Polish construction workers find letter written by Auschwitz prisoners
April 28th, 2009 - 2:14 pm ICT by ANILondon, Apr.28 (ANI): Polish construction crew renovating a cellar near the notorious Auschwitz death camp in Poland have discovered a letter written by prisoners more than 60 years ago. The note, written in pencil then rolled up and inserted in a bottle, contains the names of seven young people who probably thought they were doomed to die at Auschwitz. Workmen found the letter inside a concrete wall.
“They were young people who were trying to leave some trace of their existence behind them,” The Telegraph quoted Auschwitz museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt, as saying.
He said two of the prisoners survived the camp but he did not have further details.
Workmen were tearing out a wall in the basement of a college building in the town of Oswiecim - which was called Auschwitz by the Nazis during World War II - on April 20 when they discovered the bottle, college spokeswoman Monika Bartosz said.
She said the note appeared to have been written on a scrap from a cement bag.
Museum experts have verified the authenticity of the note, which will be handed over to the museum in early May.
The Nazis set up the Auschwitz camp in 1940 in occupied Poland. At least 1.1 million people, mostly Jews - but also non-Jewish Poles, Gypsies and others - died in Auschwitz-Birkenau’s gas chambers, or from starvation, disease and forced labor, before Soviet troops liberated the camp on January 27, 1945. (ANI)
- Nazi-era prisoners' message found in bottle - Apr 28, 2009
- Nazi camp atrocities on display in Shanghai - Apr 19, 2012
- Documents Of The Cruel Nazi, Doctor Joseph Mengele, found in Poland - Mar 23, 2010
- Germany to pay over 50 million pounds to preserve World War II death camp - Dec 18, 2010
- Sign stolen from Nazi-era concentration camp found in Poland - Dec 21, 2009
- Stolen Auschwitz sign found after three days - Dec 21, 2009
- Joseph Mengele Documents Cited At Oswiecim - Mar 23, 2010
- President Patil pays homage to the victims of the Auschwitz concentration camp - Apr 26, 2009
- Auschwitz Victims Honored On Holocaust Remembrance Day - Jan 27, 2010
- Long-lost Frederic Chopin letters recovered by Warsaw museum - Mar 25, 2011
- Fire Destroys Nazi Victims' Shoes In Majdanek Museum - Aug 11, 2010
- Some Joseph Mengele documents found in a Warsaw house - Mar 23, 2010
- German concentration camp at Auschwitz was not hell for everyone - Jul 06, 2008
- Fire At A Former Death Camp Of The Nazis In Poland Destroys The Shoes Of The Holocaust Victims - Aug 11, 2010
- 'Five-star jails' used for Hitler's 'special' prisoners of war, reveals tell-all - Mar 19, 2011
Tags: auschwitz birkenau, auschwitz camp, auschwitz death camp, auschwitz museum, authenticity, cement, concrete wall, construction crew, construction workers, gas chambers, gypsies, january 27, nazis, oswiecim, prisoners, soviet troops, spokeswoman, starvation, workmen, world war ii