Secrets of the Dead (2000–…): Season 7, Episode 2 - Escape from Auschwitz - full transcript
The death factory at Auschwitz was a closely guarded secret of the Third Reich - until two men, Rudolph Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, escaped to tell the world about the Nazi atrocities. Escape from Auschwitz reveals the story of their escape and explores the controversial decision by the head of the Hungarian underground not to make their report public.
Announcer:
THE NAZIS USED AUSCHWITZ
AS A SECRET HUMAN
SLAUGHTERHOUSE.
Man: AUSCHWITZ
AND THE OTHER DEATH CAMPS
WERE INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
PRODUCING CORPSES.
Announcer: BUT IN 1944,
TWO PRISONERS ESCAPED
TO TELL THE WORLD.
Woman: HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING.
HE TOLD ME HOW
THE DEATH FACTORIES
IN AUSCHWITZ WERE ORGANIZED.
Announcer: THEIR REPORT SAVED
TENS OF THOUSANDS,
BUT DID ONE FREEDOM FIGHTER'S
MISCALCULATION CONDEMN
THOUSANDS MORE
TO THE GAS CHAMBERS?
"ESCAPE FROM AUSCHWITZ,"
COMING UP
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
AND FRIENDS OF NCI
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM...
Narrator: AUSCHWITZ WAS
THE LARGEST OF HITLER'S
CONCENTRATION CAMPS,
BUT ITS DARK PURPOSE WAS
NOT TO HOUSE PRISONERS.
BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE,
THE NAZIS CREATED
A DEATH FACTORY TO SECRETLY
MURDER THE JEWS OF EUROPE.
Man: FROM THE MOMENT HE
CAME TO POWER, HITLER
WANTED TO GET RID OF
THE JEWS FROM GERMANY.
HE TURNED TO WHAT IS
KNOWN AS THE FINAL SOLUTION,
THE EXTERMINATION OF ALL
THESE JEWISH PEOPLE.
Narrator: BY 1944,
12,000 JEWS A DAY WERE
BEING KILLED AT
AUSCHWITZ, BUT FEW
OUTSIDE ITS FENCES KNEW
WHAT ATROCITIES WERE
BEING COMMITTED.
THE PRISONERS HAD NO
WAY OF GETTING WORD
TO THE OUTSIDE.
THAT IS, UNTIL TWO BRAVE
PRISONERS DECIDED TO
ESCAPE, DETERMINED
TO TELL THE WORLD
ABOUT THE SECRET
NAZI GENOCIDE.
AUSCHWITZ WAS LOCATED
50 MILES FROM KRAKÓW
IN SOUTHERN POLAND.
THE MAIN CAMP WAS
OPENED IN 1940.
IT WAS BUILT TO HOLD
AND KILL COMMUNISTS,
PRISONERS OF WAR,
WRITERS, GYPSIES,
HOMOSEXUALS,
AND INTELLECTUALS.
BY 1941, THE NAZIS
BEGAN CONSTRUCTION
OF AUSHCWITZ-BIRKENAU.
TWO AND HALF MILES FROM
THE MAIN COMPLEX, THIS
CAMP WAS BUILT
PRIMARILY TO IMPRISON
AND EXTERMINATE JEWS.
NAZI RECORDS SHOW
THAT TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF JEWS FROM GERMAN-OCCUPIED
COUNTRIES WERE
PULLED FROM THEIR HOMES AND SENT
TO AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
EACH MONTH.
THEY HAD NO IDEA THEY
WERE BEING SENT
TO THEIR DEATHS.
Man: THE DEPORTATIONS
WERE ALWAYS SORT
OF CAMOUFLAGED BY SAYING
THE JEWS WERE EITHER
GOING TO SOME OTHER
PLACE OR THEY WERE GOING
TO BE TRANSPORTED
TO ANOTHER PLACE.
Narrator:
THE PRISONERS WERE MOVED
IN OVERCROWDED
CATTLE CARS WITH NO
FOOD OR WATER.
SOME NEVER MADE IT
OFF THE TRAINS ALIVE.
THE SURVIVORS ARRIVED
AT AUSCHWITZ SHELL-SHOCKED,
DAZED, AND DISORIENTED.
TO THE REST OF THE WORLD,
THEY HAD SIMPLY DISAPPEARED.
Man: SECRECY WAS ESSENTIAL
FOR THE MAINTENANCE
OF AUSCHWITZ,
FOR THE CONTINUATION
OF AUSCHWITZ AS
A KILLING FACTORY.
THE MOMENT IT BECAME
KNOWN, THEN THERE WOULD
BE REVOLTS AND RIOTS AT
EVERY RAILWAY STATION
ON THE WAY TO IT.
THE DEPORTATIONS WERE
THE GREATEST CONFIDENCE
TRICK IN HISTORY BECAUSE
WE NOW KNOW THAT IT WAS
A TOTAL DECEPTION,
THAT THE AIM
OF THE DEPORTATIONS WAS
TO MURDER THESE PEOPLE.
Narrator: AMONG THE MANY
THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS
AT THE CAMP WAS
RUDOLF VRBA.
VRBA WAS THE SON OF
A JEWISH SAWMILL
OWNER FROM TOPOL'CANY,
SLOVAKIA.
IN MARCH OF 1942,
VRBA HAD FLED SLOVAKIA
FOR BRITAIN BUT WAS
CAPTURED AND SENT
TO AUSCHWITZ.
HE WAS 17 YEARS OLD.
AT THE CAMP, VRBA
WAS GIVEN THE JOB
OF COLLECTING LUGGAGE
FROM INCOMING PRISONERS.
THE BAGS WERE FILLED
WITH ANYTHING VALUABLE
THEIR OWNERS HAD BEEN
ABLE TO GRAB BEFORE THEY
WERE DEPORTED.
DAY AFTER DAY, VRBA
WATCHED THE FRIGHTENED
PRISONERS ARRIVE.
THEY WERE COMPLETELY
UNAWARE OF WHAT
THE NAZIS HAD IN
STORE FOR THEM.
Gilbert: VRBA UNDERSTOOD
THAT HAD THE TRUTH
OF THIS PLACE BEEN
KNOWN SOMETHING
WOULD BE HAPPENING.
FIRST OF ALL, THE PEOPLE
WOULDN'T BE ARRIVING
BECAUSE THEY'D BE
REFUSING TO GET
ON THE TRAINS
AT THE DEPARTURE POINT.
Narrator: BUT THEY WERE
GETTING ON THE TRAINS,
AND THE NAZIS CLEARLY
DOCUMENTED WHAT HAPPENED
WHEN THEY ARRIVED.
HUSBANDS WERE SEPARATED
FROM THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN.
THE STRONG WERE
SEPARATED FROM THE WEAK,
THE YOUNG FROM THE OLD.
WOMEN WITH CHILDREN,
THE ELDERLY,
AND THE INFIRM WERE
LOADED ONTO TRUCKS
AND TAKEN TO A SPECIAL AREA
AT THE REAR OF THE CAMP.
THEY WERE GIVEN SOAP
AND A TOWEL AND TOLD TO
STRIP FOR A SHOWER,
BUT THE SHOWERS
OFFERED NO WATER.
INSTEAD, THEY SPRAYED
THE TRAPPED PRISONERS
WITH DEADLY ZYKLON "B" GAS.
THE PILES OF BODIES WERE
THEN SENT TO THE OVENS
FOR INCINERATION.
Bauer: NEVER BEFORE
HAD A GENOCIDE BEEN
COMMITTED BY
INDUSTRIAL MEANS.
AUSCHWITZ AND
THE OTHER DEATH CAMPS WERE
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
PRODUCING CORPSES.
Narrator: VRBA SAW THIS
HORRIFIC ASSEMBLY LINE
EVERY DAY, HELPLESS
TO PROVIDE ANY KIND OF WARNING.
Gilbert: WHILE VRBA WAS
WORKING ON THE RAMP,
HE WITNESSED
THE FEAR OF BEING SHOT
AND AT THE SAME TIME
SOFT-SPOKEN S.S. MEN.
YOU KNOW, "ALL'S
GONNA BE WELL.
"IT'S GONNA TAKE AN HOUR
OR TWO, AND THEN YOU'LL
"BE IN YOUR BARRACKS,
YOU'LL GET A GOOD MEAL.
IT WILL ALL BE WELL."
SO HE WITNESSES THE
DECEPTIONS, HE WITNESSES
THE HORRORS, AND HE
SEES IT DAY AFTER DAY
AND NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.
Narrator:
THE FRUSTRATION AND RAGE
BEGAN TO CONSUME
VRBA AS HE WORKED.
Gilbert: HE WAS ABLE TO
SAY TO HIMSELF, "WHAT I
"HAVE TO DO IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN MY LIFE
"BECAUSE WHAT I HAVE TO
DO MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE
THOUSANDS AND TENS
OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES."
Narrator: WHAT HE HAD
TO DO WAS FIND A WAY TO
ESCAPE SO HE COULD TELL
THE WORLD WHAT THE NAZIS
WERE DOING AND PREVENT
OTHERS FROM GETTING
ON THE TRAINS.
AS VRBA PLOTTED,
THE DEATH CAMP
CONTINUED TO OPERATE.
THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS WERE
MURDERED ON ARRIVAL.
THOSE WHO SURVIVED
THE FIRST SELECTION WERE
HARDLY BETTER OFF.
THEY WERE BEATEN,
STARVED, AND DENIGRATED
BY THE BRUTAL NAZI GUARDS.
AMONG THE PRISONERS WAS
OTTO PRESSBURGER, VRBA'S
CHILDHOOD FRIEND
FROM SLOVAKIA.
Translator: WE WERE
VERY CLOSE, LIKE...
ALMOST LIKE BROTHERS.
THEY TOOK AWAY OUR
CLOTHES, THEY SHAVED OUR
HEADS ALL OVER.
THEY GAVE US OTHER
CLOTHES WITH STRIPES.
THEY TATTOOED
NUMBERS ON OUR CHESTS.
MY NUMBER ON MY
CHEST WAS 29045.
THAT WAS MY NUMBER.
AFTER THAT, I WASN'T
OTTO PRESSBURGER.
I WAS 29045.
Narrator: THE HEALTHY
WERE IMMEDIATELY FORCED
INTO HARD LABOR.
SADISTICALLY, THE NAZIS
TURNED SOME JEWS INTO
SUPERVISORS
CALLED KAPOS.
THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE
FOR KEEPING THEIR FELLOW
PRISONERS IN LINE AND
OFTEN BECAME MORE BRUTAL
THAN THE NAZIS THEMSELVES.
Bauer: NAZIS HAD
A PROBLEM OF A SHORTAGE
OF LABOR, AND THEY HIT
ON THE IDEA THAT THEY
WOULD FORCE INDIVIDUALS
FROM AMONG THE PRISONERS
TO SUPERVISE
OTHER PRISONERS.
MANY OF THEM BEHAVED
VERY BADLY BECAUSE THEY
FELT THREATENED,
THAT THEIR LIVES WERE
IN DANGER, AND SO
THEY TOOK IT OUT
ON THE PRISONERS
IN ORDER NOT TO BE
PUNISHED THEMSELVES.
Narrator: AUSCHWITZ
SURVIVOR FREDDIE KNOLLER
REMEMBERS THE TERROR
INVOKED BY THE KAPOS.
Knoller: THE BIGGEST
FEAR THAT WE HAD WAS
PRISONERS WITH THE GREEN
TRIANGLES, AND WE FEARED
THEM AS MUCH AS
WE FEARED THE S.S.
BECAUSE THEY HAD THE
POWER OF DEATH AND LIFE.
Narrator: MOST
PRISONERS DIDN'T SURVIVE
THE TORTUROUS
CONDITIONS FOR LONG.
Bauer: JEWS NORMALLY
DIDN'T SURVIVE MORE THAN
6, 7, 8 WEEKS.
THEY BECAME THEN TOTALLY
APATHETIC TO WHAT WAS
HAPPENING AROUND THEM,
AND THEY JUST DIED OFF
OR WERE SHIPPED TO
THE GAS CHAMBER TO BE KILLED.
Knoller: I REMEMBER
HAVING SEEN ONE OLDER MAN.
HE COULDN'T
STAND IT ANYMORE.
HE WENT TO THE
ELECTRIFIED BARBED WIRE,
HE GRABBED THE WIRE
AND ELECTRIFIED HIMSELF,
YOU KNOW, AND DIED,
AND PEOPLE JUST COLLAPSED.
THEY JUST COULD
NOT STAND IT.
Narrator: BUT RUDOLF VRBA
WAS NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP.
Gilbert: VRBA WAS A VERY
SELF-CONTAINED PERSON.
HE HAD COME TO RECOGNIZE
EXACTLY WHAT WAS
HAPPENING, HE HAD
AN ANALYTICAL MIND,
HE UNDERSTOOD THIS
WAS THE REALITY.
IT WAS NOT AN ABERRATION.
WITHIN IN AUSCHWITZ,
THIS KILLING SYSTEM WAS
THE REALITY.
THIS WAS A VERY POTENT
FACTOR FOR CARRYING ON,
NOT BECOMING, AS SO MANY
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF PRISONERS DID IN
AUSCHWITZ, DEMORALIZED,
AND WITH DEMORALIZATION
AND LOSS OF WILL TO
LIVE, YOU BECAME WHAT
WAS CALLED A MUSSELMAN,
BASICALLY A SKELTON,
AND YOU DIED.
Narrator: VRBA WASN'T
THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT
ABOUT ESCAPING, BUT THE
CONSEQUENCES OF BEING
CAUGHT MADE MOST
PRISONERS THINK TWICE.
Gilbert: THERE HAD BEEN
A NUMBER OF ESCAPES FROM
AUSCHWITZ, AND IN EVERY
CASE, THE ESCAPEE HAD
BEEN CAUGHT, SOMETIMES
WITHIN HOURS, SOMETIMES
WITHIN A FEW DAYS.
Narrator: WHEN ESCAPEES
WERE CAPTURED,
THE ENTIRE CAMP WAS FORCED
TO STAND WITNESS AS
THEIR PUNISHMENTS
WERE CARRIED OUT.
THE EXPERIENCE WAS
A POWERFUL DETERRENT.
Man: THE CONSEQUENCES
OF FAILURE WERE TORTURE
AND PUBLIC EXECUTION.
ANYONE CONNECTED WITH
THE ESCAPE WOULD ALSO BE
TORTURED AND MURDERED.
THE PRICE OF FAILURE
WAS A GHASTLY FATE.
Bauer: THEY WERE FIRST
TORTURED IN ORDER TO GET
OUT OF THEM WHO HELPED
THEM WITHIN THE CAMP,
AND THEN THEY WERE
KILLED, THEY WERE HUNG,
ALL OF THEM.
Soldier: TOT.
Translator: IN FRONT
OF EVERYONE, THEY SAID,
"EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO
ESCAPE, I'LL GIVE YOU
A GIFT, A ROPE
LIKE THIS."
