RIVERSIDE: Nazi death camp survivor speaks at Poly High
10:00 PM PST on Monday, March 7, 2011
Submitted to The Press-Enterprise
In one of the darkest periods of the Nazi occupation of Europe, 17-year-old Philip Bialowitz and his remaining family members were rounded up and sent to the notorious death camp at Sobibor in Poland. Months later, he and his older brother became part of the most successful uprising and escape from a Nazi camp during World War II.
More than 700 students at Riverside's Poly High School recently heard Bialowitz's firsthand account of prisoners' courage and resistance at Sobibor. He is one of only eight remaining survivors from the camp, where an estimated 250,000 people were killed.
He was born Dec. 25, 1925, in Izbica, Poland. "But by the time I was 14, my childhood was lost forever. My parents and one of my sisters already had been murdered by the Nazis," he said.
Submitted to The Press-Enterprise
Holocaust survivor Philip Bialowitz, 85, addresses 700 Riverside Poly High School students about his role in the famous uprising and escape from the Sobibor Nazi death camp during World War II.
Eventually he, his brother, two sisters and a niece were captured and sent to Sobibor. He explained that this was an extermination camp, not a concentration camp where there was some small hope of survival.
However, the day the Bialowitz family arrived, the Nazis were looking for professionals and trades people to fill in the ranks of about 600 slave laborers who maintained the camp. Philip's older brother, a pharmacist, stepped forward and pulled him with him, saying he was his assistant.
They were saved, but their relatives were sent directly to the gas chambers.
"Even my 7-year-old niece knew that she was going to die when she came to hug me," he said.
An underground resistance was growing at Sobibor, led by a rabbi's son, Leon Feldhendler, and a Russian Jewish soldier, Sasha Pechersky. The Bialowitz brothers joined in the effort, whose goal was to free all of the 600 slave laborers, leaving no one behind.
On Oct. 14, 1943, the resistance fighters killed 11 Nazi officers and several Ukrainian guards, setting the stage for the escape. Sobibor was surrounded by barbed wire, guard towers, minefields and deep forest.
"About 400 prisoners died during the revolt," Bialowitz said. "But about 200 other prisoners, including me and my brother, made it to the deep forest. We were the only two brothers to survive a Nazi extermination camp."
Bialowitz noted the turmoil in the world today and urged his audience to condemn leaders who spread messages of hatred and condone genocide. "At Sobibor, we learned that all of us must stand up to all bullies and murderers," he said.
At the end of his remarks, students lined up to meet Bialowitz.
His appearance was arranged by teacher Leesa Rankins as an event for Poly's Hospitality Academy, with assistance from Rabbi Shmuel Fuss of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Riverside.
Sophomore Joshua Tick, said he wished he could have spent more time getting to know the Holocaust survivor. After listening to the Sobibor story, "I felt it more," he said.
Sophomore Shelby Blasjo agreed, calling the event "a once in a lifetime experience."
"I think it was pretty cool ... it was historic," said Clayton Weitzel, another sophomore. "I learned a lot."
For the past 20 years he has been telling his story. He also has testified at several war crimes trials. He relocated to New York after the war and is the father of five and grandfather of 15.
Submitted by Chabad Jewish Community Center.