Escaped from Auschwitz- What balls!!

[TP Alexander]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...bfcL&ocid=iehp

[Byzanti]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...bfcL&ocid=iehp

2 years in Auschwitz AND another 7 imprisoned by the communists. But as a loyal scout to the end- I love how he said his job is to be cheerful and merry. Wonderful story for this time of year imo. Thanks for sharing it.

[o.r.k.]

What gruesome experience and after surviving the first villains getting holed in by the second ones. I wonder how he can be so cheerful after all that. He really deserved a long good life after these hells. The escape plan was really crazy Hollywood stuff born out of desperation- even getting hold of weapons in a concentration camp. I would not have believed it when seeing it in a movie. The title lured me into reading this interesting story as I normally stay away from the sickening details of WW2 stories about the dire degrees of cruelty that individuals and organizations can commit.

[Jean-Loup]

I wonder if this story was verified or cross checked in any way?

JL

[stgeorge64]

I wonder if this story was verified or cross checked in any way? JL

Indeed. Especially in regard to the mention of the comparatively easy access to weapons and SS uniforms.

Knowing there are those who know even the minutest detail of the day-to-day running of Auschwitz, I would be interested to see some opinions accordingly.

Regards Richard.

[C. Betz]

Auschwitz Escape

Hi Tim,
Here is a link from the Auschwitz State Museum verifying that escape and others: http://auschwitz.org/en/history/resi...es-and-reports . I believe it is also referenced in the Auschwitz Chronicles by Danuta Czezk and is portrayed in the PBS series Auschwitz

Charles Betz

[joelhall]

Hi Tim,
Here is a link from the Auschwitz State Museum verifying that escape and others: http://auschwitz.org/en/history/resi...es-and-reports . I believe it is also referenced in the Auschwitz Chronicles by Danuta Czezk and is portrayed in the PBS series Auschwitz

Charles Betz

He was also interviewed by the BBC for the documentary series, Auschwitz.

[joelhall]

Indeed. Especially in regard to the mention of the comparatively easy access to weapons and SS uniforms.

Knowing there are those who know even the minutest detail of the day-to-day running of Auschwitz, I would be interested to see some opinions accordingly.

Regards Richard.

In the early days of Auschwitz, security was actually fairly lax, by comparison to it's later expansion and re-establishment as an extermination centre after September 1941. From late spring of 1940 it was mainly used to hold Polish political prisoners.

[birdie]

Great story , article incomplete

I want to know what happened after they drove through the gate....

[joelhall]

They took a gun, and went through a security checkpoint (the gun was so that they could shoot themselves, rather than enter a firefight). As they approached, one of his companions told him to do something, so he stood up in the car and spoke in German "damn fools, open the gate". To everyone's surprise, they opened the gate, and they simply drove through the checkpoint.

[gadaru_kanaru]

I wonder if this story was verified or cross checked in any way?

JL

To attempt to verify holocaust stories is revisionist at best and anti-Semitic at worst.

[Jean-Loup]

"To attempt to verify holocaust stories is revisionist at best and anti-Semitic at worst."

Really? Can you quote any known holocaust historian who is in agreement with you?
Thankfully not everyone, including most holocaust historians, have such naive opinions. Otherwise such fairy tails as Misha Defonseca's, to name only one example, would be taken at face value. Or perhaps you still do believe her story even though she has admitted it is false?
As you perhaps know (or perhaps not?), many events linked to the holocaust left a paper trail that can be researched. One particular detail I am wondering about here is the claim that the prisonners mentionned in this story stole the camp commander's car. Was it really his car? Or was it just a car? These sorts of newspaper articles are typically full of mistakes and there is no reason to think this one is any different.
To not attempt to verify stories is dangerous, and to acuse people of anti semitism when they are refering to a story involving a non jewish prisonner is senseless. Did you even read the link before posting your inflammatory claim?

JL

[o.r.k.]

I think we all are here due to an interest in history. History is no religion and needs to be cross checked all the time as facts, myths, exaggerations, propaganda and too often the wish of self elevation blurrs the truth. Checking on the knowledge we get preented is part of our cultural enlightenment that brought us out of medieval darkness. Burning critics and witches by the church then was detrimental to progress. We still would live in a world falsely described by the church and safeguarded by inquisition and anyone in it would easily be a target just by being framed a heretic.
I very much agree that horrific events and topics like genocide need a sensitive approach and respect for the victims, but also a reliable, rational and curious approach to facts. This rather helps to weed out the wrongs mentioned above that in itself are harmful to the true remembrance of the sufferings as well.

[joelhall]

"To attempt to verify holocaust stories is revisionist at best and anti-Semitic at worst."

Really? Can you quote any known holocaust historian who is in agreement with you?
Thankfully not everyone, including most holocaust historians, have such naive opinions. Otherwise such fairy tails as Misha Defonseca's, to name only one example, would be taken at face value. Or perhaps you still do believe her story even though she has admitted it is false?
As you perhaps know (or perhaps not?), many events linked to the holocaust left a paper trail that can be researched. One particular detail I am wondering about here is the claim that the prisonners mentionned in this story stole the camp commander's car. Was it really his car? Or was it just a car? These sorts of newspaper articles are typically full of mistakes and there is no reason to think this one is any different.
To not attempt to verify stories is dangerous, and to acuse people of anti semitism when they are refering to a story involving a non jewish prisonner is senseless. Did you even read the link before posting your inflammatory claim?

JL

I suppose this is what happens when media "sex up" stories a little. It was one of the cars from the on-site garage, which technically would be under the responsibility of the commandant of the camp. However, it wasn't his personal vehicle.