Alexander Aronovich Pechersky

Leader of the uprising at the Sobibor extermination camp on 14 October 1943 — the only successful mass revolt in a Nazi death camp. Born on 22 February 1909 in Kremenchug, he lived in Rostov-on-Don. He was called up in the first days of the war and taken prisoner near Vyazma in October 1941. His rank is given inconsistently in the sources: most publications say technician-quartermaster 2nd rank, some say captain. The discrepancy is preserved here and is not resolved by this page. As a Jewish prisoner of war he was brought to Sobibor on 23 September 1943. Over three weeks, together with the camp's underground group led by Leon Feldhendler, he prepared a revolt: on 14 October 1943 the prisoners killed part of the guard and broke through the wire. Estimates of how many got out vary, usually between 400 and 450; only a few dozen survived the war. The Nazis demolished and closed the camp after the uprising. After escaping he fought with a partisan detachment and then in the 15th Separate Assault Rifle Battalion, a unit to which former prisoners of war were sent. He was wounded in August 1944. He received the Medal for Combat Merit in 1951 and was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage in 2016. He died in Rostov-on-Don on 19 January 1990.