmas of the ''Sonderkommando'' was ''
The Grey Zone ''The Grey Zone'' is a 2001 American historical tragedy film written and 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 ...
'', directed by
Doug Hughes Douglas Hughes is an American theatre director. Early life Hughes is the son of acting couple Barnard Hughes (1915–2006) and Helen Stenborg. He attended Harvard University, starting as a biology major and graduating with a degree in English. ...
and produced in New York at
MCC Theater MCC Theater (Manhattan Class Company) is an off-Broadway theater company located in New York City. The theater was founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey and William Cantler. Blake West joined the company in 2006 ...
in 1996. The play was later adapted as a film of the same title by producer
Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor, writer, and director. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report (film), Minori ...
. The film took its mood, as well as much of its plot, from Nyiszli, portraying members of the ''Sonderkommando'' as crossing the line from victim to perpetrator. ''Sonderkommando'' Hoffman (played by
David Arquette David Arquette (; born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Arquette's breakout came with his starring role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film '' Scream'' (1996), a role which he later reprised i ...
) beats a man to death in the undressing room under the eyes of a smiling SS member. Nelson emphasizes that the subject of the film is that very moral ambiguity. "We can see each one of ourselves in that situation, perhaps acting in that way, because we are human. But we're not sanctified victims." A "novelized" memoir, '' A Damaged Mirror'' (2014), by Yael Shahar and Ovadya ben Malka, explores the lengths to which a former ''Sonderkommando'' will go to obtain forgiveness and closure: "The fact that good people can be forced to do wrong doesn't make them less good," the survivor says of himself, "but it also doesn't make the wrong less wrong." ''
Son of Saul ''Son of Saul'' () is a 2015 Hungarian historical drama film directed by László Nemes, in his feature directorial debut, and co-written by Nemes and Clara Royer. It is set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, and follows ...
'', a 2015 Hungarian film directed by
László Nemes László Nemes (born Nemes Jeles László; ; 18 February 1977) is a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. His 2015 debut feature film, ''Son of Saul,'' was screened in the main competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the ...
, and winner of the
2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2015. Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel Coen were the Co-Presidents of the Jury for the main competition, marking the first time that two people co-chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers ...
Grand Prix, details the story of one ''Sonderkommando'' attempting to bury a dead child he takes for his son. Géza Röhrig, who starred in the film, reacted with anger to the suggestion, made by a journalist, that members of the ''Sonderkommando'' were "half-victim, half-hangman".
"There has to be a clarification," he said. "They are 100% victims. They have not spilled blood or been involved in any sort of killing. They were inducted on arrival under the threat of death. They had no control of their destinies. They were as victimised as any other prisoners in Auschwitz."


Gallery


See also

* Ala Gertner * David Olère *
Filip Müller Filip Müller (3 January 1922 – 9 November 2013) was a Jewish Slovak Holocaust survivor and a member of the ''Sonderkommando'' at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German concentration camp during World War II, where he witnessed the murders of tens ...
* ''
The Grey Zone ''The Grey Zone'' is a 2001 American historical tragedy film written and 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 ...
'' *
Henryk Mandelbaum Henryk Mandelbaum (15 December 1922 – 17 June 2008) was a Polish Holocaust survivor. He was one of the prisoners in the ''Sonderkommando KL Auschwitz-Birkenau'' in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who worked in the crematory. Only 110 ...
*
Henryk Tauber ''Henryk (Tauber) Fuchsbrunner'' (8 July 1917 – 3 January 2000) was a Polish Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during the Holocaust, who gave detailed testimony at the end of World War II. Tauber was his mother's maiden name. His p ...
*
Kommando A ''Kommando'' (, "unit" or "command") is a general term for special police and military forces in German, Dutch, and Afrikaans speaking nations. It was also the term in the World War II era ''Luftwaffe'' for special units used to test new a ...
*
Leib Langfus Leib Langfus, or also Leyb Langfus, was one of the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau. A rabbi and Dayan (rabbinical judge) in Maków Mazowiecki, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, where he was forced to work as a Sonderkommando. After th ...
*
Morris Venezia Maurice Venezia (25 February 1921 – 2 September 2013), later Morris Venezia, was an Italian-Greek Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. A member of the special squads, Sonderkommando, he was one of the few remaining eyewitnesses t ...
* Rose Meth * Roza Robota * Shlomo Venezia * ''Shoah'' (film) * ''
Son of Saul ''Son of Saul'' () is a 2015 Hungarian historical drama film directed by László Nemes, in his feature directorial debut, and co-written by Nemes and Clara Royer. It is set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, and follows ...
'' * ''Sonderaktion'' 1005 * ''
Ypatingasis būrys ''Ypatingasis būrys'' (, ) or Special Squad of the German Security Police and SD () was a killing squad operating in the Vilnius Region in 1941–1944. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers,Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction o ...
''


Notes


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * . * . * * . * * * * Eyewitness accounts from members of the ''Sonderkommando''. Publications include: # # # # # . A play and subsequent film about the ''Sonderkommandos'', ''
The Grey Zone ''The Grey Zone'' is a 2001 American historical tragedy film written and 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 ...
'' (2001) directed by
Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor, writer, and director. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in ''Minority Report (film), Minori ...
, was based on this book. # ''Dario Gabbai (Interview Code 142, conducted in English)'' video testimony, interview conducted in November 1996, Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation
USC Shoah Foundation Institute
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
. # # #


External links

* History of th
Jüdische Sonderkommando
Sonderkommando-studien.de (further content: Zum Begriff Sonderkommando und verwandten Bezeichnungen • „Handlungsräume“ im Sonderkommando Auschwitz. • Der „Sonderkommando-Aufstand“ in Auschwitz-Birkenau – Photos )
Information about Auschwitz ''Sonderkommandos'' members
French website ''Sonderkommando.info'' {{Authority control Nazi concentration camp occupations