The next day we found out that what we were meant to have said was that the fine, clean life we would have after removing the traces of their criminal activity would be our deaths. The bandit came to us yet again and explained yet again that nothing bad would happen to us. We listened yet again and thought of our freedom…
We decide together with the workers in Camp 1 to blow up the camp. Not everyone knows. The decision is kept secret. Only the leaders and those comrades who have been assigned special tasks know.
The plan of the revolt is as follows: everyone will work normally, very carefully, not revealing the least change in our routine.
Everyone knows what his responsibility is. In order to carry out the plan, each of us must place himself close to his appointed task.
When we hear two shots coming from Camp 1, that will be the signal for the revolt to begin. All of us are ready. Several comrades are assigned to set the gas chambers on fire. Others have the task of killing S.S. men and Ukrainians and seizing their weapons.
Several men who work near the observation posts are to try and distract the Ukrainians there with pieces of gold.
All are at their assigned positions.
We, the dentists, have the task of gathering as much gold as possible to take along with us. We plan, upon escaping from our camp, to head in the direction of the Treblinka Labour Camp, which lies 2 kilometres away, in order to liberate the Jews and Christians interned there…
The plans are all in place, but unfortunately there is an unforeseen change: on the day chosen for the uprising, a transport arrives at 5.00 in the morning, and with it many S.S. men and Ukrainians. This ruins our plans and we are forced to postpone our action. We cannot get over this disaster. The fear in Camp 1 is very great, because they now have to return to the storehouse the weapons that were stolen with such difficulty. But they succeed in doing so and happily none of the murderers notice.
Difficult days begin for us. It is impossible to get anything done because we are surrounded by a strengthened watch.
In May the weather turns hot and the corpses being torn out of the ground cause the air to stink. The murderers cannot bring themselves to approach the pits. The excavator operators and S.S. men choke on the foetid air. They are forced to change the work schedule, and instead of working from 6.00 in the morning we now must begin at 4.00 in the morning. The roll-call is at 3.30.
We work until 2.00 in the afternoon without interruption. Then we receive the midday meal. It often happens that we have to keep working during the afternoon because new transports arrive.
We are constantly being hurried at work. The pits are emptied more and more every day. We let the people in Camp 1 know that if they do not advance the date for the uprising, we will have to do it ourselves before it is too late. We are divided in our opinions.
One group is in favour of blowing up the camp ourselves. The other group is certain that if we act alone we are doomed to failure.
We cannot wait any longer. Every day seems like a year. We decide to give Camp 1 the latest date we can accept, and if we do not get a clear answer from them, we will under no circumstances wait any longer.
We receive from them only the answer that we should be patient and wait a few more days. Finally we receive a concrete reply from Camp 1: the uprising is set for 2 August, 4.30 in the afternoon. We wait impatiently for that day.
The morning of 2 August is beautiful. The sun is shining. All of us are feeling brave. Despite our fears, we are all happy that the time has come. There is a smile on everyone’s face. We feel new strength, we feel more alive than ever. We go off to work with joy in our hearts, though we tell each other to try not to show it in our faces.
We prepare cans of benzene, supposedly for the motors. Our barracks leader, who works in the camp as a butcher, asks the camp deputy, Karl Spetzinger, for permission to sharpen his knives because we are to receive a dead horse and the knives are dull. Spetzinger agrees, and Kalman the butcher sharpens his knives and the pliers to cut the barbed wire.
Everything is ready. Our excitement is running high, but so is our fear that the murderers might find out something and shoot us. We fall out for the midday meal. The latest news from Camp 1 is that everything is ready. Our only concern is that something might happen once again to spoil our plans. We have seen to it that at every point, such as the ovens, there will still be people at work so that we will not be shut up in the barracks. We claim that the fires need attention, that they are not burning well. In the kitchen we supposedly haven’t drawn enough water so we have to send several people back to get more. These are in fact three good soldiers. Their task, the moment the revolt begins, will be to cut the throats of the Ukrainian guards and seize their weapons.
The midday rations are being distributed. We are all hungry, as always, but none of us is able to eat anything. No-one asks for seconds of soup. Dozens of comrades do not touch the food.
Afterwards all of us go back to work filled with happiness. We say to one another: — Ha-yom, ha-yom!”(Hebrew: The Day, the Day!) The work goes quickly. The murderers are pleased that the work is humming along. We avoid speaking to one another so that no-one will notice anything. Our tools are hidden in the appropriate places.
Our comrade Adolf, using various pretexts, tries to check every position. Despite all our preparations, there are still many among us who have no idea what is supposed to happen. The time passes with extraordinary slowness. The fear that something may go wrong is unbearable.
The clock strikes 3.30.
We hear two gunshots from the direction of Camp 1 — a sign that the revolt has started. A few minutes later we receive the order to quit working. Everyone hurries to his post. A few seconds after that, flames engulf the gas chambers. They have been set on fire. The Ukrainian standing guard next to the barracks lies on the ground like a stuck pig, blood flowing from him. His weapon is already being used by our comrade Zelo.
Shots are heard from all sides. The Ukrainians, whom our comrades have lured from the watchtowers, lie dead. Two S.S. excavator operators are dead. We head for the barbed wire shouting: — Revolyutsya v Berline! (Russian: Revolution in Berlin!) Several of the Ukrainians become disorientated and put up their hands.
Their weapons are taken from them. We cut the wires one after the other. We are already at the third barbed-wire fence.
I am near the barracks. Many comrades have become confused and out of fear are hiding inside. I and several others urge them out, shouting: — Comrades, come out to freedom, faster, faster!
All are now outside. The third fence has been cut. Fifty metres further on there are trestles thickly interwoven with barbed wire.
We try to cut these as well.
The firing of the murderers’ machine guns can be heard now.
Some of them have succeeded in getting hold of their weapons.
At the trestles lie many of our comrades who became entangled in the wires and were unable to escape.
I am among the last to go. I am already outside. Next to me is Comrade Kruk, from Płock. He falls into my arms: — Comrade, we are free. We kiss one another. I manage to run a few dozen metres when I see that the murderers are coming after us with machine guns. An automobile is bearing down on us. On the roof is a machine gun shooting in all directions. Many fall down dead.