Werner's Profile
Source: In this incredible report of World War II, Werner Barasch tells the story of his youth as a refugee and prisoner in Europe. Survivor is a remarkable coming of age tale and another important testament of the resilience of the human spirit to be added to the annals of Holocaust history.
About Werner
My name is Werner Barasch. I was born on May 27, 1919 in Breslau, then Germany, shortly before my family moved to Berlin, where I went to elementary and junior high schools until Hitler came to power in 1933. My parents then arranged for my emigration to Italy so I could continue my education, while my sister was able to get to England, and my mother traveled to care for both of us. My father stayed home until he was killed in the concentration camp of Sachsenhausen and reported "cremated at public expense".
I was very graciously received in Italy, first in boarding school in the Alps, then in public school in Rome, until Hitler invaded in 1938 with his Gestapo, whereupon I had to flee to Switzerland. There, I soon received a notice of expulsion as an "undesirable foreigner" and fled to France, where I was arrested as a German when WWII broke out. From then on, I kept escaping, being re-arrested, transferred to prisons and concentration camps, evading transports to death camps, and running away many times, in various location in France and again in Switzerland, to end up in Spain, where the miserable treatment ended when France stopped supporting Hitler as the fortunes of war changed.
Experiences
At the popular level, i.e. of soldiers draftees, and police, there were significant differences experienced by civilian refugees, which I can report either directly or through witnesses.
Among the countries cooperating in the Holocaust, there was Italy, where the treatment was most humane, and if anyone tried to escape, they just shrugged their shoulders; the Italians never had their heart in the persecution, but they were under German occupation. Next came France — beatings were rare, and they did not kill, just handed the victims to Germany. Then came Spain: they routinely engaged in beating, and killing of any of their charges trying to get away, and were more vigilant. Finally the Germans, who killed not only those trying to escape, but all other inmates, es too.
The Book
Today, terrorism still exists in many countries, but the German government has presided to a complete reversal of morality: it has accorded the most generous treatment to refugees and virtually introduced the term "right of asylum", a concept unknown at the time. We must help them to contain terrorism of any shape or color. This was my main purpose in publishing SURVIVOR also in German. After years of searching in vain for a publisher in the USA at least of the English version, I found one for both versions in Germany, where the book is being well received, and has been authorized as recommended reading in schools by the government and local school boards.
This acceptance constitutes one of the greatest satisfactions of my life, because it represents a peaceful campaign against terrorism, and a contribution to the education of future generations about the extreme consequences of prejudice, intolerance, and hatred in one of the most important members of the European community.
Surviving
My survival carries the imperative to counteract intolerance, hatred, anti-semitism and other forms of terrorism in any country by peaceful means, by supporting all efforts, government or private, to do so.
My father's last thought and testament: "Werner, you must survive. I know you can do it! Remember I told you only top performance is worthy of you! And that admonition also applies to everyone of us here and now..." So, how did I perform, how did I do it I do it?
The keys to my survival appeared to be beyond the reach of most of my fellow inmates:
- The attitude, not of a victim, but of one whom life has presented with a challenge, a problem he is mandated to solve
- Some carefully planned strategies
- My secret weapon, a weapon that could not be detected nor hurt anybody, but was most effective when used: the disappearing act. I call this the "do-it-yourself resistance"