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Last known survivor of Sobibor death camp uprising dies aged 96

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Semion Rosenfeld – the last known survivor of the uprising at the Nazi extermination camp at Sobibor – has died in Israel aged 96.
Rosenfeld, who was born in Ukraine, passed away at a retirement home near Tel Aviv.
Rosenfeld was captured by the Germans while serving in the Soviet Army in 1941 and sent to the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland because he was Jewish.
In October 1943, he managed to escape together with some 300 prisoners.
A third of the escapees were caught almost immediately. Of the 200 who got out, only 47 survived World War Two.
More than 250,000 Jews are believed to have been killed at Sobibor in 1942-43.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Rosenfeld.
“He joined the Red Army, was captured by the Nazis but managed to escape from the death camp and continued to fight the Nazis,” Mr Netanyahu wrote in a statement posted on Facebook.
“May his memory be a blessing,” he wrote.
Isaac Herzog, the head of Israel’s Jewish Agency who had been providing support to Rosenfeld, said he was “very sad”. He described Rosenfeld as a “true hero”.
Unlike some facilities which also functioned as labour camps, Sobibor was among the Nazi camps built solely to exterminate Jews.
After the 1943 uprising, the Nazi guards shot dead all the remaining prisoners and destroyed the camp, before planting it over in an attempt to cover up their crimes.
Archaeologists later discovered the foundations of gas chambers and a train platform.

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Milton Nyakundi

Milton Nyakundi is a veteran multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience across broadcast, digital, and print media, who relocated to the United States in 2022 and is now the Senior International Correspondent for Kurunzi News based in Washington, DC, USA. He has previously worked with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), among other high-profile roles with Kenya's first privately-owned media outlet - Kenya Television Network. His experience also include prominent roles as Media Consultant for Football Kenya Federation (FKF), and StarTimes Kenya. His career spans high‑stakes political reporting covering legislative and constitutional issues, elections, governance, and accountability across Kenya, Africa, and global arenas. He also boasts extensive sports journalism experience, covering local and international sports events, including leagues, tournaments and sports governance. He is well-known for his investigative depth, editorial leadership, and evidence-driven journalism that guides his consistent delivery of public‑interest storytelling across platforms.

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