Upfall

As Itzak and Roskovsky reached the wire the German fire increased, and the sayeret was lucky to have come out of the fight unscathed. Itzak took a round in the chest from an MP-40. A ceramic plate stopped the bullet, but he was down a few seconds. Yatom himself had a round go through his clown hat, while another round had grazed Roskovsky's helmet. With all the German fire, and two of his men already exposed, Yatom had all of the commandos, plus Feldhander with his unsuppressed Galil, pouring fire into the extermination Lager. Afier several minutes of careful shooting most of the German guards had either fallen, gone to ground or fled. Itzak and Roskovsky finally penetrated the wire Led by Yatom, teams Alef and Bet stornred into the camp.

Once within the sub-camp the sayeret broke up according to plan.

Ilan and Bolander, who had shot the Ukranians out of the four guard towers covering the sub-camp, occupied the northeast tower, giving them a clear view of the rest of Treblinka, including clear shots at the guard towers on the southeast and southwest corners of the main camp. Yatom, Nir and Feldhandler took the central tower along the fence, while Mofaz seized the forward-most tower in the center of the sub-camp with Itzak. Roskovsky and Ido (joined by Rafi after he destroyed the generator shack,) took the northwest tower. From this last tower the commandos covered the vast burial area and the Himmelgang. These were the most likely areas for a German counter- attack.

Secure in the captured guard towers, and with the camp plunged into darkness, the Israelis were finally able to take advantage of their superior op night optics and infrared laser designators. It was time to Whittle away at Treblinka's garrison.

Yatom pulled spoke into his Madonna mouthpiece: "Take your suppressors off. Fire at will!" Without the suppressors the rifles were more accurate and powerful. Yatom wagered that it was worth revealing flashes in the towers in return for the benefits. As far as the noise, it didn't much matter anymore.

From the towers most of the commandos used their MARS / D reflex sights and UNS (universal night sights) in combination with the IR laser designators to pick off the enemy. The MARS/D system allowed for both visible laser and IR laser imaging. The IR lasers were invisible to the Germans but showed up as bright laser lines through the UNS and allowed the Israelis to easily illuminate and engage targets. Ilan and Bolander used these in addition to clip-on thermal optical sights to engage targets under cover.

Yatom quickly identified the mass of Jewish prisoners in the deportation yard, and put the area off limits—but everywhere else in the camp was open season.

The Ukranians in the southwest and southeast towers were first to feel the sting. The Ukranian gunners were easy marks for Ilan and Bolander. Despite Yatom's order, the two snipers kept their suppressors on, creating a nearly silent and invisible shooting nest. The mass of Germans and Ukranians in the main camp soon enough began falling. The night was no longer a shroud. Moving off into the pitch black shadows unaware of the danger, Nazi squad leaders would suddenly collapse with a bullet in the head or chest.

Their men, unable to accept that they were as exposed as if on a parade ground in daylight, would quickly meet a similar fate, until someone had the presence of mind to run away.

After suffering scores of casualties, the camp garrison simply stopped moving, hiding themselves away in Treblinka‘s rickety buildings, or in the alleyways between them. Expecting this, Yatom called on Nir to root them out with 40mm grenades. Nir put these through windows and doors, or lobbed them into the alleys. When the blasted men tried to flee, the commandos cut them down with rifles. It was only a matter of time, hoped Yatom, before the garrison would begin to seek refuge in the forests outside the camp, like their victims.

Outside the camp, Chaim and Roi led the Bears to the edge of a woodline not more than 150 meters from the Ukranian bivouac outside Treblinka‘s wire. They crawled forward a few more meters and set up an MG—34 with a two man crew. Roi set up his Negev nearby for support. Chaim deployed Fliegel's remaining men in line to the left and right of the machineguns. Finally, Chaim lay down next to Fliegel and gave his shoulder a reassuring fatherly squeeze, though Chaim was much the younger of the two.