The Survivor - The Josef Lefkowitz Story

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk

Goalhanger Podcasts

Society & Culture, History, Education

4.8 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At just 13-years-old, following the Nazi invasion of Poland, Josef Lefkowitz and his father were separated from their family and taken to the Kraków-Plaszów concentration camp.

Josef survived the Holocaust, and some of the most notorious concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Ebensee.

With his freedom, Josef returned home to find that he was the only one left alive in an extended family of 150. Compelled by the need to do something to avenge that loss, he joined the Jewish police while still in a displaced persons' camp, and was recruited as an intelligence officer for the US Army who gave him a team to search for Nazis in hiding.

Whilst rounding up SS leaders, he played a critical role in identifying and bringing to justice his greatest tormentor, the Butcher of Plaszow, Amon Göth. He then committed his life to helping the orphaned children of the Holocaust rebuild their lives.

In this harrowing podcast, Josef speaks to Al Murray and James Holland about his extraordinary life.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You've heard of Anne Frank, Oscar Schindler and Primo Levy. You've probably not heard of Rudolf Verber.
0:07.7	Who was he? And why don't we know his name?
0:10.6	The escape artist is the astonishing, forgotten, true story of the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world.
0:18.4	From me, award-winning writer and journalist Jonathan Friedland.
0:22.9	Discover the instant Sunday Times bestseller, the escape artist, out now in paperback and to download.
0:32.6	This is a paid advertisement from BetterHelp. BetterHelp has asked me to think about how much time I spend on
0:40.0	myself in a given week versus how much time I spend on other people. Well, like most people,
0:46.1	I feel that I'm often rushed off my feet every week. I've of course got the school run and parenting duties to contend with.
0:54.0	But I also record four podcasts a week with James. I'm learning lines for a new play in the West End,
1:00.1	writing jokes for spitting image of the musical, keeping up with friends, and I've got to remember to take the bins out
1:05.8	and make sure the bills are paid on time. Like I said, I'm incredibly busy, and it can often feel like I'm doing things for other people and not myself.
1:15.8	I often get caught up in what everyone else needs from me and not what I need for myself.
1:20.9	When we spend all of our time giving, it can leave us feeling stretched thin and burned out.
1:27.2	Once I realized how much time I was spending doing things for other people, I immediately took out the
1:32.1	scale model's Sherman tank that I've been building and spent a good few hours painting all the
1:36.4	fiddly bits that I've avoided. A lovely bit of me-time. It was magnificent and really helped clear my mind.
1:43.5	Therapy can give you the tools to find more balance in your life, so you can keep supporting others without leaving yourself behind.
1:51.0	With over 1,000 therapists in the UK already better help can provide access to mental health professionals,
1:57.0	with a wide variety of expertise in mental health.
2:00.0	Our listeners get 10% off their first month of betterhelp.com slash we have ways.
2:05.8	That's better help hlp.com slash we have ways. Thanks.
2:13.2	Back to our actor. Welcome to We Have Ways of Making You Talk with me, Al Murray and James Holland.
	...

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