Kazimierz Piechowski didn’t even have the idea of escaping the camp until one of his friend’s names was on the death list. Like a lot of the boy scouts in Auschwitz, Kazimierz joined the resistance movement in the camp. Many of the scouts spoke German so they were found useful and some worked as prison police and were able to get the prisoners' files. So the plan was formed, they would organize a car but that wouldn't be enough, there were electrified barbed wire and guards every few meters.

On Saturday, June 20, 1942, the four men met in a barack and got ready for the great Auschwitz escape. From there, they picked up a cart filled with waste. When they got the waste they went to a guard and Piechowski told the guard he was there to take the waste, he was relying on the guard not checking their registration. If they asked to check the registration their plan had failed and they all agreed to kill themselves. They were getting closer and closer and they still weren't getting through. “Do something?” said the mechanic “Wake up you buggers, or I'll open you up”. Kazimierz said in his best German flashing his badge to scare the guards. The German guard scrambled to open the gate, and they were free ​​​​​​​

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Kazimierz Piechowski’s Auschwitz prison photo from www.theguardian.com.

The Nazi slogan "Arbeit macht frei" (Work sets you free) is pictured at the gates of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland January 27, 2017. (photo credit: AGENCY GAZETA/KUBA OCIEPA/VIA REUTERS)