Auschwitz: An inmate's secret message is deciphered 70 years later
More under this adThe moving testimony of an Auschwitz inmate has been deciphered by a historian. Here is what it reveals.
A competent historian decoded a 1944 letter recovered in 1980 from the Auschwitz concentration camp, which is currently located in German-controlled Poland. Continue reading to learn more about the letter's startling contents.
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An incredible discovery
Marcel Nadjari was imprisoned in Auschwitz in 1944. As a tribute to the atrocities faced by the inmates, he wrote a letter to his descendants, which he then buried to keep it safe from the Germans.
More under this adMore under this adNadjari's letter is then discovered by a Polish student participating in excavations near the concentration camp, about thirty-six years later. The illegible letter is then decoded by Pavel Polian, a very experienced historian who was able to interpret 90% of its content.
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A strong testimony
In the 13 pages written, Nadjari speaks about his parents and sister, both of whom were sent to Auschwitz and whom he would never see again. He was also imprisoned in the same concentration camp in April 1944, but he was assigned to the 'Sonderkommando,'
More under this adMore under this adThe 'Sonderkommando' was a group of Jewish inmates tasked with emptying gas chambers, removing the dead's hair and gold teeth, and then burning their bodies.
According to The Times of Israel, Nadjari, who is a witness to these tragedies, explains:
Our task was to welcome them, most of them did not realize what awaited them. Once naked, they went to the death chamber where the Germans had supposedly installed showers. blow of the whip, we forced them to approach like sardines in a jar, and then we closed the doors hermetically.More under this adMore under this ad
On July 31, 1971, Marcel Nadjari died in New York, at the age of 54.