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It always feels good to look back at the end of the year: what did we experience together in 2023?

The year started well. We announced an important year: 80 years ago, in October 1943, the uprising in Sobibor broke out. Because of the uprising, we know the history of a place that was meant to remain unknown, a place that remained obscure to those who were there after the war.

Now, after 80 years, a new museum stands on this site, honoring the victims in a way that’s appropriate (if one can say so); here, you can mourn, name the victims, and reflect on how you want to stand in the world. This is the place whose story must continue to be told. We are convinced of this; it remains our mission.

This thought was much needed when the world changed on October 7th. The horrific attack by Hamas in Israel deeply affected us. Although we as a Foundation consciously do not engage in public debate, it is clear that the events in Israel and Gaza are very close to our hearts. This overshadows our reflections, and in this context, I write this message.

In February, we held our networking event. The turnout was large and diverse, reminding us again of the importance of being able to act in a strong network. We introduced our ‘oral history’ project with students from the University College Utrecht. Beautiful conversations with first-generation survivors can be seen and heard on our website. If you are interested in participating and sharing your story, please let us know on info@sobibor.org!

Quietly, on May 14, 2023, in Herzliya, Israel, the last survivor of Sobibor, Sophia Engelsman-Huisman, passed away. She was one of the 18 Dutch survivors of the Sobibor extermination camp and the last survivor of the 34,313 Jews deported from Westerbork to Sobibor.

And then ‘Sjiwwe for Sobibor’; a theatre project about the 19 trains that went to Sobibor between March and July 1943. ‘Theater Roestvrij’ created a beautiful, moving performance about life in Westerbork before departure and on the train. This production was a collaboration with ‘Theater Na de Dam’ (‘Theatre after the Dam‘), Westerbork Memorial, and the Sobibor Foundation.

The young actors also performed before our memorial on June 1st near the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. A performance right on the street. Passersby stopped, and it was beautiful to see young people portray history in this way.

The young actors also played an adapted performance after the commemoration of the Children’s Transports in Camp Vught, enhancing this year’s memorial. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can find it on YouTube.

Rosanne Kropman’s book was presented on October 10th in Amsterdam. Thanks to Marc van Velzen, the great-grandson of Jacob’s widow, Rosanne Kropman found photos of Jozeph Jacobs, the Dutchman who planned an uprising in Sobibor in the summer of 1943. The book is now in its third edition, including the discovered photos. The book is at the moment only available in Dutch.

The podcast ‘Erased’ by Audiodroom also deserves mention. It tells the story and the search for Ilse Wagner, a forgotten classmate of Anne Frank. The podcast, partly recorded in Sobibor, is also a beautiful document about Sobibor and its history. The entire podcast is available weggegumd.nl.

Our field and remembrance trips this year were a heartwarming success. During the memorial trip in May, relatives could welcome their new stones. On the in-depth trip, the teachers’ program developed well; more and more teaching materials and methods are being exchanged.

At the beginning of the summer, Ingrid Zijlstra stepped down as secretary and board member. She managed our website, newsletters, and much more for over five years. Fortunately, we found Naomi Koster willing to join the board. We are very pleased with her extensive experience and large network.

For the first time in 3 years, the International Youth Conference was organized in October. This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the first International Youth Conference. We gathered all Dutch participants for a first lustrum celebration at the Provinciehuis in Arnhem. The youngsters, now spread across the country, still found common ground in their memories of the trip. The impact was well articulated in a survey we conducted earlier this year among the youngsters: ‘being there is so much more important than just having heard about it’. If you are interested in the survey results, you can review them here.

On October 12th and 14th, the commemoration of the Sobibor uprising took place. We traveled there with the board and former board, including the daughter of Jules Schelvis. In Sobibor, we met the Dutch delegation, including outgoing Prime Minister Rutte, who gave the opening speech at the official commemoration; it was subdued and well-considered. On October 14th, we had control over the memorial ourselves, along with Bildungswerk Stanislaw Hantz. With a large group, including the youngsters from the International Youth Conference, we walked the grounds, from the roll call area, through the Lane of Remembrance, to the ash hill. We listened to speeches by Marvin Raab, Tagan Engel, and Rena Blatt, relatives of uprising survivors, and named names. We paused at the stones. The new Lane of Remembrance/Memorial Lane is impressive.

The Dutch Television (NOS) created a special documentary. They told the story of the victims from Westerbork and Sobibor. You can also watch this documentary online.

We remain more aware than ever that we must continue to tell our stories. This was also done by Professor Dr. Marc van Berkel with his story about Holocaust education during the Sobibor lecture at the Amsterdam Resistance Museum at the end of October. The ensuing discussion was intense.

