Sobibor was the only Nazi death camp where Jews had managed to escape thanks to the leadership of a Jewish Soviet officer, Alexander Pechersky.
Blaine: There are movies, like Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”, that show us the dark days in the 1940s when Jews were bullied and murdered by the Nazis. “Sobibor” is a powerful one. There’s a lot of cruel stuff that is shown in “Sobibor”. People ask why no one did anything or fought back. “Sobibor” shows that there was one death camp where Jews couldn’t take any more shit from the Nazis and gave those bastards what they deserved.
The film starts off with Jews arriving at the Sobibor camp. Half of them are sent to work, the others are sent to be cleaned up. They are tricked into believing things will be fine in Sobibor, but no Jew that arrived at that camp knew what really was to be expected. Half of them thought they were going to get cleaned up, but really it’s the gas chamber for them. It’s terrible. Looking at that overhead shot of all those women frightened and confused. The gas goes on and they are suffering as they can’t breathe. A Nazi is watching them as they die through a window and only one Jew, Hanna, is looking up. Nazis enjoyed the suffering of Jews, but this one doesn’t. His name is Karl Frenzel, an SS non-commissioned officer. That scene with the gas makes me sick. It’s horrible that those people had to go through hell and get killed for no good reason.
Hanna was played by Michalina Olszanska, and she’s a big Polish actress, but her part in “Sobibor” was so small. She was only around for the first ten or fifteen minutes and then her character gets killed off. During that time, Michalina got to show two sides of Hanna. She started off as this bright colored happy person, and then all of that was drained out of her when the Nazis cut off her hair and put her in a gas chamber. She went from this beautiful rose to this pale, frightened woman who’s life is about to end. Karl got a good look at Hanna as she was staring right up at him while suffering. My guess is he is haunted by what he sees.
Karl is a Nazi, but I think deep down he doesn’t want to be a monster. Nazi Germany was full of cruel people. There were some who didn’t want to be involved with the Nazi thing, but they had no choice and they were forced into being the bad guy. Karl was in love once, with a Jew, and she was probably the only thing in life that made him happy. But Karl’s father intervened with his love life and told him they couldn’t be together. His father was an anti-Semite. Karl wasn’t allowed to fall in love with anyone who was different. He obeyed his father, but it left him with unhappiness. He probably felt life wasn’t fair. Karl doesn’t have anger issues or a sick sense of humor like the other Nazis, he just chooses to be mean, thinking it’s in his nature. But somewhere within him there is a voice telling him that everything he does is wrong.
Hanna’s husband, Jakob, is in jewelry. He made the wedding ring Hanna wore. Jakob was all happy in the beginning before learning that the Nazis murdered his wife. Hanna was everything to Jakob and he is full of pain now that she is gone. Jakob keeps obsessing over it as he holds Hanna’s ring. He holds that thing as if he is Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings”. All Jakob wants is his wife because she was his life. He loved her very much and now there is nothing left of her, but ashes. A Nazi burns Jakob alive and smiles as if he is the devil.
One of the main characters is in his teens and I don't know his name because it is never mentioned once in the movie. I don’t have the name of the actor either, so I’m going to call him Big Eyes because he has big emotional eyes. The first time we see Big Eyes, he is saying bye to his family, not realizing it’s the last time he is going to see them alive. His mom tries to give him a kiss on the cheek, but he avoids it feeling it’s embarrassing. The Nazis killed Big Eye’s entire family. I bet now he wishes he let his mom kiss him. Big Eyes also wishes he was there for his sister. She wanted to go with him when the Jews were spilt in two, but he thought it would be better if she stayed with the folks. The actor who plays Big Eyes shows a lot in his eyes during the scene where he is remembering the last words he said to his little sister. He shows a powerful look in those eyes. I also think that scene is well shot. Half of Big Eye’s face is lit up by the light while everything that surrounds him is in the shadows.
