Alfréd Wetzler
Encyclopedia
Alfréd Israel Wetzler who later wrote under the alias Jozef Lánik, was a Slovak
Jew, and one of a very small number of Jews known to have escaped from the Auschwitz death camp
during the Holocaust. Wetzler was born on 10 May 1918, in the Slovak town of Trnava
where he was a worker in the period 1936-1940. Wetzler is known for the report that he and his fellow escapee, Rudolf Vrba
, compiled about the inner workings of the Auschwitz camp - a ground plan of the camp, construction details of the gas chambers, crematoriums and, most convincingly, a label from a canister of Zyklon gas. The 32-page Vrba-Wetzler report
, as it became known, was the first detailed report about Auschwitz to reach the West that the Allies
regarded as credible. The evidence eventually led to the bombing of several government buildings in Hungary
, killing Nazi officials who were instrumental in the railway deportations of Jews to Auschwitz. The deportations halted, saving up to 120,000 Hungarian Jews.
Wetzler was sent to the Birkenau
(Auschwitz II) camp in 1942 and escaped from it with Vrba on 7 April 1944. Using the pen name Jozef Lanik, he wrote up the story of his experiences in Slovak as Auschwitz, Tomb of Four Million People, a factual account of the Wetzler-Vrba report and of other witnesses, and later a fictionalized account called What Dante Did Not See.
The historian Sir Martin Gilbert
said: "Alfred Wetzler was a true hero. His escape from Auschwitz, and the report he helped compile, telling for the first time the truth about the camp as a place of mass murder, led directly to saving the lives of thousands of Jews - the Jews of Budapest who were about to be deported to their deaths. No other single act in the Second World War saved so many Jews from the fate that Hitler had determined for them."
After the war, Wetzler worked as an editor (1945-1950), worked in Bratislava
(1950-1955) and on an agricultural farm (1955-1970). After 1970 he stopped working, as being an invalid. Alfréd Wetzler died in Bratislava in 1988.
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
Jew, and one of a very small number of Jews known to have escaped from the Auschwitz death camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
during the Holocaust. Wetzler was born on 10 May 1918, in the Slovak town of Trnava
Trnava
Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...
where he was a worker in the period 1936-1940. Wetzler is known for the report that he and his fellow escapee, Rudolf Vrba
Rudolf Vrba
Rudolf "Rudi" Vrba, born Walter Rosenberg was a Slovak-Canadian professor of pharmacology at the University of British Columbia, who came to public attention during the Second World War when, in April 1944, he escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland with the first...
, compiled about the inner workings of the Auschwitz camp - a ground plan of the camp, construction details of the gas chambers, crematoriums and, most convincingly, a label from a canister of Zyklon gas. The 32-page Vrba-Wetzler report
Vrba-Wetzler report
The Vrba-Wetzler report, also known as the Vrba-Wetzler statement, the Auschwitz Protocols, and the Auschwitz notebook, is a 32-page document about the German Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland during the Holocaust...
, as it became known, was the first detailed report about Auschwitz to reach the West that the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
regarded as credible. The evidence eventually led to the bombing of several government buildings in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, killing Nazi officials who were instrumental in the railway deportations of Jews to Auschwitz. The deportations halted, saving up to 120,000 Hungarian Jews.
Wetzler was sent to the Birkenau
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
(Auschwitz II) camp in 1942 and escaped from it with Vrba on 7 April 1944. Using the pen name Jozef Lanik, he wrote up the story of his experiences in Slovak as Auschwitz, Tomb of Four Million People, a factual account of the Wetzler-Vrba report and of other witnesses, and later a fictionalized account called What Dante Did Not See.
The historian Sir Martin Gilbert
Martin Gilbert
Sir Martin John Gilbert, CBE, PC is a British historian and Fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford. He is the author of over eighty books, including works on the Holocaust and Jewish history...
said: "Alfred Wetzler was a true hero. His escape from Auschwitz, and the report he helped compile, telling for the first time the truth about the camp as a place of mass murder, led directly to saving the lives of thousands of Jews - the Jews of Budapest who were about to be deported to their deaths. No other single act in the Second World War saved so many Jews from the fate that Hitler had determined for them."
After the war, Wetzler worked as an editor (1945-1950), worked in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
(1950-1955) and on an agricultural farm (1955-1970). After 1970 he stopped working, as being an invalid. Alfréd Wetzler died in Bratislava in 1988.
See also
- Bibliography of The Holocaust
- Auschwitz concentration campAuschwitz concentration campConcentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
- Rudolf VrbaRudolf VrbaRudolf "Rudi" Vrba, born Walter Rosenberg was a Slovak-Canadian professor of pharmacology at the University of British Columbia, who came to public attention during the Second World War when, in April 1944, he escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland with the first...
- Vrba-Wetzler reportVrba-Wetzler reportThe Vrba-Wetzler report, also known as the Vrba-Wetzler statement, the Auschwitz Protocols, and the Auschwitz notebook, is a 32-page document about the German Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland during the Holocaust...