The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz
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When Ernie was asked at the end of his story what advice he would give future generations he said: ‘For evil to succeed all that was needed was for the righteous to do nothing.’ I was thrilled to hear his words. From the moment we began working on the book I had repeated the same maxim endlessly to Rob like only a man in his nineties can and now there it was, the same sentiment on Ernie’s lips. I was struggling to contain myself as he went on. It was too good to be true. ‘You cannot let things go,’ he said. ‘You have to fight for what you believe and you can’t be passive, you cannot let somebody else do it for you. If you have to be aggressive to reach your goal and take a stand, then do it.’ With that Ernie – the friend I helped but had never really known – shrugged his shoulders, smiled and thanked his interviewer. His story was over and so was mine.
Behind the house the winter sun was dropping in the sky, casting long shadows and turning Win Hill the colour of rust.
‘Ernie got it,’ I said afterwards. ‘His experience taught him that you’ve got to fight for what’s right. It gets you into a lot of trouble but he came to the same conclusion as me.’ People think it could never happen again and particularly that it could never happen here. Don’t you believe it; it doesn’t take much.
I will always regret not tracking Ernst down when he was alive and if I had known he was in America I would have gone and found him without doubt.
The Great Architect had turned his back on Auschwitz, I am convinced of that, but I knew when I talked to Ernie the day was a little brighter and that’s something you never forget. Now as an old man there is at least one face in that crowd that I can reflect on and say to myself: I did what I could.
I had always remained positive even as a POW and in a strange way I had convinced myself, rightly or not, that I was still the master of my own fate, that I was taking the initiative. Ernie and Makki had used their intelligence and made the very best of their chances and still, on the flip of a coin – the choice of a word, ‘electrician’ or ‘locksmith’ – Ernie survived and his friend had died.
No one can claim a monopoly on another’s salvation; Ernie Lobet was the hero of his story, but I am proud to have played a small part in helping one man through the obscenity of Auschwitz. After that it was up to him.
A part of me died in there but I stayed angry even when there was little I could do. I admit I have left it late but now people are prepared to listen and I want my story to do some good, that’s all I ever really wanted.
I can still pack a bit more in even at my age but I have had a very good life and I’ve lived it to the full. And, as I like to say, I’ve filled the book.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Audrey for her endless patience, love and support over the many years we have spent together; for her understanding and above all for keeping my feet firmly on the ground and putting up with me in both good and hard times. She is my harshest critic and greatest friend. I am most grateful to Sir Martin Gilbert for finding the time in a very busy schedule to offer his generous feedback on the manuscript which was most gratefully received. Thanks to Lord Janner, Karen Pollock and the team at the Holocaust Educational Trust for their on-going help and support. Their work is beyond value. Thanks to Gordon and Sarah Brown for inviting me to Downing Street and to Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove and Ed Balls for their interest in the story. I would like to add a special tribute to the work of the Red Cross whose food parcels gave the POWs hope and lifesaving nutrition in equal measure.
Denis Avey
I would like to add my thanks to Audrey for her patience and hospitality during the endless days of interviewing, for her warmth, openness and a boundless sense of fun. What I have unleashed has not always been easy for her to deal with but she has been wonderful throughout. She managed it with a great sense of humour and entertained us all through many wonderful evenings of honest discussion and laughter over a sherbet or two. Long may it continue.
Can I also thank Regi and the children Jan and Anja for supporting me through a momentous year. It was hard going and you were wonderful – as you always are – especially when I am under great pressure. Thanks also to Mark James, Simon Enright, Jonathan Chapman, Saleem Patka, Wanda Petrusewicz, Richard Jackson and Andrew Whitehead at the BBC for smoothing the way for me to cut my hours to work on the book, and at a time when the BBC World Service – the jewel in the crown – is suffering so badly from budget cuts. A special mention to Patrick Howse, who grasped the significance of Denis’ testimony from the outset, for his hard work and friendship. He is a man of boundless enthusiasm who embodies the best ideals of the corporation. Likewise thanks to David Edmonds for his wise counsel and to Kevin Bakhurst at the BBC News Channel and to Jeremy Skeet and Kirsty Reid at Bush House for their enthusiasm for the story. Thanks also to Joanne McNally for putting me onto the story of the POW camps near Auschwitz many years ago.
Above all I would like to pay tribute to my friend and mentor James Long for his constant advice and guidance, leading me through the world of publishing, assisting with research, and helping me edit and structure the manuscript. Always dependable, he was a source of great inspiration and energy and calmed my nerves on many occasions. Whether it be assisting in an unsuccessful attempt to break into a hotel after a late night locked-out or fixing an ‘aga’ whilst going on about cars, he was always there. When a ‘desperado’ was called for James was on hand. I couldn’t have done it without him.
Rob Broomby
Together we would both like to express our deepest gratitude to Susanne Timms, a truly remarkable woman, who along with Peter James and Lynn Amari offered their trust, friendship and encouragement. They provided the missing link in the story and they have brought great comfort. Their input cannot be measured. We only wish we had all had the chance to get to know each other much sooner.
