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their identities or fates saying "It is not known exactly how many of these people regained their freedom, because some people went different ways and to different countries." He added: "And naturally no records were kept of them because once they arrived in their new country, special papers were given to them and perhaps different names, etc." The revisionist position is that Coward may have saved a few Jews, but certainly not hundreds.
399:
items to the Jewish inmates. He also exchanged coded messages with the
British authorities via letters to a fictitious Mr William Orange (Code for the War Office), giving military information, notes on the conditions of POWs and the other prisoners in the camps, as well as dates and numbers of the arrival of trainloads of Jews.
549:
Since Coward's death his claims have been treated with some scepticism. One major difficulty is that there are no known surviving fellow escapees, and it is possible that all were recaptured and killed. When Coward himself was questioned by Yad Vashem researchers in 1962 he offered few details about
398:
liaison officer for the 1,200-1,400 British prisoners. In this trusted role he was allowed to move fairly freely throughout the camp and often to surrounding towns. He witnessed the arrival of trainloads of Jews to the extermination camp. Coward and other
British prisoners smuggled food and other
414:
and French civilian forced labourers. He then gave the documents and clothes taken from the non-Jewish corpses to the Jewish escapees, who adopted these new identities and were then smuggled out of the camp altogether. Coward carried out this scheme on numerous occasions and is estimated to have
402:
On one occasion a note was smuggled to him from a Jewish-British ship's doctor, who was being held in
Monowitz. Coward determined to contact him direct, managed to swap clothes with an inmate on a work detail and spent the night in the Jewish camp, seeing at first hand the horrific conditions in
478:, describing Coward's wartime activities, was published. It has been through ten editions since and remains in print. On the back cover of the current edition, he is billed as "The Man who Broke into Auschwitz" (which is also the title of
442:, describing the conditions inside the Monowitz camp, the treatment of Allied POWs and Jewish prisoners and the locations of the gas chambers. In 1953, Coward also appeared as a witness in the "Wollheim Suit", when former slave labourer
403:
which these Jewish people were held. He failed to find the individual, later found to be Karel
Sperber - see below. This experience formed the basis of his subsequent testimony in post-war legal proceedings.
492:. The film was lighthearted compared to the book and made only passing reference to Coward's time at Auschwitz; it concentrated instead on his numerous escapes and added a fictitious romantic liaison.
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843:""Even in Auschwitz... Humanity Could Prevail": British POWs and Jewish Concentration-Camp Inmates at IG Auschwitz, 1943-1945"
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342:. When in captivity he was equally troublesome to his captors, arranging several acts of sabotage while out on work details.
908:
Trials of War
Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10, October 1946 - April 1949
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and claimed he had smuggled himself into the camp for one night, subsequently testifying about his experience at the
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291:(30 January 1905 – 21 December 1976), known as the "Count of Auschwitz", was a British soldier captured during the
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as BQMS, Battery
Quartermaster Sergeant. He managed to make two escape attempts before even reaching a
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In
December 1944 Coward was sent back to the main camp of Stalag VIII-B at Lamsdorf (now
307:. He also smuggled at least several hundred Jewish prisoners out of concentration camps.
371:) and liquid fuel plant there. It housed over 10,000 Jewish slave labourers, as well as
331:, then made seven further escapes; on one memorable occasion managing to be awarded the
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British POWs and Jewish
Concentration-Camp Inmates at IG Auschwitz, 1943-1945
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and had a tree planted in his honour in the Avenue of
Righteous Gentiles in
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Castle, John (1954). The
Password is Courage. London: Souvenir Press.
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522:. In 2003, Coward was further commemorated with the mounting of a
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In January 1955, Coward joined the Old Comrades Lodge No. 4077 of
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commemorating Coward at his home in 133 Chichester Road, London
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359:. Monowitz was under the direction of the industrial company
760:"British Prisoners of War as Witnesses in the Wollheim Suit"
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sued IG Farben for his salary and compensation for damages.
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530:, London, where he lived from 1945 until his death. The
482:'s book). This was adapted into a 1962 film also titled
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Nuernberg Military Tribunal, Volume VIII, pp.603–616
345:Finally in December 1943 he was transferred to the
16:British POW who saved over 400 Jews from Auschwitz
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534:has a ward named "Charles Coward" in his honour.
406:Determined to do something about it, Coward used
987:
652:Nuernberg Military Tribunal, Volume VIII, p.605
640:Nuernberg Military Tribunal, Volume VIII, p.604
319:in June 1924 and was captured in May 1940 near
901:"Affidavit and Testimony of Charles J. Coward"
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717:
323:while serving with the 8th Reserve Regimental
1021:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
695:"Salute those unsung heroes of the Holocaust"
269:
422:, Poland) and in January 1945 the POWs were
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415:saved at least 400 Jewish slave labourers.
