DEATH CONVEYOR WAS STOPPED BY THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.
Part II. Heroic deed of the liberators should not be forgotten

In the survived prisoners’ memories image of the Red Army troops, image of the soldiers-liberators would forever remain sacred and clear. Although, during the era of crush of the Soviet ideology and collapse of the USSR itself, several "historians" — even the Russian ones, unfortunately — have doubted even that fact. At first our country was blamed for the "sluggishness" during the liberation of Auschwitz and then we were almost called the Hitler’s henchmen who assisted Nazi to kill the prisoners and cover their tracks. Polish activists, being the most zealous advocates of this theory, have, seemingly, forgotten about the participation of the Polish collaborationists in the Nazi persecutions on racial lines.

The end. The beginning is given here: http://www.win.ru/en/3335.phtml

Death factory

The most terrible lot awaited the most defenseless ones — the children. Here’s the recollections of Anatoly Vanukevich who was brought to Auschwitz in February of 1943 when he was 13 years old: "I’ve been there as a Byelorussian though I’m Jewish and I was born in Grodno. My father was a tailor from Warsaw so I’ve spoken Polish, Byelorussian and Russian...Germans invaded Grodno on the second day of the war, none of the Jews had the time to leave the city. At first we were prohibited to walk on the pavements, and then we were ordered to sew the yellow David stars to our clothes...Then was the ghetto. I was 11 years old at the moment and we, boys, have contrived to crawl out the ghetto through the barbed wire into the city and exchange our belongings for food.

I remember lots of people who were brought out of ghetto — we were told that they were to be resettled but in reality they were shot at the outskirts of the city. In the end of 1942 ghetto was liquidated, everyone was put into the freight wagons and sent to the Auschwitz. These wagons had just the small windows at the top — closed with the barbed wire, of course. No food or water. There were about 120 people in each wagon. A lot of them died on the way, I remember piles of corpses. These piles were used to crawl up to the windows with the children. Someone has stripped of the wire. My mother and father wrapped me into the coat ant threw me out of the window on-the-run. I remember only mother’s kisses and her scream: "Live on!" and then I was falling down.

In the morning, having ate some snow — I was terribly thirsty — I went to the forest to look for any kind of food. But before that I’ve tore the yellow stars off my clothes and dug them into the ground. I was wearing a Budenny cap with a red star — my father made it for me — and the thought that I had better taken it off never occurred to me. I was wandering in the forest for few days before the Nazi policemen seized me. Because of this cap they’ve taken me for the partisan and brought to Gestapo. I remember walking the streets of Katowice town and the passerby were shouting: "Partisan! Bolshevik!" I still can’t find the strength to recall the tortures of the Gestapo prison. I was put into the cell with the Polish "political" prisoners. They’ve instilled me: "Forget that you’re Jewish! You are Pole, you have a Polish name. And when the Russians came, they’ve listed everyone as Byelorussians. So you are Pole by origin and Byelorussian according to the documents. Tell everyone that you dropped behind the train and lost your parents".



I’ve come through the awful tortures but still couldn’t say where the partisans were. So I was sent to Auschwitz. In the basement of the 18th bloc where I fetched myself were the boys aged from 7 to 15. There were about 500 of us. At first we were quarantined, then we were made to memorize our numbers in German, we learnt how to form the ranks, to fall into step, execute the commands: to the right, to the left, take off the cap, put on the cap...Mьtze abreiЯen, Mьtze auf... We were wearing the wooden stock on our feet so we’ve quickly rubbed the bloody sores. Three times a day there were the formations at the Appellplatz, they’ve lasted very long, and the whole camp population was counted. Many of us couldn’t endure it, those who fell were carried away and we’ve never seen them anymore.

I used to work as the painter’s apprentice, other boys — as the apprentices of the electrician, roofer, plumber... The elder men were caring and merciful to us. There was a large underground network in Auschwitz and I was often used as the liaison: every now and then I had to deliver the note to another bloc or carry out some other assignment. Once I used to work at the meat processing factory outside of the camp and I was told to steal three sticks of boiled sausage for the sick. I was scraggy and I was prepared really scrupulously: other underground members were fitting the sausage at me and tying it to me — everyone thought that no one would be able to notice it. But the dogs have smelled the meat. I was pulled out of the rank, brought to the Appellplatz where were the gallows’. I was put onto the stool under the gallows and ordered to hold the sausage in my hands. This way I’ve stood for few hours. Finally Rudolf Hцss — camp commandant — who was a little drunken, came and started to beat me with his lash, repeating that I am a swine, goddamn swine. I fell to the ground, having dropped the sausage. I was trying to get up on my feet but fell again and again...Suddenly Hцss shouted at me: "Laus! Schnell!" — and drove me to my bloc.

