A Fantastic Love Story In Auschwitz

This is a fantastic Auschwitz love story that was only revealed to the world many years later. In reality, every love story has something magical about it, but some, like this one, show that in truth this feeling is capable of saving human beings, even literally speaking.

The protagonists of this love story in Auschwitz were a Pole named David Wisnia and a Hungarian named Helen Spitzer. She had been the first to arrive at the concentration camp and came from Slovakia, where she had just finished her university degree. It was the year 1942 and her Jewish status made her one of 2,000 single women who were confined.

Helen’s condition was pitiful. At first, she was put to work demolishing some minor buildings. Before long, she was malnourished, contracted typhus and then malaria, but still had to work daily. To top it off, an old fireplace collapsed on her and shattered her back. This meant that he could no longer work in that trade.

Helen Spitzer and the desire to survive

The Nazis noticed that Helen was an educated woman and, in the aftermath of the accident , they thought that perhaps they could get more out of her in other trades. After all, she was a girl with a university degree, she spoke German and also had a solid foundation in graphic design. Thanks to this and a stroke of luck, he ended up on an office job.

At first, he was only tasked with preparing the red paint with which a line was drawn on the uniform of the women arriving at Auschwitz. Later, she was gaining the trust of her guards and then she was in charge of registering the arrival of each woman  who entered the field.

Later, he was tasked with organizing the Nazi paperwork and making monthly reports on the concentration camp workers. Hers was a privileged position and therefore he was able to bathe frequently, in addition to wearing decent clothes.

Still, Helen never collaborated with the Nazis. In fact, he took advantage of his position to misplace death sentences  or miserable transfers.

David Wisnia and a love surprise

David Wisnia’s story was different. He arrived at Auschwitz in early 1943 and was entrusted with the task of collecting the corpses of prisoners who died by electrocution on the fences of the camp.

Before long, word spread that he was a terrific singer and the Nazis took an interest in him. In this way, he was forced to sing for them in their private gatherings.

At the same time, he was given a better position on the field. He had to disinfect the clothes of the newcomers in a place that everyone knew as “the Sauna.” While there he saw for the first time Helen, a woman who did not look like any other Jew in the country. It smelled good and was always groomed.

It was also clear that Helen moved like a fish in water everywhere and that the Nazis trusted her. So David just saw her as someone far away. However, one afternoon she was passing by “the Sauna” and hardly without David noticing, suddenly they were alone. Thus began this love story in Auschwitz.

The love story at Auschwitz

In that first meeting, they talked. However, they arranged to meet again a week later. The appointment would be in a small space between two crematoria; the two complied and Helen paid other prisoners with food to let them know if someone was coming. This encounter was repeated over and over again over the next few months. This is how the love story at Auschwitz was consolidated.

Although they spoke little and barely had time to love each other, the two promised to meet in Warsaw after the war. Some months later, David was transferred to another camp, but managed to escape.

So did Helen, a few weeks later. But while David found the American soldiers and went with them, Helen went to Warsaw and waited for him in vain.

They both ended up marrying other people and making an independent life. David had two children and several grandchildren, while Helen had no children. In the end, by chance, they both ended up living in the United States. A mutual friend tried to reunite them once, but she refused. David wanted to see her and that’s why he insisted on the meeting.

They finally met again 72 years after he was fired. She was in bed, sick and widowed, and he was still singing. In fact, during the meeting, David sang a song to him in Hungarian.

He also wanted her to absolve him of a doubt: perhaps the Nazis had ever wanted to kill him and she had intervened to prevent it? Helen smiled. He raised a hand and showed him his fingers: “Five times,” he replied.