Narrator: BUT EVEN
THE RISK OF PUBLIC HANGING
WAS NOT ENOUGH TO
DISSUADE RUDOLF VRBA.
Translator: VRBA, FROM
THE MOMENT HE ARRIVED
AT AUSCHWITZ, RIGHT AWAY
HE SAID, "I'M THINKING
ABOUT HOW I CAN ESCAPE
FROM AUSCHWITZ."
AND ALL THE TIME,
HE MADE PLANS TO ESCAPE.
Narrator: HE JUST HAD
TO FIND THE RIGHT
PLACE AND TIME.
AS THE NAZIS EXPANDED
THEIR REIGN OF TERROR
ACROSS EUROPE, MORE AND
MORE JEWS WERE DEPORTED
TO AUSCHWITZ.
THE CAMP'S CREMATORIA
WERE KEPT BURNING
NIGHT AND DAY.
THE LINGERING SMELL OF
DEATH HUNG IN THE AIR.
Knoller: SOON, EVERY
TRANSPORT THAT ARRIVED,
SOMEHOW THE AIR CHANGED.
THERE WAS THIS SWEET
SMELL, AND THE OLD
PRISONERS TOLD US
"DO YOU SEE THIS?
"CAN YOU SMELL
THIS SWEET SMELL?
THIS IS THE BODIES
WHO ARE BEING BURNED."
Narrator: VRBA KNEW HE
WOULD NEED HELP IF HE
WANTED HIS ESCAPE
ATTEMPT TO SUCCEED.
HE TURNED TO FELLOW
SLOVAKIAN INMATE
FRED WETZLER FOR ASSISTANCE.
25-YEAR OLD WETZLER HAD
ARRIVED AT AUSCHWITZ
FROM AN ASSEMBLY SITE
IN BRATISLAVA IN 1942,
THE SAME YEAR AS VRBA.
HE WAS WELL-CONNECTED
WITH THE UNDERGROUND
RESISTANCE IN THE
CAMP AND WORKED AS
A REGISTRAR, KEEPING
DETAILED RECORDS FOR HIS
NAZI CAPTORS.
WETZLER USED HIS
CONNECTIONS TO IMPROVE
VRBA'S STATUS
WITHIN THE CAMP.
IN JUNE OF 1943, VRBA
GOT A NEW JOB, ONE THAT
WOULD PROVE CRUCIAL
IN HIS BID TO ESCAPE.
Bauer: HE WAS A SECRETARY.
IN GERMAN, IT'S
"SCHREIBER," WHICH MEANS
A PERSON WHO WRITES.
HE HAD ALL KINDS OF
ADMINISTRATIVE JOBS THERE.
HE HAD TO LOOK AFTER THE
INDEX CARDS AND REGISTER
WHATEVER THE NAZIS WANTED
HIM TO REGISTER.
Narrator: VRBA'S NEW
POSITION MEANT HE
NO LONGER HAD TO
WEAR PRISON GARB.
IT ALSO ALLOWED HIM TO
WALK UNCHALLENGED ALMOST
ANYWHERE IN THE CAMP.
Cesarani: THIS ALSO GAVE
HIM AN EXTRAORDINARY
INSIGHT INTO WHAT
THE CAMP WAS DOING.
HE WAS IN THE REGISTRY.
HE WAS SEEING LISTS
OF PEOPLE COMING IN.
HE WAS ABLE TO DEVELOP
AN EXTRAORDINARILY CLEAR
IDEA OF THE NUMBERS
OF JEWS WHO WERE BEING
DEPORTED TO THE
CAMP AND MURDERED.
Narrator: BY SEPTEMBER
OF 1943, THE AUSCHWITZ
AUTHORITIES HAD
CONSTRUCTED WHAT THEY
CALLED THE CZECH FAMILY
CAMP IN PREPARATION
FOR THE ARRIVAL OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S JEWS.
CURIOUSLY, THE 4,000
CZECH MEN, WOMEN,
AND CHILDREN WHO FILLED
THE COMPOUND WERE
ALLOWED TO KEEP THEIR
OWN CLOTHES, AND THEIR
HAIR WAS LEFT UNSHAVEN,
BUT THIS WAS NO EASING
OF NAZI PROTOCOL.
IT WAS JUST A NEW PLOT
TO ENSURE THAT
THE AUSCHWITZ KILLINGS
REMAINED SECRET.
Gilbert: ONE GROUP
OF JEWS COMING FROM
THERESIENSTADT,
THE CONCENTRATION CAMP-GHETTO
IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA,
CONSISTED LARGELY OF
CZECH JEWS, AND THEIR
FATE WAS BEING MONITORED
BY THE RED CROSS.
Narrator: THE RED CROSS
HAD HEARD RUMORS
ABOUT DEPLORABLE
CONDITIONS IN SOME
OF THE CAMPS,
SO THE NAZI GUARDS KEPT
THE CZECH PRISONERS ALIVE,
HEALTHY, AND BLIND TO
THE MASSACRE THAT
WAS TAKING PLACE
ALL AROUND THEM.
MEANWHILE, IT WAS
DEADLY BUSINESS AS USUAL
FOR THE OTHER PRISONERS.
THE RUSE WAS WELL-PLANNED,
AND THE NAZIS
MADE SURE THAT THE
DECEPTION EXTENDED ALL
THE WAY BACK TO
CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
Gilbert: THE DEPORTATION
OF JEWS AND OF MANY
OTHERS TO CAMPS IN THE
EAST CREATED TREMENDOUS
ALARM IN THE COMMUNITIES
FROM WHICH THEY HAD BEEN
TAKEN, AND ONE WAY IN
WHICH THE S.S. SYSTEM
SOUGHT TO CALM THIS
ALARM WAS WHAT IS KNOWN
AS THE POSTCARD DECEPTION.
THE CZECH FAMILY CAMP
MEMBERS SENT THESE CARDS
BACK TO PRAGUE OR
TO FAMILY MEMBERS OR
FRIENDS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA,
AND ALL SEEMED WELL.
Narrator: BUT NOT FOR LONG.
ON MARCH 7, 1943,
CONFIDENT THEY HAD
FOOLED THE RED CROSS
AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD,
THE NAZI GUARDS ROUNDED
UP THE CZECHS FROM
THE FAMILY CAMP
AND SENT THEM TO
THE GAS CHAMBERS.
VRBA AND WETZLER
WITNESSED THE MASSACRE.
THE DECEPTION
AND BRUTALITY SOLIDIFIED
THEIR RESOLVE TO ESCAPE
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
BUT THEY STILL HADN'T
FOUND A WAY OUT.
OVER THE FOLLOWING
MONTHS, THE EMACIATED
PRISONERS WERE PUT TO
WORK EXPANDING THE CAMP
AND BUILDING MORE BARRACKS
OUTSIDE THE FENCE.
THE CONSTRUCTION WAS
A CLEAR INDICATION THAT
THE NAZIS WERE EXPECTING
A HUGE INFLUX OF NEW
JEWISH PRISONERS.
Gilbert: NOW YOU
DON'T DOUBLE THE SIZE
OF A CAMP WHICH IS WORKING
VERY EFFECTIVELY.
IT MUST MEAN THERE WAS
GOING TO BE SOME GREAT
NEW ARRIVAL IN TERMS OF
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE, PERHAPS
AS MANY AS HALF
A MILLION PEOPLE.
Narrator: THE COARSE
HUMOR OF THE S.S. GUARDS
REVEALED WHERE THE NEXT
SHIPMENT OF JEWS WAS
LIKELY TO COME FROM.
Gilbert:
THEN THEY SAW THE SCALE
OF THE BARRACKS AND HOW
WIDE THEY WERE, AND THEN
THE S.S. GUARDS JOKING
THAT, YOU KNOW,
"WE'RE GONNA GET SOME TASTY
HUNGARIAN SALAMI SOON."
WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN?
THAT HUNGARIAN
JEWS WERE COMING.
Narrator: WITH HITLER
READY TO OCCUPY HUNGARY,
AUSCHWITZ WAS PREPARING
FOR THE DEPORTATIONS
THAT WOULD FOLLOW.
VRBA KNEW HE
HAD TO ACT SOON.
Cesarani: IT WAS HIS
DESIRE TO WARN THE WORLD
ABOUT THIS NEW STAGE
OF THE FINAL SOLUTION,
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE
JEWS OF HUNGARY, THAT
GAVE URGENCY TO HIS
DETERMINATION TO ESCAPE.
IT'S THAT THAT DROVE HIM ON.
Narrator: IN APRIL OF
1944, VRBA AND WETZLER
FINALLY GOT THE CHANCE
THEY'D BEEN WAITING FOR.
WHILE WORKING OUTSIDE
THE PERIMETER FENCE,
THEY REALIZED THEY COULD
HIDE IN A SMALL CAVITY
WITHIN A PILE OF WOOD
FROM THE NEW CONSTRUCTION.
THEY KNEW FROM PREVIOUS
ESCAPE ATTEMPTS THAT
THE GUARDS WOULD ONLY SEARCH
FOR MISSING PRISONERS
FOR 3 DAYS, SO IF THEY
COULD REMAIN UNDETECTED
IN THE WOOD PILE FOR
THAT LONG, THEY MIGHT BE
ABLE TO GET AWAY.
THIS SEEMED AS GOOD AN
OPPORTUNITY AS THEY WERE
LIKELY TO GET,
BUT THE PLAN WAS STILL
FRAUGHT WITH RISK.
Cesarani: THEY WOULD
HIDE WITHIN SPITTING
DISTANCE OF THE CAMP
WHILE THE NAZIS, WHILE
THE S.S. WERE SEARCHING
THE SURROUNDING AREA.
THEY WOULD REMAIN UNDER
THE NOSES OF THE S.S.,
AND WHEN THE HUE AND CRY
HAD DIED DOWN, WHEN
THE DOGS HAD GONE BACK TO
THE BARRACKS, THEN THEY
WOULD MAKE THEIR MOVE,
THEY WOULD COVER
THE GROUND FROM THE CAMP OUT
OF THE DANGER ZONE TO
RELATIVE FREEDOM.
Narrator: ON APRIL 7,
1944, VRBA AND WETZLER
PUT THEIR PLAN
INTO ACTION.
THEY AND THE OTHER
PRISONERS WHO HELPED
THEM KNEW FULL WELL THE
RISKS THEY WERE TAKING.
AS THE NAZIS HAD MADE
CLEAR IN OTHER FAILED
ESCAPE ATTEMPTS,
CAPTURE MEANT CERTAIN
PUBLIC EXECUTION.
ONCE HIDDEN IN THEIR
SECRET CAVITY,
VRBA AND WETZLER
COVERED THEMSELVES
WITH GASOLINE-SOAKED
RUSSIAN TOBACCO, HOPING
IT WOULD MASK
THEIR SCENT FROM
THE S.S. DOGS.
OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS,
THEY LISTENED INTENTLY
TO THE MOVEMENTS
OF THE CAMP.
AT THE END OF THE DAY,
THEY HEARD PRISONERS
FINISHING THEIR HARD
LABOR AND RETURNING
INSIDE THE PERIMETER FENCE.
IT WAS ONLY AT ROLE CALL
THAT THE GUARDS FINALLY
REALIZED TWO
PRISONERS WERE MISSING.
Translator: AFTER THAT,
AFTER VRBA AND WETZLER
ESCAPED, IT WAS 3 DAYS
AND 3 NIGHTS OF LINEUPS.
Narrator: AT JUST AFTER
6 P.M. ON THE FIRST
EVENING, THE ALARM WAS RAISED.
THE NAZIS SEARCHED
FRANTICALLY FOR HOURS.
AT ONE POINT, A SOLDIER
EVEN CLIMBED ONTO
THE LOG PILE WITHIN FEET
OF VRBA AND WETZLER,
BUT WHEN IT GOT DARK,
THE GUARDS HEADED BACK
INSIDE THE GATES,
AND THE CAMP FELL SILENT.
THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT,
THE TWO MEN SAT FROZEN,
LISTENING TO THE SOUNDS
OF THE VICTIMS SHUFFLING
INTO GAS CHAMBERS
AND SMELLING THE SMOKE
FROM THE CREMATORIA.
AT ONE POINT, WETZLER
CLEARLY HEARD A PRISONER
SCREAM OUT, "AVENGE US!"
FOR 3 DAYS, VRBA
AND WETZLER WAITED SILENTLY
IN THEIR CRAMPED
HIDING PLACE.
THE NAZIS SEARCHED EVERYWHERE,
BUT MIRACULOUSLY,
THE TWO MEN REMAINED UNDETECTED.
THEN ON THE THIRD
EVENING JUST AS
PREDICTED, THE GUARDS
GAVE UP THE SEARCH.
A LITTLE AFTER 9 P.M.,
VRBA AND WETZLER MADE
THEIR MOVE.
AFTER SITTING IMMOBILE
FOR SO LONG, THE TWO NOW
HAD TO SPRINT FOR
THE COVER OF THE SURROUNDING
WOODS, BUT EVEN THE
WOODS WEREN'T SAFE.
Gilbert: IT WAS
A TREMENDOUSLY DANGEROUS
JOURNEY, AND THE GERMANS
HAD REMOVED THE POLES
FROM ALL THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES
IN THE AUSCHWITZ REGION
AND REPLACED THEM BY
ETHNIC GERMANS,
VOLKSDEUTSCH, WHO WERE
LOYAL, VERY LOYAL
INDEED, TO THE REICH.
Cesarani: ONCE YOU
WERE OUTSIDE, YOU WERE
A MARKED PERSON.
YOUR HEAD WAS SHAVEN,
YOU WERE FILTHY, YOU STANK.
ANYONE SEEING ONE OF
THESE ESCAPING FIGURES
KNEW EXACTLY WHO THEY WERE,
WHERE THEY'D COME FROM.
THE NAZIS WERE
SEARCHING WITH DOGS.
THERE WERE S.S.
TEAMS SCOURING
THE COUNTRYSIDE.
IT WAS AN AREA THAT WAS
ALREADY DESCENDING INTO
GUERRILLA WARFARE,
PARTISAN WARFARE.
IT WAS COVERED WITH
POLICE, GERMAN TROOPS,
MILITARY CONVOYS ON THE MOVE,
VERY FEW FRIENDS.
Narrator: VRBA AND WETZLER
HAD TO NAVIGATE
THIS DANGEROUS LABYRINTH
WITH FEW SUPPLIES
AND NO OUTSIDE HELP.
THE LONGER THEY TOOK TO
REACH SAFETY AND DELIVER
THEIR MESSAGE, THE MORE
LIVES WOULD BE LOST TO
THE GAS CHAMBERS.
WITH ONLY A ROUGH IDEA
OF THEIR LOCATION
AND EVER FEARFUL OF
BEING CAUGHT BY GERMAN
SOLDIERS OR NAZI SYMPATHIZERS,
THE TWO SET OUT.
