On a trip to Poland with his grandson Avi to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, David Wisnia visits the place where he was held for two and a half years during World War II. A talented singer since childhood, he was chosen one day to perform for his Nazi captors. “From that moment on,” he said, “my life changed.”
TRANSCRIPT
-DAVID WISNIA: Come in here.
Whew.
This is the place where they got me down to sing.
After coming from work in the afternoon, an S.S. man leads us in.
He said, "Is anyone here who sings?"
Everybody: "Hey, Wisnia, get down.
Sing."
[singing in German] [continues singing in German] He says, "Okay, tomorrow you're not going to that job."
From that moment on, my life changed.
[pensive music] -AVI WISNIA: Growing up, I always knew, like, little bits and pieces of his story.
But I had a sense that there was... more to the story than that.
-I'm trying to remember, was it this one, or was it this one?
I think somebody scratched it out.
You know that?
-Let me see.
There's something here.
-Where?
-There it is.
-Where?
-That is definitely your name.
-Where?
-That is your name.
I see it very clearly.
Here, look.
Look, right up there.
-Oh, my God, yes!
Yeah, it's David.
Look at this!
Oh, my God.
I didn't make it up.
-AVI: The little that my grandfather would talk about, it was not so clear.
And I think, in order to survive, in order to keep going, he had to forget everything in the past.
-Oh, my God.
Come on!
Get out of that hellhole.
-[Avi laughs] [laughter] [pensive music] -AVI: I want to fill in the missing pieces, as much as we can.
[pensive music] We always knew that he survived by singing.
That he saved himself.
But there must have been something else.
He could not have done it alone.
