Alexander Pechersky
| Aleksander Pechersky | |
|---|---|
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| Birth name | Alexander Aronovich Pechersky |
| Nickname(s) | Sasha |
| Born |
22 February 1909 Kremenchuk, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 19 January 1990 (aged 80) Rostov-on-Don, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance |
 Soviet Union
|
| Service/branch |
 Red Army
|
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Medal for Battle Merit (1951), Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" |
| Spouse(s) | Olga Kotova |
| Other work | Music theater administration |
Alexander 'Sasha' Pechersky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Аро́нович Пече́рский; 22 February 1909 – 19 January 1990) was one of the organizers, and the leader, of the most successful uprising and mass-escape of Jews from a Nazi extermination camp during World War II; which occurred at the Sobibor extermination camp on 14 October 1943.
In 1948 Pechersky was arrested by the Soviet authorities along with his brother during the countrywide Rootless cosmopolitan campaign against the Jews suspected of pro-Western leanings. Only after Stalin's death in 1953 was he released from jail due in part to mounting international pressure. However, the harassment did not stop there. Pechersky was prevented by the Soviet government from testifying in multiple international trials related to Sobibor, including the Eichmann Trial in Israel. The last time he was refused the permission to exit the country and testify was in 1987, for a trial in Poland.
Pechersky, a son of a Jewish lawyer, was born on February 22, 1909 in Kremenchuk, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). In 1915, his family moved to Rostov-on-Don where he eventually worked as an electrician at a locomotive repair factory. After graduating from university with a diploma in music and literature, he became an accountant and manager of a small school for amateur musicians.
On 22 June 1941, the day when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Pechersky was conscripted into the Soviet Red Army with a rank of junior Lieutenant. By September 1941, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant quartermaster (class II). In the early autumn of 1941, he rescued his wounded commander from being captured by the Germans. He didn't receive any medals for this deed. One of his fellow soldiers reportedly said: "Sasha, if what you've done doesn't make you a hero, I don't know who is!" In October 1941, during the Battle of Moscow, their unit was surrounded and captured by the Germans in the pocket at the city of Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast.
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