Escape from Sobibor (TV 1987)

During WWII, the death camp at Treblinka had an escape, causing the Commandant at a similar camp in Sobibor to vow that his camp would never experience the same thing. But those who were ... See full summary »

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Thomas 'Toivi' Blatt (manuscript "From the Ashes of Sobibor"), Richard Rashke (book),

Stars:

Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacula, Rutger Hauer

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alan Arkin	...	Leon Feldhendler
Joanna Pacula	...	Luka
Rutger Hauer	...	Alexander 'Sasha' Pechersky
Hartmut Becker	...	Sgt. Gustav Wagner
Jack Shepherd	...	Itzhak Lichtman
Emil Wolk	...	Samuel
Simon Gregor	...	Shlomo
Linal Haft	...	Oberkapo Porchek
Jason Norman	...	Toivi Blatt
Robert Gwilym	...	Chaim Engel
Eli Nathenson	...	Moses Szmajzner
Kurt Raab	...	Sgt. Frenzel
Eric P. Caspar	...	Capt. Franz Reichleitner
Hugo Bower	...	Sgt. Beckmann
Klaus Grünberg	...	Sgt. Bauer (as Klaus Grunberg)

Storyline

During WWII, the death camp at Treblinka had an escape, causing the Commandant at a similar camp in Sobibor to vow that his camp would never experience the same thing. But those who were its captives, the Jewish laborers that had been spared from the ovens, knew that they were on borrowed time and that their only hope was to escape... the only question was how to do it. However, because the Germans would kill an equal number of others whenever a group attempted to escape, the captives knew that if ever an escape was tried, all 600 prisoners in the camp would have to be included... logistically precluding any ideas about tunnels or sneak breakouts. Indeed, to have such a mass escape could only mean that the Ukrainian guards and Germain officers would have to be killed, which many of the Jews felt simply reduced themselves to no better than their captors... thus making it a struggle of conscience. And therein lies the story, with the film being based on a factual account of what then ...

---

Plot Keywords:

escape | nazi | jew | poland | concentration camp | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

---

Details

Country:

UK Yugoslavia

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 April 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apodrasi apo to Sobibor

Filming Locations:

Avala, Yugoslavia

Company Credits

Production Co:

CFS Avala Film, Rule, Zenith Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min 120 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Sasha moves in to help the man dishing out food who was beaten, an SS officer points a luger at him but in the next scene when he fires in the air and tells everyone to go to work he is holding a Walther P-38.

---

Quotes

Sgt. Gustav Wagner: This morning, two prisoners escaped from North Camp. Thirteen other prisoners, no doubt inspired by their idiotic example, also tried to escape. If any of you would like to cheer, go right ahead. There will be no more escape attempts in this camp. I'll repeat that. THERE WILL BE NO MORE ESCAPE ATTEMPTS IN THIS CAMP!!

---

Connections

Referenced in The Pianist (2002)

---

Soundtracks

"Tales from the Vienna Woods"
(uncredited)
Written by Johann Strauß
Played at the train station

User Reviews

Good television movie about the famous breakout from horrible concentration camp

This excellent TV movie deals about extermination center Sobibór and the subsequent escape led by Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer . We see the horrors,murders,massacres against the prisoners.Thus,when the incoming transports ,mostly Jews, SS soldiers made instant decisions,those who were fit to labors were sent into the camp,others including the children ,were dispatched immediately to the gas chambers.The movie gets a breathtaking and exciting getaway with a sensible score by George Delerue. The film is well realized by Jack Gold. The picture is based on real events,these are the following : Sobibór,Chelmno,Belzec and Treblinka were four large death camps in the Lublin district of Poland transformed into extermination centers to implement the policy of genocide thought at the Wannsee Conference. Sobibór was an extermination camp of killing center of Jews including children and located near the Bug River on the border of the German occupied eastern territories .Some 35.000 Dutch Jews,originally assigned to Auschwitz were sent to Sobibór.All four camps were under the command of SS Odilo Globocnick.There was some minor industrial activity linked to the war effort but the main work was the execution of inmates.Victims were brought to the camp in unventilated transports, and all but a handful were gassed after arrival,the gas chambers could accommodate hundred prisoners at one time,most of their corpses were burned in open pits.On October 14,1943 about 150 inmates broke out in a desperate riot.Sorbibor along with Treblinka and Belzec,was evacuated in the fall of 1943.