Thomas Blatt
Thomas Blatt | |
---|---|
Sobibór extermination camp uprising | |
Spouse(s) | Teodozja Kowalik, Dena Blatt[1] |
Children | Rena Blatt/Smith Leonard Blatt[1] |
Thomas "Toivi" Blatt (born Tomasz Blatt; April 15, 1927 – October 31, 2015) was a
Life
Thomas "Toivi" Blatt was born on April 15, 1927, to a Jewish family in
During the one year and a half in which the Sobibór killing centre operated, at least 167,000 people were murdered there, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum;[7] virtually all of the victims were Jews, mostly from Poland, France and the Netherlands. Other estimates range from 200,000 (Raul Hilberg) to 250,000 (Dr. Aharon Weiss, and Czesław Madajczyk).[8]
Escape from Sobibór
Blatt was among some 300 prisoners who escaped from the camp during the uprising staged by the Sobibór underground on October 14, 1943.[9]
Work in the communist security service
In his biography, he stated that in 1944, he joined the NKVD. Then, from 1945, he worked at the Polish Ministry of Public Security in Gliwice. In 1947-48, he studied at the Central School of Political Officers in Lodz, after which he continued working in the Ministry of Public Security.
Emigration
In 1957, Blatt emigrated from
Blatt also did his own research. In 1983, he interviewed Karl Frenzel after his release from prison,[14] a Nazi German who had been third in command at Sobibór. Frenzel, convicted at trial and sentenced to life in prison for his actions at the camp, was released on appeal after serving 16 years. Blatt later claimed that his interview was the first one after World War II in which an extermination camp survivor spoke face-to-face with a camp functionary.[3][15]
The 1983 book by Rashke was adapted into the award-winning 1987 television film,
Blatt wrote two books about Sobibór. His first mémoire, From The Ashes of Sobibor (1997),[16] is about his life before the war and the German occupation of Izbica leading up to the deportation of his family to the Sobibór death camp. His second mémoire titled Sobibor: the forgotten revolt (1998)[1] also based on his own experience and supplementary research, and written with the help of his son Leon Blatt,[1] describes the story of the prisoner revolt of October 14, 1943, as remembered by Alexander Pechersky and others.[17] The book material was used as the source for his personal website by the same name.[18]
Blatt lived in Santa Barbara, California. He died at his home on October 31, 2015, at the age of 88.[19][2]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-9649442-0-0. Acknowledgements.
- ^ a b Roberts, Sam (November 2, 2015). "Thomas Blatt, Who Escaped Death Camp During Revolt, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Kowalczyk-Nowak, Agnieszka (November 2, 2015). "Tomasz Blatt (1927–2015)". Majdanek State Museum.
- Museum of the History of Polish Jews. page 3 of 6. Archived from the originalon September 24, 2015 – via Internet Archive.
- )
- ^ a b de Ree, Erik (2012). "Thomas Blatt". Sobiborinterviews.nl. The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD). Archived from the original on March 9, 2016 – via Internet Archive.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ USHMM (2012). "Sobibor: Chronology". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012 – via Internet Archive.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - )
- ^ "Thomas Blatt – Sobibor Interviews". March 9, 2016. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Institute of National remembrance Archives, Personal dossier report".
- ^ "Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie (NIOD).Sobibor interviews, Survivors of the revolt(1984)".
- ^ "Institute of National Remembrance Archives, Personal dossier report".
- ^ )
- ^ Smart, Victor; Webb, Chris (2012). "Sobibor survivor Thomas Tovi Blatt confronts Death Camp Commandant Karl Frenzel in 1983". HolocaustResearchProject.org. Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team.
- ^ The Holocaust Encyclopedia (2018). "Tomasz (Toivi) Blatt. Born: April 15, 1927. Izbica, Poland". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
- OCLC 645873594.
- ISBN 0-9649442-0-0– via Google Books, snippet view
- ^ "Sobibor, The Forgotten Revolt". Sobibor.net.
- ^ Gera, Vanessa (November 2, 2015). "Thomas Blatt, survivor of escape from Sobibor dies at 88". USNews.com. Associated Press.
External links
- Sobibor – The Forgotten Revolt, by Thomas Toivi Blatt
- Thomas Blatt – videotaped testimony – interviewed April 4, 1995, USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive Online
- Interview with Sobibor Survivor Thomas Blatt: 'Demjanjuk Should Confess' – May 13, 2009, Der Spiegel
- Interview of Thomas Blatt – October 14, 2011, WMRA
- Thomas Blatt dies at 88; among 300 Jews who escaped Nazi death camp at Sobibor – November 3, 2015, Los Angeles Times
- ‘I’m still there – in my dreams,’ said Thomas Blatt, survivor of daring escape from Nazi death camp – November 3, 2015, The Washington Post
- Photos of Nazis at Sobibor death camp are the first of their kind – January 27, 2020, The Washington Post
- Escape from Sobibor at IMDb