
Chaim Engel
Nació: 1916, en Brudzew, Polonia
Describe su papel en la sublevación de Sobibor [Entrevista: 1990]
There were two people were assigned to go to kill somebody in the office, a German in the office. And the last minute, one of them got scared and he didn't want to go. And I was there and I hear the story, and I knew already that there's ten to twelve Germans were already killed. So I know the...the ordeal I know already. We are already...unless we get out, otherwise we are dead. So Selma brought me a knife with a point, knife. I said I wanted to go. You see, from all these people, what people brought from the transport...utensils and all the things...there were a warehouse for it, and we're not far from this warehouse, so she went there in and she picked a knife, a pointed knife. She gave me a knife, and I went with the other fellow. I don't think I was a big hero or a big courageous man, but I, I figured it's self defense and survival. If I don't do it, it might spoil the whole thing. So I, I instinctively...there's no decision. It's not a decision. You just react, instinctively you react to that, and I figured, "Let us to do, and go and do it." And I went. I went with the man in the office, and we killed this German. With every jab, I said, "That is for my father, for my mother, for all these people, all the Jews you killed." And I...my knife slipped out...slid out from my hand and I cut myself.
There were two people were assigned to go to kill somebody in the office, a German in the office. And the last minute, one of them got scared and he didn't want to go. And I was there and I hear the story, and I knew already that there's ten to twelve Germans were already killed. So I know the...the ordeal I know already. We are already...unless we get out, otherwise we are dead. So Selma brought me a knife with a point, knife. I said I wanted to go. You see, from all these people, what people brought from the transport...utensils and all the things...there were a warehouse for it, and we're not far from this warehouse, so she went there in and she picked a knife, a pointed knife. She gave me a knife, and I went with the other fellow. I don't think I was a big hero or a big courageous man, but I, I figured it's self defense and survival. If I don't do it, it might spoil the whole thing. So I, I instinctively...there's no decision. It's not a decision. You just react, instinctively you react to that, and I figured, "Let us to do, and go and do it." And I went. I went with the man in the office, and we killed this German. With every jab, I said, "That is for my father, for my mother, for all these people, all the Jews you killed." And I...my knife slipped out...slid out from my hand and I cut myself.
Los alemanes capturaron a Chaim, un soldado en el ejército polaco, cuando invadieron Polonia en 1939. Inicialmente lo mandaron a Alemania para realizar trabajos forzados, pero como era prisionero de guerra judío fue mandado de vuelta a Polonia. Finalmente fue deportado al campo de Sobibor, donde el resto de su familia murió. En la sublevación de Sobibor en 1943, Chaim mató a un guardia. Se escapó con su novia, Selma, con quien luego se casó. Un granjero los escondió hasta la liberación en junio de 1944.
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