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Alberto Errera
Alberto Errera
Alberto Errera
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Alberto Israel Errera[1] (Greek: Αλβέρτος Ερρέρα, 15 January 1913 – August 1944) was a Greek-Jewish officer and a member of the anti-Nazi resistance. He was a member of the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau from May to August 1944.

Key Information

He took part in the preparation of the Sonderkommando Uprising of 1944. He is one of the possible authors of the Sonderkommando photographs. Errera died in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Biography

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Errera was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. Before the war, he was a soldier in the Hellenic Army, where he was promoted to officer and achieved the rank of captain.[2] He married a woman called Matthildi[3] from Larissa, where he settled and owned a supermarket. He joined the partisans and the Greek People's Liberation Army during the German occupation of Greece, working as a food supplier. He took the Christian name Alex (Alekos) Michaelides, or, according to his nephew, Alexandros Alexandris.[4] On the night of 24 March 1944, he was arrested by the Germans in Larissa, in addition to a group of 225 Jews,[5] and then jailed in the Haidari concentration camp.[6] According to his nephew, he was captured, not as a Jew, but as a leftist.[4] He was deported from Athens on 2 April and arrived at Auschwitz on 11 April, at which point he was one of the 320 Greek (assigned serial numbers from 182,440 to 182,759) selected for labor. His number was 182,552. After spending two days in the Zentral Sauna in Birkenau, he and the other Greek men lived in the Block 12 of the Männerquarantäne Lager from April 13 to May 11. Then he was selected, along with 100 Greeks, to be part of the Sonderkommando.[7] He was assigned the job of a Heizer ("stoker"), a member of the Sonderkommando assigned to the crematorium furnace, in Birkenau Krematorium V. Alter Fajnzylberg talks about his athletic build[8] and Leon Cohen describes his unusual strength.[9] According to Filip Müller,[10] Leon Cohen,[9] and the historian and fellow prisoner Hermann Langbein,[11] Errera was among those who actively participated in the preparations for the Sonderkommando Uprising, alongside Yaacov Kaminski, Jankiel Handelsmann, Jukl Wrobel, Josef Warszawski, a man named Władek, Giuseppe Baruch and Zalman Gradowski,[12] among others.

According to Izack Cohen, who worked in the Kanada Kommando, Errera was the leader of the Greek resistance group in Krematorium V. He tried to recruit Izack Cohen in the resistance group.[13]

Through the testimony of Alter Fajnzylberg,[8][14] it has been revealed that it was Errera who took the famous "Sonderkommando photographs" in the beginning of August 1944,[15][16][17] with the help of Dawid Szmulewski [fr],[18][19] another member of the resistance, and three other members of the Sonderkommando, Szlama Dragon, his brother, and Alter Fajnzylberg, who kept watch.[20] After taking the photographs, Errera buried the camera in the soil at the camp, for retrieval and discovery later.

On 9 August 1944,[21] during the transport from the crematoria of ash that was to be discharged into the Vistula, Errera tried to convince his three co-detainees (including Hugo Baruch Venezia and Henri Nechama Capon) to escape, but they refused. Once on site, Errera stunned the accompanying two Schupos with a shovel and plunged into the Vistula. He was caught during the next two or three days, tortured and killed. As was usual when a fugitive was caught, Errera's body was exposed at the men's camp entrance (BIId[22]) as an example to the other inmates.

Errera was awarded by the Greek government in the 1980s for his contribution in the Greek resistance during World War II.[23]

Sonderkommando photographs

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Main article: Sonderkommando photographs

For many years, the author of the Sonderkommando photographs was unknown. The photographs were credited as anonymous or, by default, assigned to Dawid Szmulewski, who himself mentioned a Greek Jew named Alex. The story of these photos was recorded in the writings of Alter Fajnzylberg, who evokes the figure of the Greek Jew named Alex (although he forgot the surname). In May 1978, Fajnzylberg answered a letter from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, about the photographs. He wrote:

It was Alex from Greece, but I do not remember his name, who took the photographs. He died during an escape during the transport of ash from incinerated people. These ashes were regularly dumped in the Sola or in the Vistula. Alex disarmed both SS escort[s] and threw their rifles into the Vistula. He died during the pursuit. I do not remember where the camera and other documents were buried because it [was] Alex who performed this work.[24]

However, in his diaries written immediately after the war, Fajnzylberg mentions the attempted escape of a Greek Jew named Aleko Errera. His escape struck Fajnzylberg was also told by several surviving witnesses: Errikos Sevillias,[25] Shlomo Venezia,[26] Leon Cohen,[9] Marcel Nadjary,[27] Dr. Miklos Nyiszli,[28] Alter Fajnzylberg,[29] Henryk Mandelbaum,[30] Albert Menasche,[31] Daniel Bennahmias[32] and Eddy de Wind.[33]

