loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 The man who smuggled himself into Auschwitz By Rob Broomby BBC News When millions would have done anything to get out, one remarkable British soldier smuggled himself into Auschwitz to witness the horror so he could tell others the truth. Denis Avey is a remarkable man by any measure. A courageous and determined soldier in World War II, he was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a camp connected to the Germans' largest concentration camp, Auschwitz. But his actions while in the camp - which he has never spoken about until now - are truly extraordinary. When millions would have done anything to get out, Mr Avey repeatedly smuggled himself into the camp. Now 91 and living in Derbyshire, he says he wanted to witness what was going on inside and find out the truth about the gas chambers, so he could tell others. He knows he took "a hell of a chance". "When you think about it in today's environment it is ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous," he says. "You wouldn't think anyone would think or do that, but that is how I was. I had red hair and a temperament to match. Nothing would stop me." He arranged to swap for one night at a time with a Jewish inmate he had come to trust. He exchanged his uniform for the filthy, stripy garments the man had to wear. For the Auschwitz inmate it meant valuable food and rest in the British camp, while for Denis it was a chance to gather facts on the inside. Evil He describes Auschwitz as "hell on earth" and says he would lie awake at night listening to the ramblings and screams of prisoners. "It was pretty ghastly at night, you got this terrible stench," he says. He talked to Jewish prisoners but says they rarely spoke of their previous life, instead they were focused on the hell they were living and the work they were forced to do in factories outside the camp. FIND OUT MORE... •Listen to Denis Avey's story on BBC News 24 throughout Sunday and on Broadcasting House, BBC Radio 4 at 0900 GMT. •Or listen to it "There were nearly three million human beings worked to death in different factories," says Mr Avey. "They knew at that rate they'd last about five months. "They very seldom talk about their civil life. They only talked about the situation, the punishments they were getting, the work they were made to do." He says he would ask where people he'd met previously had gone and he would be told they'd "gone up the chimney". "It was so impersonal. Auschwitz was evil, everything about it was wrong." He also witnessed the brutality meted out to the prisoners, saying people were shot daily. He was determined to help, especially when he met Jewish prisoner Ernst Lobethall. 'Bloody marvellous' Mr Lobethall told him he had a sister Susana who had escaped to England as a child, on the eve of war. Back in his own camp, Mr Avey contacted her via a coded letter to his mother. He arranged for cigarettes, chocolate and a letter from Susana to be sent to him and smuggled them to his friend. Cigarettes were more valuable than gold in the camp and he hoped he would be able to trade them for favours to ease his plight - and he was right. Mr Lobethall traded two packs of Players cigarettes in return for getting his shoes resoled. It helped save his life when thousands perished or were murdered on the notorious death marches out of the camps in winter in 1945. Mr Avey briefly met Susana Lobethall in 1945, when he came home from the war. He was fresh from the camp and was traumatised by what he'd witnessed and endured. At the time both of them thought Ernst was dead. He'd actually survived, thanks - in part - to the smuggled cigarettes. But she lost touch with Mr Avey and was never able to tell him the good news. The BBC has now reunited the pair after tracing Susana, who is now Susana Timms and lives in the Midlands. Mr Avey was told his friend moved to America after the war, where he had children and lived a long and happy life. The old soldier says the news is "bloody marvellous". 'Ginger' Sadly, the emotional reunion came too late for Ernst - later Ernie - who died never even knowing the real name of the soldier who he says helped him survive Auschwitz. But before he died Mr Lobethall recorded his survival story on video for the Shoah Foundation, which video the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. In it he spoke of his friendship with a British soldier in Auschwitz who he simply called "Ginger". It was Denis. He also recalled how the cigarettes, chocolate and a letter from his sister in England were smuggled to him in the midst of war. "It was like being given the Rockefeller Centre," he says in the video. Mr Avey traded places twice and slept overnight in Auschwitz. He tried a third time but he was almost caught and the plan was aborted. He suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when he came back from the war and has only recently been able to speak about what he did and what he saw. He admits some may find it hard to believe and acknowledges it was "foolhardy". "But that is how I was," he simply says. