"To Sobibor and Back"

The Death Camp in a Survivor’s Account

"To Sobibor and Back" is a moving and exceptionally valuable testimony of the Holocaust, based on the memories and personal experiences of a direct witness. Kalmen Wewryk grew up in pre-war Chełm, which he remembered as a vibrant, multicultural city. Bustling streets, prayers in the synagogue, and Sabbath gatherings formed the fabric of everyday life – brutally interrupted and irretrievably lost with the onset of the German occupation.

Kalmen Wewryk on the Holocaust

In November 1942, Kalmen Wewryk was deported to the German extermination camp in Sobibor, less than 50 kilometres from the Chełm ghetto. In his memoir, he recounts the destruction of the Jews of Chełm from his personal perspective. His account contains realistic, often brutal descriptions. He reconstructs events as he remembers them, without avoiding commentary, judgement, or reflection. He does not shy away from difficult or controversial topics, portraying the widely varying attitudes of people in extreme situations. He describes both acts of sacrifice and aid offered despite the constant threat of death, as well as complex interpersonal relationships and a lack of solidarity. His depiction of camp life is not only a painful testimony but also clear evidence of the crimes committed by the perpetrators in the occupied territories.

A black-and-white portrait showing a middle-aged man wearing a suit. — Kalmen Wewryk was born in 1906 in Chełm. He escaped from the Sobibór extermination camp during the armed prisoner uprising. He died in Canada in 1989.

On the Survivor’s Testimony

"To Sobibor and Back" is a unique and deliberately subjective book. Its aim is not to reconstruct events with academic precision, but to restore a voice to the victims of German crimes. It is also a difficult but essential read – because how else can we restore the identity of those whose very existence the perpetrators sought to erase forever from the memory of future generations?

The memoirs of Kalmen Wewryk were first published in English in 1999. Subsequent German and Polish editions resulted from international cooperation among communities engaged in commemorating the history of the Jews of Chełm, carried out in part in collaboration with Bildungswerk Stanisław Hanz.

The publication is available in the online bookstore of the State Museum at Majdanek and at the information and publications sales desk at the Museum and Memorial Site in Sobibor.

A book excerpt displaying a site plan of the extermination camp.