50 years ago on this date, October 10, 1966, one of the Gas Operators of Sobibor Extermination Camp, committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell.
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Kurt Bolender |
Heinz Kurt Bolender (May 21, 1912 – October 10, 1966) was an SS-Oberscharführer (Staff Sergeant) during the Second World War. In 1942 Bolender operated the gas chambers at Sobibór extermination camp, thereby directly perpetrating acts of genocideagainst Jews and Gypsiesduring the Nazi operation known as Operation Reinhard.
After the war, Bolender was recognized in 1961 while working under a false identity as a doorman at a nightclub in Germany, and subsequently accused in 1965 of personally murdering at least 360 Jewish inmates and assisting in the murder of 86,000 more at Sobibór. He committed suicide in prison two months prior to the end of the trial.