Approximately 250,000 people were killed at the Nazi death camp of Sobibor, located in Poland, and excavations at the site reveal that at least four children died there during the Holocaust.
Archaeologists working at the now-closed camp found four metal ID tags belonging to children ages five to 12, engraved with names, dates of birth and hometown.
However, researchers say the tags appear to have been part of a private campaign with the parents and were not given to them by Nazi officials.
Names include: Lea Judith De La Penha, Deddie Zak, Annie Kapper and David Juda Van der Velde.
Yoram Haimi of the Antiquarian Authority of Israel, who organized the excavation with Polish and Dutch colleagues, says: ‘As far as we know, identity tags with child names have only been found at Sobibor, and nowhere else. ‘
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Metal tags with four children murdered at the Nazi death camp of Sobibor have been found. Annie Kaper was 12 years old when she was sent to Sobibor on a train with a total of 1,255 people. When the train arrived, all passengers were immediately sent to gas chambers and a Kaper tag was found in a large grave.
The Nazi concentration camp was built in March 1942, opened in May and remained until October 1943.
During that time, about 250,000 suspects, mostly from Poland and parts of the Soviet Union at the time, were murdered.
Archaeologists found the tags during the recent excavation of the camp, which they believe was attached to a neck and worn at the parents’ request.
‘Children’s identification tags were prepared by their parents, which tended to be a crisis to ensure that the children’s relatives were located in the chaos of World War II,’ Haimi said.
The tags were apparently part of a private campaign by the parents and were not given to them by Nazi officials. Pictured is Lea Judith De La Penha’s ID tag
De La Penha (right) was just six years old when she died at a Nazi concentration camp. The children at the camp were known to have died due to entries in Nazi lists, but the tags offer new details that allowed researchers to attach the IDs to faces, as the tags were include name, age and home town
Haimi first visited the Sobibor pilot camp in 2007 to look for ideas on how his uncle might have died during the Holocaust, the Jerusalem Post reports.
However, this prompted a decade-long excavation in the area, which robbed the personal property of thousands of those who died at the camp – with the latest four metal tags.
The children at the camp were known to have died due to entries in Nazi lists, but the tags offer new details that allowed researchers to attach the IDs to faces.
Lea Judith De La Penha was just six years old when she was murdered and Deddie Zak was nine years old.
Deddie Zak was nine years old when he was murdered at the camp (left)
Zak’s tag was found in the crematorium, which shows his body was cremated by the tag
However, Zak’s tag was found in the crematorium, which indicates his body was cremated by the tag, researchers said.
Annie Kaper was 12 years old when she was sent to Sobibor on a train with a total of 1,255 people.
When the train arrived, all passengers were immediately sent to gas chambers and a Kaper tag was found in a large grave.
David Juda Van der Velde was also on that train and died in the gas chamber at the age of 11 – his tag was found as one of the chambers.
David Juda Van der Velde was also on that train and died in the gas chamber at the age of 11 – his tag was found as one of the chambers.
The Nazi concentration camp was built in March 1942, opened in that May and remained in operation until October 1943. The photograph shows a recent image of the camp which shows the excavations taking place.
Most of the suspects who entered the gates of the Sobibor death camp were sent directly to gas chambers and were murdered upon arrival.
The camp fell only after 300 roses rose against the Nazi occupiers – many of whom were killed in the fighting or while on the run to escape.
There were only 50 prisoners left after the uprising.
However, the Nazis destroyed the camp after the attack and left almost nothing.
Haimi and his team have found the remains of gas chambers, the crematoria and a few large graves.
They have also found a tunnel thought to have been dug by prisoners trying to escape the nightmare.
About 75,000 items were found at the site including plates, forks and jewelery, along with other items taken by the prisoners.
Although so much was discovered at Sobibor, Haimi was unable to find any information about his uncle.