A

Antoni Dobrowolski

Died
October 21, 2012
Age
108 years

About Antoni Dobrowolski

Antoni Dobrowolski, 108, Polish Holocaust survivor, oldest known Auschwitz survivor.

Explore other notable deaths in 2012 or deaths in October 2012.

The Deaths Archive presents

How well do you know Antoni Dobrowolski?

Explore their life. Test your knowledge. Beat the challenge.

10 questions · One legacy · How much do you really know?

Challenge your friends

Play together in real-time.

Full Biography

|

Antoni Dobrowolski (8 October 1904 – 21 October 2012) was a Polish educator, teacher and Holocaust survivor. At the time of his death in 2012, Dobrowolski was the oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Dobrowolski was born in Wolbórz, present-day Poland, on 8 October 1904.

Nazi German authorities limited the education of ethnic Polish children to only four years during the occupation of Poland in order to undermine Polish culture. Despite the ban, Dobrowolski joined the Secret Teaching Organization to provide underground education in occupied Poland, according to Auschwitz historian Adam Cyra. Dobrowolski was discovered and arrested in June 1942 by the Gestapo. He was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was assigned the prisoner number 38081. Dobrowolski later recalled that "Auschwitz was worse than Dante's hell." He was transferred to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp and Sachsenhausen concentration camp, remaining a prisoner until his release in 1945.

He moved to Dębno, Poland, following the end of World War II following his liberation. He worked as an elementary school teacher, before becoming the director of a high school.

Dorbrowolski died on 21 October 2012, in Dębno, Poland, at the age of 108. He was the oldest known survivor of Auschwitz at the time.

Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Interactive

Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge

How well do you know this person's life and legacy?

No account needed to play. Sign in to keep your score on the leaderboard.

Articles & News

Reported coverage of Antoni Dobrowolski; each link opens the original article on the publisher's own site.

Books & Media

Find books, audiobooks and films about Antoni Dobrowolski on Amazon.

Available at Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Sources

People who died on October 21

Spotted an error?

Help us keep the archive accurate. Report a correction with a source.

Report an error for Antoni Dobrowolski →

We use cookies for analytics (Google Analytics 4 and PostHog) and advertising (Google AdSense) to understand site usage and improve your experience. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to the use of these cookies. See our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy for details.