  • No. 283 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Picture pointed too high
    No. 283 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Picture pointed too high
  • No 282 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Women being undressed before going into Gas Chambers
    No 282 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Women being undressed before going into Gas Chambers
  • No 281 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Burning of the dead bodies [part of 282 seen at left]
    No 281 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Burning of the dead bodies [part of 282 seen at left]
  • No 280 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Burning of the dead bodies
    No 280 Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-Birkenau, August 1944 (clandestine photo) Burning of the dead bodies

References

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Alberto Errera

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Alberto Israel Errera (1913–1944) was a Greek-Jewish naval officer who secretly photographed Nazi atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau as a member of the Sonderkommando, providing the only known visual documentation of the extermination process. Prior to World War II, Errera served in the Greek navy; during the German occupation of Greece, he joined the anti-Nazi resistance, adopting the alias Alex Michaelides. Deported to Auschwitz in April 1944 and assigned prisoner number 182552, he was selected for the Sonderkommando, forced to manage the aftermath of gas chamber killings including body disposal. In late July 1944, Errera, with help from fellow Sonderkommando members, took four clandestine photographs from a crematorium rooftop: these depicted Hungarian Jewish women undressing before entering gas chambers and corpses burning in open pits near crematoria IV and V, capturing the mechanics of mass murder when crematoria capacity was overwhelmed. Errera attempted to flee the camp shortly thereafter but was shot dead by guards in early August 1944 at age 31.

Early Life

Origins and Pre-War Career

Alberto Israel Errera was born on 15 January 1913 in , , to a Jewish family. As a Greek Jew, he belonged to one of the longstanding Sephardic communities in the country, though specific details about his early family background or upbringing remain limited in historical records. Prior to the Second World War, Errera served in the , enlisting as a and advancing through the ranks to become a captain. His military training and experience in the Greek armed forces positioned him as an officer during the period leading up to the Axis invasion of in 1941.

Resistance in Occupied Greece

Military Background and Anti-Nazi Activities


Alberto Errera served as a soldier in the Hellenic Army prior to and during the early stages of World War II, eventually rising to the rank of captain.
Following the Axis occupation of Greece in April 1941, Errera joined the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), the principal communist-led resistance organization, adopting the alias Aleksos (Alex) Michaelides to conceal his Jewish identity while conducting anti-Nazi operations.
He was arrested by German forces in March 1944 in Larissa for his leftist resistance activities and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau the following month along with hundreds of other Greek Jews. In recognition of his contributions to the Greek resistance, the Greek government posthumously honored Errera in the 1980s.

Deportation and Auschwitz

Transport to the Camp and Initial Experiences

Errera was arrested by German forces on the night of 24 March 1944 in , , as part of a roundup of approximately 225 suspected of leftist resistance activities. He was then transferred to Haidari concentration camp near for detention pending deportation. In early April 1944, Errera was deported from to Auschwitz-Birkenau transport, a standard method for conveying prisoners from occupied territories to extermination camps, arriving around 11 April. The journey involved overcrowded freight cars with minimal provisions, typical of Nazi deportation practices that aimed to maximize mortality en route through , , and exposure. Upon arrival at Birkenau, Errera underwent the camp's selection process on the ramp, where SS physicians divided arrivals based on perceived fitness for labor versus immediate extermination in . As a 31-year-old former naval officer in good physical condition, he was spared gassing and registered as prisoner number 182,552. He was immediately assigned to the , a forced labor unit of Jewish prisoners compelled to operate crematoria, dispose of bodies, and handle operations under constant threat of death. Initial experiences in the exposed Errera to the industrial-scale extermination process, including the herding of victims into undressing rooms, gassing with , and subsequent body removal for or pit burning. The unit operated in isolation within the crematoria compounds, subjected to brutal oversight by SS guards and kapos, with periodic liquidations of entire shifts to eliminate witnesses. Errera's assignment leveraged his strength for heavy labor but immersed him in unrelenting from direct participation in concealing Nazi crimes.

