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But I Survived
Book by Tadeusz Sobolewicz
293 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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383 people want to read
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January 9, 2021
His father was a Polish soldier when Hitler invaded Poland during the second world war and actively participated in the underground Polish resistance when Poland was carved into two and occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. He was then barely 17 years old. But the Gestapo found out about his father’s activities and came knocking at their house one night. He and his father managed to flee, separately, but his mother and brother were arrested and placed in a concentration camp.
Not for long, however, he and his father were also caught, cruelly tortured, and they both landed in Auschwitz where his father later perished after horribly suffering. After about a year, he was transferred to another death camp, Buchenwald, and subsequently to some Nazi labor camps. This run was for several years, from 1941 to 1945, where he was under constant threat of death DAILY: death from violence, death from ill luck, death from injuries, death from illnesses and epidemics, death from hunger, death from exhaustion, death by suicide (a constant temptation), senseless death and, later, even death from friendly fire. He had witnessed countless such horrific deaths and suffering.
It doesn’t appear that he was even a Jew. Just someone born at the wrong time, and at the wrong place.
The admirable thing about this memoir is the matter-of-fact narration of what the author had seen, heard and experienced during those sad times. He draws you into his world by presenting it to you without embellishments. It is as if he’s saying: “Here, come and see this brutal world when I was a young man and decide for yourself how you like to feel about it.”
How did he survive? He does not know. He does not even think there is a WHY about his survival. He takes no credit for himself nor does he suggests any supernatural intervention. For he had seen, daily, that death is something that has no purpose, no meaning and utterly senseless. Like life under such conditions. Death comes, whimsically, to anyone. He was constantly aware that it could claim him anytime, that he would be helpless against it, and he could not avoid it even if he resists the thought with all his might. Of course he was then young, but:
“it is difficult to say whether only youth made it easier to survive. Many young people died of exhaustion, were murdered or killed—no one has as yet put a figure on how many young people survived in proportion to the old. It seems that, above all, survival depended on luck. That’s right: inexplicable fate which brought death to some and eventual freedom to others.” (p.9)
Life is a lottery.
Not for long, however, he and his father were also caught, cruelly tortured, and they both landed in Auschwitz where his father later perished after horribly suffering. After about a year, he was transferred to another death camp, Buchenwald, and subsequently to some Nazi labor camps. This run was for several years, from 1941 to 1945, where he was under constant threat of death DAILY: death from violence, death from ill luck, death from injuries, death from illnesses and epidemics, death from hunger, death from exhaustion, death by suicide (a constant temptation), senseless death and, later, even death from friendly fire. He had witnessed countless such horrific deaths and suffering.
It doesn’t appear that he was even a Jew. Just someone born at the wrong time, and at the wrong place.
The admirable thing about this memoir is the matter-of-fact narration of what the author had seen, heard and experienced during those sad times. He draws you into his world by presenting it to you without embellishments. It is as if he’s saying: “Here, come and see this brutal world when I was a young man and decide for yourself how you like to feel about it.”
How did he survive? He does not know. He does not even think there is a WHY about his survival. He takes no credit for himself nor does he suggests any supernatural intervention. For he had seen, daily, that death is something that has no purpose, no meaning and utterly senseless. Like life under such conditions. Death comes, whimsically, to anyone. He was constantly aware that it could claim him anytime, that he would be helpless against it, and he could not avoid it even if he resists the thought with all his might. Of course he was then young, but:
“it is difficult to say whether only youth made it easier to survive. Many young people died of exhaustion, were murdered or killed—no one has as yet put a figure on how many young people survived in proportion to the old. It seems that, above all, survival depended on luck. That’s right: inexplicable fate which brought death to some and eventual freedom to others.” (p.9)
Life is a lottery.
March 31, 2020
Review to follow
June 25, 2023
Diferente a lo que esperaba, pero no peor. Creía que sería una novela basada en un testimonio, pero es un testimonio plenamente. Muestra la realidad con nombre y apellidos de la represión nazi.
