Holocaust survivor David Wolnerman is finally opening up about his experiences in the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps in the early 1940s, admitting that quick thinking made the difference between life and death for him.
Pulling up his shirt sleeve, he shows off his blurry blue tattoo with the numbers 160344. These were the numbers that the Nazis put on his arm in 1940 at Auschwitz, but he didn't realize the hidden meaning behind the number until later in life. Add the individual numbers together and they equal 18.
Located in Poland, Auschwitz was the largest death camp established by the Germans during World War II, and more than a million people — the vast majority of whom were Jewish — died there. (The BBC recently sent a video drone over the concentration camp, giving a haunting tour of Auschwitz.)
Recalling the day he got the tattoo, Wolnerman, then 13, lied about his age and said he was 18. He was sent to the right line — the left line was eventually sent to the gas chambers. He says it is the "lucky lie" that saved his life!
"I didn't have brains to say this," Wolnerman said. "I believe God told me. If not, I wouldn't be here."
In Hebrew, the number 18 is symbolized as chai, or "life." At 18, he was liberated from the camp.
Watch the video below to hear more. And please SHARE his story with your friends.
