Denis Avey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Denis Avey
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| Born | 11 January 1919 Essex, England |
| Died | 16 July 2015 (aged 96) Bakewell, Derbyshire, England |
| Buried |
St. Barnabas Church, Bradwell, Derbyshire, England
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| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 British Army |
| Years of service | 1939− |
| Unit | Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) |
| Battles/wars | Second World War
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| Awards | British Hero of the Holocaust |
| Other work | Engineer author |
Denis Avey (born January 11, 1919 – died July 16, 2015) was a brave British soldier who fought in the Second World War. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war (POW) at a camp called E715. This camp was very close to Auschwitz, a terrible place where many Jewish people were imprisoned.
While he was a prisoner, Denis Avey did something incredibly courageous. He helped a Jewish prisoner named Ernst Lobethal by secretly giving him cigarettes. These cigarettes were like money and helped Ernst survive. For this heroic act, Denis Avey was named a British Hero of the Holocaust in 2010.
Denis Avey also said that he secretly swapped clothes with a Jewish prisoner. He claimed he went into the Jewish part of Auschwitz to see for himself how badly people were treated. This part of his story has been questioned by some. In 2011, he wrote a book about his experiences called The Man who Broke into Auschwitz, with help from Rob Broomby.
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Denis Avey's Early Life and War Experience
Denis Avey was born in Essex, England, in 1919. When he was a boy, he learned how to box. He was also a top student at his school and studied at a technical college.
In 1939, at age 20, he joined the army. He fought in North Africa as part of the famous 7th Armoured Division, also known as the "Desert Rats." During a battle near Tobruk, Libya, he was captured by German forces. He saw his best friend killed right next to him.
After being captured, his prisoner ship was attacked. Denis Avey said he escaped by floating to Greece on a wooden crate. But he was caught again after he landed.
Life as a Prisoner of War
After being recaptured, Denis Avey was sent to the E715 prison camp. This camp was for British soldiers and was right next to the Jewish section of Auschwitz concentration camp. He was held there from 1943 until January 1945.
While there, he became friends with a Jewish prisoner from Auschwitz named Ernst Lobethal. Denis Avey got cigarettes from Ernst's sister, Susanne, who had escaped Germany before the war. He secretly passed these cigarettes to Ernst, who used them to trade for food and other things to survive.
Denis Avey said he twice swapped uniforms with a Jewish prisoner. He claimed he went into the Jewish camp to see the conditions for himself. He saw that British POWs were treated very differently from the Jewish prisoners. British soldiers had to work hard, but they could play football and basketball in their free time. Their lives were tough, but nothing compared to what the Jewish prisoners faced.
Denis Avey described the terrible situation of the Jewish prisoners:
I am telling you I know without exaggeration, nearly 200,000 prisoners in Auschwitz were worked to death. Not killed. Were worked to death and they claimed total innocence. They lived for no more than 4 months. They were clubbed and beaten every day without any justification whatsoever.
He told The Daily Telegraph that he needed to see things with his own eyes. He wanted to know exactly what was happening. He knew he was taking a huge risk, but he felt he had to do it.
Escape and Return Home
Denis Avey escaped during the "death marches" in April 1945. These marches happened when the Nazis moved prisoners away from Auschwitz. Even though he had tuberculosis from the camp, he managed to get away without being seen. He then traveled through different countries until he met American soldiers who helped him get back to England. His family had thought he had died.
When he returned to England, Denis Avey spent a year and a half in the hospital because of tuberculosis. After he recovered, he tried to tell people what he saw in Auschwitz. But he found that no one wanted to listen. People were not interested in hearing war stories anymore. Because of this, he decided to keep his experiences a secret for many years.
He also suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though it wasn't recognized as a medical condition back then. He had nightmares, felt jumpy, and couldn't talk about his time as a POW. He also had a bad temper and other health problems. He lost sight in one eye from a beating he received in the camp. He said an SS officer hit him directly in the eye with a pistol for cursing him.