November 16, 2010
It's a bit hard to get through for me since I'm reading it in Polish and my Polish has been suffering lately. Have not yet finished. The book is an astonishing true story written from the author's experiences living in concentration camps during World War II. The author (a non-Jewish Pole) was arrested Jan.9.1941 and lived in 7 different concentration camps (including Auschwitz) before being rescued at the end of the war. Although extremely disturbing at times, the author simply explains how life was in the concentration camps, and I never felt he was trying to shock the reader. His ability to survive so long in the camps was a result of cunningly avoiding dire situations, a moderate amount of luck, and working together with friends he made in the camps. A good example of this is how in one camp he made friends with a fellow prisoner who worked in the kitchen. With a lot of luck, his friend was able to get him a job in the kitchen which freed him from the grueling work of moving earth for a railroad track. The work was so hard that prisoners were dying every day from a combination of exhaustion and malnourishment. Working in this kitchen also allowed him chances to nab little bits of extra food here and there, without which he would have most likely starved to death. There are also parts of the book where prisoners are killed all around him but he is spared partially due to luck, and partially due to his ability to avoid conflict with the guards.
It is an incredible true story of survival and endurance, and an eye-opening glimpse of the disturbing thoughts and actions of the nazis managing the camps.
It is an incredible true story of survival and endurance, and an eye-opening glimpse of the disturbing thoughts and actions of the nazis managing the camps.
January 28, 2022
I struggle to find words that properly express, how important it is for people to read this book. Difficult and painful as it may be to read (it certainly was for me), Tadeusz Sobolewicz's account of the Holocaust is a testament not only to the unfathomable extents of human cruelty, but also to the inextinguishable will to survive and the immense courage to help one another when faced with utter doom. The author took pains to recount the names of prisoners and tormentors alike, which not only offers a very personal account of the Holocaust (Microhistory vs. Macrohistory), but also serves as a painful reminder, that the perpetrators of these crimes were not monsters, but human beings. In a time, where far-right and fascist tendencies are yet again gaining ground, this book maintains its nigh immeasurable importance.
August 12, 2014
Besides the slew of typos and mediocre translation the book was very good. It is a first edition in English, so I will cut it some slack, since Polish to English is likely a difficult translation. But the editor couldn't have read through the galleys more than once. The story itself is however amazing. I have never read a book that focused so much on the survivor's time in subcamps. It is written as if Hemingway survived the Holocaust. There is little reflection or deep description. It is clear that the author just wants to relay the facts, and move from one event to another. But there is the occasional poetic sentence and paragraph of unparalleled truth, that makes it all worth it.
May 6, 2025
Después de 3 intentos por leerme el libro (y no poder acabarlo debido a las atrocidades que vivió su protagonista) esta vez he podido hacer de tripas corazón y acabármelo.
He llorado, mucho, muchísimo. He visitado Auschwitz (donde compré el libro) y lo pasé mal PERO LEER TODO LO QUE SE HIZO ALLÍ ? o incluso en otros campos de concentración es una cosa totalmente diferente.
No tengo palabras para describir todo la pena y toda la rabia que siento ahora mismo. Solo puedo admirar la resiliencia del autor y la fuerza de recordar todo lo sucedido y plantarlo en papel para que generaciones como la mía sean conscientes del gran genocidio que se produjo.
Una autobiografía inigualable
PD: no se me ha podido escapar mientras lo leía el gran similar con la población palestina que actualmente está sufriendo un genocidio mientras que las fuerzas políticas miran hacia un lado y siguen apoyando al estado ILEGITIMO de Israel
He llorado, mucho, muchísimo. He visitado Auschwitz (donde compré el libro) y lo pasé mal PERO LEER TODO LO QUE SE HIZO ALLÍ ? o incluso en otros campos de concentración es una cosa totalmente diferente.
No tengo palabras para describir todo la pena y toda la rabia que siento ahora mismo. Solo puedo admirar la resiliencia del autor y la fuerza de recordar todo lo sucedido y plantarlo en papel para que generaciones como la mía sean conscientes del gran genocidio que se produjo.
