On October 23, 1943, a transport with about 1,800 Polish Jews sent from Bergen-Belsen arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The people were misled into thinking they would be transferred for an exchange or continue their journey to South America. After arrival, the men and women were separated and directed to the gas chambers.
In the vestibule of the gas chamber to the crematorium, one of the women managed to take the gun from SS man Josef Schillinger. She shot him and then wounded Wilhelm Emmerich. Schillinger died on the way to the hospital in Katowice, while Emmerich survived but was left disabled. According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, the shooting signaled a brief attack by other women on the guards before the SS regained control.
“The identity of the woman has not been 100 percent confirmed,” the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum said.Francesca Mann remains the most frequently cited name
In historical accounts, the woman is most often identified as Francesca Mann, a Polish Jewish dancer known for her pre-war performances in Warsaw. She was 26 years old when she arrived at Auschwitz, and she died the same day. The museum notes, however, that there is no direct documentary confirmation of her identity.
The accounts of what happened after the shooting are not entirely consistent. It is confirmed that the women from the transport were killed, but the accounts differ as to whether they were shot outside the crematorium or sent to the gas chamber. Therefore, the claim of a “women's uprising“, in which all the participants were shot, simplifies the events and mixes up different episodes of resistance in the camp.
The other uprising came a year later
The great armed uprising in Auschwitz broke out on October 7, 1944. Then, Sonderkommando prisoners, forced to work in the crematoriums, attacked the guards and blew up Crematorium IV. The preparations used small quantities of gunpowder, secretly exported by women working in a military factory in the complex.
Among them were Rosa Robota, Alla Gertner, Esther Weitzblum and Regina Safirstein. After their involvement was discovered, all four were executed. This episode is often associated with the brief resistance of October 23, 1943, but it is two different events, separated by almost a year.