974:– his activity to save Jews' lives during
613:"E715 – Camp for British Prisoners of War"
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537:In 2010, Coward was posthumously named a
812:"Britons honoured for holocaust heroism"
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430:, where they were eventually liberated.
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335:while posing as a wounded soldier in a
1031:Auschwitz concentration camp survivors
1016:British Army personnel of World War II
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438:After the war Coward testified at the
967:Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
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526:at his home at 133, Chichester Road,
514:In 1963, Coward was named one of the
1026:British Righteous Among the Nations
786:"Holocaust: The Count of Auschwitz"
725:"Charles Joseph Coward (1905–1976)"
693:Gilbert, Martin (22 January 2006).
13:
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956:Holocaust: The Count of Auschwitz
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462:in 1960 when he was surprised by
560:Arthur Dodd (Auschwitz survivor)
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466:at the BBC Television Theatre.
851:Holocaust and Genocide Studies
818:. 9 March 2010. Archived from
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1:
841:White, Joseph Robert (2001).
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539:British Hero of the Holocaust
390:Thanks to his command of the
1006:People from Edmonton, London
948:Photo of Coward at Nuremberg
474:In 1954 John Castle's book,
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64:1976 (aged 70–71)
47:, who played him in the film
7:
663:"Karel Sperber (1910–1957)"
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541:by the British Government.
516:Righteous Among the Nations
440:Nuremberg war crimes trials
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10:
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954:Masonic Quarterly Magazine
931:. London: Souvenir Press.
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1011:Royal Artillery soldiers
532:North Middlesex Hospital
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347:Auschwitz III (Monowitz)
111:Warrant Officer Class II
965:, Joseph Robert White,
929:The Password is Courage
860:Oxford University Press
485:The Password Is Courage
476:The Password is Courage
394:, Coward was appointed
357:Auschwitz II (Birkenau)
40:The Password Is Courage
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456:He was the subject of
363:, who were building a
295:who rescued Jews from
115:Battery Sergeant Major
927:Castle, John (1954).
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289:Charles Joseph Coward
99:Years of service
37:Coward on the set of
25:Charles Joseph Coward
914:: 603–616. July 1947
868:10.1093/hgs/15.2.266
764:wollheim-memorial.de
729:wollheim-memorial.de
667:wollheim-memorial.de
617:wollheim-memorial.de
329:prisoner of war camp
592:on 1 November 2016.
424:marched under guard
580:"FamilySearch.org"
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408:Red Cross supplies
315:Coward joined the
172:Seven Laws of Noah
459:This Is Your Life
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139:Among the Nations
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588:. Archived from
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505:English Heritage
444:Norbert Wollheim
377:forced labourers
369:synthetic rubber
293:Second World War
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162:Rescuers of Jews
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56:30 January 1905
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916:. Retrieved
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894:Bibliography
879:. Retrieved
872:the original
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824:. Retrieved
820:the original
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794:. Retrieved
792:. April 2006
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700:The Guardian
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590:the original
585:FamilySearch
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490:Dirk Bogarde
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122:Battles/wars
102:1937 to 1945
93:British Army
45:Dirk Bogarde
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1001:1976 deaths
996:1905 births
862:: 266–295.
790:MQ Magazine
706:24 December
524:blue plaque
508:blue plaque
420:Łambinowice
337:German Army
990:Categories
980:Yad Vashem
566:References
520:Yad Vashem
480:Denis Avey
333:Iron Cross
220:Lithuanian
186:By country
177:Yad Vashem
69:Allegiance
488:starring
396:Red Cross
361:IG Farben
311:Biography
305:Nuremberg
297:Auschwitz
250:Ukrainian
225:Norwegian
215:Hungarian
137:Righteous
881:11 March
770:11 March
735:11 March
673:11 March
623:11 March
554:See also
528:Edmonton
434:Post-war
240:Romanian
200:Croatian
195:Austrian
87:Service/
982:website
826:9 March
796:14 June
428:Bavaria
412:Belgian
245:Serbian
766:. 2011
731:. 2011
669:. 2011
619:. 2011
496:Awards
321:Calais
230:Polish
210:German
89:branch
78:
978:, at
904:(PDF)
875:(PDF)
858:(2).
846:(PDF)
470:Media
205:Czech
43:with
920:2014
912:VIII
883:2011
828:2010
798:2011
772:2011
737:2011
708:2010
675:2011
625:2011
451:UGLE
375:and
373:POWs
365:Buna
317:Army
234:list
107:Rank
61:Died
53:Born
864:doi
426:to
303:at
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367:(
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