Una autobiografía inigualable
PD: no se me ha podido escapar mientras lo leía el gran similar con la población palestina que actualmente está sufriendo un genocidio mientras que las fuerzas políticas miran hacia un lado y siguen apoyando al estado ILEGITIMO de Israel
August 18, 2024
Unha autobiografia preciosa e dura a partes iguales.
September 1, 2010
The editing could have been better and the translation from the original Polish occasionally leaves something to be desired. Neither of those things matter in the slightest. This book demands to be read.
May 5, 2014
Pasear por Auschwitz-Birkenau es como ir a la casa del terror de las personas mayores. Leer este libro completa la experiencia.
La traducción del polaco al español es bastante defectuosa tanto en erratas como en estilo. Pero los hechos ahí están.
En español: "He sobrevivido para contarlo".
La traducción del polaco al español es bastante defectuosa tanto en erratas como en estilo. Pero los hechos ahí están.
En español: "He sobrevivido para contarlo".
October 23, 2022
‘Per chi non è mai stato prigioniero è difficile capire di quali sentimenti la libertà possa riempire il cuore di uomo finalmente liberato’.
Tra tutti i libri che ho letto sul periodo nazista, questo è il primo a cui mi avvicino che ha come fulcro le deportazioni di prigionieri politici e/o liberi cittadini.
Acquistato direttamente ad Auschwitz, dove ho avuto modo di vedere file e file di fotografie di cittadini polacchi deportati non si sa bene perché, questo viaggio tra la memoria del giovane Tadeusz sicuramente è un qualcosa che a tratti ha dell’incredibile. Lo sfinimento che pervade ognuna delle pagine del libro, sempre battuto dalla voglia di libertà e rinascita. La crudeltà, l’impotenza e la solidarietà che accompagnano i prigionieri. Le condizioni di sopravvivenza, perchè quella non è vita.
Tantissimi dettagli che aiutano chi legge a visualizzare ciò di cui l’autore parla.
Un insieme di emozioni da cui difficilmente si riesce ad emergere.
Lettura consigliatissima.
Tra tutti i libri che ho letto sul periodo nazista, questo è il primo a cui mi avvicino che ha come fulcro le deportazioni di prigionieri politici e/o liberi cittadini.
Acquistato direttamente ad Auschwitz, dove ho avuto modo di vedere file e file di fotografie di cittadini polacchi deportati non si sa bene perché, questo viaggio tra la memoria del giovane Tadeusz sicuramente è un qualcosa che a tratti ha dell’incredibile. Lo sfinimento che pervade ognuna delle pagine del libro, sempre battuto dalla voglia di libertà e rinascita. La crudeltà, l’impotenza e la solidarietà che accompagnano i prigionieri. Le condizioni di sopravvivenza, perchè quella non è vita.
Tantissimi dettagli che aiutano chi legge a visualizzare ciò di cui l’autore parla.
Un insieme di emozioni da cui difficilmente si riesce ad emergere.
Lettura consigliatissima.
September 11, 2025
Sinopsis: Esta historia narra las memorias de Tadeusz Sobolewicz, un joven polaco que tras unirse a la resistencia contra la ocupación nazi, fue arrestado y enviado a varios campos de concentración, entre ellos Auschwitz. Aquí relata con crudeza y sensibilidad las condiciones inhumanas, la lucha constante por sobrevivir y el impacto psicológico de convivir diariamente con la muerte.
Lo que repito siempre en este tipo de reseñas, siento que no se puede puntuar un libro de este calibre porque no puedo calificar una experiencia de esa manera.
He escuchado muchas historias de este estilo, pero esta igualmente tenia el poder de hacerme fruncir el ceño, de hacerme cuestionar sobre la maldad y la crudeza humana, de hacerme replantear nuestro papel y creo que por eso y claramente por la experiencia vivida es una historia totalmente poderosa. Ver este tipo de historias nos debe forzar a no olvidar, a honrar, a rememorar, a aprender y sobretodo a sanar y prevenir que el odio nunca mas pueda gobernar nuestras acciones individuales o colectivas.