TRAVELING AT NIGHT
AND FIGHTING THE OFTEN
FREEZING WEATHER, THEY
MADE THEIR WAY SOUTH
TOWARD THE SLOVAKIAN BORDER.
THEY STAYED AWAY FROM
THE ROADS AND SURVIVED
ON TINY RATIONS OF BREAD
AND ANYTHING ELSE THEY
COULD SCAVENGE.
Cesarani: IT WAS ONE
OF THE GREAT FEATS
OF ESCAPOLOGY AND SIMPLE
PHYSICAL FITNESS.
THESE GUYS WERE TOUGH.
THEY ENDURED
EXTRAORDINARY HARDSHIPS.
THEY SHOWED ACUTE
PERCEPTION, KNOWING WHEN
TO MOVE, WHO THEY COULD
SHOW THEMSELVES TO.
Narrator: VRBA AND WETZLER
WERE CAREFUL,
BUT THEY DID MAKE
MISTAKES AS THEY RUSHED
TO THE BORDER.
ON THEIR THIRD DAY,
THE ACCIDENTALLY
WANDERED INTO A TOWN.
TRYING TO FIND THEIR
WAY OUT, THEY STUMBLED
BLINDLY DOWN ALLEYWAYS
AND BACK STREETS,
RISKING DISCOVERY AROUND
EVERY HIDDEN CORNER.
EXHAUSTED, STARVING,
AND LOST, THEY TOOK
A GAMBLE AND DECIDED
TO ASK FOR HELP.
Narrator: IT WAS A HUGE RISK,
BUT THEY GOT LUCKY.
THEY WERE WELCOMED BY
A PEASANT WOMAN, WHO
AGREED TO ASSIST THEM.
SHE GAVE THEM BREAKFAST
AND A PLACE TO SLEEP UNTIL DARK.
AFTER A BRIEF REST,
VRBA AND WETZLER RESUMED
THEIR JOURNEY.
THEY WERE STILL LESS
THAN HALFWAY TO
THE SLOVAKIAN BORDER.
IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE
THEY HAD ANOTHER MISHAP.
HIKING THROUGH A FIELD,
THEY STUMBLED UPON
A WOMAN TENDING
HER CROPS.
ALTHOUGH SUSPICIOUS,
SHE EVENTUALLY
INTRODUCED THEM
TO A SYMPATHETIC POLISH
FARMER, WHO OFFERED TO
TAKE THEM TO THE BORDER
AND SHOW THEM WHERE THEY
COULD CROSS TO AVOID
NAZI SENTRIES.
THIS FINAL LEG
OF THE JOURNEY TOOK TWO LONG
DAYS, BUT EVENTUALLY,
THE FARMER BROUGHT THEM
TO A CLEARING
NEAR THE BORDER.
VRBA AND WETZLER WAITED
FOR A GERMAN PATROL TO
PASS, THEN QUIETLY
SLIPPED INTO SLOVAKIA.
ON APRIL 25, 1944, AFTER
3 DAYS IN THE WOOD PILE
15 DAYS OF WALKING,
AND MORE THAN
85 MILES THROUGH
OCCUPIED POLAND,
VRBA AND WETZLER
FINALLY ARRIVED
AT THE HEADQUARTERS
OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL
IN ZILINA, SLOVAKIA.
NOT WANTING TO WASTE
EVEN A SECOND, VRBA
IMMEDIATELY BEGAN
DESCRIBING THE ATROCITIES
THAT WERE TAKING PLACE
AT AUSCHWITZ.
THE COUNCIL WAS HORRIFIED.
THE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS
KNEW THE NAZIS WERE
TERRORIZING JEWISH COMMUNITIES
AND DEPORTING JEWS
TO MYSTERIOUS,
HEAVILY GUARDED
CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
THERE WERE EVEN RUMORS
THAT THE CONDITIONS
IN THESE CAMPS WERE
APPALLING, BUT FEW COULD
IMAGINE THAT THE
DEPORTED JEWS WERE BEING
EXTERMINATED EN MASSE.
GEORGE KLEIN WAS
A JUNIOR SECRETARY
AT THE OFFICE OF
THE JEWISH COUNCIL
IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY.
Klein: THE GERMANS WERE
VERY GOOD AT DECEPTION
AND SPREADING OUT
FALSE INFORMATION.
THE NAZIS JUST SAID
THAT "THEY ARE BEING
RESETTLED" AND NOT EVEN
TO CAMPS BUT BEING GIVEN
HOUSING AND OCCUPATIONS.
Narrator: VRBA
AND WETZLER REVEALED DETAIL
AFTER DETAIL ABOUT
THE SYSTEMATIC MURDER
OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF JEWS, BUT IT BEGAN TO
DAWN ON THEM THAT THEIR
AUDIENCE DIDN'T BELIEVE
A WORD THEY WERE SAYING.
Gilbert: AT FIRST, THEY WERE
JUST ASTONISHED BY THE STORY.
THEY COULDN'T BELIEVE
IT BECAUSE WHAT THEY'RE
TALKING ABOUT IS THE
DEATH OF SOME OF THEIR
CLOSEST FRIENDS, RELATIVES,
FELLOW SLOVAKS.
AND IF YOU TRY
AND THINK OF IT LOGICALLY,
HOW COULD IT HAVE BEEN?
HOW COULD 500 PEOPLE
OUT OF 1,000 HAVE BEEN
TAKEN OFF AND BEEN
GASSED WITHIN A FEW
HOURS AND THEIR
BODIES CREMATED?
UNDER WHAT SYSTEM OF...
UNDER WHAT POLITICAL
STRUCTURE, UNDER WHAT
IDEOLOGICAL SYSTEM COULD
THAT HAPPEN?
Klein: THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY IN SLOVAKIA
DIDN'T BELIEVE THEM AT
FIRST BECAUSE IT WAS
SO UNBELIEVABLE.
KILLING IS ONE THING,
BUT TO ORGANIZE
THE KILLING, TO MAKE IT
INTO A HUGE BUREAUCRATIC
APPARATUS, TO ORGANIZE
THE TRANSPORT, TO HAVE
EVERYTHING STREAMLINED,
THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLY
GERMAN EFFICIENCY THAT
PEOPLE SIMPLY DIDN'T
BELIEVE THAT IT
WAS POSSIBLE.
Narrator: THE SKEPTICAL
COUNCIL MEMBERS DECIDED
TO PUT THE ESCAPEES'
STORY TO THE TEST.
THEY RETRIEVED RECORDS
THAT NAMED EVERY JEW WHO
HAD BEEN DEPORTED
FROM SLOVAKIA.
THEN THEY ASKED VRBA
TO TELL THEM THE NAMES
OF PEOPLE HE'D BEEN
IMPRISONED WITH.
Gilbert: HE HAD THIS
PHENOMENAL MEMORY.
HE MEMORIZED EVERY
TRANSPORT, EVERY TRAIN
THAT CAME IN, HOW MANY
PEOPLE WERE ON IT,
AND HOW MANY OF THOSE
PEOPLE WHO WERE ON IT
WERE IMMEDIATELY SENT
TO THE GAS CHAMBER.
Narrator: AS VRBA
RECALLED NAMES, HIS
AUDIENCE SAT STUNNED.
THEIR BOOK HAD SUDDENLY
BECOME A GHASTLY LIST
OF OBITUARIES.
THE PEOPLE THEY HAD
EXPECTED TO RETURN AFTER
THE WAR WERE
ALREADY LONG DEAD.
FINALLY CONVINCED THAT
VRBA AND WETZLER WERE
TELLING THE TRUTH,
THE COUNCIL ASKED THEM
TO DICTATE ALL THEY
COULD REMEMBER
ABOUT THE NAZIS'
ACTIVITIES AT AUSCHWITZ.
AS VRBA DESCRIBED EVERY
DETAIL, HE MADE SURE
THEY REALIZED THAT
THE HORRORS WERE FAR FROM OVER.
HE WARNED THEM THAT
THE JEWS OF HUNGARY WOULD BE
NEXT, THAT THE CAMP HAD
ALREADY BEEN OUTFITTED
FOR THEIR ARRIVAL.
Cesarani: THE PROCESS
OF WRITING THE REPORTS,
TRANSLATING THE REPORTS,
GETTING THE REPORTS FROM
SLOVAKIA, IN THE MIDDLE
OF A WAR, TRANSMITTED
THROUGH FRIENDLY CIRCLES
TO THE VATICAN VIA
THE PAPAL NUNCIO IN SLOVAKIA,
TO SWITZERLAND,
TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN
SWITZERLAND SO THAT IT
COULD BE SENT TO THE RED CROSS,
TO THE BRITISH,
TO THE AMERICAN
REPRESENTATIVES
IN SWITZERLAND,
CIRCULATING IT TO PEOPLE
WHO NEEDED TO KNOW.
ALL OF THIS TOOK TIME.
Narrator: IT WAS TIME
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
IN HUNGARY DIDN'T HAVE.
A MONTH EARLIER,
THE NAZIS HAD OCCUPIED
HUNGARY AND HAD
IMMEDIATELY BEGUN
PREPARING FOR THE DEPORTATIONS.
Cesarani: AFTER THE
GERMAN ARMY HAD OCCUPIED
HUNGARY, THE S.S. MOVED
IN, A SPECIAL COMMANDO...
A TEAM LED BY ADOLF EICHMANN,
A MAN WHO OVER
THE PREVIOUS TWO
AND A HALF YEARS HAD PERFECTED
THE ROUNDING UP,
THE DEPORTATION OF JEWS
FROM ALL OVER EUROPE
TO THE DEATH CAMPS IN POLAND.
Narrator:
RUDOLF KASTNER, LEADER
OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL IN
BUDAPEST, UNDERSTOOD
THE POWER THAT
EICHMANN WIELDED.
Cesarani: THEY KNEW
ABOUT THE DEPORTATIONS
FROM POLAND
AND FROM SLOVAKIA.
THEY KNEW THAT WHEN
THE GERMANS DEMANDED JEWS
THEY WERE NOT THINKING
OF SENDING THEM TO
A HOLIDAY CAMP.
TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF HUNGARIAN MEN HAD
ALREADY BEEN ROUNDED UP,
SENT INTO SO-CALLED
LABOR BATTALIONS.
Narrator: BUT THE
HUNGARIAN JEWISH COUNCIL
STILL COULDN'T
ACCEPT THE LEAP FROM
DEPORTATIONS TO
EXTERMINATION.
Klein: POLISH REFUGEES
FOUND REALLY ALMOST
A HAVEN IN HUNGARY
BEFORE THE GERMAN
OCCUPATION, AND
THEY WERE TELLING
RUMORS ABOUT
EXTERMINATION CAMPS,
BUT THE HUNGARIANS JUST
WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT.
EITHER THEY SAID,
"IT CANNOT BE TRUE,"
OR THEY SAID, "WELL,
MAYBE IT'S TRUE
FOR THE POLES, BUT IT
CANNOT HAPPEN TO US."
Narrator: IT WASN'T
UNTIL THE VRBA-WETZLER
REPORT REACHED HUNGARY
THAT THE JEWISH COUNCIL
THERE FINALLY REALIZED
ALL THE RUMORS WERE TRUE.
Klein: I WAS A VOLUNTEER
IN THE JEWISH COUNCIL
THEN AS A JUNIOR
SECRETARY TO ONE
OF THE MEMBER'S OF THE
COUNCIL, AND ONE DAY,
HE SAID THAT A VERY
IMPORTANT REPORT HAS
ARRIVED THAT WAS WRITTEN
BY TWO SLOVAK JEWS,
WHO HAD ESCAPED FROM ONE
OF THE MAJOR DEATH CAMPS ALIVE.
MY FAMILY WAS ALREADY
DEPORTED WHEN I WAS
READING THE REPORT.
I KNEW THAT I'M READING
THE FATE OF MY BELOVED
GRANDMOTHER AND OF MY
UNCLES, AND I ALSO WAS
QUITE CLEAR ABOUT THE FACT
THAT THIS IS MY FATE.
THERE WERE JUST THESE
TWO FEELINGS... NAUSEA,
FEELING LIKE I HAD TO
VOMIT, BUT AT THE SAME
TIME, MY BRAIN WAS
WORKING, AND MY BRAIN
WAS SAYING, "LOOK.
YOU ARE LOOKING
AT THE TRUTH, AND YOU
ALWAYS HAVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH."
Narrator: GEORGE KLEIN WASN'T
THE ONLY ONE AFFECTED.
WHEN RUDOLF KASTNER
READ THE REPORT, HE WAS
STUNNED, BUT HIS NEXT
REACTION WAS NOT WHAT
VRBA HAD BEEN HOPING
FOR, AND IT PROVED TO BE
ONE OF THE MOST
TRAGIC DECISIONS IN HIS
COUNTRY'S HISTORY.
KASTNER DECIDED NOT TO
RELEASE THE REPORT TO
THE JEWS OF HUNGARY.
HE KEPT IT SECRET
BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID
THAT IF WORD OF THE
REPORT GOT OUT IT MIGHT
RUIN A DEAL HIS COUNCIL
WAS TRYING TO MAKE
WITH THE NAZIS.
HUNGARIAN JEWISH COUNCIL
MEMBER JOEL BRAND HAD
MET PERSONALLY WITH
ADOLF EICHMANN,
AND EICHMANN HAD MADE BRAND
AN EXTRAORDINARY OFFER.
Cesarani: HE SAYS TO
BRAND THAT "I WILL ALLOW
"A MILLION JEWS TO
GO FREE IN RETURN
FOR 10,000 TRUCKS
LOADED WITH SUPPLIES."
Narrator: EICHMANN'S
DEAL SOUNDED TOO GOOD TO
BE TRUE, BUT BRAND FELT
HE HAD TO PURSUE IT.
HE LEFT BUDAPEST TO BRING
THE OFFER TO THE BRITISH.
THE REACTION TO TRADING
HUNGARIAN JEWS FOR TRUCKS
WAS NOT WHAT BRAND EXPECTED.
Cesarani: BRAND, IN ALL
INNOCENCE, BELIEVING
THIS IS A REAL DEAL,
TELLS THE BRITISH
ABOUT HIS MISSION.
THEY SEE IT'S
A GROTESQUE TRICK TO ALLOW
THE GERMANS TO CLAIM
THEY ARE NEGOTIATING
WITH THE BRITISH OVER
THE FATE OF JEWS, THAT
THEY ARE GONNA TAKE
DELIVERY OF TRUCKS TO
USE AGAINST
THE RUSSIANS.
THE BRITISH AND THE
AMERICANS CAN SEE THAT
THIS IS A POTENTIAL
BOMBSHELL, AND THEY WANT
TO HAVE ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING TO DO
WITH A NAZI DEAL.
Narrator: BRAND'S
HOPES WERE SHATTERED,
BUT THE DEAL WASN'T WHAT
CONCERNED RUDOLF VRBA.
IT WAS STARTING TO LOOK
LIKE ALL HIS EFFORTS TO
WARN HUNGARY'S JEWS
HAD BEEN IN VAIN.