We all knew that the only way out of the camp was through the chimney. Up to the sky as a smoke. So what was the difference when would it happen? Many people couldn’t bear anymore — they ran into the barbed wire, cut their veins. Many tried to escape. But they were caught and then all the barrack soldiers shot or hanged them. We were told to spit on their bodies. All I desired was to survive until the liberation. We all dreamed about it saying that it would be great to live at least a day after the war. So we could tell everyone our story. We’ve seen transports with people coming to the camp. I’ve seen a crowd of nude women: they were undressed in the street and their heads were shaved. I saw how children were tearing off the mother’s breasts and were thrown into the ditches with fire alive. I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it all! Their shouts were creepy! The revolts also took place, however.

Once, a woman managed to bring a gun and shot three Germans. As a punishment, everyone who was brought that day was killed without even assorting. We were constantly praying. And there was a feeling that someone was watching us from the sky. There was a ksiądz1 among us — he went to the gas chamber instead of the other person...Once a week weakened prisoners were assorted: we were undressed, poured with the cold water from the hose and the doctors assorted us: these — to the left and their numbers were written down, those — to the right, they can work a bit more. And everyone knew that those who were appointed to the left group were to be called to the crematorium in a day or two. So the ksiądz just went there instead of another man. Gas chambers were to work without interruption and that was it".

From Auschwitz Germans sent Anatoly Vanukevich to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp and from there to the Nordhausen camp in February of 1945. When the Americans came, he weighed 15 kilos and 300 grams. Americans offered him to go to the USA but Vanukevich urged to go home: he hoped that some of his relatives were alive. When he came back to Grodno, it turned out that the house of his parents was intact. He opened the wicket gate and his dog rushed to him: it recognized him and started to lick. During the first nights at home boy was waking up at night and executed the commands: "Mьtze abreiЯen, Mьtze auf"...

^{Executions wall (Auschwitz I)}

Heroes are not afraid of the slander

In the survived prisoners’ memories image of the Red Army troops, image of the soldiers-liberators would forever remain sacred and clear. Although, during the era of crush of the Soviet ideology and collapse of the USSR itself several "historians" — even the Russian ones, unfortunately — have doubted even that fact. At first our country was blamed for the "sluggishness" during the liberation of Auschwitz and then we were almost called the Hitler’s henchmen who assisted Nazi to kill the prisoners and cover their tracks. On the peak of the anti-Soviet and anti-Russian hysteria, Polish activists, being the most zealous advocates of this theory, have, seemingly, forgotten about the participation of the Polish collaborationists in the Nazi persecutions on racial lines — thanks to that numerous Polish citizens, particularly Jews, became the victims of the death camps. National-radicals have successfully consigned the following fact to oblivion — the only political organization making real efforts to save the Jews from the complete extermination were the Polish communists whom they hate so much for being the "Hand of Moscow".

In 2005 UN General Assembly have adopted a resolution that proclaimed the 27th of January — Auschwitz liberation day to be the International day of the Holocaust victims commemoration. On the 24th of November, 2009 the JEC (Jewish European Committee) leadership met with Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs. During this meeting different issues were discussed: fight against xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism, consolidation of the European tolerance, disarmament, prevention of the nuclear catastrophe, saving the memories of the past events. After that President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev received the JEC delegation. Its representatives addressed Dmitry Medvedev with an offer to officially proclaim the 27th of January to be the day of Auschwitz death camp liberation by the Soviet Army — in order to mark out the decisive role of the USSR in the victory over Nazism.

On the 8th of January, 2010 Polish President sent Russian President Dmitry Medvedev an invitation to take part in the commemoration events of the 65th anniversary of the day when the prisoners of the fascist concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau were liberated. At the background of the Russo-Polish relations of the last few years that were far from warm this sign seems to be encouraging.

By Alla Eroshkina, Alexey Vovchenko