Lo que repito siempre en este tipo de reseñas, siento que no se puede puntuar un libro de este calibre porque no puedo calificar una experiencia de esa manera.
He escuchado muchas historias de este estilo, pero esta igualmente tenia el poder de hacerme fruncir el ceño, de hacerme cuestionar sobre la maldad y la crudeza humana, de hacerme replantear nuestro papel y creo que por eso y claramente por la experiencia vivida es una historia totalmente poderosa. Ver este tipo de historias nos debe forzar a no olvidar, a honrar, a rememorar, a aprender y sobretodo a sanar y prevenir que el odio nunca mas pueda gobernar nuestras acciones individuales o colectivas.
August 7, 2019
Mi madre me trajo este libro directamente de Auschwitz. Aunque nunca habría completado ninguna obra acerca del holocausto, imediatamente supe que esta sería una excepción. No estoy desapuntada, pues la me atrapó e lo leí en pocos días. Tadeusz realmente ha sobrevivido al infierno (aunque mi versión se intitule "he sobrevivido para contarlo"). Me encantó la forma como cuenta todo de una forma tan natural, como si estuviese hablando con su família relatando un viaje de trabajo. Su inocencia y honestidad no dejan olvidar de que se trata de una historia verdadera, o sea, que los horrores que estas personas vivieron fueron reales. Creo que todo el mundo debería leer algo así.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------My mother brought me this book directly from Auschwitz. Despite not having ever read any book on the holocaust througout, I immidiately knew that this would be an exception. I'm not dissapointed, for I was gripped and ended up reading in a few days. Tadeusz really has survided through hell (the original spanish title is "I survived through hell" despite my version being titled "I survived to tell the story"). I adored the way it spoke in a natural tone, as if he was telling his family about a work trip or something. His innocence and honesty keep us from forgetting this is a real story, that is, the horrors these people went through were real. I think everyone should read something like this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------My mother brought me this book directly from Auschwitz. Despite not having ever read any book on the holocaust througout, I immidiately knew that this would be an exception. I'm not dissapointed, for I was gripped and ended up reading in a few days. Tadeusz really has survided through hell (the original spanish title is "I survived through hell" despite my version being titled "I survived to tell the story"). I adored the way it spoke in a natural tone, as if he was telling his family about a work trip or something. His innocence and honesty keep us from forgetting this is a real story, that is, the horrors these people went through were real. I think everyone should read something like this.
September 7, 2024
Lettura scorrevole anche se si tratta di un argomento molto difficile. La storia di tadeusz e le sue emozioni ti entrano dentro al cuore e non se ne vanno, neanche dopo la fine della lettura. Emozionante leggere della forza dell'uomo e di come anche nel dolore e nella fatica si possa trovare il coraggio di aiutare gli altri. Consigliato.
Non do cinque stelle per alcuni errori di battitura e di scrittura presenti.
Non do cinque stelle per alcuni errori di battitura e di scrittura presenti.
June 20, 2025
Me lo compré en el museo de Auschwitz en mi viaje a Cracovia.He tardado en leérmelo por qué me ha costado ponerme; pero en cuanto lo hacía leía del tirón. Es una biografía bien hecha, interesante y fácil de leer. La recomiendo absolutamente a todas esas personas a las que le interesen la segunda guerra mundial. Sin duda una maravillosa lectura, me ha encantado.
May 31, 2020
A good account, i mean intense and gives you a realistic picture of the scary times these prisoners went through. There are some mistakes in the translation and typos but otherwise an important read to know what our ancestors went through
May 6, 2023
Harrowing account of a Pole who survived WWII’s concentration camps, and the atrocities committed there by the Nazi regime.
The quality of the translation, I read the book in Dutch (het Nederlandse horloge), unfortunately distracted from the story told.
