Stanisław Szmajzner

Szmajzner arrived at Sobibór extermination camp on 12 May 1942 in a transport of about 2,000 Jews from the Eastern Poland Ghetto of Opole Lubelskie, together with his parents, a sister, brother, cousin, and nephew.

[3] Given a makeshift goldsmith workshop, he was tasked by camp deputy commander Gustav Wagner to create golden accessories for the members of the SS at Sobibór using stolen coins, jewelry, or dental gold of murder victims.

Orders included rings displaying SS runes and an ornamental knob for the whip used by Kurt Bolender in beating the prisoners.

[2][3] Under Franz Stangl's command of the camp, Szmajzner was made foreman in a mechanics workshop, tasked with general maintenance.

[5][6] 16-year-old Szmajzner learned about the mass killings at Sobibór through messages from a friend forced to work at the gas chambers, secretly delivered by a Volksdeutsch guard.

Pechersky and seven other Russian POWs left to purchase food and make contact with partisans, with the remaining persons waiting for their return.