Holocaust survivor recalls experiences in Auschwitz camp
Laci McMains
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: Features
An 82-year-old holocaust survivor tells the most intimate details of his life from 1942 to 1945 when he was stuck inside a work camp in Auschwitz.
Peter Pintus, a holocaust survivor from Des Moines, marvels many reporters and students with his story of survival during the holocaust. Pintus was only 15 when he was arrested because of his nationality. He was forced to go to a work camp and work in a salt mine 10-12 hours a day for seven days a week.
"Auschwitz was strictly a labor camp and if you got sick and could not work anymore, you were either executed on the spot or sent to a concentration camp. I did not have any health problems and I did not want any," Pintus said as he recalls what it was like there.
Pintus lost all of his family. Most were murdered, but his father ran away on a train before the Nazis made it to their house. His mother, on the other hand, killed herself by overdosing on sleeping pills, the way one of her closest friends died soon afterwards. Pintus recalls seeing many horrible things, especially so many people dying everyday.
Although the people in the camps got three meals a day, they were so low on calories no matter how much they ate, they were always hungry. When asked what he remembered the most, Pintus calmly replies, "The hunger. Always so hungry."
Pintus said he decided he is not going to blame anyone anymore, but at the time he "blamed God for letting this happen and the Germans for thinking the were superior."
Pintus said he decided a long time ago he is very angry with people in the world who deny the holocaust.
"[They are] stupid," Pintus said, "for denying that it happened. How could someone just take a picture of a thousand skulls?" Some may say there is no legitimate proof of the holocaust ever happening, but the testimony of all the survivors exist.
Pintus said there is no way he can prove it happened, but what he can do is tell his story in hopes of people believing him and understanding the holocaust better.
Peter Pintus, a holocaust survivor from Des Moines, marvels many reporters and students with his story of survival during the holocaust. Pintus was only 15 when he was arrested because of his nationality. He was forced to go to a work camp and work in a salt mine 10-12 hours a day for seven days a week.
"Auschwitz was strictly a labor camp and if you got sick and could not work anymore, you were either executed on the spot or sent to a concentration camp. I did not have any health problems and I did not want any," Pintus said as he recalls what it was like there.
Pintus lost all of his family. Most were murdered, but his father ran away on a train before the Nazis made it to their house. His mother, on the other hand, killed herself by overdosing on sleeping pills, the way one of her closest friends died soon afterwards. Pintus recalls seeing many horrible things, especially so many people dying everyday.
Although the people in the camps got three meals a day, they were so low on calories no matter how much they ate, they were always hungry. When asked what he remembered the most, Pintus calmly replies, "The hunger. Always so hungry."
Pintus said he decided he is not going to blame anyone anymore, but at the time he "blamed God for letting this happen and the Germans for thinking the were superior."
Pintus said he decided a long time ago he is very angry with people in the world who deny the holocaust.
"[They are] stupid," Pintus said, "for denying that it happened. How could someone just take a picture of a thousand skulls?" Some may say there is no legitimate proof of the holocaust ever happening, but the testimony of all the survivors exist.
Pintus said there is no way he can prove it happened, but what he can do is tell his story in hopes of people believing him and understanding the holocaust better.
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