BLReed
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,676
With its powerful 2.3-litre engine, the Steyr 220 was by far the fastest car in Auschwitz. As a result, it was often used by the camp’s feared commandant, SS-Lieu tenant Colonel Rudolf Hoess, to whisk him to Berlin for meetings.
However, one Saturday afternoon in the middle of June 1942, the sedan had been commandeered from the motor pool by a relatively lowly SS-Second Lieutenant, who was accompanied by three SS NCOs. As the car approached the main gate of the death camp, the four men grew increasingly anxious. One of them was so nervous that his face was ashen-white, and his brow covered in sweat.
Had the men really been members of the SS, of course, they would not have worried about the ever-nearing checkpoint, which was manned by their fellow members of the notoriously murderous unit. But the men’s uniforms belied their true identities. They were in fact Polish prisoners, who had not only appropriated the uniforms from a storeroom, but also stolen the car. Each man knew all too well what fate they would all suffer if their attempt to escape from Auschwitz was rumbled.
Read More
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5260807/The-amazing-story-Auschwitz-escapees.html
However, one Saturday afternoon in the middle of June 1942, the sedan had been commandeered from the motor pool by a relatively lowly SS-Second Lieutenant, who was accompanied by three SS NCOs. As the car approached the main gate of the death camp, the four men grew increasingly anxious. One of them was so nervous that his face was ashen-white, and his brow covered in sweat.
Had the men really been members of the SS, of course, they would not have worried about the ever-nearing checkpoint, which was manned by their fellow members of the notoriously murderous unit. But the men’s uniforms belied their true identities. They were in fact Polish prisoners, who had not only appropriated the uniforms from a storeroom, but also stolen the car. Each man knew all too well what fate they would all suffer if their attempt to escape from Auschwitz was rumbled.
Read More
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5260807/The-amazing-story-Auschwitz-escapees.html