Philip Bialowitz

Bialowitz at Sobibor in 2013

Philip Bialowitz (1925 – August 6, 2016) was a Polish Holocaust survivor and resistance fighter. He was the last Polish Jewish survivor of the Sobibor extermination camp.

Bialowitz was transported to Sobibor in April 1943 and quickly heard about his sisters and niece being gassed to death.[1] He credited his brother Simcha with saving his life, since when he arrived at the camp Simcha said he was a pharmacist and that Philip was his assistant.[2] He was given the role of "working Jew", doing menial tasks such as shaving prisoners while avoiding being executed. The prisoners often believed they were merely being deloused instead of sent to extermination chambers. One day his task was to empty piles of dead bodies from train cars. He tried to pull a woman from the train but her skin stuck to his hands, amusing his Nazi overseer.[1]

He and his brother joined a rebellion on October 14, 1943 which overpowered the Nazis and freed 300 of their prisoners.[1] He heard one of the revolt's leaders say as they stood on a table, “If you survive, bear witness! Tell the world about this place!”[3] Russian prisoners of war showed the Jews how to fight. Bialowitz served as the messenger, telling SS officers that they had boots and leather coats for them. When they came, the resisters killed eleven of them with knives and axes. Bialowitz recalled jumping over the barbed wire to run towards German officers quarters in order to cut off the electricity. After escaping the extermination camp, a Polish farmer named Mazurek hid Bialowitz and his brother until the Red Army arrived.[2] Only about 50 escapees survived to the end of the war.[1]

He was trained by a former Nazi doctor to be a dental assistant.[1] After the war he married and had children while pushing for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.[4] Bialowitz moved to Columbus, Ohio.[1] He eventually settled in New York and worked as a jeweler.[5] Along with fellow survivor Thomas Blatt, he was one of the witnesses for the prosecution at the trial of John Demjanjuk in 2010.[6]

He wrote the acclaimed book, A Promise at Sobibor, which detailed his early life growing up in Poland, his experience during World War II, and his postwar life. Later in life he traveled around the world lecturing about the Holocaust and his personal experiences. Bialowitz often said that he had “a mission to perform.”[3]

He died in Florida on August 6, 2016, at the age of 90.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Nazi death camp survivor tells his story". Palm Beach Post. January 17, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Hecking, Claus (September 26, 2014). "Interview with a Sobibór Survivor: 'The Best Moment of My Life'". Der Spiegel. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Daniels, Jonny (August 8, 2016). "Holocaust hero passes away at 90". Israel National News. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  4. ↑ Julian, Hana Levi (August 9, 2016). "Last Survivor of Sobibor Death Camp, Philip Bialowitz, obm, Passes Away". The Jewish Press. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ Clay, Joanna (February 25, 2011). "Death camp survivor to speak at Jewish center". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ Demjanjuk-Prozess: „Wir hörten die Schreie aus den Gaskammern“. Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 17, 2010, Retrieved August 8, 2016. (German)
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