IN MAY 15, 1944, VRBA
FOUND OUT THAT DESPITE
RISKING HIS LIFE TO
TELL THE WORLD WHAT WAS
HAPPENING AT AUSCHWITZ,
DESPITE HIS PAGES
AND PAGES OF DETAILED
ACCOUNTS, THE HUNGARIAN
DEPORTATIONS WERE BEGINNING.
IN HIS MIND, HE HAD
FAILED AT THE ONLY TASK
THAT MATTERED TO HIM.
TWO DAYS LATER, 40
CATTLE WAGONS CARRYING
AS MANY AS 4,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS ARRIVED
AT AUSCHWITZ.
THERE WAS NO FAMILY CAMP
OR WORK DETAIL
FOR THESE ARRIVALS.
THE NAZIS BYPASSED
THE SELECTION PROCESS
AND MARCHED ALMOST ALL
THE PRISONERS DIRECTLY
TO THE GAS CHAMBERS.
Klein: THE EXTERMINATION
OF 600,000 HUNGARIAN JEWS
WAS THE FASTEST CAMPAIGN
DURING THE ENTIRE HOLOCAUST.
WENT WITH INCREDIBLE
SPEED, SO THERE WAS NOT
MUCH TIME FOR REFLECTION.
Narrator: WITH SO MANY
BODIES BEING GASSED
AND CREMATED,
A PERMANENT DEATH PALL
HUNG IN THE AIR.
Bauer: WHEN
THE HUNGARIAN JEWS CAME,
THE GAS CHAMBERS WERE
TOO SMALL REALLY TO
MURDER SUCH HUGE NUMBERS
OF PEOPLE COMING ALL
AT THE SAME TIME.
Narrator: BACK IN
ZILINA, VRBA AND WETZLER
WERE DEVASTATED.
THEY ALONE COULD PICTURE
EVERY GRAPHIC DETAIL
OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING
TO HUNGARY'S JEWS.
FEARFUL THEY WOULD BE
RECAPTURED, THEY FLED TO
THE SLOVAKIAN MOUNTAINS.
Gilbert: VRBA WAS A VERY
ANGRY MAN BECAUSE HE
BECAME CONVINCED THAT
HAD HIS REPORT BEEN
ACTED UPON BY THE JEWISH
LEADERSHIP IN BUDAPEST,
THEY COULD HAVE STOPPED
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF HUNGARIAN JEWS FROM,
AS HE WOULD PUT IT,
BOARDING THE TRAINS.
Narrator: NOW IN HIDING,
VRBA AND WETZLER COULD
DO NOTHING MORE TO HELP
THE JEWS OF HUNGARY.
DEEPLY DEPRESSED,
VRBA CONFIDED
IN A CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART.
Woman: WHEN I MET HIM
AGAIN, I REALLY DIDN'T
RECOGNIZE HIM BECAUSE
HE'D CHANGED SO MUCH.
HIS EXPRESSION FROM
A SORT OF FRIENDLY,
CHEERFUL YOUNG BOY
TOTALLY CHANGED.
HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING.
HE TOLD ME HOW THE DEATH
FACTORIES IN AUSCHWITZ
WERE ORGANIZED.
HE WAS VERY ARTICULATE
ABOUT IT AND VERY
PRECISE ABOUT DESCRIBING
ALL THE THINGS THAT HE
HAD WITNESSED THERE.
Narrator: MEANWHILE AT
AUSCHWITZ, UP TO 12,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS WERE
BEING GASSED EACH DAY.
IN BUDAPEST,
RUDOLF KASTNER, THE LEADER
OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL,
WAS STILL HANGING OUT
HOPE THAT THE EICHMANN
DEAL COULD SUCCEED...
BUT THE ALLIES
WANTED NO PART OF IT.
Cesarani: KASTNER
HAS HEARD NOTHING.
HE'S DESPERATELY TRYING
TO FOOL EICHMANN INTO
BELIEVING THAT THE
ALLIES ARE TAKING
THE OFFER OF TRUCKS
FOR JEWS SERIOUSLY.
Narrator: THE GAME
OF DECEPTION SUITED
EICHMANN PERFECTLY.
THE LONGER KASTNER
DRAGGED OUT
THE NEGOTIATION, THE MORE
JEWS EICHMANN COULD SEND
TO THE GAS CHAMBERS.
Gilbert: HE KNEW THAT
EVERY DAY THAT THESE
NEGOTIATIONS WENT
ON ANOTHER 12,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS WERE
BEING MURDERED.
Narrator: KASTNER,
INCREASINGLY DESPERATE
TO STRIKE A DEAL, TRIED
TO CONVINCE EICHMANN
THAT HE WAS MAKING
PROGRESS WITH
THE BRITISH AND
THE AMERICANS.
Cesarani: HE SAYS TO
EICHMANN, "LOOK. HOW ARE
"THE ALLIES GONNA BE
CONVINCED IF THEY SEE
"TRAINS ROLLING EVERY
DAY TO AUSCHWITZ?
"WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO
IS TO FREE SOME JEWS.
"WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO
IS TO SEND A TRAIN
TO FREEDOM."
EVENTUALLY IN AN
EXTRAORDINARY GAME OF BLUFF
AND BARGAINING, KASTNER
MANAGES TO RAISE
THE NUMBER OF JEWS TO BE
ALLOWED TO GO TO SAFETY
AS A GESTURE OF
GOODWILL TO OVER 1,600.
Bauer: IT WAS A KIND
OF A NOAH'S ARK.
JEWS FROM QUITE
DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS
WERE PUT ON THAT TRAIN
ON PURPOSE... VIOLENTLY
ANTI-ZIONIST, ULTRA
ORTHODOX FANATICS,
AND LEFT-WING ZIONIST
YOUTH MOVEMENT MEMBERS
AND EVERYTHING
IN BETWEEN.
Narrator: BUT FOR THE
JEWS WHO DIDN'T MAKE
KASTNER'S TRAIN TO
FREEDOM, IT WAS A HOLLOW
VICTORY, AND THE
NORMAL DEPORTATIONS TO
AUSCHWITZ CONTINUED.
Cesarani: WHY DIDN'T
THEY BROADCAST
INFORMATION ABOUT THE REPORT
TO THE JEWS OF HUNGARY?
AND THE ANSWER, I THINK,
IS THAT IT WAS POINTLESS.
THE SPEED AND THE
FEROCITY OF THE GERMAN
OCCUPATION, THE SPEED
OF THE ROUNDUPS
AND THE GHETTOIZATION,
AND THEN THE FEROCITY
WITH WHICH THE
DEPORTATIONS WERE
IMPLEMENTED MADE ANY
KIND OF RESPONSE ALMOST
IMPOSSIBLE TO
PUT INTO EFFECT.
Narrator: THROUGHOUT
EUROPE, JEWISH
RESISTANCE TO THE NAZIS
HAD ALREADY PROVED
FUTILE AT STOPPING
THE DEPORTATIONS.
Bauer: THERE WAS NO WAY
THAT JEWS COULD RESIST
A WHOLE ARMY.
THERE WAS NOTHING
THEY COULD DO,
NOTHING WHATSOEVER.
Narrator: THE JEWS OF
EUROPE NEEDED OUTSIDE
ASSISTANCE, BUT BY
THEN, VRBA AND WETZLER
HAD ALL BUT GIVEN UP
HOPE THAT THEIR REPORT
WOULD EVER TRIGGER
A COORDINATED
ALLIED RESPONSE.
COPIES HAD BEEN SENT TO
THE BRITISH, AMERICANS,
AND EVEN THE POPE,
BUT NOTHING HAD HAPPENED.
THEN IN JUNE OF 1944,
A COPY OF THE REPORT
MADE ITS WAY TO
BRITISH INTELLIGENCE.
IT CONFIRMED GROWING
ALLIED SUSPICIONS THAT
THE NAZIS WERE MURDERING
MILLIONS OF JEWS.
THE DOCUMENT WAS
IMMEDIATELY FORWARDED TO
TOP BRITISH
AND AMERICAN OFFICIALS.
ON JUNE 15, THE BBC
BROADCAST THE HORRIFIC
DETAILS OF THE REPORT.
5 DAYS LATER,
EXTRACTS WERE PUBLISHED
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.
THE NAZI SECRET
WAS FINALLY OUT.
AMERICA'S FIRST OFFICIAL
RESPONSE WAS TO THREATEN
REPRISALS AGAINST
ANYONE INVOLVED
IN THE HUNGARIAN
DEPORTATIONS.
THE VATICAN ADDED THE
POPE'S CONDEMNATION,
BUT DESPITE THE ALLIED
PRESSURE, ADMIRAL HORTHY,
THE HUNGARIAN
HEAD OF STATE AND PUPPET
TO HITLER, ALLOWED
THE DEPORTATIONS
TO CONTINUE.
ON JULY 2, THE U.S.
AIR FORCE ATTACKED BUDAPEST,
RAINING BOMBS
ON THE HUNGARIAN CAPITAL.
HORTHY BELIEVED THE RAID
WAS PUNISHMENT FOR HIS
REFUSAL TO STOP THE
DEPORTATIONS, BUT,
IN FACT, THE TIMING WAS
A COMPLETE COINCIDENCE.
QUITE BY CHANCE,
BY A SHEER ACCIDENT
OF HISTORY, THE AMERICANS
BOMBED BUDAPEST,
AND THE HUNGARIAN REGENT
ADMIRAL HORTHY IN A PANIC SAID,
"THIS DEPORTATION HAS TO STOP."
Narrator: THE TRAINS
GROUND TO A HALT.
MORE THAN 300,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS HAD
ALREADY BEEN SENT TO
THE GAS CHAMBERS,
BUT 120,000 OTHERS
HAD JUST BEEN SAVED,
75 TIMES MORE THAN
THE NUMBER RESCUED
BY RUDOLF KASTNER'S
FREEDOM TRAIN.
Gilbert: VRBA'S WORK HAD
HAD THIS AMAZING RESCUE
ASPECT TO HAVE SAVED ALL
THOSE LIVES, THE LARGEST
SINGLE RESCUE OF JEWS
IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
Klein: I THINK HE HAS
ACHIEVED WITH THIS
REPORT ALL AND MORE THAT
WAS POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE.
HE DID SAVE MY LIFE AND
THE LIFE OF OTHERS WHO
KNEW ABOUT THE REPORT.
Narrator:
VRBA AND WETZLER JOINED
THE CZECHOSLOVAK PARTISAN
RESISTANCE AND FOUGHT
THE NAZIS UNTIL
THE END OF THE WAR.
AS THE AMERICANS,
BRITISH, AND RUSSIANS
ADVANCED ON GERMANY
FROM ALL SIDES, THE NAZI
REIGN OF TERROR
BEGAN TO COLLAPSE.
THE RUSSIANS MOVED INTO POLAND,
AND ON JANUARY 27, 1945,
THEY LIBERATED AUSCHWITZ.
BY THEN, THE NAZIS HAD
KILLED AN ESTIMATED
1.5 MILLION PEOPLE THERE
IN LESS THAN 5 YEARS.
AFTER THE WAR,
RUDOLF KASTNER MOVED TO ISRAEL,
BUT HIS NEGOTIATIONS
WITH EICHMANN WERE NEVER
FORGOTTEN, AND HE WAS
ACCUSED OF COLLABORATING
WITH THE NAZIS.
Cesarani: OPINION
ABOUT KASTNER WAS
BITTERLY DIVIDED.
NATURALLY, THOSE WHO'D
GOT OUT ON THE TRAIN THAT
HE ORGANIZED WORSHIPED HIM.
HE HAD SAVED THEIR LIVES.
THOSE WHO HAD
BEEN ROUNDED UP
IN THE PROVINCES,
WHO FELT THEY'D BEEN LET
DOWN BY THE JEWISH
LEADERSHIP IN BUDAPEST,
THEY REGARDED HIM AS
LITTLE BETTER THAN
A TRAITOR, SOMEONE
WHO'D NEGOTIATED
WITH THE NAZIS, WHO HAD
SAVED A CHOSEN FEW
AND ABANDONED THEM.
Narrator: KASTNER DEFENDED HIS
CONTROVERSIAL ATTEMPTS
TO SAVE HUNGARIAN JEWS
AND EVENTUALLY SUED FOR LIBEL.
THE TRIAL THAT FOLLOWED
WAS HIGHLY POLITICAL,
AND KASTNER LOST, BUT AS
HE WAITED FOR AN APPEAL,
ZE'EV ECKSTEIN,
A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR
AND POSSIBLE ISRAELI
SECRET AGENT, TOOK
JUSTICE INTO
HIS OWN HANDS.
ON MARCH 3, 1957,
HE ASSASSINATED KASTNER
ON A TEL AVIV STREET.
Gilbert: BIZARRELY,
KASTNER SAVED
ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF
JEWS AS OSKAR SCHINDLER
SAVED, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS
ALLEGED THAT HE WAS
HELPING HIS FRIENDS
ESCAPE, KNOWING THAT
EVERYBODY ELSE WAS BEING
MURDERED, WHERE
THE TRUTH WAS HE WAS TESTING
EICHMANN'S PROMISE
IN THE BELIEF THAT THE
FEW WHO WERE BEING SAVED
THAT WEEK WERE JUST
THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
OF THE HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS WHO WERE
IN FACT GOING TO BE
SAVED AS SOON AS
THE GESTAPO-ALLY
DEAL WAS CLINCHED.
Cesarani: TO THIS DAY,
HE REMAINS
AN EXTRAORDINARILY
DIVISIVE FIGURE.
THOSE WHO REGARD HIM
AS A HERO WHO BARGAINED
WITH THE DEVIL AND
SOME WHO REGARD HIM AS
A TRAITOR WHO SOLD HIS
SOUL TO THE DEVIL.
Narrator: FRED WETZLER
STAYED IN SLOVAKIA.
HE MARRIED A FELLOW
SURVIVOR FROM AUSCHWITZ
AND BECAME A JOURNALIST
AND NEWSPAPER EDITOR.
RUDOLF VRBA MARRIED HIS
CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART,
GERTA SIDONOVA.
HE MOVED TO CANADA,
WHERE HE BECAME
AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
OF PHARMACOLOGY
AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
HE WAS NOT SOMEBODY
WHO WAS COMPLAINING OR
CRYING ABOUT WHAT HAS
HAPPENED OR BEING FULL
OF REGRETS, AND THE ONLY
REAL REGRET HE HAD WAS
THAT HE COULD NOT
SAVE MORE PEOPLE.
Gilbert: VRBA WAS
THE FIGURE WITHOUT WHOM NONE
OF THIS COULD
HAVE COME TO PASS.
VRBA WAS THE THREAD,
IF YOU LIKE, WHICH RAN
THROUGH THIS
EXTRAORDINARY STORY
OF DECEPTION AND RESCUE.
Narrator: FRED WETZLER
DIED IN 1988.
RUDOLF VRBA PASSED
AWAY IN 2006.
