Home Life Style A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor describes the harrowing moment he wished his Auschwitz comrades dead just so he could steal their clothes, as he tells it all in a chilling BBC documentary.

A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor describes the harrowing moment he wished his Auschwitz comrades dead just so he could steal their clothes, as he tells it all in a chilling BBC documentary.

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Ivor Perl, 92, bravely recalled his time in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during the Second World War in a new BBC documentary.

A Jewish Holocaust survivor who was imprisoned in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during World War II recalled how he and his fellow prisoners were stripped of their humanity during their internment.

Ivor Perl, 92, reflected on the desperate situation inside the Nazi death camp and shared his experiences in BBC One’s new 30-minute documentary ‘What Happened at Auschwitz’ on Monday night.

In March 1944, at the age of 12, Ivor was deported to a camp in southern Poland from his native Hungary along with his parents and seven siblings. Only Ivor and a brother, Alec, survived.

Speaking to journalist Jordan Dunbar, he shared how the prisoners were “no longer human beings” due to the horrible treatment they suffered.

Reflecting on the desperate situation inside the Nazi death camp, Ivor explained: “In the end, when you went to bed, you hoped that the person who lived next to you would die during the night.”

‘Why?’ he continued: ‘You could pinch his shoes or his clothes. We were no longer human beings.’

Ivor also described the terrible journey the family was forced to undertake upon reaching the countryside.

Recalling the carts full of cattle that were used to transport Jews to Auschwitz, Ivor added: “The death happened on the train, the illness happened, and I can’t describe it because I don’t see any point in describing the dehumanization that we live through.” the few days we were on board.

Ivor Perl, 92, bravely recalled his time in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during the Second World War in a new BBC documentary.

However, this was just the beginning of Ivor’s ordeal. Arriving at the extermination camp, Ivor wanted to stay with his mother, who was supporting his “younger brother, his younger sister and two other sisters.”

His mother, perhaps sensing that she and her younger siblings would not be saved, told Ivor to return to his brother.

Ivor recalled: “Then I went back to my brother. But of course, that was the last time I saw my family alive.

Upon arrival at Auschwitz, those deemed too weak to work (women, children, and the elderly) were sent directly to the gas chambers, where they were killed with Zyklon B gas.

Originally an insecticide, Zyklon B quickly killed humans when inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

The bodies of those murdered in the gas chambers were then collected by other prisoners and taken to the crematoriums, of which there were four, where they were burned.

According to Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Research Center, the four crematoriums had “a total capacity of almost 5,000 corpses per day.”

Recalling the gas chambers and crematoriums that kept prisoners in a constant state of fear, Ivor said: ‘No matter how horribly you thought, you would never imagine what was happening.

In March 1944, at the age of 12, Ivor was deported to a camp in southern Poland (pictured).

In March 1944, at the age of 12, Ivor was deported to a camp in southern Poland (pictured).

Upon arriving at the extermination camp, Ivor wanted to stay with his mother. Ivor appears in the photo at 14 years old.

Upon arriving at the extermination camp, Ivor wanted to stay with his mother. Ivor appears in the photo at 14 years old.

Ivor spoke in BBC One's new 30-minute documentary 'What Happened at Auschwitz' on Monday night.

He shared how the prisoners

Ivor spoke in BBC One’s new 30-minute documentary ‘What Happened at Auschwitz’ on Monday night.

—Who would think of something like gassing people and burning them?

January 27 of this year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, but as journalist Jordan Dunbar points out: “We now live in a world of misinformation and denial.”

“If this distortion of our understanding is allowed to take root, we risk history being rewritten and the true horror of the Holocaust forgotten,” Jordan added.

BBC One’s ‘What Happened at Auschwitz’ not only tells the story of the Holocaust through the testimonies of Ivor Perl and three other survivors, but also exposes Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism that is spreading on social media.

Dov Forman, great-grandson of survivor Lily Ebert, who died at age 100 in October 2024, told how the TikTok account he created for his late great-grandmother to share her testimony with young people receives “thousands of comments every day” from Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites.

‘Hitler missed one’, ‘The Holocaust is fake’ and ‘We’re going to look for you, we’re going to kill you’, are just some of the shocking comments that TikTokers have published on the @lilyebert account, which has two million followers and is directed by Dov.

Speaking to Jordan Dunbar, Dov cited a 2022 UNESCO report that stated that 16 percent of posts children see of all Holocaust and Jewish-related content on social media platforms are “anti-Semitic, that deny and distort the Holocaust.

That statistic becomes even more concerning given that last year 50 percent of people got their news through social media.

Ivor and the other survivors featured in the program were speaking to journalist Jordan Dunbar (pictured).

Ivor and the other survivors featured in the program were speaking to journalist Jordan Dunbar (pictured).

Dov Forman, great-grandson of survivor Lily Ebert (pictured together), who died at age 100 in October 2024, told how the TikTok account he created for his late great-grandmother to share her testimony with young people is receiving

Dov Forman, great-grandson of survivor Lily Ebert (pictured together), who died at age 100 in October 2024, told how the TikTok account he created for his late great-grandmother to share her testimony with young people receives “thousands of comments”. daily’

“Those people who browse through it are absorbing pure misinformation, hatred and denial about the Holocaust,” Dov added.

Agreeing that the “demonization” of the Jewish people propagated by the Nazis is no longer “just in books, movies and radio,” Dunbar asserts that “we now have it right on our phones.”

“I think we need to really ask people who have been through this: Where do we get this information, who is providing it, and why?” he says.

“That hate that we’ve seen still exists in different forms, even today.”

What Happened at Auschwitz is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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