Escape from Sobibor

Overview

During WWII, Sobibor was a notorious Nazi death camp. This gripping, fact-based drama chronicles the courage of an inmate who managed the largest escape from such a place. Thanks to him, over 300 prisoners were freed.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2008
UPC:	0089218557599
Original Release:	1987
Source:	Alpha Video
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Alan Arkin	Leon Feldhendler
Rutger Hauer	Alexander Percherski
Joanna Pacula	Luka
Hartmut Becker	Sgt. Gustav Wagner
Jack Shepherd	Itzhak Lichtman
Emil Wolk	Samuel
Simon Gregor	Shlomo
Linal Haft	Kapo Porchek
Jason Norman	Toivi Blatt
Robert Gwilym	Chaim Engel
Eli Nathenson	Moses Szmajzner
Klaus Grünberg	Sgt. Bauer
Kurt Raab	Sergeant Frenzel
Eric P. Caspar	Capt. Reichleitner
Henning Gissel	Sgt. Fallaster
Ullrich Haupt Jr.	Sgt. Wolf
David Miller	Mundek
Konstantin Khabenskiy	Actor
Christopher Lambert	Actor
Mariya Kozhevnikova	Actor
Michalina Olszanska	Actor
Philippe Reinhardt	Actor
Maximilian Dirr	Actor
Mindaugas Papinigis	Actor
Wolfgang Cerny	Actor
Roman Ageev	Actor
Wieslaw Cichy	Actor
Hugo Bower	Sgt. Beckmann
Wolfgang Bathke	Sgt. Hurst
Henry Stolow	Lt. Niemann
Patti Love	Eda
Judith Sharp	Bajle
Ellis Van Maarseveen	Selma Wijnberg
Jack Chissick	Hershel
Ned Vukovic	Morris
Sara Sugarman	Naomi
Peter Jonfield	Kapo Sturm
Irfan Mensur	Kalimali
Mihailo 'Misa' Janketic	Kapo Berliner
Georges Delerue	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Edelstein

Richard Rashke

Reginald Rose

Jack Gold	Director
Martin Starger	Executive Producer
Dennis E. Doty	Producer
Konstantin Khabenskiy	Director
Michael Edelstein	Screenwriter
Elmira Aynulova	Producer
Sergei Bespalov	Producer
Richard Rashke	Screenwriter
Reginald Rose	Screenwriter
Tony Willis	Special Effects
Gerry Humphreys	Sound Effects
Brian Simmons	Sound Effects
Ralph Thiekötter	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

This 1987 TV miniseries tells the true story of imprisoned Jews who devise and execute an elaborate escape plan. The production is gripping throughout. The setting is a Nazi extermination camp in a forest near the Polish village of Sobibór. There, 250,000 Jews, mostly from Poland and Russia, died in five gas chambers during the camp's operation between May 1942 and October 1943. The story engrosses the audience the moment the principal characters arrive at the camp and suffer brutal treatment by SS and Ukrainian guards. Only captives with useful skills are spared; the rest proceed to the gas chambers. In time, the traumatized prisoners, led by Leon Feldhendler (Alan Arkin), decide to escape -- but how? Then, Russian soldiers under the command of Alexander Percherski (Rutger Hauer) arrive as prisoners, throw in with Feldhendler, and provide the technical and military know-how to hatch an escape plan. Arkin and Hauer both perform brilliantly as co-leaders of the uprising, the largest and most successful of its kind in World War II. Simon Gregor as Shlomo Szmajzner also deserves high praise for his portrayal of a callow boy who learns how to cozen his Nazi captors and eventually kill them. The suspense builds gradually. Then the film explodes with action. Knives, axes, and guns give the Nazis their due as communication lines are cut and prisoners run hell-bent for freedom. Escape From Sobibór is one of the best escape films made about World War II.