Intertwined with the story of the Greek men and woman at Auschwitz-Birkenau, is also the sole incidence, throughout the operating life of the Nazi concentration camps, of an organized uprising. The uprising of October 7, 1944 was planned and executed by members of the ‘Sonderkomando’, which in translation meant “special labor squad”. The members of the ‘Sonderkomando’ were, without doubt, the most tragic figures among the inmates of the camp, involved in one of the most perverse schemes invented by the Nazis. It was the Jews who were instructed to put other Jews in the ovens.

The selection of this group was made the moment new train deportations were unloaded. The SS psychologists had observed that disciplining the inmates was easier at this stage. Twelve such commandos worked in succession at Auschwitz, each for a period of a few months. The new commando unit was then given the responsibility of burning the bodies of the previous commando unit. In this way, the camp managed to suppress any desire or attempt of these inmates to rebel, while cutting them off from the rest of the camp so the secret of the crematoria would remain intact.

But here the resourceful Greek mind found a solution. Greek men, by singing supposedly Greek songs, but changing words, managed to communicate the secret of the crematoria to the nearby ‘Kanada Kommando’, which they knew was made up largely of Greek women.

From the testimonies of very few, who survived only by sheer luck, we have inherited a story of horror and torment. A story which, even its eyewitnesses and survivors did not want to or were unable to tell for years.

On October 7, 1944, a Saturday, the Germans tried isolating 200 men (Greeks and Hungarians) who had been selected for extermination. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon when an SS squad arrived with a list of names for the second culling. According to available testimonies, when the SS began to shout out the names of the Greeks, no one responded. At some point, a voice (most probably of Josef Barouch) shouted out in Greek: “We will make our attack, or not?” Immediately, the inmates jumped on the German guards, and with the few weapons they were able to take, they armed themselves inside Crematorium III, and signaled for their fellow inmates to take action.

In a short period of time, however, a large military squad, complete with dogs and machine guns, had encircled the building, and a heroic but desperate and uneven battle began. The inmates tried cutting the barbed wire in order to move the uprising to the central camp. However, realizing quickly this was a doomed effort, the inmates blew up Crematorium IV with dynamite and tried escaping to the nearby woods. Most fell heroically under the fire of machine guns, while the rest, who eventually surrendered, were executed on the spot. Their compatriots in the ‘Kanada Kommando’ watched in awe but were unable to help. They were, however, able to distinguish, among the shouts and cries, the words of the National Greek Anthem.

It is estimated that more than 300 Greek Jews took part in the Uprising. Unfortunately, the names of most remain unknown to us.