Announcer: NEXT TIME ON
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"...
INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE PAST AT PBS ONLINE.
HISTORY IS REVEALING ITS
FORGOTTEN SECRETS AT...
THIS
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM...
THE NAZIS USED AUSCHWITZ
AS A SECRET HUMAN
SLAUGHTERHOUSE.
Man: AUSCHWITZ
AND THE OTHER DEATH CAMPS
WERE INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
PRODUCING CORPSES.
Announcer: BUT IN 1944,
TWO PRISONERS ESCAPED
TO TELL THE WORLD.
Woman: HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING.
HE TOLD ME HOW
THE DEATH FACTORIES
IN AUSCHWITZ WERE ORGANIZED.
Announcer: THEIR REPORT SAVED
TENS OF THOUSANDS,
BUT DID ONE FREEDOM FIGHTER'S
MISCALCULATION CONDEMN
THOUSANDS MORE
TO THE GAS CHAMBERS?
"ESCAPE FROM AUSCHWITZ,"
COMING UP
ON "SECRETS OF THE DEAD."
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
AND FRIENDS OF NCI
"SECRETS OF THE DEAD"
WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM...
Narrator: AUSCHWITZ WAS
THE LARGEST OF HITLER'S
CONCENTRATION CAMPS,
BUT ITS DARK PURPOSE WAS
NOT TO HOUSE PRISONERS.
BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE,
THE NAZIS CREATED
A DEATH FACTORY TO SECRETLY
MURDER THE JEWS OF EUROPE.
Man: FROM THE MOMENT HE
CAME TO POWER, HITLER
WANTED TO GET RID OF
THE JEWS FROM GERMANY.
HE TURNED TO WHAT IS
KNOWN AS THE FINAL SOLUTION,
THE EXTERMINATION OF ALL
THESE JEWISH PEOPLE.
Narrator: BY 1944,
12,000 JEWS A DAY WERE
BEING KILLED AT
AUSCHWITZ, BUT FEW
OUTSIDE ITS FENCES KNEW
WHAT ATROCITIES WERE
BEING COMMITTED.
THE PRISONERS HAD NO
WAY OF GETTING WORD
TO THE OUTSIDE.
THAT IS, UNTIL TWO BRAVE
PRISONERS DECIDED TO
ESCAPE, DETERMINED
TO TELL THE WORLD
ABOUT THE SECRET
NAZI GENOCIDE.
AUSCHWITZ WAS LOCATED
50 MILES FROM KRAKÓW
IN SOUTHERN POLAND.
THE MAIN CAMP WAS
OPENED IN 1940.
IT WAS BUILT TO HOLD
AND KILL COMMUNISTS,
PRISONERS OF WAR,
WRITERS, GYPSIES,
HOMOSEXUALS,
AND INTELLECTUALS.
BY 1941, THE NAZIS
BEGAN CONSTRUCTION
OF AUSHCWITZ-BIRKENAU.
TWO AND HALF MILES FROM
THE MAIN COMPLEX, THIS
CAMP WAS BUILT
PRIMARILY TO IMPRISON
AND EXTERMINATE JEWS.
NAZI RECORDS SHOW
THAT TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF JEWS FROM GERMAN-OCCUPIED
COUNTRIES WERE
PULLED FROM THEIR HOMES AND SENT
TO AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
EACH MONTH.
THEY HAD NO IDEA THEY
WERE BEING SENT
TO THEIR DEATHS.
Man: THE DEPORTATIONS
WERE ALWAYS SORT
OF CAMOUFLAGED BY SAYING
THE JEWS WERE EITHER
GOING TO SOME OTHER
PLACE OR THEY WERE GOING
TO BE TRANSPORTED
TO ANOTHER PLACE.
Narrator:
THE PRISONERS WERE MOVED
IN OVERCROWDED
CATTLE CARS WITH NO
FOOD OR WATER.
SOME NEVER MADE IT
OFF THE TRAINS ALIVE.
THE SURVIVORS ARRIVED
AT AUSCHWITZ SHELL-SHOCKED,
DAZED, AND DISORIENTED.
TO THE REST OF THE WORLD,
THEY HAD SIMPLY DISAPPEARED.
Man: SECRECY WAS ESSENTIAL
FOR THE MAINTENANCE
OF AUSCHWITZ,
FOR THE CONTINUATION
OF AUSCHWITZ AS
A KILLING FACTORY.
THE MOMENT IT BECAME
KNOWN, THEN THERE WOULD
BE REVOLTS AND RIOTS AT
EVERY RAILWAY STATION
ON THE WAY TO IT.
THE DEPORTATIONS WERE
THE GREATEST CONFIDENCE
TRICK IN HISTORY BECAUSE
WE NOW KNOW THAT IT WAS
A TOTAL DECEPTION,
THAT THE AIM
OF THE DEPORTATIONS WAS
TO MURDER THESE PEOPLE.
Narrator: AMONG THE MANY
THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS
AT THE CAMP WAS
RUDOLF VRBA.
VRBA WAS THE SON OF
A JEWISH SAWMILL
OWNER FROM TOPOL'CANY,
SLOVAKIA.
IN MARCH OF 1942,
VRBA HAD FLED SLOVAKIA
FOR BRITAIN BUT WAS
CAPTURED AND SENT
TO AUSCHWITZ.
HE WAS 17 YEARS OLD.
AT THE CAMP, VRBA
WAS GIVEN THE JOB
OF COLLECTING LUGGAGE
FROM INCOMING PRISONERS.
THE BAGS WERE FILLED
WITH ANYTHING VALUABLE
THEIR OWNERS HAD BEEN
ABLE TO GRAB BEFORE THEY
WERE DEPORTED.
DAY AFTER DAY, VRBA
WATCHED THE FRIGHTENED
PRISONERS ARRIVE.
THEY WERE COMPLETELY
UNAWARE OF WHAT
THE NAZIS HAD IN
STORE FOR THEM.
Gilbert: VRBA UNDERSTOOD
THAT HAD THE TRUTH
OF THIS PLACE BEEN
KNOWN SOMETHING
WOULD BE HAPPENING.
FIRST OF ALL, THE PEOPLE
WOULDN'T BE ARRIVING
BECAUSE THEY'D BE
REFUSING TO GET
ON THE TRAINS
AT THE DEPARTURE POINT.
Narrator: BUT THEY WERE
GETTING ON THE TRAINS,
AND THE NAZIS CLEARLY
DOCUMENTED WHAT HAPPENED
WHEN THEY ARRIVED.
HUSBANDS WERE SEPARATED
FROM THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN.
THE STRONG WERE
SEPARATED FROM THE WEAK,
THE YOUNG FROM THE OLD.
WOMEN WITH CHILDREN,
THE ELDERLY,
AND THE INFIRM WERE
LOADED ONTO TRUCKS
AND TAKEN TO A SPECIAL AREA
AT THE REAR OF THE CAMP.
THEY WERE GIVEN SOAP
AND A TOWEL AND TOLD TO
STRIP FOR A SHOWER,
BUT THE SHOWERS
OFFERED NO WATER.
INSTEAD, THEY SPRAYED
THE TRAPPED PRISONERS
WITH DEADLY ZYKLON "B" GAS.
THE PILES OF BODIES WERE
THEN SENT TO THE OVENS
FOR INCINERATION.
Bauer: NEVER BEFORE
HAD A GENOCIDE BEEN
COMMITTED BY
INDUSTRIAL MEANS.
AUSCHWITZ AND
THE OTHER DEATH CAMPS WERE
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
PRODUCING CORPSES.
Narrator: VRBA SAW THIS
HORRIFIC ASSEMBLY LINE
EVERY DAY, HELPLESS
TO PROVIDE ANY KIND OF WARNING.
Gilbert: WHILE VRBA WAS
WORKING ON THE RAMP,
HE WITNESSED
THE FEAR OF BEING SHOT
AND AT THE SAME TIME
SOFT-SPOKEN S.S. MEN.
YOU KNOW, "ALL'S
GONNA BE WELL.
"IT'S GONNA TAKE AN HOUR
OR TWO, AND THEN YOU'LL
"BE IN YOUR BARRACKS,
YOU'LL GET A GOOD MEAL.
IT WILL ALL BE WELL."
SO HE WITNESSES THE
DECEPTIONS, HE WITNESSES
THE HORRORS, AND HE
SEES IT DAY AFTER DAY
AND NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.
Narrator:
THE FRUSTRATION AND RAGE
BEGAN TO CONSUME
VRBA AS HE WORKED.
Gilbert: HE WAS ABLE TO
SAY TO HIMSELF, "WHAT I
"HAVE TO DO IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN MY LIFE
"BECAUSE WHAT I HAVE TO
DO MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE
THOUSANDS AND TENS
OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES."
Narrator: WHAT HE HAD
TO DO WAS FIND A WAY TO
ESCAPE SO HE COULD TELL
THE WORLD WHAT THE NAZIS
WERE DOING AND PREVENT
OTHERS FROM GETTING
ON THE TRAINS.
AS VRBA PLOTTED,
THE DEATH CAMP
CONTINUED TO OPERATE.
THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS WERE
MURDERED ON ARRIVAL.
THOSE WHO SURVIVED
THE FIRST SELECTION WERE
HARDLY BETTER OFF.
THEY WERE BEATEN,
STARVED, AND DENIGRATED
BY THE BRUTAL NAZI GUARDS.
AMONG THE PRISONERS WAS
OTTO PRESSBURGER, VRBA'S
CHILDHOOD FRIEND
FROM SLOVAKIA.
Translator: WE WERE
VERY CLOSE, LIKE...
ALMOST LIKE BROTHERS.
THEY TOOK AWAY OUR
CLOTHES, THEY SHAVED OUR
HEADS ALL OVER.
THEY GAVE US OTHER
CLOTHES WITH STRIPES.
THEY TATTOOED
NUMBERS ON OUR CHESTS.
MY NUMBER ON MY
CHEST WAS 29045.
THAT WAS MY NUMBER.
AFTER THAT, I WASN'T
OTTO PRESSBURGER.
I WAS 29045.
Narrator: THE HEALTHY
WERE IMMEDIATELY FORCED
INTO HARD LABOR.
SADISTICALLY, THE NAZIS
TURNED SOME JEWS INTO
SUPERVISORS
CALLED KAPOS.
THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE
FOR KEEPING THEIR FELLOW
PRISONERS IN LINE AND
OFTEN BECAME MORE BRUTAL
THAN THE NAZIS THEMSELVES.
Bauer: NAZIS HAD
A PROBLEM OF A SHORTAGE
OF LABOR, AND THEY HIT
ON THE IDEA THAT THEY
WOULD FORCE INDIVIDUALS
FROM AMONG THE PRISONERS
TO SUPERVISE
OTHER PRISONERS.
MANY OF THEM BEHAVED
VERY BADLY BECAUSE THEY
FELT THREATENED,
THAT THEIR LIVES WERE
IN DANGER, AND SO
THEY TOOK IT OUT
ON THE PRISONERS
IN ORDER NOT TO BE
PUNISHED THEMSELVES.
Narrator: AUSCHWITZ
SURVIVOR FREDDIE KNOLLER
REMEMBERS THE TERROR
INVOKED BY THE KAPOS.
Knoller: THE BIGGEST
FEAR THAT WE HAD WAS
PRISONERS WITH THE GREEN
TRIANGLES, AND WE FEARED
THEM AS MUCH AS
WE FEARED THE S.S.
BECAUSE THEY HAD THE
POWER OF DEATH AND LIFE.
Narrator: MOST
PRISONERS DIDN'T SURVIVE
THE TORTUROUS
CONDITIONS FOR LONG.
Bauer: JEWS NORMALLY
DIDN'T SURVIVE MORE THAN
6, 7, 8 WEEKS.
THEY BECAME THEN TOTALLY
APATHETIC TO WHAT WAS
HAPPENING AROUND THEM,
AND THEY JUST DIED OFF
OR WERE SHIPPED TO
THE GAS CHAMBER TO BE KILLED.
Knoller: I REMEMBER
HAVING SEEN ONE OLDER MAN.
HE COULDN'T
STAND IT ANYMORE.
HE WENT TO THE
ELECTRIFIED BARBED WIRE,
HE GRABBED THE WIRE
AND ELECTRIFIED HIMSELF,
YOU KNOW, AND DIED,
AND PEOPLE JUST COLLAPSED.
THEY JUST COULD
NOT STAND IT.
Narrator: BUT RUDOLF VRBA
WAS NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP.
Gilbert: VRBA WAS A VERY
SELF-CONTAINED PERSON.
HE HAD COME TO RECOGNIZE
EXACTLY WHAT WAS
HAPPENING, HE HAD
AN ANALYTICAL MIND,
HE UNDERSTOOD THIS
WAS THE REALITY.
IT WAS NOT AN ABERRATION.
WITHIN IN AUSCHWITZ,
THIS KILLING SYSTEM WAS
THE REALITY.
THIS WAS A VERY POTENT
FACTOR FOR CARRYING ON,
NOT BECOMING, AS SO MANY
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF PRISONERS DID IN
AUSCHWITZ, DEMORALIZED,
AND WITH DEMORALIZATION
AND LOSS OF WILL TO
LIVE, YOU BECAME WHAT
WAS CALLED A MUSSELMAN,
BASICALLY A SKELTON,
AND YOU DIED.
Narrator: VRBA WASN'T
THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT
ABOUT ESCAPING, BUT THE
CONSEQUENCES OF BEING
CAUGHT MADE MOST
PRISONERS THINK TWICE.
Gilbert: THERE HAD BEEN
A NUMBER OF ESCAPES FROM
AUSCHWITZ, AND IN EVERY
CASE, THE ESCAPEE HAD
BEEN CAUGHT, SOMETIMES
WITHIN HOURS, SOMETIMES
WITHIN A FEW DAYS.
Narrator: WHEN ESCAPEES
WERE CAPTURED,
THE ENTIRE CAMP WAS FORCED
TO STAND WITNESS AS
THEIR PUNISHMENTS
WERE CARRIED OUT.
THE EXPERIENCE WAS
A POWERFUL DETERRENT.
Man: THE CONSEQUENCES
OF FAILURE WERE TORTURE
AND PUBLIC EXECUTION.
ANYONE CONNECTED WITH
THE ESCAPE WOULD ALSO BE
TORTURED AND MURDERED.
THE PRICE OF FAILURE
WAS A GHASTLY FATE.
Bauer: THEY WERE FIRST
TORTURED IN ORDER TO GET
OUT OF THEM WHO HELPED
THEM WITHIN THE CAMP,
AND THEN THEY WERE
KILLED, THEY WERE HUNG,
ALL OF THEM.
Soldier: TOT.
Translator: IN FRONT
OF EVERYONE, THEY SAID,
"EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO
ESCAPE, I'LL GIVE YOU
A GIFT, A ROPE
LIKE THIS."
Narrator: BUT EVEN
THE RISK OF PUBLIC HANGING
WAS NOT ENOUGH TO
DISSUADE RUDOLF VRBA.
