Upfall

"I doubt they'll try that tactic again" said Wirth.

"Why? Is another attack expected?"

"That's why I am here. To assist with the defense of this place" said Wirth carefully, deciding then and there he would not relieve Erbel. Why should he be saddled with trying to pick up the pieces of what seemed to be a looming disaster. Globocnik would understand, assuming Wirth got out alive.

"Assist me?" asked Erbel. How?"

"I've come with an additional SS platoon—good men all" he lied.

"And a company of Ukranians will arrive within the next few hours."

"A whole company? There is no place to put them."

"The Ukranians can make camp outside the wire and patrol from there."

"Wirth—is this really necessary? Who would attack this place? It's only Jews dying here" said Erbel, pursing his lips in a scholarly way. "I think Sobibor must have been a mistake. The partisans must have thought it was a Russian or Polish prison camp...it's the only thing that makes sense."

"You may be right Dr. Erbel" said Wirth, conceding that the man had a point—he had been a respected lawyer before the war after all. “It is puzzling—but just in case Treblinka must be prepared."

Chapter 22

Late in the afternoon Yatom sent Ilan and Bolander ahead to reconnoiter an approach route to the death camp and to photograph it. They were joined by Fiegel and Sandler too, much to the displeasure of the Israeli marksmen. It was a risk to send the inexperience Jews on such a mission. But they and their men would be attacking the Treblinka too, a11d it would help to actually see the ground. The four men took a pair of digital cameras that the sayeret brought for their original mission—to be used to photo-identify their elusive original target after he'd been killed. But now they would serve another purpose. The Israelis would have to do without the usual satellite and air recon imagery, and instead relay on photos analyzed from the view screens of the cameras—not up to the usual standards, but much better than nothing.

The scouting party returned in the early evening, having closed to within 500 meters of the camp. Judging by their description and the photos, Treblinka resembled Sobibor in hasic layout. A Forward Camp covered half the southern extremity of the installation near the railroad line and the unloading platform. Next to that was an assembly and sorting area, much like at Sobibor. To the northwest lay the extermination area, accessed as at Sobibor by a kind of covered passage. Overall, Treblinka appeared to be a less well designed than Sobibor, with the watchtowers concentrated around the extermination area, and the main camp merely fenced in and patrolled.

At least that is how it had been until late that afternoon. The photos also revealed a significant reinforcement of the camp. At least a company of Ukranians had set up a crude bivouac a few dozen meters to the east of the perimeter fence. Taking into account the earlier reinforcement Yatom had witnessed, it was clear that the Germans were expecting an attack. In the main this was good, thought Yatom. It meant that the Germans had devoted their efforts to defending Treblinka, rather than hunting down the survivors of Sobibor.

Yatom sat down with Mofaz, Shapira and the two Israeli snipers to plan the assault. Feldhandler was excluded—this was to be a professional commando operation. It went without saying that the Israelis would wait until the darkest part ofthe night, which in these northern latitudes meant after midnight. That way, they would gain full advantage from their night vision equipment. Unlike the Sobibor assault, that relied on surprise and a rapid daylight attack, Yatom intended to take Treblinka by confusing and whittling down the German defenders until they broke. The Israelis would penetrate the camp, seize positions inside, and invite the inevitable German counter-attacks. These would be shredded by the Israelis superior weapons and night vision.

At sunset Yatom gathered the other members of the sayeret, along with Feldhandler, Perchansky, Sandler and Fliegel. Sitting in a grove of pines, munching on German sausages and cheese from Sobibor, Yatom gave the needle covered floor over to Mofaz to explain the mission. Mofaz spoke in Hebrew. Sandler and Fliegel followed along as best they could.

Mofaz produced a crude drawing of his own design, based on the photos. "Unfortunately" began the Major "Professor Feldhandler neglected to bring a site plan of Treblinka, so I made this myself, based on the recon team's description, and photographs." He lay the drawing in the middle of the group and, in the gathering darkness, using a green glow stick to illuminate it.