Antoni Dobrowolski (October 8, 1904 – October 21, 2012) was a Polish educator, teacher and

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

survivor. At the time of his death in 2012, Dobrowolski was the oldest known survivor of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

. Dobrowolski was born in Wolborz, present-day Poland, on October 8, 1904. Nazi German authorities limited the education of ethnic Polish children to only four years during the

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: * Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

in order to undermine

Polish culture The culture of Poland ( pl, Kultura Polski ) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Polish culture forms an important part of western civilization and ...

. Despite the ban, Dobrowolski joined the Secret Teaching Organization to provide underground education in

occupied Poland ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

, according to Auschwitz historian Adam Cyra. Dobrowolski was discovered and arrested in June 1942 by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

. He was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was assigned the prisoner number 38081. Dobrowolski later recalled that "Auschwitz was worse than

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

's hell." He was transferred to the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

and

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

, remaining a prisoner until his release in 1945. He moved to Debno, Poland, following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

following his liberation. He worked as an elementary school teacher, before becoming the director of a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Dorbrowolski died on October 21, 2012, in Debno, Poland, at the age of 108. He was the oldest known survivor of Auschwitz at the time.

References

1904 births 2012 deaths Polish educators Polish centenarians Men centenarians Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors People from Dębno {{Poland-academic-bio-stub

See also

References