Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Forgotten Revolt

On 7 October 1944, a revolt broke out in front of Crematorium IV at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.

Several dozen prisoners attacked the SS officers with improvised weapons and stones, while others attempted to set the crematoria on fire with homemade grenades. The men involved belonged to the Sonderkommando, a special group of prisoners, mostly young, physically strong Jewish men, that were forced to assist in the operation of the gas chambers and crematoria, placing them at the very heart of the death factory and as witnesses to these crimes. Later, they were condemned to death themselves. The revolt on 7 October 1944 is the only armed uprising that ever took place at Auschwitz.