Escape from Sobibor

In the film Escape from Sobibor, many useful character traits were apparent in the survival of the prisoners. To survive in Sobibor, one must be courageous, patient, and they must persevere when things get hard. These are a few of the characteristics that helped the prisoners to escape and survive the torturous death camp. In order to stay alive and escape, the prisoners had to be courageous, as they were forced to work if they had skills and could be killed if they did not perform or displeased a guard. Courage was needed in a place where only death and hatred existed and where cruel punishments were common.

Leon was a perfect example of having courage, because he planned and organized the escape which, if he had been caught, would have surely gained him a death sentence. This was a courageous act that helped not only him, but others as well. In addition to courage, patience was a key element in survival. If the prisoners did not have patience, they would have surely died when the unplanned SS guards stopped in. Patience was one of the most valuable traits to possess in Sobibor, as the leaders of the escape had plenty. This allowed them to gather enough people, plan thoroughly, and wait until the perfect moment.

Any lapse in patience could have caused the death of all involved. Luka exemplified patience as she helped in the plotting of escape, and pretended to fall in love with Sasha, keeping her cool even as so many obstacles appeared. Out of all the traits one could possess, Perseverance is the most useful. The will to go on even as things are getting tough, and surviving even when you think you can’t is a quality best seen in Shlomo, a young Jew who arrived with his family. As he and his brother are taken to work, he believes his family will be fine.

Though later he discovers that his family is dead, and even with this heartbreak, he keeps going, to get revenge for his family’s wrongful deaths. He shows perseverance even later on, after he falls in love with Bajle, only to discover that she was killed in the field trying to escape. This young man survived it all, and persevered when most people wouldn’t have been able to. These few characteristics are some of the most valuable to have in Sobibor, as it was a tough, cruel place to live. People needed at least one, if not all of these traits to survive the monstrous death camp, and to escape to freedom.

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