Fortunately, we were able to end the year festively with the awarding of the Jules Schelvis Youth Prize to Oscar Visser. Oscar interviewed his grandfather Joost van Hilten about the war and Sobibor. From the jury report: ‘Oscar’s work describes a process in which, by interviewing a survivor, he not only allows that person to tell their story but also becomes part of the process of passing on the story of Sobibor’. Theater Roestvrij received an honorable mention for ‘Sjiwwe for Sobibor’

This is what we experienced together in 2023. We are on the eve of 2024, the year that the Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary! I once again thank my fellow board members Petra, Menno, Bernolf, Fergal, Marijke and Naomi for all the work they do.

Let’s all hope that 2024 can be a calmer year in the world!

Happy New Year

Christine Gispen-de Wied
December 30, 2023

The Sobibor Foundation is proud to announce that the Jules Schelvis Youth Prize 2023 has been awarded to Oscar Visser. His paper, “My Family and Sobibor” (Dutch) which stands out for its clear and almost matter-of-fact writing style, deals with the past of the Sobibor extermination camp in a way that is both informative and poignant.

Oscar, a high school student, has chosen an unusual perspective for his paper. Despite personal involvement through the loss of family members, including three in Sobibor and one in Auschwitz, he chooses to step back from individual suffering and focus on the facts: the decision making surrounding the construction of the camp, the executive leadership, the gruesome procedures and the physical layout of Sobibor.

Oscar’s paper gives space to the cold facts, after which he modestly connects to the personal by describing the history of four Stolpersteine in Amsterdam. The sober account of the uprising in Sobibor and the current state of the former camp form the conclusion of his argument, which, however, does not end before he echoes the appeal of Jules Schelvis himself: the story of Sobibor must continue to be told.

Through this approach, the suffering of individuals does not become a veil that obscures the view of the systematic processes of the Holocaust. On the contrary, it strengthens awareness of the immense impact of the events in Sobibor. Oscar demonstrates that a factual approach, in the spirit of Jules Schelvis’s own testimonies, does not mitigate the horror, but the call for remembered

With this piece of work, the Jules Schelvis Youth Prize becomes a symbol of the importance of remembering in a way that encourages thought and action. Oscar Visser’s approach has reinforced the mission of the Sobibor Foundation: to constantly remember and learn from history, so that it never repeats itself.

There were four entries this year.

1. Pien Gubbels (Drawing with poem)
2. Oscar L. Visser (Workpiece: My family and Sobibor)
3. Jop van Schaik, Morris Kuijk, Ivo van Anraad, Jens Bunt (Profile paper Sobibor)
4. Performing group of 20 young people within Stainless Theater (Shiwwe for Sobibor)

The jury decided unanimously to advise the board of the Sobibor Foundation to award the Jules Schelvis Scholierenprijs 2023 to Oscar Visser:

“Our considerations here were that Oscar’s piece reports on a process in which, by interviewing a survivor, he both gives that person the opportunity to tell his story and also becomes part of that process of passing on the story of Sobibor himself. It takes courage to do such a thing within the family and then, despite the personal connections, to keep a distance from the obviously highly charged and emotional subject. Oscar succeeded. His intention to travel to Poland with his grandfather, by the way, also indicates that the process is not yet complete.

We know from other stories, furthermore, that the point of completion is often not reached either. But that’s not a bad thing. We need each other to deal with this history. The narrator of the story – Oscar’s grandfather – steps in the footsteps of Jules Schelvis and the listener, by recording the story, also follows those footsteps.

Oscar was captivated by his family’s story and knew he had to interview his grandfather. It cannot fail to have deepened his relationship with his grandfather and – we noted – he also indicates that he still wants to visit the camps in former Nazi-occupied Poland with his grandfather. We find it very special that he wants to do that as a young man. If he succeeds, it will be a life-defining experience, perhaps healing for his grandfather, but it is certain that – should Oscar be given it – he will pass on and tell this story and visit to Sobibor to his own children and grandchildren in the future, in the spirit of Jules Schelvis.”.

A special mention by the jury is awarded to the acting group of 20 young people within Roestvrij Theater for the play Shiwwe for Sobibor. The jury: “sitting a shiwwe, that is observing the seven days of mourning when you have just lost a blood relative to death. Twenty young people, associated with Roestvrij Theater, have created unique performances in a series of over twenty performances that are different and tie in with specific stories of transports from Wersterbork to Sobibor. They did so in a way that made the audience feel – as befits a shiwwe – that the loss was recent and still felt in everything. An intensive project that must have made a great impression not only on the spectator, but also on the young people.”

The Sobibor Foundation established this prize in 2020 for young people, who in a special way bring attention to the former Nazi extermination camp Sobibor and feel involved in contributing to the lasting memory of Sobibor. The Jules Schelvis Youth Prize consists of a certificate and a sum of €250.

Jury members for the Jules Schelvis Scholierenprijs 2023 were:
Jeroen van den Eijnde, director of National Monument Camp Vught, Maarten Eddes, former chairman of the Sobibor Foundation and Doede Sijtsma, from the Province of Gelderland since 2002 officially involved in developments in Sobibor.