Sonderkommando Role

Assignment and Daily Operations

Alberto Errera arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau on April 11, 1944, as part of a Greek Jewish and was registered under number 182552. In May 1944, he was selected for assignment to the , a unit compelled to labor in the camp's extermination facilities, primarily Crematorium V in Birkenau. Selection for this role typically favored physically capable inmates, and Errera's background as a naval officer likely contributed to his designation, though specific criteria were determined by SS overseers upon evaluation of new arrivals. Daily operations for Sonderkommando members, including Errera, entailed direct participation in the disposal of victims gassed in adjacent chambers. Tasks included entering the gas chambers post-execution to extract corpses, searching bodies for valuables such as gold teeth and jewelry, shearing hair, and transporting remains to ovens or open-air pyres for cremation. These activities occurred under relentless SS guard, with failure or resistance punishable by immediate death, and the unit's composition was periodically liquidated to eliminate witnesses. Errera's tenure from May to August 1944 aligned with the height of operations during the Hungarian deportations, when daily victim numbers exceeded thousands, overwhelming crematoria capacities and necessitating mass outdoor burnings. Beyond routine disposal, Sonderkommando prisoners sorted confiscated belongings, cleaned interiors with water and disinfectant, and performed maintenance on equipment, all while enduring malnutrition, beatings, and psychological torment inherent to their coerced proximity to the killing process.

The August 1944 Photographs

Circumstances and Execution

On August 1944, , using the alias , clandestinely photographed scenes of and at Auschwitz-Birkenau with the assistance of fellow members, amid heightened risks as the camp's operations intensified with Hungarian Jewish transports. The effort was motivated by a desire to document Nazi atrocities for potential postwar evidence, coordinated secretly within the unit forced to handle and duties. Errera obtained a smuggled camera resembling a German Leica, likely procured through camp resistance networks, and positioned himself near or inside Crematorium V to capture the images without precise aiming, shooting from the hip to minimize detection. Lookouts including Alter Fajnzylberg, Dragon, Josel Dragon, and Szmulewski monitored for approaching guards or unauthorized personnel, enabling a brief window of 15 to 30 minutes for the four exposures despite the peril of immediate execution if discovered. The photographs depicted women being led undressed toward gas chambers and bodies burning in open pits adjacent to the crematoria, providing rare visual testimony from the extermination process. Following the exposures, the film was retrieved and concealed, later smuggled out of the camp by Polish resistance contacts such as Helena Dantón, who hid it in a toothpaste tube, accompanied by a note dated September 4, 1944, before reaching external networks for development and dissemination. This operation underscored the Sonderkommando's limited agency in bearing witness, conducted under constant and with the understanding that their unit faced imminent liquidation.

Content and Technical Details

The four clandestine photographs taken by Alberto Errera on August 4, 1944, provide rare visual documentation of the extermination process at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, specifically near Crematorium V during the gassing of Hungarian Jewish women. Numbered 280 through 283, these images were captured in rapid succession within 15 to 30 minutes, likely between 4:00 and 5:00 PM, amid the arrival of deportation trains from . Photo 280 depicts Sonderkommando prisoners maneuvering wheeled carts loaded with corpses toward open-air s, where bodies are visible amid flames and dense smoke rising from the pits used to dispose of gassed victims when crematoria capacity was overwhelmed. Photo 282 shows a group of naked women, shortly after forced undressing, walking in a line toward the entrance, escorted by SS guards, with wooden and the structure in the background. Photo 283 captures a distant view intended to show the overall scene but is misframed, pointing too high and partially obscuring the intended subjects with sky and rooftops, likely due to the photographer's haste in adjusting the concealed camera. Photo 281 serves as a variant or preparatory exposure, showing similar activity but with less clarity. These images starkly illustrate the mechanics of , including victim processing and body disposal, without depicting the gassing itself, which occurred indoors. Technically, the photographs were exposed using a smuggled German-made camera, concealed within the Sonderkommando's restricted workshop area near Crematorium V, with Errera operating from a hidden vantage point such as an or through a small opening to avoid detection by guards. The 35mm film, obtained covertly, was developed on-site in an improvised using pilfered chemicals, a process facilitated by fellow members who distracted guards and provided cover. The resulting prints and negatives exhibit blur from rapid handheld shooting, suboptimal afternoon lighting filtered through smoke, and the primitive setup, underscoring the extreme risk: discovery would have meant immediate execution. The materials were sealed in a metal canister with a handwritten Greek-language note identifying the photographers and date, then buried near the camp's fence for later recovery by Polish resistance contacts. This preservation effort ensured the images' survival, surfacing postwar as key forensic evidence of Nazi crimes.