Thanks also to Shirley Spector for her kind words – I hope one day we will all meet – and to Henry Kamm – a new friend – for his wisdom and advice, above all for getting in touch in the first place and for taking a stranger into his home and making him welcome. A mention too for the Warwick family for their part in solving the mystery and to Michael Wood who opened the door at the right moment and saved the day; without him all would have been lost. A very special acknowledgement is due of course to the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education Archive for its marvellous work, without which so many stories would have been lost forever and for its kind permission to use the Ernie Lobet testimony (No 4365) without which parts of this particular story may never have come to light. Likewise to the staff of the Auschwitz archive for their input and to Freddie Knoller for his comments.
We are both immensely grateful to Rupert Lancaster at Hodder & Stoughton for his foresight, wisdom and confidence in the book from the beginning and of course to our agent Jane Turnbull who has smoothed the way allowing it all to happen so rapidly.
Rob Broomby and Denis Avey
PICTURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Author’s collection. Courtesy of BBC News. © Getty Images. © Imperial War Museum London. © Dave Poole. Courtesy of The State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim. Courtesy of Suzanne Timms. © Yakir Zur. Image taken from the videotaped interview of Ernest Lobet provided by the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, www.college.usc.edu/vhi.
The Holocaust Educational Trust
Founded by Lord Janner of Braunstone and the late Lord Merlyn-Rees, the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) was formed in 1988. HET was developed by MPs and Peers as a result of a renewed interest and a need for knowledge about the Holocaust, during the passage of the War Crimes Act in the late 1980s.
Our aim is to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust and its relevance today in schools and amongst the wider public. We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory.
One of HET’s first achievements was to ensure that
the Holocaust was included in the National Curriculum in 1991 – for Key Stage 3 students (11–14 year olds). We also successfully campaigned to have the assets of Holocaust victims and survivors released and returned to their rightful owners.
Having played a crucial role in the establishment, delivery and development of Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK, HET continues to play a key role in the delivery of the day.
We work in schools and higher education institutions, providing teacher training workshops and lectures, as well as teaching aids and resource materials.
The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project for post-16 students and teachers is now in its thirteenth year and has taken more than 12,000 students and teachers from across the UK to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
You can find out more about the Holocaust Educational Trust at
www.het.org.uk
Me and my ‘Lads Army’. I am the first from the left holding a French bayonet. The villagers gave me the nickname ‘Ero’.
Hands in pockets with friends at Butlin’s Holiday Camp Skegness, late 1930s.
My father George enjoying a day by the sea.
Sitting on the running board of my Wolsey Hornet Trinity at Butlin’s, late 1930s.
My sister Winifred and I during my brief embarkation leave prior to leaving for Egypt in August, 1940.
During training at Winchester, 1939-40. I am on the left.
Myself (right) with Charles Calistan (centre) and Cecil Plummer (left) relaxing in Cairo before going to the desert, 1940. Charles and I had friendly boxing matches. He was an Anglo-Indian who won both the Military Medal and the DCM and I believe should have had the Victoria Cross too for his bravery at El Alamein. He was killed in Italy in 1944.
A British Bren gun carrier in Egypt, 1940. The driver and commander dropped down behind the armour during combat but we were open to the air and vulnerable to grenades. The Bren gunner behind was the most exposed.
A British soldier fixing the tracks on a Bren gun carrier, a job I did many times in the desert.
Italian prisoners resting after a long march are guarded by a Bren gun carrier in the Western Desert, December 1940.
A Bren gunner in action around Tobruk, late 1941.
A Ukrainian woman called Paulina (left) and an unknown friend. She worked in the offices of one of the German engineers at the IG Farben site and tipped off the POWs when shipments of materials were expected so we could plan sabotage. I carried the photo home inside my uniform.
A corner of the sprawling IG Farben site showing the building we POWs called the Queen Mary because of its chimneys. The site contained many separate construction sites and miles of pipework on overhead gantries.
The South Africa football team at E715. I am on the left of the front row. I have always suspected the photographs were a propaganda ploy by the Wehrmacht to distinguish their handling of the POWs from the SS treatment of the Jews.
Prisoners marching from the direction of Buna-Monowitz (Auschwitz III) towards IG Farben, a journey I made twice. The striped uniforms of the concentration camp prisoners can be seen towards the back of the column. The SS barracks are visible in the distance and the legs of a watchtower and a small earth covered bomb shelter for the Postens are in the foreground. The entrance to Auschwitz III is hidden behind the watchtower.
Huts believed to be part of Auschwitz III in the snow.
At my desk as Chief Engineer of UMP in the 1960s. I had a successful business career but it was years before my nightmares about Auschwitz III eased.
The receipt for compensation offered by the British Government for my time spent as a POW. I thought it was an insult.
Riding Ryedale after a dressage competition, part of a three day event.
Audrey and I enjoying an evening together.
Susanne and Ernst Lobethal as children in pre-war Breslau.
Ernst as a young man. He changed his name to Ernie Lobet on reaching America. I was shocked to learn that, having survived Auschwitz Ernie was drafted to fight in the Korean War.
Meeting Ernie’s sister Susanne again after sixty-four years. When we first met in 1945 I was a deeply traumatised soldier unable to bring her any comfort about the fate of her brother.
Ernie (Ernst) Lobet, taken from his remarkable video testimony for the Shoah Foundation. This was how I first heard his story.
Head to head with prime minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street on 22 January 2010 when I was presented with a medal as one of twenty-seven British Heroes of the Holocaust. All but two of us received the award posthumously.
September 2010: now I can talk about those terrible times, I feel as if a load is slowly lifting.