The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz: A Powerful True Story of Hope and Survival

In June 1943, after many years of hardship and persecution, thirteen-year-old Thomas Gewe and his mother were deported to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, they were separated and the boy was left alone. Twenty-two harsh months of death camps and the inhuman cruelty of the Nazis awaited him. But Thomas never lost his will to live.

He was fifteen when he was liberated from Buchenwald. This was the third concentration camp he had survived. While still in Auschwitz, Thomas tried to recreate in detail everything that happened in the Nazi world: he sketched all the events in real time, using charcoal and pieces of cement bags. The original sketches were not preserved, but the memory of the images was imprinted in his mind, and immediately after the war he took up pencil again. To preserve the memory of his lost friends and the millions of victims of the Holocaust, Thomas drew over eighty simple yet poignantly detailed drawings, depicting not only the horrors and darkness of the death camps, but also everyday events, acts of humanity, support, and friendship. He later added his own story in words.

Despite all the evil that filled the concentration camps, his story is a striking confirmation of the power of life. "The Boy Who Drawn Auschwitz" is a living testimony to war through the eyes of a child who, despite the darkness, retained the ability to observe and remember every detail around him.