The anniversary of the Soviet liberation of the largest Nazi camp for the mass extermination of the population of Auschwitz - January 27, 1945, is marked around the world as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The story of Svetislav Vorkapić, a man who survived Auschwitz, was told in 2015 by his son Stanislav. Today, on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I am publishing it as a sign of respect for Svetislav and all the innocent victims of the Second World War. Svetislav Vorkapić, nicknamed Cvej, is long gone. He died in 1988 with traces of "beatings on his back and a number on his arm". Still, he was one of the happiest - he survived the horrors of Auschwitz, the death camp, waited to see the end of the war and was given the opportunity to start his life over again.
Auschwitz was located in southern Poland, 50 kilometers west of Krakow and 286 kilometers from Warsaw, and was named after the nearby town of Oswiecim / Auschwitz in German /. After the German occupation of Poland in September 1939, Oswiecim was annexed by Germany and its name was changed to Auschwitz. A total of 1.3 million were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Most of the victims were killed immediately upon arrival at the Auschwitz two gas chambers, where Cyclone B gas was used. The rest died of systematic starvation, forced labor, uncontrolled epidemics, executions and medical experiments. People from various parts of Europe. Of that number, 1.1 million people were killed in this infamous camp, one million of whom were Jews.
Only a few people in Serbia can still testify to the horrors and horrors behind the word - Auschwitz. Yet their stories and testimonies of years of horror still live on in the memories of their families and loved ones. Svetislav Vorkapic was detained in a death camp for more than two years.
None of the Serbs, Jews and Roma deported from these areas to the German Nazi concentration camp in occupied Poland knew what Auschwitz actually meant. The stories of the horrors of this place did not reach the Balkans, and to those who heard them they seemed so terrible and unbelievable that they did not want to believe them. The inscription at the entrance to the camp: "Labor liberates" was interpreted by many as a sign that they liked some kind of labor camp
They went through the gates of hell…
Auschwitz became the largest camp in which Nazism realized the horrible idea of mass extermination of people. Most of those who arrived at this place were immediately taken to the gas chambers. Those that would be judged to be "worthwhile" were housed in barracks and used as slave labor and human guinea pigs for the experiments of the "angel of death" - Dr. Josef Mengele. There, Svetislav Vorkapić ceased to exist and a nameless man was born - number 146 406
Most Jews, Poles, Roma were killed… The exact number of Serbs who lived in this horrible place has never been determined. Svetislav Vokrapić was one of those who managed to survive even after all the tortures. He spent two years in Auschwitz! In November 1944, Himmler ordered the destruction of the crematorium in Auschwitz. The gas chambers in Birkenau were blown up by the SS in January 1945 in an attempt to hide the crimes from the approaching Soviet troops. The Nazis then drove about 60,000 people into a "death march" - a forced march that lasted for weeks. Just under 6,000 people survived. The march of death was a moment that Svetislav used, he managed to escape into the woods during that last march. He killed a German soldier - exhausted from hunger, he could only jump on his back and slaughter him with his teeth. Thus, for a short time, he "hajduked" through the forests and waited for the Russians armed. He came to Belgrade with them. "
After all, he saved the life of a German!
Another story from the life of this amazing man remained to testify to the goodness and forgiveness that for many today transcends the limits of the possible. After everything he went through in Auschwitz, Svetislav found places and goodness in his heart and saved the life of a German!
- When he returned from the camp, as a party member, and by profession a butcher, he became the head of a fat smelter in a Belgrade slaughterhouse. At that time, the captured Germans were used for forced labor, so one German - Richard, also worked in the slaughterhouse. Someone reported that German to UDBI that he had eaten one sausage. The Udbashi came urgently and leaned Richard against the wall to shoot him in an emergency. They even offered him, knowing that he was a detainee, offered to personally kill the German. At that moment, Svetislav stood in front of the prisoners and said that they would have to kill him first, and only then Richard! A few months later, Richard was sent home with the other prisoners. However, this is not the end of this amazing story. Later, when the Germans started visiting the Adriatic as tourists, Richard visited Svetislav with his family for years. He would always hug and kiss him, remembering how this one had saved his life during those difficult days after the war.
He never returned to Auschwitz!
About 300 survivors of Auschwitz, who are still alive, gather each year at the same place where they were exposed to horrific suffering and suffering, which is now a museum, to pay their respects to the dead and their salvation.
During his life, Svetislav Vorkapić, awarded the Order of Merit with a silver star, never returned to Auschwitz, and that was his decision. - He was called several times to go there during some manifestations, but he did not want to. He said that those who go to Auschwitz, still dressed in those striped camp wards, actually "never got out of the wire!" - concludes Stanislav the incredible life story of his father - detainee number 146 406 and a man who started his life from scratch in 1945
