Sam Pivnik

Who is Sam Pivnik?

Sam Pivnik is a Holocaust survivor born on 1 September 1926 in Bedzin, in South-western Poland near the border with Germany, the second son of Lajb Piwnik, a tailor, and Feigel Piwnik.

As a Jewish family, the Piwniks were forced to live in the Kamionka Ghetto in Bedzin from early 1943 and on 6 August 1943 the family were deported to Auschwitz II/Birkenau. Sam Piwnik's father and mother, younger sister Chana and younger brothers Meir, Wolf and Josef were murdered on arrival. He says that his older sister Handel survived for a period of around ten days before she was also 'selected' for the gas chambers.

Sam Pivnik was registered in the camp and tattooed with prisoner number 135913. After a period of approximately two weeks in the 'Quarantine' area of Birkenau, Pivnik was assigned to the Rampkommando where he worked unloading newly arrived trains after the prisoners had been taken away for entry to the camp or gassing. This gave him access to food and valuables from prisoners luggage and he was able to use this to keep himself fed and to bribe Kapos, prisoner-overseers and trusties.

On 27 December 1943 Pivnik was admitted to the prisoner infirmary in the Quarantine area KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau, B IIa, Block 9 with suspected typhus. He says that he survived several 'selections' and on 11 January 1944 was admitted to the main prisoners' hospital at KL-Auschwitz II-Birkenau B IIf. Following his recovery from typhus, Pivnik was selected for a work detail to go to KL Auschwitz III/Fürstengrube, a coal mine where he was assigned to the construction detail and appointed as a Vorarbeiter or overseer. He says that during his period at Auschwitz, he came to know both Otto Moll and Josef Mengele by sight.