Uprising Participation

Events of October 7, 1944

On October 7, 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz II-Birkenau launched a coordinated revolt against their overseers, driven by fears of imminent liquidation following the recent execution of approximately 200 fellow members in September. The uprising centered on the crematoria complex, where prisoners had secretly amassed smuggled by female inmates from the nearby Union-Werke munitions factory, fashioning it into makeshift explosives over preceding months. The revolt ignited around 1:00 p.m. during a roll call and selection at Crematorium IV, where SS personnel began segregating prisoners for execution. Armed primarily with improvised weapons such as picks, axes, hammers, shovels, and stones—supplemented by the explosives— members overwhelmed and killed three SS guards, then detonated charges that set Crematorium IV ablaze, causing partial structural collapse and temporarily halting operations there. Simultaneously, prisoners at adjacent Crematorium II attacked their guards, killing two more SS men and briefly cutting through the perimeter fence in an attempt to flee toward the nearby Rajsko village. SS forces quickly mobilized, suppressing the uprising with machine-gun fire, hand grenades, and attack dogs within hours; escaping prisoners were hunted down and executed, including some burned alive in a granary. Casualties included roughly 250 Sonderkommando killed during the fighting, with leaders such as Zalmen Gradowski and Józef Deresiński among the dead; over 10 SS personnel were wounded, alongside the three fatalities. In reprisal, the SS later gassed additional Sonderkommando selections and publicly hanged four women implicated in smuggling the explosives on January 6, 1945. Though ultimately quelled, the action damaged key extermination infrastructure and represented one of the few overt armed resistances within the camp, reducing the Sonderkommando workforce to about 105 survivors who were later compelled into evacuation marches.

Errera's Specific Contributions

Errera served as the leader of the Greek Jewish prisoners in the unit assigned to Crematorium V, where he organized resistance activities among his contingent, drawing on his prior experience as a officer. This leadership role fostered coordination and resolve within the group, contributing to the broader Sonderkommando efforts that enabled the October 7, 1944, uprising against the SS guards. Although Errera himself was executed on or around August 9, 1944, following a failed escape attempt during an ash detail—where he attacked guards with a before fleeing toward the River—the Greek Sonderkommando under his prior influence actively participated in the revolt. On October 7, these prisoners in Crematorium V joined the coordinated assault by wielding improvised weapons such as picks, axes, and hammers to overpower overseers, aiming to disrupt operations and link up with the explosive demolition at adjacent Crematorium IV. Their actions inflicted casualties on SS personnel and exemplified the defiant spirit Errera had helped instill, despite the ultimate suppression of the revolt and execution of most participants.

Death

Fate During the Revolt

Alberto Errera perished on August 9, 1944, during an attempted escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau, several weeks before the uprising of October 7. He was shot by guards while trying to flee the camp, an act stemming from his ongoing resistance activities within the . Accounts indicate that Errera had struck an officer prior to his execution, reflecting his defiance amid the camp's brutal regime. Although some references associate Errera with the broader prisoners' uprising in Auschwitz-Birkenau, his death preceded the organized revolt, precluding direct participation in its events. His earlier contributions, including the clandestine documentation of atrocities in late July 1944, supported resistance networks by providing visual evidence smuggled out of the camp. Errera, aged 31, left no surviving records of the escape attempt itself, but his actions aligned with the escalating defiance among Greek Jewish prisoners in the units at Crematoria IV and V.

Legacy

Recognition and Historical Impact

Errera's clandestine photographs, captured on August 23, 1944, near crematoria IV and V in Auschwitz-Birkenau, constitute the only known images taken by camp prisoners depicting the mass of victims and women being led toward gas chambers, providing irrefutable visual of the extermination process. These four exposures, smuggled out via Polish resistance contacts and recovered post-liberation, corroborated survivor accounts and served as primary documentation in , distinguishing them from perpetrator-recorded images by their perspective from within the victim ordeal. Posthumously identified through Sonderkommando survivor testimony, Errera's role gained formal recognition from the International Auschwitz Committee, which honored him on July 26, 2024, as a resistance fighter who documented Nazi crimes at grave personal risk, emphasizing his naval officer background and alias "." His images have influenced cultural remembrance, inspiring Gerhard Richter's Birkenau series of paintings unveiled in 2014 and housed in a dedicated at the Auschwitz-Birkenau site, opened February 9, 2024, to amplify their testimonial power. The photographs' historical impact endures in educational and memorial contexts, exhibited in institutions such as the Jewish Museum of and referenced in analyses of visual evidence, underscoring Errera's contribution to bearing witness amid systemic secrecy and destruction of records. They symbolize prisoner agency in resistance, countering narratives of passive victimhood by evidencing deliberate acts of under duress, and continue to inform by illustrating the mechanics of industrialized murder.
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