Translator: VRBA, FROM
THE MOMENT HE ARRIVED
AT AUSCHWITZ, RIGHT AWAY
HE SAID, "I'M THINKING
ABOUT HOW I CAN ESCAPE
FROM AUSCHWITZ."
AND ALL THE TIME,
HE MADE PLANS TO ESCAPE.
Narrator: HE JUST HAD
TO FIND THE RIGHT
PLACE AND TIME.
AS THE NAZIS EXPANDED
THEIR REIGN OF TERROR
ACROSS EUROPE, MORE AND
MORE JEWS WERE DEPORTED
TO AUSCHWITZ.
THE CAMP'S CREMATORIA
WERE KEPT BURNING
NIGHT AND DAY.
THE LINGERING SMELL OF
DEATH HUNG IN THE AIR.
Knoller: SOON, EVERY
TRANSPORT THAT ARRIVED,
SOMEHOW THE AIR CHANGED.
THERE WAS THIS SWEET
SMELL, AND THE OLD
PRISONERS TOLD US
"DO YOU SEE THIS?
"CAN YOU SMELL
THIS SWEET SMELL?
THIS IS THE BODIES
WHO ARE BEING BURNED."
Narrator: VRBA KNEW HE
WOULD NEED HELP IF HE
WANTED HIS ESCAPE
ATTEMPT TO SUCCEED.
HE TURNED TO FELLOW
SLOVAKIAN INMATE
FRED WETZLER FOR ASSISTANCE.
25-YEAR OLD WETZLER HAD
ARRIVED AT AUSCHWITZ
FROM AN ASSEMBLY SITE
IN BRATISLAVA IN 1942,
THE SAME YEAR AS VRBA.
HE WAS WELL-CONNECTED
WITH THE UNDERGROUND
RESISTANCE IN THE
CAMP AND WORKED AS
A REGISTRAR, KEEPING
DETAILED RECORDS FOR HIS
NAZI CAPTORS.
WETZLER USED HIS
CONNECTIONS TO IMPROVE
VRBA'S STATUS
WITHIN THE CAMP.
IN JUNE OF 1943, VRBA
GOT A NEW JOB, ONE THAT
WOULD PROVE CRUCIAL
IN HIS BID TO ESCAPE.
Bauer: HE WAS A SECRETARY.
IN GERMAN, IT'S
"SCHREIBER," WHICH MEANS
A PERSON WHO WRITES.
HE HAD ALL KINDS OF
ADMINISTRATIVE JOBS THERE.
HE HAD TO LOOK AFTER THE
INDEX CARDS AND REGISTER
WHATEVER THE NAZIS WANTED
HIM TO REGISTER.
Narrator: VRBA'S NEW
POSITION MEANT HE
NO LONGER HAD TO
WEAR PRISON GARB.
IT ALSO ALLOWED HIM TO
WALK UNCHALLENGED ALMOST
ANYWHERE IN THE CAMP.
Cesarani: THIS ALSO GAVE
HIM AN EXTRAORDINARY
INSIGHT INTO WHAT
THE CAMP WAS DOING.
HE WAS IN THE REGISTRY.
HE WAS SEEING LISTS
OF PEOPLE COMING IN.
HE WAS ABLE TO DEVELOP
AN EXTRAORDINARILY CLEAR
IDEA OF THE NUMBERS
OF JEWS WHO WERE BEING
DEPORTED TO THE
CAMP AND MURDERED.
Narrator: BY SEPTEMBER
OF 1943, THE AUSCHWITZ
AUTHORITIES HAD
CONSTRUCTED WHAT THEY
CALLED THE CZECH FAMILY
CAMP IN PREPARATION
FOR THE ARRIVAL OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S JEWS.
CURIOUSLY, THE 4,000
CZECH MEN, WOMEN,
AND CHILDREN WHO FILLED
THE COMPOUND WERE
ALLOWED TO KEEP THEIR
OWN CLOTHES, AND THEIR
HAIR WAS LEFT UNSHAVEN,
BUT THIS WAS NO EASING
OF NAZI PROTOCOL.
IT WAS JUST A NEW PLOT
TO ENSURE THAT
THE AUSCHWITZ KILLINGS
REMAINED SECRET.
Gilbert: ONE GROUP
OF JEWS COMING FROM
THERESIENSTADT,
THE CONCENTRATION CAMP-GHETTO
IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA,
CONSISTED LARGELY OF
CZECH JEWS, AND THEIR
FATE WAS BEING MONITORED
BY THE RED CROSS.
Narrator: THE RED CROSS
HAD HEARD RUMORS
ABOUT DEPLORABLE
CONDITIONS IN SOME
OF THE CAMPS,
SO THE NAZI GUARDS KEPT
THE CZECH PRISONERS ALIVE,
HEALTHY, AND BLIND TO
THE MASSACRE THAT
WAS TAKING PLACE
ALL AROUND THEM.
MEANWHILE, IT WAS
DEADLY BUSINESS AS USUAL
FOR THE OTHER PRISONERS.
THE RUSE WAS WELL-PLANNED,
AND THE NAZIS
MADE SURE THAT THE
DECEPTION EXTENDED ALL
THE WAY BACK TO
CZECHOSLOVAKIA.
Gilbert: THE DEPORTATION
OF JEWS AND OF MANY
OTHERS TO CAMPS IN THE
EAST CREATED TREMENDOUS
ALARM IN THE COMMUNITIES
FROM WHICH THEY HAD BEEN
TAKEN, AND ONE WAY IN
WHICH THE S.S. SYSTEM
SOUGHT TO CALM THIS
ALARM WAS WHAT IS KNOWN
AS THE POSTCARD DECEPTION.
THE CZECH FAMILY CAMP
MEMBERS SENT THESE CARDS
BACK TO PRAGUE OR
TO FAMILY MEMBERS OR
FRIENDS IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA,
AND ALL SEEMED WELL.
Narrator: BUT NOT FOR LONG.
ON MARCH 7, 1943,
CONFIDENT THEY HAD
FOOLED THE RED CROSS
AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD,
THE NAZI GUARDS ROUNDED
UP THE CZECHS FROM
THE FAMILY CAMP
AND SENT THEM TO
THE GAS CHAMBERS.
VRBA AND WETZLER
WITNESSED THE MASSACRE.
THE DECEPTION
AND BRUTALITY SOLIDIFIED
THEIR RESOLVE TO ESCAPE
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
BUT THEY STILL HADN'T
FOUND A WAY OUT.
OVER THE FOLLOWING
MONTHS, THE EMACIATED
PRISONERS WERE PUT TO
WORK EXPANDING THE CAMP
AND BUILDING MORE BARRACKS
OUTSIDE THE FENCE.
THE CONSTRUCTION WAS
A CLEAR INDICATION THAT
THE NAZIS WERE EXPECTING
A HUGE INFLUX OF NEW
JEWISH PRISONERS.
Gilbert: NOW YOU
DON'T DOUBLE THE SIZE
OF A CAMP WHICH IS WORKING
VERY EFFECTIVELY.
IT MUST MEAN THERE WAS
GOING TO BE SOME GREAT
NEW ARRIVAL IN TERMS OF
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE, PERHAPS
AS MANY AS HALF
A MILLION PEOPLE.
Narrator: THE COARSE
HUMOR OF THE S.S. GUARDS
REVEALED WHERE THE NEXT
SHIPMENT OF JEWS WAS
LIKELY TO COME FROM.
Gilbert:
THEN THEY SAW THE SCALE
OF THE BARRACKS AND HOW
WIDE THEY WERE, AND THEN
THE S.S. GUARDS JOKING
THAT, YOU KNOW,
"WE'RE GONNA GET SOME TASTY
HUNGARIAN SALAMI SOON."
WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN?
THAT HUNGARIAN
JEWS WERE COMING.
Narrator: WITH HITLER
READY TO OCCUPY HUNGARY,
AUSCHWITZ WAS PREPARING
FOR THE DEPORTATIONS
THAT WOULD FOLLOW.
VRBA KNEW HE
HAD TO ACT SOON.
Cesarani: IT WAS HIS
DESIRE TO WARN THE WORLD
ABOUT THIS NEW STAGE
OF THE FINAL SOLUTION,
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE
JEWS OF HUNGARY, THAT
GAVE URGENCY TO HIS
DETERMINATION TO ESCAPE.
IT'S THAT THAT DROVE HIM ON.
Narrator: IN APRIL OF
1944, VRBA AND WETZLER
FINALLY GOT THE CHANCE
THEY'D BEEN WAITING FOR.
WHILE WORKING OUTSIDE
THE PERIMETER FENCE,
THEY REALIZED THEY COULD
HIDE IN A SMALL CAVITY
WITHIN A PILE OF WOOD
FROM THE NEW CONSTRUCTION.
THEY KNEW FROM PREVIOUS
ESCAPE ATTEMPTS THAT
THE GUARDS WOULD ONLY SEARCH
FOR MISSING PRISONERS
FOR 3 DAYS, SO IF THEY
COULD REMAIN UNDETECTED
IN THE WOOD PILE FOR
THAT LONG, THEY MIGHT BE
ABLE TO GET AWAY.
THIS SEEMED AS GOOD AN
OPPORTUNITY AS THEY WERE
LIKELY TO GET,
BUT THE PLAN WAS STILL
FRAUGHT WITH RISK.
Cesarani: THEY WOULD
HIDE WITHIN SPITTING
DISTANCE OF THE CAMP
WHILE THE NAZIS, WHILE
THE S.S. WERE SEARCHING
THE SURROUNDING AREA.
THEY WOULD REMAIN UNDER
THE NOSES OF THE S.S.,
AND WHEN THE HUE AND CRY
HAD DIED DOWN, WHEN
THE DOGS HAD GONE BACK TO
THE BARRACKS, THEN THEY
WOULD MAKE THEIR MOVE,
THEY WOULD COVER
THE GROUND FROM THE CAMP OUT
OF THE DANGER ZONE TO
RELATIVE FREEDOM.
Narrator: ON APRIL 7,
1944, VRBA AND WETZLER
PUT THEIR PLAN
INTO ACTION.
THEY AND THE OTHER
PRISONERS WHO HELPED
THEM KNEW FULL WELL THE
RISKS THEY WERE TAKING.
AS THE NAZIS HAD MADE
CLEAR IN OTHER FAILED
ESCAPE ATTEMPTS,
CAPTURE MEANT CERTAIN
PUBLIC EXECUTION.
ONCE HIDDEN IN THEIR
SECRET CAVITY,
VRBA AND WETZLER
COVERED THEMSELVES
WITH GASOLINE-SOAKED
RUSSIAN TOBACCO, HOPING
IT WOULD MASK
THEIR SCENT FROM
THE S.S. DOGS.
OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS,
THEY LISTENED INTENTLY
TO THE MOVEMENTS
OF THE CAMP.
AT THE END OF THE DAY,
THEY HEARD PRISONERS
FINISHING THEIR HARD
LABOR AND RETURNING
INSIDE THE PERIMETER FENCE.
IT WAS ONLY AT ROLE CALL
THAT THE GUARDS FINALLY
REALIZED TWO
PRISONERS WERE MISSING.
Translator: AFTER THAT,
AFTER VRBA AND WETZLER
ESCAPED, IT WAS 3 DAYS
AND 3 NIGHTS OF LINEUPS.
Narrator: AT JUST AFTER
6 P.M. ON THE FIRST
EVENING, THE ALARM WAS RAISED.
THE NAZIS SEARCHED
FRANTICALLY FOR HOURS.
AT ONE POINT, A SOLDIER
EVEN CLIMBED ONTO
THE LOG PILE WITHIN FEET
OF VRBA AND WETZLER,
BUT WHEN IT GOT DARK,
THE GUARDS HEADED BACK
INSIDE THE GATES,
AND THE CAMP FELL SILENT.
THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT,
THE TWO MEN SAT FROZEN,
LISTENING TO THE SOUNDS
OF THE VICTIMS SHUFFLING
INTO GAS CHAMBERS
AND SMELLING THE SMOKE
FROM THE CREMATORIA.
AT ONE POINT, WETZLER
CLEARLY HEARD A PRISONER
SCREAM OUT, "AVENGE US!"
FOR 3 DAYS, VRBA
AND WETZLER WAITED SILENTLY
IN THEIR CRAMPED
HIDING PLACE.
THE NAZIS SEARCHED EVERYWHERE,
BUT MIRACULOUSLY,
THE TWO MEN REMAINED UNDETECTED.
THEN ON THE THIRD
EVENING JUST AS
PREDICTED, THE GUARDS
GAVE UP THE SEARCH.
A LITTLE AFTER 9 P.M.,
VRBA AND WETZLER MADE
THEIR MOVE.
AFTER SITTING IMMOBILE
FOR SO LONG, THE TWO NOW
HAD TO SPRINT FOR
THE COVER OF THE SURROUNDING
WOODS, BUT EVEN THE
WOODS WEREN'T SAFE.
Gilbert: IT WAS
A TREMENDOUSLY DANGEROUS
JOURNEY, AND THE GERMANS
HAD REMOVED THE POLES
FROM ALL THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES
IN THE AUSCHWITZ REGION
AND REPLACED THEM BY
ETHNIC GERMANS,
VOLKSDEUTSCH, WHO WERE
LOYAL, VERY LOYAL
INDEED, TO THE REICH.
Cesarani: ONCE YOU
WERE OUTSIDE, YOU WERE
A MARKED PERSON.
YOUR HEAD WAS SHAVEN,
YOU WERE FILTHY, YOU STANK.
ANYONE SEEING ONE OF
THESE ESCAPING FIGURES
KNEW EXACTLY WHO THEY WERE,
WHERE THEY'D COME FROM.
THE NAZIS WERE
SEARCHING WITH DOGS.
THERE WERE S.S.
TEAMS SCOURING
THE COUNTRYSIDE.
IT WAS AN AREA THAT WAS
ALREADY DESCENDING INTO
GUERRILLA WARFARE,
PARTISAN WARFARE.
IT WAS COVERED WITH
POLICE, GERMAN TROOPS,
MILITARY CONVOYS ON THE MOVE,
VERY FEW FRIENDS.
Narrator: VRBA AND WETZLER
HAD TO NAVIGATE
THIS DANGEROUS LABYRINTH
WITH FEW SUPPLIES
AND NO OUTSIDE HELP.
THE LONGER THEY TOOK TO
REACH SAFETY AND DELIVER
THEIR MESSAGE, THE MORE
LIVES WOULD BE LOST TO
THE GAS CHAMBERS.
WITH ONLY A ROUGH IDEA
OF THEIR LOCATION
AND EVER FEARFUL OF
BEING CAUGHT BY GERMAN
SOLDIERS OR NAZI SYMPATHIZERS,
THE TWO SET OUT.
TRAVELING AT NIGHT
AND FIGHTING THE OFTEN
FREEZING WEATHER, THEY
MADE THEIR WAY SOUTH
TOWARD THE SLOVAKIAN BORDER.
