The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp – a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers – has died at the age of 108, an official said Monday.
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there. - Associated Press 10/22/12∼Antoni was the oldest known living survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was 108 years old when he died on Sunday, 21 October 2012 in the northwestern Polish town of Debno (Dembno). Dêbno [ˈdɛmbnɔ] (German: Neudamm) is a town in Myœlibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 13,863 (2004).
Antoni was a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of the Nazi occupiers and participated in the effort to educate children beyond the mandated 4th grade limit imposed by the Nazis. He was sent to Auschwitz for his actions in June 1942, and remained there until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
∼WARSAW, Poland The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers has died at the age of 108, an official said Monday.
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Mr. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Mr. Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904, in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday today.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there.
Printed in NorthJersey.com 10/24/12
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there. - Associated Press 10/22/12∼Antoni was the oldest known living survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was 108 years old when he died on Sunday, 21 October 2012 in the northwestern Polish town of Debno (Dembno). Dêbno [ˈdɛmbnɔ] (German: Neudamm) is a town in Myœlibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 13,863 (2004).
Antoni was a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of the Nazi occupiers and participated in the effort to educate children beyond the mandated 4th grade limit imposed by the Nazis. He was sent to Auschwitz for his actions in June 1942, and remained there until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
∼WARSAW, Poland The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers has died at the age of 108, an official said Monday.
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Mr. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Mr. Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904, in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday today.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there.
Printed in NorthJersey.com 10/24/12
The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp – a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers – has died at the age of 108, an official said Monday.
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there. - Associated Press 10/22/12∼Antoni was the oldest known living survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was 108 years old when he died on Sunday, 21 October 2012 in the northwestern Polish town of Debno (Dembno). Dêbno [ˈdɛmbnɔ] (German: Neudamm) is a town in Myœlibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 13,863 (2004).
Antoni was a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of the Nazi occupiers and participated in the effort to educate children beyond the mandated 4th grade limit imposed by the Nazis. He was sent to Auschwitz for his actions in June 1942, and remained there until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
∼WARSAW, Poland The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers has died at the age of 108, an official said Monday.
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Mr. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Mr. Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904, in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday today.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there.
Printed in NorthJersey.com 10/24/12
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there. - Associated Press 10/22/12∼Antoni was the oldest known living survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was 108 years old when he died on Sunday, 21 October 2012 in the northwestern Polish town of Debno (Dembno). Dêbno [ˈdɛmbnɔ] (German: Neudamm) is a town in Myœlibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 13,863 (2004).
Antoni was a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of the Nazi occupiers and participated in the effort to educate children beyond the mandated 4th grade limit imposed by the Nazis. He was sent to Auschwitz for his actions in June 1942, and remained there until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904 in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday.
∼WARSAW, Poland The oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp a teacher who gave lessons in defiance of his native Poland's Nazi occupiers has died at the age of 108, an official said Monday.
Antoni Dobrowolski died Sunday in the northwestern Polish town of Debno, according to Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a spokesman at the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.
After invading Poland in 1939, sparking World War II, the Germans banned anything beyond four years of elementary education in a bid to crush Polish culture and the country's intelligentsia. The Germans considered the Poles inferior beings, and the education policy was part of a plan to use Poles as a "slave race."
An underground effort by Poles to continue to teach children immediately emerged, with those caught punished by being sent to concentration camps or prisons. Mr. Dobrowolski was among the Poles engaged in the underground effort, and he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz in June 1942.
"Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell," he recalled in a video made when he was 103.
Mr. Dobrowolski, who was born Oct. 8, 1904, in Wolborz, Poland, was later moved to the concentration camps of Gross-Rosen and Sachsenhausen, according to the Auschwitz memorial museum in southern Poland.
After the war, he moved to Debno, where he worked as a Polish-language teacher and as principal at an elementary school and later at a high school for many years.
He will be buried in Debno on Wednesday today.
At least 1.1 million people were killed by the Germans at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Most of the victims were Jews, but many non-Jewish Poles, Roma and others were also killed there.
Printed in NorthJersey.com 10/24/12
Gravesite Details
Facts for this biography were obtained by a news story from ABC news website.