Russian actor Konstantin Khabensky had spent his whole life acting on both stage and film. “Sobibor” was the first and by far the only feature he ever directed in his career. Konstantin did his job very well in directing because “Sobibor" is so strong, dramatic and it feels very real. Konstantin also took on the role of Alexander Pechersky, the leader of the Jew escape. Alexander has got a lot of balls. A lot of Jews are afraid to defend themselves and Alexander is the only one who will defend for them and make a stand. He can’t just sit around as innocent people are taking a bullet to the head.
Selma shows a straight face without showing any fear. But the look on her face also says she is miserable. She manages to stay strong and does whatever she can to survive. She is also very sneaky. Selma was saved by man who has been in love with her as soon as his eyes caught sight of her. When the Jews had to be separated in the beginning, he advised Selma to take the work, knowing something was up with the other path. This is another character who’s name is unknown to me. Anyway, they both don’t show that they like each other, but the love is there. It’s not hard to fall in love, but it is hard to think about it while your life is being treated miserably. But love is still in the air for some. There are some scenes that may have been cut out of the movie, like Alexander and a woman named Luca meeting each other for the first time. Luca finds Alexander very interesting because of how manly he is.
Alexander wants to do things that'll get him killed, and even though they haven’t known each other that long, Luca really cares for Alexander's life and doesn’t want to lose him. But nothing will happen to Alexander because he is brave and strong. Alexander believes something will happen and everyone is going to get out of this. The only time Luca feels peace is when Alexander is holding her in his arms.
Alexander and the others learn the Nazis have been killing all the Jews in each death camp and that Sobibor is next. The Nazis are planning to wipe them out. The Jews won’t allow this to be their fate, so they devise a plan to escape.
The Nazis are about to get what they deserve. The Jews lure them in one at a time. They start off with the one with the mean look and evil smile. They bash his head. His head has been completely crushed. It looks no different from what it was before. That guy had a real nasty look on his face. His death is brutal, but he deserves it. Then they kill this Nazi photographer with in a snap, literally. And then they stab a Nazi twice. He yells, but the noise he is making is being blocked by the sound of the geese outside.
Some of the Jews don’t like that they have to kill, but the Nazis left them no choice. Besides Nazis aren’t thought of as human beings because of how cruel and sick they are. And they’ve been treating Jews like animals instead of human beings, so it would be no different thinking of Nazis as something else.
Big Eyes gathers up the guns and becomes the Jews' sniper. The Jews make a move fast. Big Eyes makes the first move by shooting Karl and causing a distraction, while the Jews make a run for it. Most of the Jews are armed, so they can cover for the others. The Jews run as a herd and break down the gates. The Nazis are trying to stop them, but the Jews fight back. It makes you go “Ya, that’s it!” because they are really standing up for themselves.
Nazis see the Jews as weak and pathetic, but Karl has been seeing it differently. He knows they are human beings, but he’s been ignoring that. They are really showing him what they are made of as they escape the camp. This must be a real eye opener for Karl. Karl managed to survive, but he spent the rest of his life in prison after that. He died in ’96 at the age 85.
Luca doesn’t make it. While the herd is on the move, Luca hides and a bullet hits her. Alexander finds Luca and carries her out of the camp because he doesn’t want her to be left behind. She may be dead, but it wouldn’t be fair to leave the body of someone you love behind like a piece of garbage. Luca deserves a proper burial.
Big Eyes is the last one to run out the gate and the ending to the film just focusses on him. He is really working on his cardio, even if he is exhausted, plus he has a bad leg. But that doesn’t stop him. The taste of freedom is what keeps him going and he is using all his strength to keep on going. He believes he can make it and he hasn’t felt this alive in a while. There’s no telling where Big Eyes will go, but we do know he is getting as far away from that camp as he can.
After that, it explains how many Jews escaped and what became of them after they escaped. The escape was successful, but many of them were betrayed by Poles and turned back to the Nazis. My dad says they are all ass holes for turning them in. A lot of people didn’t have a happy ending in those days. Alexander Pechersky was one of the few Jews who made it. He managed to live a long life until his death in 1990.
