Every prisoner at Auschwitz dreamt of escaping. Many hatched plans, some made attempts, almost all failed and paid the ultimate price. Of the handful who succeeded, one stands out not only for his courage but also for his sheer, breathtaking audacity.
Kazimierz Piechowski’s escape plan was simplicity itself. He would dress up in an SS officer’s uniform and drive out of the camp in the commandant’s car.
For this to work he needed a little help and a lot of luck. Prisoners tended to work in groups – known as “blocks” — of about 20. Because Piechowski knew that ten prisoners from the same “block” would be executed for every one who attempted to escape, he decided to create a “fake block” of four workers, himself included.
On June 20, 1942, the four pulled a cart containing kitchen waste towards the “inner” entrance gate, the one across which the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign was arched. Piechowski, a German speaker, told the guard that they were Rollwagenkommando (haulage detail). It was not true, but he hoped that the guard would not bother to confirm this by checking his duty list. They were able to walk freely out of the main camp and towards the storage building near the “outer” entrance gate. This they entered via a trap door covering a coal chute that Piechowski, who worked in the storerooms, had earlier unbolted from the inside. They then broke into the room on the second floor where the SS officers’ uniforms were kept. As one of the prisoners was a mechanic who helped to repair the camp’s staff cars, he had been able to make a copy of a garage key. They used this to break in and steal the Steyr 220 convertible belonging to Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of Auschwitz.
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