Auschwitz (archives)
Photo: Reuters
Victims' message found in Auschwitz
Polish official says workers discovered bottle hidden in wall of a building next to concentration camp site containing scrap of paper on which prisoners who worked there had scrawled their names
A Polish official says workers had discovered a bottle hidden in the wall of a building next to the Auschwitz site containing a scrap of paper on which prisoners who worked there had scrawled their names.
On the crumpled scrap were written the names of seven Polish prisoners and one Frenchman, their camp numbers and cities of origin. All were aged 18 to 20 at the time, the note said.
Monika Bartosz, spokeswoman for a vocational school now occupying the building, said the bottle had been found during refurbishment work at the site, used as a warehouse by the Nazi SS during World War II.
Letters from Hell
Goel Beno
Notes written by Jews bidding farewell to their loved ones during Holocaust presented at Ghetto Fighters' Museum
"These buildings did not belong to the territory of the Auschwitz camp but in 1944 the prisoners were used to build a bomb shelter in the cellar of one of the SS warehouses. And that's where the bottle was found," said Bartosz.
The school plans to hand the scrap of paper - probably torn from a cement bag - to the museum at a ceremony soon, Bartosz said. She hoped relatives of those named could attend.
"This would be a beautiful end to this story," she said.