THEY STAYED AWAY FROM
THE ROADS AND SURVIVED
ON TINY RATIONS OF BREAD
AND ANYTHING ELSE THEY
COULD SCAVENGE.
Cesarani: IT WAS ONE
OF THE GREAT FEATS
OF ESCAPOLOGY AND SIMPLE
PHYSICAL FITNESS.
THESE GUYS WERE TOUGH.
THEY ENDURED
EXTRAORDINARY HARDSHIPS.
THEY SHOWED ACUTE
PERCEPTION, KNOWING WHEN
TO MOVE, WHO THEY COULD
SHOW THEMSELVES TO.
Narrator: VRBA AND WETZLER
WERE CAREFUL,
BUT THEY DID MAKE
MISTAKES AS THEY RUSHED
TO THE BORDER.
ON THEIR THIRD DAY,
THE ACCIDENTALLY
WANDERED INTO A TOWN.
TRYING TO FIND THEIR
WAY OUT, THEY STUMBLED
BLINDLY DOWN ALLEYWAYS
AND BACK STREETS,
RISKING DISCOVERY AROUND
EVERY HIDDEN CORNER.
EXHAUSTED, STARVING,
AND LOST, THEY TOOK
A GAMBLE AND DECIDED
TO ASK FOR HELP.
Narrator: IT WAS A HUGE RISK,
BUT THEY GOT LUCKY.
THEY WERE WELCOMED BY
A PEASANT WOMAN, WHO
AGREED TO ASSIST THEM.
SHE GAVE THEM BREAKFAST
AND A PLACE TO SLEEP UNTIL DARK.
AFTER A BRIEF REST,
VRBA AND WETZLER RESUMED
THEIR JOURNEY.
THEY WERE STILL LESS
THAN HALFWAY TO
THE SLOVAKIAN BORDER.
IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE
THEY HAD ANOTHER MISHAP.
HIKING THROUGH A FIELD,
THEY STUMBLED UPON
A WOMAN TENDING
HER CROPS.
ALTHOUGH SUSPICIOUS,
SHE EVENTUALLY
INTRODUCED THEM
TO A SYMPATHETIC POLISH
FARMER, WHO OFFERED TO
TAKE THEM TO THE BORDER
AND SHOW THEM WHERE THEY
COULD CROSS TO AVOID
NAZI SENTRIES.
THIS FINAL LEG
OF THE JOURNEY TOOK TWO LONG
DAYS, BUT EVENTUALLY,
THE FARMER BROUGHT THEM
TO A CLEARING
NEAR THE BORDER.
VRBA AND WETZLER WAITED
FOR A GERMAN PATROL TO
PASS, THEN QUIETLY
SLIPPED INTO SLOVAKIA.
ON APRIL 25, 1944, AFTER
3 DAYS IN THE WOOD PILE
15 DAYS OF WALKING,
AND MORE THAN
85 MILES THROUGH
OCCUPIED POLAND,
VRBA AND WETZLER
FINALLY ARRIVED
AT THE HEADQUARTERS
OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL
IN ZILINA, SLOVAKIA.
NOT WANTING TO WASTE
EVEN A SECOND, VRBA
IMMEDIATELY BEGAN
DESCRIBING THE ATROCITIES
THAT WERE TAKING PLACE
AT AUSCHWITZ.
THE COUNCIL WAS HORRIFIED.
THE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS
KNEW THE NAZIS WERE
TERRORIZING JEWISH COMMUNITIES
AND DEPORTING JEWS
TO MYSTERIOUS,
HEAVILY GUARDED
CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
THERE WERE EVEN RUMORS
THAT THE CONDITIONS
IN THESE CAMPS WERE
APPALLING, BUT FEW COULD
IMAGINE THAT THE
DEPORTED JEWS WERE BEING
EXTERMINATED EN MASSE.
GEORGE KLEIN WAS
A JUNIOR SECRETARY
AT THE OFFICE OF
THE JEWISH COUNCIL
IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY.
Klein: THE GERMANS WERE
VERY GOOD AT DECEPTION
AND SPREADING OUT
FALSE INFORMATION.
THE NAZIS JUST SAID
THAT "THEY ARE BEING
RESETTLED" AND NOT EVEN
TO CAMPS BUT BEING GIVEN
HOUSING AND OCCUPATIONS.
Narrator: VRBA
AND WETZLER REVEALED DETAIL
AFTER DETAIL ABOUT
THE SYSTEMATIC MURDER
OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF JEWS, BUT IT BEGAN TO
DAWN ON THEM THAT THEIR
AUDIENCE DIDN'T BELIEVE
A WORD THEY WERE SAYING.
Gilbert: AT FIRST, THEY WERE
JUST ASTONISHED BY THE STORY.
THEY COULDN'T BELIEVE
IT BECAUSE WHAT THEY'RE
TALKING ABOUT IS THE
DEATH OF SOME OF THEIR
CLOSEST FRIENDS, RELATIVES,
FELLOW SLOVAKS.
AND IF YOU TRY
AND THINK OF IT LOGICALLY,
HOW COULD IT HAVE BEEN?
HOW COULD 500 PEOPLE
OUT OF 1,000 HAVE BEEN
TAKEN OFF AND BEEN
GASSED WITHIN A FEW
HOURS AND THEIR
BODIES CREMATED?
UNDER WHAT SYSTEM OF...
UNDER WHAT POLITICAL
STRUCTURE, UNDER WHAT
IDEOLOGICAL SYSTEM COULD
THAT HAPPEN?
Klein: THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY IN SLOVAKIA
DIDN'T BELIEVE THEM AT
FIRST BECAUSE IT WAS
SO UNBELIEVABLE.
KILLING IS ONE THING,
BUT TO ORGANIZE
THE KILLING, TO MAKE IT
INTO A HUGE BUREAUCRATIC
APPARATUS, TO ORGANIZE
THE TRANSPORT, TO HAVE
EVERYTHING STREAMLINED,
THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLY
GERMAN EFFICIENCY THAT
PEOPLE SIMPLY DIDN'T
BELIEVE THAT IT
WAS POSSIBLE.
Narrator: THE SKEPTICAL
COUNCIL MEMBERS DECIDED
TO PUT THE ESCAPEES'
STORY TO THE TEST.
THEY RETRIEVED RECORDS
THAT NAMED EVERY JEW WHO
HAD BEEN DEPORTED
FROM SLOVAKIA.
THEN THEY ASKED VRBA
TO TELL THEM THE NAMES
OF PEOPLE HE'D BEEN
IMPRISONED WITH.
Gilbert: HE HAD THIS
PHENOMENAL MEMORY.
HE MEMORIZED EVERY
TRANSPORT, EVERY TRAIN
THAT CAME IN, HOW MANY
PEOPLE WERE ON IT,
AND HOW MANY OF THOSE
PEOPLE WHO WERE ON IT
WERE IMMEDIATELY SENT
TO THE GAS CHAMBER.
Narrator: AS VRBA
RECALLED NAMES, HIS
AUDIENCE SAT STUNNED.
THEIR BOOK HAD SUDDENLY
BECOME A GHASTLY LIST
OF OBITUARIES.
THE PEOPLE THEY HAD
EXPECTED TO RETURN AFTER
THE WAR WERE
ALREADY LONG DEAD.
FINALLY CONVINCED THAT
VRBA AND WETZLER WERE
TELLING THE TRUTH,
THE COUNCIL ASKED THEM
TO DICTATE ALL THEY
COULD REMEMBER
ABOUT THE NAZIS'
ACTIVITIES AT AUSCHWITZ.
AS VRBA DESCRIBED EVERY
DETAIL, HE MADE SURE
THEY REALIZED THAT
THE HORRORS WERE FAR FROM OVER.
HE WARNED THEM THAT
THE JEWS OF HUNGARY WOULD BE
NEXT, THAT THE CAMP HAD
ALREADY BEEN OUTFITTED
FOR THEIR ARRIVAL.
Cesarani: THE PROCESS
OF WRITING THE REPORTS,
TRANSLATING THE REPORTS,
GETTING THE REPORTS FROM
SLOVAKIA, IN THE MIDDLE
OF A WAR, TRANSMITTED
THROUGH FRIENDLY CIRCLES
TO THE VATICAN VIA
THE PAPAL NUNCIO IN SLOVAKIA,
TO SWITZERLAND,
TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN
SWITZERLAND SO THAT IT
COULD BE SENT TO THE RED CROSS,
TO THE BRITISH,
TO THE AMERICAN
REPRESENTATIVES
IN SWITZERLAND,
CIRCULATING IT TO PEOPLE
WHO NEEDED TO KNOW.
ALL OF THIS TOOK TIME.
Narrator: IT WAS TIME
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
IN HUNGARY DIDN'T HAVE.
A MONTH EARLIER,
THE NAZIS HAD OCCUPIED
HUNGARY AND HAD
IMMEDIATELY BEGUN
PREPARING FOR THE DEPORTATIONS.
Cesarani: AFTER THE
GERMAN ARMY HAD OCCUPIED
HUNGARY, THE S.S. MOVED
IN, A SPECIAL COMMANDO...
A TEAM LED BY ADOLF EICHMANN,
A MAN WHO OVER
THE PREVIOUS TWO
AND A HALF YEARS HAD PERFECTED
THE ROUNDING UP,
THE DEPORTATION OF JEWS
FROM ALL OVER EUROPE
TO THE DEATH CAMPS IN POLAND.
Narrator:
RUDOLF KASTNER, LEADER
OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL IN
BUDAPEST, UNDERSTOOD
THE POWER THAT
EICHMANN WIELDED.
Cesarani: THEY KNEW
ABOUT THE DEPORTATIONS
FROM POLAND
AND FROM SLOVAKIA.
THEY KNEW THAT WHEN
THE GERMANS DEMANDED JEWS
THEY WERE NOT THINKING
OF SENDING THEM TO
A HOLIDAY CAMP.
TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF HUNGARIAN MEN HAD
ALREADY BEEN ROUNDED UP,
SENT INTO SO-CALLED
LABOR BATTALIONS.
Narrator: BUT THE
HUNGARIAN JEWISH COUNCIL
STILL COULDN'T
ACCEPT THE LEAP FROM
DEPORTATIONS TO
EXTERMINATION.
Klein: POLISH REFUGEES
FOUND REALLY ALMOST
A HAVEN IN HUNGARY
BEFORE THE GERMAN
OCCUPATION, AND
THEY WERE TELLING
RUMORS ABOUT
EXTERMINATION CAMPS,
BUT THE HUNGARIANS JUST
WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT.
EITHER THEY SAID,
"IT CANNOT BE TRUE,"
OR THEY SAID, "WELL,
MAYBE IT'S TRUE
FOR THE POLES, BUT IT
CANNOT HAPPEN TO US."
Narrator: IT WASN'T
UNTIL THE VRBA-WETZLER
REPORT REACHED HUNGARY
THAT THE JEWISH COUNCIL
THERE FINALLY REALIZED
ALL THE RUMORS WERE TRUE.
Klein: I WAS A VOLUNTEER
IN THE JEWISH COUNCIL
THEN AS A JUNIOR
SECRETARY TO ONE
OF THE MEMBER'S OF THE
COUNCIL, AND ONE DAY,
HE SAID THAT A VERY
IMPORTANT REPORT HAS
ARRIVED THAT WAS WRITTEN
BY TWO SLOVAK JEWS,
WHO HAD ESCAPED FROM ONE
OF THE MAJOR DEATH CAMPS ALIVE.
MY FAMILY WAS ALREADY
DEPORTED WHEN I WAS
READING THE REPORT.
I KNEW THAT I'M READING
THE FATE OF MY BELOVED
GRANDMOTHER AND OF MY
UNCLES, AND I ALSO WAS
QUITE CLEAR ABOUT THE FACT
THAT THIS IS MY FATE.
THERE WERE JUST THESE
TWO FEELINGS... NAUSEA,
FEELING LIKE I HAD TO
VOMIT, BUT AT THE SAME
TIME, MY BRAIN WAS
WORKING, AND MY BRAIN
WAS SAYING, "LOOK.
YOU ARE LOOKING
AT THE TRUTH, AND YOU
ALWAYS HAVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH."
Narrator: GEORGE KLEIN WASN'T
THE ONLY ONE AFFECTED.
WHEN RUDOLF KASTNER
READ THE REPORT, HE WAS
STUNNED, BUT HIS NEXT
REACTION WAS NOT WHAT
VRBA HAD BEEN HOPING
FOR, AND IT PROVED TO BE
ONE OF THE MOST
TRAGIC DECISIONS IN HIS
COUNTRY'S HISTORY.
KASTNER DECIDED NOT TO
RELEASE THE REPORT TO
THE JEWS OF HUNGARY.
HE KEPT IT SECRET
BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID
THAT IF WORD OF THE
REPORT GOT OUT IT MIGHT
RUIN A DEAL HIS COUNCIL
WAS TRYING TO MAKE
WITH THE NAZIS.
HUNGARIAN JEWISH COUNCIL
MEMBER JOEL BRAND HAD
MET PERSONALLY WITH
ADOLF EICHMANN,
AND EICHMANN HAD MADE BRAND
AN EXTRAORDINARY OFFER.
Cesarani: HE SAYS TO
BRAND THAT "I WILL ALLOW
"A MILLION JEWS TO
GO FREE IN RETURN
FOR 10,000 TRUCKS
LOADED WITH SUPPLIES."
Narrator: EICHMANN'S
DEAL SOUNDED TOO GOOD TO
BE TRUE, BUT BRAND FELT
HE HAD TO PURSUE IT.
HE LEFT BUDAPEST TO BRING
THE OFFER TO THE BRITISH.
THE REACTION TO TRADING
HUNGARIAN JEWS FOR TRUCKS
WAS NOT WHAT BRAND EXPECTED.
Cesarani: BRAND, IN ALL
INNOCENCE, BELIEVING
THIS IS A REAL DEAL,
TELLS THE BRITISH
ABOUT HIS MISSION.
THEY SEE IT'S
A GROTESQUE TRICK TO ALLOW
THE GERMANS TO CLAIM
THEY ARE NEGOTIATING
WITH THE BRITISH OVER
THE FATE OF JEWS, THAT
THEY ARE GONNA TAKE
DELIVERY OF TRUCKS TO
USE AGAINST
THE RUSSIANS.
THE BRITISH AND THE
AMERICANS CAN SEE THAT
THIS IS A POTENTIAL
BOMBSHELL, AND THEY WANT
TO HAVE ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING TO DO
WITH A NAZI DEAL.
Narrator: BRAND'S
HOPES WERE SHATTERED,
BUT THE DEAL WASN'T WHAT
CONCERNED RUDOLF VRBA.
IT WAS STARTING TO LOOK
LIKE ALL HIS EFFORTS TO
WARN HUNGARY'S JEWS
HAD BEEN IN VAIN.
