Abdullah Alhadad

Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1102 - 005
Due Date 10/25/2015
Weekly Writing 7: Respond to academic article

Title: KILLING CENTER REVOLTS

Author: Museum

Published by: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps
and Ghettos

URL: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007747

Summary:
The main focus of this article is about the resistance of the prisoners in the death camps
such as the ones in Treblinka, Sobibor, Auschewitz and chelmno. Although the prisoners
knew that the German soldiers are stronger than them, the article showed that the
prisoners fought for the slight chance of survival and to escape the death camp or die
fighting with honor. The prisoners knew what was waiting for them so they were fighting

back the German soldiers. Most of the prisoners were traumatized from their fellow
prisoners corpses.

"Although many resisters knew they were bound to lose against overwhelmingly
superior German forces, they chose to die fighting(Museum, 2015). The quotation
shows that the prisoners preferred to die fighting rather than wait for their death burned in
a gas chamber. The prisoners knew that the German soldiers are more armed, and
stronger than them, they had to fight after hearing about the death camps seeing the
corpses. The prisoners fought for their slight chance of survival trying to escape the death
camps.

After the last Jews deported to Treblinka were gassed in May 1943, about 1,000 Jewish
prisoners remained in the camp. Aware that they were soon to be killed, the prisoners
decided to revolt(Museum, 2015). The prisoners were alert that they may be killed. The
prisoners were terrified of being killed so they decided to fight for survival and honor.
Some of the prisoners did escape the camp during the resistance and survived. However
thousands of people were killed in Treblenka.

At Auschwitz-Birkenau, prisoners of the Sonderkommandothe special squad whose

job it was to burn the corpses of the murdered victimslearned of the plans to kill
them(Museum, 2015). As can be seen from the quote there was vicious cycle where the
prisoners have to burn other prisoners only to be killed themselves, which is inhumane.
This quote is horrifying because the prisoners saw and burned the corpses of the dead

victims. The prisoners surely suffered some trauma after seeing such things. The English
Professor said that the prisoners smelled the gas and saw the corpses so they were afraid
of being killed or burned and that is the reason that made the prisoners resist and fight the
German soldiers.

Reference:
Museum, Ushmm.org,. 2015. 'Killing Center Revolts'.
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007747.