A Holocaust survivor has recalled the dramatic and emotional moment he was freed from a concentration camp by Russian soldiers.
In the video, put together by Buzzfeed, the unnamed survivor speaks of his time in the camps and the horrors he went through daily.
The elderly man speaks in a terrifyingly dispassionate way about the ‘crying, screaming and praying’ that used to keep him awake through the night, and how it wasn’t uncommon to wake up next to people who went to sleep and never woke up.
His only respite from the hideousness of the barracks were two Polish boys who he made friends with, and the three boys would get up early each day to escape the overwhelming miserableness of their situation.
One day, however, when they went outside, they realised that the guard towers were empty, and that although the gates were chained shut, there was someone on the other side.
It was a Russian soldier who shot the lock off the gate and told them that doctors, medicine and food were being sent to those who’d been kept in the camp.
The boys then ran from barrack to barrack waking everyone up and shouting: “We are free! We are free!”
The old man then begins to cry as he remembers that, when he realised that the cruel SS had left the camp, he broke into their housing and took a hot shower.
Despite being freed from the camp, the horror was far from over and for months he’d wake up believing he was still in the camp.
This is a heartbreaking story but it’s important to never forget the hideous crime that the Nazis committed against races they deemed inferior during the Holocaust.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.