Thread by @marinamaral2

AUGUST KOWALCZYK is a Polish actor.

In reaction to the occupation of Poland, he intended to join the Armia Krajowa as a resistance fighter. However, while traveling to Slovakia to enlist, he was captured by the Nazis and labeled as a political prisoner.

facesofauschwitz.com/gallery/august…

One month after his transfer to the penal company, August and 42 other prisoners revolted against their Nazi captors and attempted to break out of the camp. During the revolt, 13 prisoners were killed.

Only August and eight others managed to earn their freedom.

On November 9, 1945, August made his theatrical debut as a stage actor with the Polish Theatre in Warsaw.

Read more: facesofauschwitz.com/gallery/august…

“I approached the clothing without any anxiety, put on my trousers, shirt and an overcoat. I had earlier ripped off the rags with my number on them in order to keep the escape anonymous. I approached the previously prepared shovel, put it on my shoulder...

... took a few steps towards the SS man, took aim and lunged, but he sprang to his feet as if he were really on a spring. My mates fled. I dropped the shovel on the ground and tried to get out of the SS man’s field of view ...

... He shot. 10 metres, 8, 6… He whacked me with the gun barrel on the shoulders. I turned back. Another fugitive emerged, the SS man followed him, I turned again, and with two other mates we ran into the bushes and went on running.

I started the ‘striptease’ I had planned earlier. One boot went one way, the other-the other way. I put on the running shoes that I had managed to take from one of the German Kapos. The idea was to deceive the police dogs that the SS used.

"The jacket, the shirt, and the trousers followed the boots - I tossed them all the way into the bushes. I was only in my boxer shorts and the trainers." - Excerpts from an account by August Kowalczyk, recorded at the meeting held on 10 June 2012.

For many years, August used his fame to promote the Auschwitz Memorial Site (@AuschwitzMuseum) and the International Centre of Education on Auschwitz and the Holocaust.

On July 31st, 2012, not long after attending the observation of the 70th anniversary of his escape from the concentration camp, August Kowalczyk died of cancer at the age of 90.

facesofauschwitz.com/gallery/august…