The quality of the translation, I read the book in Dutch (het Nederlandse horloge), unfortunately distracted from the story told.
October 21, 2023
I read the dutch version and there were a few spelling mistakes and soms weird sentences. This is due to the translation between the original and the dutch version. The story itself was written really well and gave an insight of what was going on in the camps.
July 8, 2024
Libro con una historia totalmente desgarradora pero excelente. Te da a entender de amplia forma cómo fue la situación en el pasado y todo lo que las personas tuvieron que pasar. Libro obligado si estás interesado en la segunda guerra mundial o en este tipo de temas.
September 26, 2024
Duro relato en primera persona de un superviviente polaco que pasó por muchos campos de concentración y exterminio. Sorprende su positivismo y la naturalidad con la que cuenta las barbaridades que sufrió en sus propias carnes durante el nazismo.
May 13, 2019
Interessant maar je merkt wel dat de man geen schrijver was. Ik vind het niet lekker weglezen..
July 27, 2020
It's a amazing experiencie.
May 27, 2023
Libro davvero pesante da leggere ma stupendo se si vogliono conoscere le condizioni di vita nei campi di concentramento della resistenza politica
August 11, 2024
But I cried.
June 15, 2013
"But I survived" is a book about Tadeusz, a Polish political prisoner who stayed at several nazi concentration camps. His survival story describes the hardships he and others endured until the end of the war. What I liked about the writing is that author takes time to remember the "nice" moments... the smile of a friend, a sports event, a helping hand. In such a terrible scenario, in the middle of so much violence and sadism, he managed to find little things that helped him keep going.
I bought this book in the Auschwitz Museum. Considering the emotions that arise from the whole concentration camp experience, I think the book is written quite objectively. Yet, it still hurts. I feel a pain in my stomach out of the hunger the prisoners felt.
I went to Poland 10 years ago, for a month. I found it really interesting that food would be served at the centre of the table. People could take as much as they wanted. Whatever remained would be served during the next meal and again afterwards, until it was finished. No food was wasted. I understand now.
After reading this book, watching The Pianist and visiting Auschwitz, my "problems" seem completely irrelevant. My respect and admiration for Tadeusz, who survived against all odds and decided to share his story with the world.
I bought this book in the Auschwitz Museum. Considering the emotions that arise from the whole concentration camp experience, I think the book is written quite objectively. Yet, it still hurts. I feel a pain in my stomach out of the hunger the prisoners felt.
I went to Poland 10 years ago, for a month. I found it really interesting that food would be served at the centre of the table. People could take as much as they wanted. Whatever remained would be served during the next meal and again afterwards, until it was finished. No food was wasted. I understand now.
After reading this book, watching The Pianist and visiting Auschwitz, my "problems" seem completely irrelevant. My respect and admiration for Tadeusz, who survived against all odds and decided to share his story with the world.
May 19, 2015
Uno de los principales problemas con los que cuenta la edición española es precisamente su traducción. Hay muchos errores tanto gramaticales como de estilo. Dejando a parte ese hecho el libro es interesante, a mi juicio, por que nos presenta otra perspectiva de los campos de concentración durante la IIGM, y es la historia de un polaco no judío, una historia en que las víctimas luchan por sobrevivir e intentan colaborar ayudándose los unos a los otros. Aunque, como suele pasar con libros como este, se nota el regusto propagandístico detrás. Esta vez no banaliza al extremo convirtiendo la historia en la dicotomía buenos y malos, si no que se centra en el cariz nacionalista, destacando la identidad polaca por encima de todo. Tadeusz sobrevivió por qué tenía la esperanza de que su patria volvería a ser libre.
Me llama la atención la ausencia en el relato de su hermano, solo lo menciona muy de paso y durante su cautiverio, o así lo ha querido reflejar en su novela, no repara en él, de hecho al final no se incluye una foto suya (como si aparece del resto de su familia).
Concluyendo, una historia sobre las otras víctimas del nazismo, tal vez más olvidadas.
