The Sonderkommando were prisoners in the concentration camps who were forced to work in the gas chambers and crematoriums, where they carried out the disposal of dead bodies. If they refused to do this, they would be killed.
Sonderkommando Quotes in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The The Tattooist of Auschwitz quotes below are all either spoken by Sonderkommando or refer to Sonderkommando. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 23
Quotes
The men in Lale’s block also tell him of rumors about a general uprising, which they wanted to join but didn’t believe it was meant to happen on this day. They have heard that the Russians are advancing, and the uprising was planned to coincide with their arrival, to assist them in liberating the camp. Lale admonishes himself for not having made friends with his block companions sooner. Not having this knowledge nearly got Gita killed.
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Sonderkommando Term Timeline in The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The timeline below shows where the term Sonderkommando appears in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 14
...need Lale to distinguish one tattoo from the other. Entering the crematorium, Lale sees the Sonderkommando, whose job it is to dispose of the bodies of people who have been killed...
(full context)
Chapter 23
...from the building. Prisoners are running outside as SS officers shoot machine guns at the Sonderkommando, who are firing their own guns from atop the crematorium. The SS make quick work...
(full context)
...a group of prisoners working in the ammunition factory have been sneaking explosives to the Sonderkommando, who have been fashioning makeshift grenades. In addition, the prisoners amassed a store of weapons....
(full context)
Chapter 24
...Lale with less work. In fact, everyone in the camp has less work, including the Sonderkommando, who feel threatened by this new development—without work, after all, the chances that they will...
(full context)
