LEGENDARY Escapes From Auschwitz Concentration Camp

These are just a few of the recorded escapes from Auschwitz that deserve to be told and commemorated. We hope you enjoy these three inspiring tales of resistance and stories that truly defied the odds in the face of evil. The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp is a familiar name to most, infamous for the atrocities that occurred behind its black gates. An estimated 1.1 million lives were claimed by the camp, amounting to around 85% of those that were sent there. Amazingly however, even in such dire circumstances, hope lived on. The First On July 6th 1940, Tadeusz Wiejowski, a Polish cobbler from the town of Kołaczyce, became Auszwitz’s first escapee. He arrived in the camp on June 14th 1940 on the first prisoner transport and was given the number of prisoner 220. Less than a month after his arrival, Wiejowski made his escape, aided by five Polish civilian electricians. Disguised as one of the electricians, Wiejowski walked out of the camp and was given the provisions and money necessary to continue his escape. The Four Poles On June 20 1942, four Polish inmates, Kazimierz Piechowski, Stanislaw Gustaw Jaster, Józef Lempart, and Eugeniusz Bendera, secured their freedom by executing an audacious escape plan. The group had decided to make their escape after being informed that Bendera had been scheduled to be put to death. The four managed to get past the famous Arbeit macht frei gate by telling the guards they were part of a work party that had been assigned to remove rubbish. Work parties of this sort left the camp on a regular basis, so luckily the guard did not bother to check whether this was the case. The group made their way to the stores, where three of them disguised themselves as SS officers, whilst Bendera used a copied key to break into the garage and steal a car. Then came the final test, a guarded checkpoint which stood between them and freedom. The group had no idea whether they would need to show any documents to prove their identity. Their only hope was Piechowski, who had been designated to play the role of an SS officer if they encountered trouble. As they sped towards the checkpoint they began to panic when they saw the barrier was not being raised. At the last moment, Piechowski threw himself into his role and began barking orders in German. The startled SS guards quickly obeyed, and the group drove to freedom. This group’s tale comes with a rare happy ending, as none of the four were recaptured . Witold Pilecki Before the Second World War Pilecki fought as a cavalryman in the pivotal Battle of Warsaw in 1920, the turning point in the Polish-Soviet war. Later, having founded the Secret Polish Army Resistance movement during the early months of WW2, Pilecki undertook the courageous task of organising a resistance movement from within Auschwitz’s walls. This involved orchestrating his own capture in September 1940, before founding a clandestine network of hundreds of Auschwitz’s inmates,. Just before Pilecki’s escape on the night of the 26th-27th April 1943, the Gestapo intensified their crackdown on resistance within the camp. Seeing the writing on the wall, Pilecki knew he needed to escape before it was too late. Whilst working in the camp bakery outside the camp walls, he and two others managed to break out and overpower a group of SS guards. Once outside, Pilecki took little time to recover before he placed himself back in the firing line. He compiled a report on the camp, urging the Allies and the resistance to liberate the camp. Pilecki went on to survive the war, despite his continuous participation in resistance movements and re-capture. Subjected to extensive interrogation and torture; Pilecki did not give up information. He was convicted on 15 May 1948 and executed . Images used credits: German peaked visor cap with SS skull emblem (Totenkopf), belt buckle, dagger, etc. Lofoten (Gestapo office) Author: Wolfmann Norway 2019-05-08 Uniform of the SS (Schutzstaffel), a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP Author Jason M Ramos 25 October 2012 Polski: Oświęcim - dawny obóz koncentracyjny „Auschwitz-Birkenau” Author Spitfire303 Date: 07 04 2011 Auschwitz I-19 Scotch Mist 4 July 2016 German Concentration and Extermination Camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland). author: siestecita 11 August 2018 Polski: Brzezinka, Auschwitz-Birkenau Distinctive emblem for cultural property. This is a photo of a monument in Poland identified by the ID Q663764 Author Jacek7770 Date 18 October 2017 Arbeit macht frei sign, main gate of the Auschwitz I camp, Poland Author Tulio Bertorini 27 November 2005 Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1992-101-026A, KZ Auschwitz, Einfahrt Gate of Auschwitz II-Birkenau viewed from inside the camp Photographer : Wilson Depicted place Auschwitz II-Birkenau Date 1959 Collection German Federal Archives Current location : Sammlung von Repro-Negativen Freight car, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, 2014 Author Sinsk 25 September 2014