I stole a dead Frenchman’s uniform at Auschwitz.. it saved my life
AN Auschwitz survivor has told how he escaped death by stealing the uniform of a dead French prisoner.
Freddie Knoller, 96, who took part in the French resistance, tricked the Nazi guards by swapping his yellow star for the Frenchman’s badge.
Mr Knoller told his remarkable story to Prince William, 35, at the Imperial War Museum, South London, yesterday. The Holocaust survivor explained how he evaded the Nazis in early 1945 while on a death march from Auschwitz.
He said of the prison guard: “I showed him my striped uniform. This saved my life because it doesn’t show the number of a Jew. When I put it on, they thought I was a French political prisoner.”
Mr Knoller was then taken to Dora concentration camp for slave labour, before being moved to Bergen-Belsen, where he was liberated by the British. He took the Duke of Cambridge to see the badge, which is on display at the museum. Mr Knoller said: “I showed him my striped uniform. He was amazed, actually.”
William told Mr Knoller, Ted Cordery, 94, and John Harrison, 103 – who both served on HMS Belfast – about his “sobering” visit to a concentration camp with wife, Kate, 35. He said: “Catherine and I were in Poland earlier this year. We had a very eye-opening tour around Stutthof.” The prince is the new President of the Imperial War Museum Foundation.