Útěk z osvětimského pekla - Osobní svědectví vězně, kterému se podařil útěk z vyhlazovacího tábora – Ciesielski Edward (2019)

Edward Ciesielski fell into the hands of the Gestapo in January 1941. He endured the ordeal of interrogations and at the beginning of April 1941 passed through the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp. At that time, it was still unknown what horrors were taking place behind the barbed wire. They surpassed the limits of human understanding and reflected the entire monstrosity of Hitler's fascism. The nineteen-year-old young man bravely endured psychological and physical suffering. After several months, however, he contemplated suicide. He admitted: "I wanted to go to the wires or hang myself at night. I realized that I wouldn't last long in such conditions anyway. I wanted to shorten my suffering." But he was among those who arrived in Auschwitz with the first transports and who managed to maintain their human dignity and faith in humanity even in this hell. Suicide is cowardly, one of them told him. In the case of a Pole and a political prisoner, it would be downright disgraceful. We must survive so that the world learns about the Nazi crimes. These words were deeply etched in Ciesielski's memory. "I gritted my teeth and told myself: I must survive." Escaping from the camp was no easy task. The road to freedom was full of obstacles and deadly dangers. But as Ciesielski writes: "It was not about saving one's own skin, but about common goals." Those...