Me llama la atención la ausencia en el relato de su hermano, solo lo menciona muy de paso y durante su cautiverio, o así lo ha querido reflejar en su novela, no repara en él, de hecho al final no se incluye una foto suya (como si aparece del resto de su familia).
Concluyendo, una historia sobre las otras víctimas del nazismo, tal vez más olvidadas.
May 6, 2024
Hoy cambio de registro y dejo a un lado el thriller y la novela negra para traeros uno de los libros que más me han impactado en los últimos tiempos.
'He sobrevivido para contarlo' es la historia de Tadeusz Sobolewicz, una historia de barbarie y supervivencia en los campos de concentración nazis durante la II Guerra Mundial.
Tadeusz fue detenido a los 18 años y durante la guerra pasó por Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Leipzig, Mülsen, Flossenbürg y Regensburg y narra en primera persona y con todo detalle cómo fue su vida allí, sus vivencias y sentimientos durante una de las épocas más oscuras de la historia.
Como del propio título se deduce, Tadeusz logra sobrevivir y volver a su Polonia natal. Con el poso que sólo el tiempo da, plasma en este libro su sufrimiento y, por desgracia, el de más de un millón y medio de personas más.
Todos conocemos este periodo de la historia, pero leer testimonios en primera persona impacta aún más (o por lo menos eso me pasa a mí). Y es que no hay nada que pueda justificar actos así, actos en los que el ser humano perdió precisamente eso, su humanidad.
'He sobrevivido para contarlo' es la historia de Tadeusz Sobolewicz, una historia de barbarie y supervivencia en los campos de concentración nazis durante la II Guerra Mundial.
Tadeusz fue detenido a los 18 años y durante la guerra pasó por Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Leipzig, Mülsen, Flossenbürg y Regensburg y narra en primera persona y con todo detalle cómo fue su vida allí, sus vivencias y sentimientos durante una de las épocas más oscuras de la historia.
Como del propio título se deduce, Tadeusz logra sobrevivir y volver a su Polonia natal. Con el poso que sólo el tiempo da, plasma en este libro su sufrimiento y, por desgracia, el de más de un millón y medio de personas más.
Todos conocemos este periodo de la historia, pero leer testimonios en primera persona impacta aún más (o por lo menos eso me pasa a mí). Y es que no hay nada que pueda justificar actos así, actos en los que el ser humano perdió precisamente eso, su humanidad.
July 3, 2012
De schrijver, een Pool, is als 17jarige al naar Auschwitz gestuurd. Hij heeft de hele oorlog in verschillende kampen doorgebracht. Pas op de laatste dodenmars heeft hij weten te vluchten en is daarna bij de Amerikaanse bevrijders terecht gekomen. Het hele verblijf in de kampen wordt nauwkeurig en zeer rustig beschreven. Ook het feit, dat hij zijn eigen vader in Auschwitz ziet vermoorden. Wij hebben altijd de indruk, dat Auschwitz het ergste kamp was. Dat is niet zo, het kon nog veel erger, getuige de verhalen van deze schrijver. Het laatste kamp, Flossenburg, was mij zelfs volledig onbekend. Ik heb het in het Duits gelezen, maar ik weet bijna zeker, dat er ook een Nederlandse vertaling is.
December 14, 2015
I bought this book in the bookstore at Auschwitz-Birkenau. It would be unfitting to say I "enjoyed" this book because of the depressing subject, but I wanted to know every single detail of the author's experience. He provides such a personal and graphic account of what was like for concentration camp prisoners during WWII. What's so fascinating about his story is that he should have died multiple times, but his will to live, along with the friendships he made, enabled him to survive five years of hell in multiple camps where prisoners were murdered daily. Emotionally it was a tough read, but a very important one.
April 20, 2008
It is about a man who grew up in Poland, joined the Polis underground resistance movement and was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo in 1941. He spent the rest of WWII in concentration camps, starting in Auschwitz and then moving onto lesser known ones. I quite liked it but it is heavy reading and does get a bit graphic. Anyone who likes to read about history would like this book.
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