Auschwitz: Amidst Great Tragedies, Love Could Also Blossom
The Auschwitz-Birkenau camp represents a failure of humanity, a hell where people inflicted unimaginable horrors on others in the name of ideology, forever changing world history. Despite such conditions, where life could be lost from one day to the next, deep and pure feelings could still emerge. Such a bond connected Jewish Mala and Polish Edward. The young people met at the camp between late 1943 and early 1944.
Mala was born in Brzesko. In 1928, she emigrated with her family to Antwerp. She was arrested by the Germans during a roundup on September 11, 1942. A few days later, she was deported to Auschwitz. From her transport, 717 people were immediately sent to the gas chambers. She was deemed fit for work and thus survived.
Edward came from a small town near Jarosław. At the age of 17, he arrived at Auschwitz with the first transport of Polish political prisoners in 1940. He began working in a locksmith's shop, whose foreman, SS officer Edward Lubusch, would later significantly assist in organizing the young couple's escape.
Edward met Mala during a visit to the women's camp to carry out some installations. A strong bond quickly developed between them, leading them to attempt a daring escape.
The Escape and Its Tragic Consequences
Edward had been planning an escape from the camp for some time. He initially planned it with Wiesław Kielar, who was to accompany him. However, the situation changed when Mala entered his life. Edward confided his feelings for Mala to his companion, who then withdrew from the plan, allowing Mala to take his place.
The day the young couple escaped was June 24, 1944. Edward disguised himself in a uniform and belt with a holster and pistol given by his supervisor, Lubusch, while Mala was provided with a worker's coverall. The guard at the gate did not question the SS officer escorting a prisoner carrying a washbasin. Using forged documents, Edward and Mala walked to their much-desired freedom.
Within hours, the camp realized the prisoners' absence, alarms sounded, and it was announced that Edward Galiński, prisoner number 531, and Mala Zimetbaum, prisoner number 19880 from the women's camp, were missing.
The fugitives aimed to reach Slovakia as quickly as possible, where Mala had relatives. Their plan almost succeeded, but on July 7, they encountered a German patrol. Mala was detained in a shop, and Edward, despite having the chance to flee, chose to join his beloved and voluntarily surrendered to the Germans.
They were quickly identified as Auschwitz prisoners and sent back to the camp. The camp Gestapo tried to extract information from Galiński about the uniform and pistol but failed to get him to reveal who had helped them escape.
Both escapees were sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on August 22, 1944, at Auschwitz: Edward was hanged in the men's camp, and Mala reportedly slit her wrists during the reading of her sentence, just steps from the gallows. She died on the way to the crematorium.
At the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, locks of Mala and Edward's hair are still kept. They were given by Edward to Wiesław Kielar as his last wish, asking him to deliver them to his father. Years later, in January 1968, Kielar donated the memento to the museum.