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/magazine/8382457.stm Published: 2009/11/29 02:18:55 GMT © BBC MMIX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UK Debt Slave Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 The man who smuggled himself into Auschwitz By Rob Broomby BBC News When millions would have done anything to get out, one remarkable British soldier smuggled himself into Auschwitz to witness the horror so he could tell others the truth. Denis Avey is a remarkable man by any measure. A courageous and determined soldier in World War II, he was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a camp connected to the Germans' largest concentration camp, Auschwitz. But his actions while in the camp - which he has never spoken about until now - are truly extraordinary. When millions would have done anything to get out, Mr Avey repeatedly smuggled himself into the camp. Now 91 and living in Derbyshire, he says he wanted to witness what was going on inside and find out the truth about the gas chambers, so he could tell others. He knows he took "a hell of a chance". "When you think about it in today's environment it is ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous," he says. "You wouldn't think anyone would think or do that, but that is how I was. I had red hair and a temperament to match. Nothing would stop me." He arranged to swap for one night at a time with a Jewish inmate he had come to trust. He exchanged his uniform for the filthy, stripy garments the man had to wear. For the Auschwitz inmate it meant valuable food and rest in the British camp, while for Denis it was a chance to gather facts on the inside. Evil He describes Auschwitz as "hell on earth" and says he would lie awake at night listening to the ramblings and screams of prisoners. "It was pretty ghastly at night, you got this terrible stench," he says. He talked to Jewish prisoners but says they rarely spoke of their previous life, instead they were focused on the hell they were living and the work they were forced to do in factories outside the camp. FIND OUT MORE... •Listen to Denis Avey's story on BBC News 24 throughout Sunday and on Broadcasting House, BBC Radio 4 at 0900 GMT. •Or listen to it "There were nearly three million human beings worked to death in different factories," says Mr Avey. "They knew at that rate they'd last about five months. "They very seldom talk about their civil life. They only talked about the situation, the punishments they were getting, the work they were made to do." He says he would ask where people he'd met previously had gone and he would be told they'd "gone up the chimney". "It was so impersonal. Auschwitz was evil, everything about it was wrong." He also witnessed the brutality meted out to the prisoners, saying people were shot daily. He was determined to help, especially when he met Jewish prisoner Ernst Lobethall. 'Bloody marvellous' Mr Lobethall told him he had a sister Susana who had escaped to England as a child, on the eve of war. Back in his own camp, Mr Avey contacted her via a coded letter to his mother. He arranged for cigarettes, chocolate and a letter from Susana to be sent to him and smuggled them to his friend. Cigarettes were more valuable than gold in the camp and he hoped he would be able to trade them for favours to ease his plight - and he was right. Mr Lobethall traded two packs of Players cigarettes in return for getting his shoes resoled. It helped save his life when thousands perished or were murdered on the notorious death marches out of the camps in winter in 1945. Mr Avey briefly met Susana Lobethall in 1945, when he came home from the war. He was fresh from the camp and was traumatised by what he'd witnessed and endured. At the time both of them thought Ernst was dead. He'd actually survived, thanks - in part - to the smuggled cigarettes. But she lost touch with Mr Avey and was never able to tell him the good news. The BBC has now reunited the pair after tracing Susana, who is now Susana Timms and lives in the Midlands. Mr Avey was told his friend moved to America after the war, where he had children and lived a long and happy life. The old soldier says the news is "bloody marvellous". 'Ginger' Sadly, the emotional reunion came too late for Ernst - later Ernie - who died never even knowing the real name of the soldier who he says helped him survive Auschwitz. But before he died Mr Lobethall recorded his survival story on video for the Shoah Foundation, which video the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. In it he spoke of his friendship with a British soldier in Auschwitz who he simply called "Ginger". It was Denis. He also recalled how the cigarettes, chocolate and a letter from his sister in England were smuggled to him in the midst of war. "It was like being given the Rockefeller Centre," he says in the video. Mr Avey traded places twice and slept overnight in Auschwitz. He tried a third time but he was almost caught and the plan was aborted. He suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when he came back from the war and has only recently been able to speak about what he did and what he saw. He admits some may find it hard to believe and acknowledges it was "foolhardy". "But that is how I was," he simply says. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/magazine/8382457.stm Published: 2009/11/29 02:18:55 GMT © BBC MMIX Heard him interviewed on BBC this morning. he's in his 90s now though you wouldn't think so. He is still extremely articulate and obviously in grand health. An amazing story Shame that the sacrifices made by people like him have been so wasted by the traitorous scum we elect to lead us today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indirectapproach Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 It's a funny old world. There was at least one other, a Pole who deliberately went into Auschwitz to organise resistance and gather intelligence, Witold Pilecki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 Shame that the sacrifices made by people like him have been so wasted by the traitorous scum we elect to lead us today +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 It's a funny old world. There was at least one other, a Pole who deliberately went into Auschwitz to organise resistance and gather intelligence, Witold Pilecki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki interesting find, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 In the right hands, this would make a superb movie. Much more impact than 'The boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 In the right hands, this would make a superb movie. Much more impact than 'The boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. shall i send you the screenplay for your approval as female lead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.O. Johnny Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Was in Poland on business once, in Katowice, the nearest main town to Auschwitz and asked the guy I was doing business with to take me there We were only there 3 hours, I saw probably 10% of what there was to see. It will never, never leave me. We went from one building to another, every time I thought I'd seen the worst there was to see, and every time the next building was worse. I gagged in one, nearly threw up and then it got even worse. I'll never forget it - it should be made a compulsory trip for all school children - I mean it I'd urge everyone to go. Not a pleasant day trip but essential Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 It's a funny old world. There was at least one other, a Pole who deliberately went into Auschwitz to organise resistance and gather intelligence, Witold Pilecki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki Sadly, shortly after the war in 1947 he was sentenced to death and killed by the Uncle Stalin's communists and buried in a garbage dump. I always wonder why it is OK for people these days to wear t-shirts with the USSR emblem when it's not OK to wear t-shirts with the NSDAP emblem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Was in Poland on business once, in Katowice, the nearest main town to Auschwitz and asked the guy I was doing business with to take me there I'll never forget it - it should be made a compulsory trip for all school children - I mean it I'd urge everyone to go. Not a pleasant day trip but essential The Auschwitz camp is a reminder to the sheeple who always tend to say 'they would never dare do that to people'. The Auschwitz camp was well known to the people living in the occupied Poland and the existance of the camp was reported by many Poles on many occasions to the Western World. Sadly, the reports were ignored as 'this sounds too cruel to be true, they would never dare do that to people'. And was treated as a 'conspiracy theory' and an exaggeration. Children should visit the Auschwitz camp to learn to stay open-minded, think critically and never dismiss any reports only because they were branded as 'conspiracy theories' by the mainstream opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 The Auschwitz camp is a reminder to the sheeple who always tend to say 'they would never dare do that to people'. The Auschwitz camp was well known to the people living in the occupied Poland and the existance of the camp was reported by many Poles on many occasions to the Western World. Sadly, the reports were ignored as 'this sounds too cruel to be true, they would never dare do that to people'. And was treated as a 'conspiracy theory' and an exaggeration. Children should visit the Auschwitz camp to learn to stay open-minded, think critically and never dismiss any reports only because they were branded as 'conspiracy theories' by the mainstream opinion. +1, i can see why they couldnt believe it but there is also some reports they had the proof + even then were slow to act, very slow. there were some heroic poles who saved jews + others by hiding them in the forests, however there is much controversy over allegations about a minority of anti-semitic poles murdering jews at jedwabne + similar because they accused them of communist collaboration. reports suggest children thrown live into a barn set alight. some poles insist this is propaganda + never happened, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 there is much controversy over allegations about a minority of anti-semitic poles murdering jews at jedwabne + similar because they accused them of communist collaboration. reports suggest children thrown live into a barn set alight. some poles insist this is propaganda + never happened, however. I agree that nothing is only black or only white... Therefore we need to think critically. But I also think that the Jedwabne massacre is no longer a controversy - unless you're David Miliband. It was a massacre of at least 300 Polish Jews at Jedwabne in German occupied Poland in July 1941 committed by a mob of Polish Gentiles in the presence of Nazi Ordnungspolizei. The Polish president, on behalf of the people of Poland, apologized and sought forgiveness for the fratricide of the massacre. On the other hand, Poles were involved in rescue at up to 3 million Jews, and are credited of saving 450,000 Jews from certain death. Israel has awarded 6,135 'Righteous among the Nations' medals to Polish Gentiles – more than to any other nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 shall i send you the screenplay for your approval as female lead? Not if I have to act! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 I agree that nothing is only black or only white... Therefore we need to think critically. But I also think that the Jedwabne massacre is no longer a controversy - unless you're David Miliband. i know some poles who get very defensive if you suggest jedwabne as undisputed fact, believe me. Not if I have to act! oh no other one who wont get out of bed for less than a million a day plus huge location trailer sigh... anyone got winslet's mobile, she'll appear in anything for £7 an hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 i know some poles who get very defensive if you suggest jedwabne as undisputed fact, believe me. I'm really sorry to hear that. Every nation has its share of idiots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loginandtonic Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 I'm really sorry to hear that. Every nation has its share of idiots. well, perhaps you can guess the rest? radio maryja + a priest named rydzyk are their idols, etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.