Upfall

Sobel ran off on his organizing task, leaving De Jong, for the moment, alone. The Dutchman allowed himself to lean for a few moments against the rough wooden wall of the shorting shed, still mostly full of the the last possessions of thousands of dead Jews.

Chapter 17

The sayeret was already several kilometers away from Sobibor, driving fast, as Israelis are wont to do, when they heard uneven volleys from the executions echo across the countryside. Yatom hoped to find a good road to the north. The morning sun was already up over the horizon. According to their watches, it was a little after six. Yatom would have to get off the road soon, but he wanted to put as much distance as possible between the death camp and the convoy before calling a halt.

The last hours before the sayeret’s departure had been frantic with preparation. Loading the trucks, organizing the camp Jews, and securing supplies and transport had been only part of the problem.

Yatom knew that he needed a better plan. He had only the vaguest notions of what to do next. Feldhandler demanded the fall of Treblinka and Belzac both on moral grounds, and as a condition for getting them home. Yatorn had his doubts that taking the two remaining death camps would really ensure their return, even assuming he and his men even survived the ordeal. But they were not exactly driving into the unknown either. Between their collected knowledge of the Holocaust, Polish geography, Feldhandler‘s books, and the maps they'd taken from Stangl‘s office, Yatom had a rough idea of what the sayeret faced in the coming days.

It had been Feldhandler's idea to go after Treblinka first. Belzec lay to the south which would have forced them to backtrack. Attacking Treblinka would draw the Germans away from the capsule and the Jewish escapees. More was known about Treblinka as well. According to the histories, only two Jews survived Belzac, leaving little testimony about that camp—the deadliest death camp of the trio.

Stangl had trained at Belzac but Shapira's attempt to interrogate the SS commandant had failed. It wasn't that the German bravely resisted—he seemed willing to cooperate, but he was in shock. His testimony was mostly nonsensical. The only thing that came through was that Stangl thought little of his counterpart at Treblinka, a man called Erbel.

The policeman Mueller remained eager to cooperate and seemed to know a thing or two more than he let on. Mueller claimed to know nothing of Belzac, but seemed to have heard much about Treblinka, second hand, from other policemen who had made death»train runs there. According to Mueller, Sobibor was a model of efficiency and mercy compared to Treblinka. Stangl had been a competent, cold- blooded murderer. Erbel was a monster, reveling in an orgy of blood and death. Bodies lay strewn about Treblinka. Trainloads of victims were murdered haphazardly and brutally, even by the macabre standards of the Holocaust. Mueller's account jibed with Feldhandler’s meager histories, Shapira's own knowledge, and Stangl's mutterings.

So it was better to go first to Treblinka. Not only would it throw the Germans off the trail, but the disorganized camp would be an easier target than well-run Belzac.

Satisfied that he had made the correct choice in heading north, Yatom glanced down again at his Polish map and consulted his compass. Despite the convenience of their GPS devices, Yatom had always insisted that his men maintain basic land navigation skills - now those skills were vital. The hardest task was keeping the map and compass steady as Nir sped the convoy down narrow and rutted backroads, bouncing Yatom violently. He reckoned they were about six kilometers northeast of Sobibor driving for a series of high roads that would ultimately lead them northwest to Treblinka.

So far they'd been lucky and seen no sign of German patrols or security posts. Sobibor had indeed been put in the middle of nowhere. Yatom wanted move on a few more kilometers and then find a patch of woodland in which to hunker down for the rest of the day. The sayeret commander lightly elbowed Nir and had him turn onto another dirt road that led generally eastward into broken farmland and thick copses of trees. Yatom glanced behind him to make sure the convoy was in order and saw Feldhandler dozing between Ido and Rafi. The two commandos were clearly tired but alert, their weapons pointed out of the car, covering the right and left. Yatom activated his radio.

"Bet leader, Gimmel leader—this is sayeret leader—over." Mofaz and Shapira acknowledged him. "Do you see those woods about a kilometer to the northeast?"

"Yes" they confirmed.

"We'll pull over and reconnoiter the area. If suitable we will stop there."