Marosei, Andre

Survivor, Camps

Budapest (Hungary), Drancy, Sacrow, Katowice, Gleiwitz, Beotheng, Auschwitz, Monowitz

Andre Marosei was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1910. In 1939 and 1940, he was engaged with the French Army. After the surrender of France he joined the resistance while his wife and son lived in Paris. He was eventually arrested for propaganda and taken to jail. He spent eight months in prison. He was freed and taken to Dracy in 1941 where he rebuilt his health.

On the convoy from Dracy to Sacrow he planned to escape from the train, but before he made his move he heard gun shots. At Sacrow the women and children were separated from the men. After four months he was sent to another camp, this one a small camp of 200 people called Gleiwitz where they were maltreated and had to resort to stealing food. Andre planned to escape and with a partner managed to force open a window in a washroom and make a break for it. By the next day they were stopped by two German soldiers. Andre’s partner ran and was shot down. He was taken back to camp and placed in the SS building where he was beaten and forced to stay all night standing up. He was also constantly watched.

In the coming year he was sent first to Katowice and then Beotheng where he was working near a railroad. There he finally couldn’t take it anymore and tried again to escape. Since they all still worked in civilian clothes he stole away on a train. Later in the day he was actually assisted by two soldiers who gave him food and got him to another train. However within the day he was again caught. This time he was sent to Auschwitz. He arrived there in the winter of 1943 with 35 other people. There they took everyone’s name, removed their civilian clothes, shaved them, and then sent them to the cold showers. Afterwards they were forced to run outside wet in the winter. He was quarantined for many months. The skills he had learned before the war (tailor, jeweler, and barber) came in very handy. He was selected to go to Monowitz to work in the factories there.

He was in Monowitz from February 1944 until the end of the war. He was liberated by the Russians during a Death March. He credited his survival with his harsh childhood and violent apprenticeships in which he had to endure. He had been up a hard resolve and strength even before the war began.