IN MAY 15, 1944, VRBA
FOUND OUT THAT DESPITE
RISKING HIS LIFE TO
TELL THE WORLD WHAT WAS
HAPPENING AT AUSCHWITZ,
DESPITE HIS PAGES
AND PAGES OF DETAILED
ACCOUNTS, THE HUNGARIAN
DEPORTATIONS WERE BEGINNING.
IN HIS MIND, HE HAD
FAILED AT THE ONLY TASK
THAT MATTERED TO HIM.
TWO DAYS LATER, 40
CATTLE WAGONS CARRYING
AS MANY AS 4,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS ARRIVED
AT AUSCHWITZ.
THERE WAS NO FAMILY CAMP
OR WORK DETAIL
FOR THESE ARRIVALS.
THE NAZIS BYPASSED
THE SELECTION PROCESS
AND MARCHED ALMOST ALL
THE PRISONERS DIRECTLY
TO THE GAS CHAMBERS.
Klein: THE EXTERMINATION
OF 600,000 HUNGARIAN JEWS
WAS THE FASTEST CAMPAIGN
DURING THE ENTIRE HOLOCAUST.
WENT WITH INCREDIBLE
SPEED, SO THERE WAS NOT
MUCH TIME FOR REFLECTION.
Narrator: WITH SO MANY
BODIES BEING GASSED
AND CREMATED,
A PERMANENT DEATH PALL
HUNG IN THE AIR.
Bauer: WHEN
THE HUNGARIAN JEWS CAME,
THE GAS CHAMBERS WERE
TOO SMALL REALLY TO
MURDER SUCH HUGE NUMBERS
OF PEOPLE COMING ALL
AT THE SAME TIME.
Narrator: BACK IN
ZILINA, VRBA AND WETZLER
WERE DEVASTATED.
THEY ALONE COULD PICTURE
EVERY GRAPHIC DETAIL
OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING
TO HUNGARY'S JEWS.
FEARFUL THEY WOULD BE
RECAPTURED, THEY FLED TO
THE SLOVAKIAN MOUNTAINS.
Gilbert: VRBA WAS A VERY
ANGRY MAN BECAUSE HE
BECAME CONVINCED THAT
HAD HIS REPORT BEEN
ACTED UPON BY THE JEWISH
LEADERSHIP IN BUDAPEST,
THEY COULD HAVE STOPPED
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
OF HUNGARIAN JEWS FROM,
AS HE WOULD PUT IT,
BOARDING THE TRAINS.
Narrator: NOW IN HIDING,
VRBA AND WETZLER COULD
DO NOTHING MORE TO HELP
THE JEWS OF HUNGARY.
DEEPLY DEPRESSED,
VRBA CONFIDED
IN A CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART.
Woman: WHEN I MET HIM
AGAIN, I REALLY DIDN'T
RECOGNIZE HIM BECAUSE
HE'D CHANGED SO MUCH.
HIS EXPRESSION FROM
A SORT OF FRIENDLY,
CHEERFUL YOUNG BOY
TOTALLY CHANGED.
HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING.
HE TOLD ME HOW THE DEATH
FACTORIES IN AUSCHWITZ
WERE ORGANIZED.
HE WAS VERY ARTICULATE
ABOUT IT AND VERY
PRECISE ABOUT DESCRIBING
ALL THE THINGS THAT HE
HAD WITNESSED THERE.
Narrator: MEANWHILE AT
AUSCHWITZ, UP TO 12,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS WERE
BEING GASSED EACH DAY.
IN BUDAPEST,
RUDOLF KASTNER, THE LEADER
OF THE JEWISH COUNCIL,
WAS STILL HANGING OUT
HOPE THAT THE EICHMANN
DEAL COULD SUCCEED...
BUT THE ALLIES
WANTED NO PART OF IT.
Cesarani: KASTNER
HAS HEARD NOTHING.
HE'S DESPERATELY TRYING
TO FOOL EICHMANN INTO
BELIEVING THAT THE
ALLIES ARE TAKING
THE OFFER OF TRUCKS
FOR JEWS SERIOUSLY.
Narrator: THE GAME
OF DECEPTION SUITED
EICHMANN PERFECTLY.
THE LONGER KASTNER
DRAGGED OUT
THE NEGOTIATION, THE MORE
JEWS EICHMANN COULD SEND
TO THE GAS CHAMBERS.
Gilbert: HE KNEW THAT
EVERY DAY THAT THESE
NEGOTIATIONS WENT
ON ANOTHER 12,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS WERE
BEING MURDERED.
Narrator: KASTNER,
INCREASINGLY DESPERATE
TO STRIKE A DEAL, TRIED
TO CONVINCE EICHMANN
THAT HE WAS MAKING
PROGRESS WITH
THE BRITISH AND
THE AMERICANS.
Cesarani: HE SAYS TO
EICHMANN, "LOOK. HOW ARE
"THE ALLIES GONNA BE
CONVINCED IF THEY SEE
"TRAINS ROLLING EVERY
DAY TO AUSCHWITZ?
"WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO
IS TO FREE SOME JEWS.
"WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO
IS TO SEND A TRAIN
TO FREEDOM."
EVENTUALLY IN AN
EXTRAORDINARY GAME OF BLUFF
AND BARGAINING, KASTNER
MANAGES TO RAISE
THE NUMBER OF JEWS TO BE
ALLOWED TO GO TO SAFETY
AS A GESTURE OF
GOODWILL TO OVER 1,600.
Bauer: IT WAS A KIND
OF A NOAH'S ARK.
JEWS FROM QUITE
DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS
WERE PUT ON THAT TRAIN
ON PURPOSE... VIOLENTLY
ANTI-ZIONIST, ULTRA
ORTHODOX FANATICS,
AND LEFT-WING ZIONIST
YOUTH MOVEMENT MEMBERS
AND EVERYTHING
IN BETWEEN.
Narrator: BUT FOR THE
JEWS WHO DIDN'T MAKE
KASTNER'S TRAIN TO
FREEDOM, IT WAS A HOLLOW
VICTORY, AND THE
NORMAL DEPORTATIONS TO
AUSCHWITZ CONTINUED.
Cesarani: WHY DIDN'T
THEY BROADCAST
INFORMATION ABOUT THE REPORT
TO THE JEWS OF HUNGARY?
AND THE ANSWER, I THINK,
IS THAT IT WAS POINTLESS.
THE SPEED AND THE
FEROCITY OF THE GERMAN
OCCUPATION, THE SPEED
OF THE ROUNDUPS
AND THE GHETTOIZATION,
AND THEN THE FEROCITY
WITH WHICH THE
DEPORTATIONS WERE
IMPLEMENTED MADE ANY
KIND OF RESPONSE ALMOST
IMPOSSIBLE TO
PUT INTO EFFECT.
Narrator: THROUGHOUT
EUROPE, JEWISH
RESISTANCE TO THE NAZIS
HAD ALREADY PROVED
FUTILE AT STOPPING
THE DEPORTATIONS.
Bauer: THERE WAS NO WAY
THAT JEWS COULD RESIST
A WHOLE ARMY.
THERE WAS NOTHING
THEY COULD DO,
NOTHING WHATSOEVER.
Narrator: THE JEWS OF
EUROPE NEEDED OUTSIDE
ASSISTANCE, BUT BY
THEN, VRBA AND WETZLER
HAD ALL BUT GIVEN UP
HOPE THAT THEIR REPORT
WOULD EVER TRIGGER
A COORDINATED
ALLIED RESPONSE.
COPIES HAD BEEN SENT TO
THE BRITISH, AMERICANS,
AND EVEN THE POPE,
BUT NOTHING HAD HAPPENED.
THEN IN JUNE OF 1944,
A COPY OF THE REPORT
MADE ITS WAY TO
BRITISH INTELLIGENCE.
IT CONFIRMED GROWING
ALLIED SUSPICIONS THAT
THE NAZIS WERE MURDERING
MILLIONS OF JEWS.
THE DOCUMENT WAS
IMMEDIATELY FORWARDED TO
TOP BRITISH
AND AMERICAN OFFICIALS.
ON JUNE 15, THE BBC
BROADCAST THE HORRIFIC
DETAILS OF THE REPORT.
5 DAYS LATER,
EXTRACTS WERE PUBLISHED
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.
THE NAZI SECRET
WAS FINALLY OUT.
AMERICA'S FIRST OFFICIAL
RESPONSE WAS TO THREATEN
REPRISALS AGAINST
ANYONE INVOLVED
IN THE HUNGARIAN
DEPORTATIONS.
THE VATICAN ADDED THE
POPE'S CONDEMNATION,
BUT DESPITE THE ALLIED
PRESSURE, ADMIRAL HORTHY,
THE HUNGARIAN
HEAD OF STATE AND PUPPET
TO HITLER, ALLOWED
THE DEPORTATIONS
TO CONTINUE.
ON JULY 2, THE U.S.
AIR FORCE ATTACKED BUDAPEST,
RAINING BOMBS
ON THE HUNGARIAN CAPITAL.
HORTHY BELIEVED THE RAID
WAS PUNISHMENT FOR HIS
REFUSAL TO STOP THE
DEPORTATIONS, BUT,
IN FACT, THE TIMING WAS
A COMPLETE COINCIDENCE.
QUITE BY CHANCE,
BY A SHEER ACCIDENT
OF HISTORY, THE AMERICANS
BOMBED BUDAPEST,
AND THE HUNGARIAN REGENT
ADMIRAL HORTHY IN A PANIC SAID,
"THIS DEPORTATION HAS TO STOP."
Narrator: THE TRAINS
GROUND TO A HALT.
MORE THAN 300,000
HUNGARIAN JEWS HAD
ALREADY BEEN SENT TO
THE GAS CHAMBERS,
BUT 120,000 OTHERS
HAD JUST BEEN SAVED,
75 TIMES MORE THAN
THE NUMBER RESCUED
BY RUDOLF KASTNER'S
FREEDOM TRAIN.
Gilbert: VRBA'S WORK HAD
HAD THIS AMAZING RESCUE
ASPECT TO HAVE SAVED ALL
THOSE LIVES, THE LARGEST
SINGLE RESCUE OF JEWS
IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
Klein: I THINK HE HAS
ACHIEVED WITH THIS
REPORT ALL AND MORE THAT
WAS POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE.
HE DID SAVE MY LIFE AND
THE LIFE OF OTHERS WHO
KNEW ABOUT THE REPORT.
Narrator:
VRBA AND WETZLER JOINED
THE CZECHOSLOVAK PARTISAN
RESISTANCE AND FOUGHT
THE NAZIS UNTIL
THE END OF THE WAR.
AS THE AMERICANS,
BRITISH, AND RUSSIANS
ADVANCED ON GERMANY
FROM ALL SIDES, THE NAZI
REIGN OF TERROR
BEGAN TO COLLAPSE.
THE RUSSIANS MOVED INTO POLAND,
AND ON JANUARY 27, 1945,
THEY LIBERATED AUSCHWITZ.
BY THEN, THE NAZIS HAD
KILLED AN ESTIMATED
1.5 MILLION PEOPLE THERE
IN LESS THAN 5 YEARS.
AFTER THE WAR,
RUDOLF KASTNER MOVED TO ISRAEL,
BUT HIS NEGOTIATIONS
WITH EICHMANN WERE NEVER
FORGOTTEN, AND HE WAS
ACCUSED OF COLLABORATING
WITH THE NAZIS.
Cesarani: OPINION
ABOUT KASTNER WAS
BITTERLY DIVIDED.
NATURALLY, THOSE WHO'D
GOT OUT ON THE TRAIN THAT
HE ORGANIZED WORSHIPED HIM.
HE HAD SAVED THEIR LIVES.
THOSE WHO HAD
BEEN ROUNDED UP
IN THE PROVINCES,
WHO FELT THEY'D BEEN LET
DOWN BY THE JEWISH
LEADERSHIP IN BUDAPEST,
THEY REGARDED HIM AS
LITTLE BETTER THAN
A TRAITOR, SOMEONE
WHO'D NEGOTIATED
WITH THE NAZIS, WHO HAD
SAVED A CHOSEN FEW
AND ABANDONED THEM.
Narrator: KASTNER DEFENDED HIS
CONTROVERSIAL ATTEMPTS
TO SAVE HUNGARIAN JEWS
AND EVENTUALLY SUED FOR LIBEL.
THE TRIAL THAT FOLLOWED
WAS HIGHLY POLITICAL,
AND KASTNER LOST, BUT AS
HE WAITED FOR AN APPEAL,
ZE'EV ECKSTEIN,
A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR
AND POSSIBLE ISRAELI
SECRET AGENT, TOOK
JUSTICE INTO
HIS OWN HANDS.
ON MARCH 3, 1957,
HE ASSASSINATED KASTNER
ON A TEL AVIV STREET.
Gilbert: BIZARRELY,
KASTNER SAVED
ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF
JEWS AS OSKAR SCHINDLER
SAVED, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS
ALLEGED THAT HE WAS
HELPING HIS FRIENDS
ESCAPE, KNOWING THAT
EVERYBODY ELSE WAS BEING
MURDERED, WHERE
THE TRUTH WAS HE WAS TESTING
EICHMANN'S PROMISE
IN THE BELIEF THAT THE
FEW WHO WERE BEING SAVED
THAT WEEK WERE JUST
THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
OF THE HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS WHO WERE
IN FACT GOING TO BE
SAVED AS SOON AS
THE GESTAPO-ALLY
DEAL WAS CLINCHED.
Cesarani: TO THIS DAY,
HE REMAINS
AN EXTRAORDINARILY
DIVISIVE FIGURE.
THOSE WHO REGARD HIM
AS A HERO WHO BARGAINED
WITH THE DEVIL AND
SOME WHO REGARD HIM AS
A TRAITOR WHO SOLD HIS
SOUL TO THE DEVIL.
Narrator: FRED WETZLER
STAYED IN SLOVAKIA.
HE MARRIED A FELLOW
SURVIVOR FROM AUSCHWITZ
AND BECAME A JOURNALIST
AND NEWSPAPER EDITOR.
RUDOLF VRBA MARRIED HIS
CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART,
GERTA SIDONOVA.
HE MOVED TO CANADA,
WHERE HE BECAME
AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
OF PHARMACOLOGY
AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
HE WAS NOT SOMEBODY
WHO WAS COMPLAINING OR
CRYING ABOUT WHAT HAS
HAPPENED OR BEING FULL
OF REGRETS, AND THE ONLY
REAL REGRET HE HAD WAS
THAT HE COULD NOT
SAVE MORE PEOPLE.
Gilbert: VRBA WAS
THE FIGURE WITHOUT WHOM NONE
OF THIS COULD
HAVE COME TO PASS.
VRBA WAS THE THREAD,
IF YOU LIKE, WHICH RAN
THROUGH THIS
EXTRAORDINARY STORY
OF DECEPTION AND RESCUE.
Narrator: FRED WETZLER
DIED IN 1988.
RUDOLF VRBA PASSED
AWAY IN 2006.
Announcer: NEXT TIME ON
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