War crime investigators tried to find Denis Avey for the Nuremberg Trials, but they couldn't locate him. He kept his wartime experiences a secret from everyone, even his wives and daughter. He later explained that he wanted to tell the truth about the Nazis, but he was too traumatized. It took him 60 years to be able to share his story.
Sharing His Story and Recognition
Denis Avey finally started talking about his experiences when he was invited to appear on the BBC to discuss war pensions. His memories came pouring out, surprising the TV hosts. The BBC then started making a documentary about him. They even found the name of the young Jewish prisoner he had helped: Ernst Lobethal.
Denis Avey said he risked his life because he needed to see "the unspeakable things being done to the Jews at Auschwitz." At 91 years old, he said he didn't feel like a hero. He just had strong beliefs he grew up with.
He had thought Ernst died during the death march. But he later found and met Ernst's sister, Susanne. She also thought her brother had died. Years later, Susanne learned that Ernst had survived, partly thanks to Denis Avey. Ernst had lived in America with his family until he passed away. Denis Avey was thrilled to hear that Ernst had survived.
Like Denis Avey, Ernst also kept his suffering a secret and didn't talk about Auschwitz until late in his life. Denis Avey regretted not finding Ernst while he was alive. But he was proud to have helped one person survive the horrors of Auschwitz.
After the war, Denis Avey worked as an engineer and built a factory. He later retired to Bradwell, Derbyshire.
How Denis Avey Was Recognized
After he retired, Denis Avey became active in groups for former POWs. He started talking about his experiences. In 2001, he shared his story in an interview with the Imperial War Museum in London. He spoke about getting cigarettes for Ernst and mentioned Ernst's sister, Susanne. He also said he had swapped uniforms and entered Birkenau with Ernst.
Denis Avey sent coded messages about what he saw in Birkenau to his mother and sister. His mother sent two letters to the War Office about this, but she never got a reply. He was also interviewed on BBC Radio Derby in 2003. In 2005, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported his claim of swapping uniforms and seeing prisoners sent to gas chambers.
In May 2009, the British Government created the British Hero of the Holocaust award. That same year, Rob Broomby, a reporter from the BBC, found Ernst's sister, Susanne, in Birmingham. He learned that Ernst had survived and moved to the United States, living to age 77. Broomby also found a video Ernst had made about his experiences in Auschwitz. In the video, Ernst mentioned a British soldier he knew as "Ginger" who gave him cigarettes. This "Ginger" was Denis Avey.
BBC Television then showed a documentary that included an emotional meeting between Denis Avey and Susanne. In the documentary, Denis Avey saw Ernst's video and realized his cigarettes had helped save Ernst's life.
Even though Ernst didn't mention swapping uniforms with Denis Avey in his video, the documentary included Denis Avey's story of the exchange. Denis Avey was later welcomed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In 2010, the British Government officially named him a British Hero of the Holocaust for saving Ernst's life.
The next week, Denis Avey signed a book deal. His book, The Man who Broke into Auschwitz, was published in April 2011. It became a best-seller and was translated into many languages.
Questions About His Story
Some people have questioned parts of Denis Avey's story, especially his claim of swapping uniforms and entering Auschwitz. Brian Bishop and Ron Jones, who were also British POWs, found it hard to believe. They wondered how a tall, strong Englishman like Avey could have pretended to be a starving Jewish prisoner.
However, British historian Lyn Smith, who interviewed Denis Avey in 2001, said he was a very trustworthy witness. She defended him against the doubts and included him in her book Heroes of the Holocaust. His publisher also said that his memories might have been a bit mixed up because of the stress he went through. They noted he was only just starting to talk about his experiences after many years of silence.
Yad Vashem, an organization that honors those who saved Jews during the Holocaust, considered giving Denis Avey the "Righteous among the Nations" award. But they said they couldn't give him the award because they couldn't fully confirm his story about swapping prisoners.
Denis Avey passed away on July 16, 2015, at Newholme Hospital in Bakewell, Derbyshire.
See also
- Charles Coward and Arthur Dodd: Other British prisoners at E715A.
- Witold Pilecki: A Polish fighter who bravely entered Auschwitz on purpose.
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