»Mein Überleben musste einen Sinn haben«

"This was my destiny," is Josef's firm conviction: He survived forced labour in the concentration camp of Płaszów under the "Butcher of Płaszów", Amon Göth, who later became infamous through "Schindler's List". He survived the hell of Auschwitz and Mauthausen, thanks to skill born of necessity, luck and an unshakeable faith that gives him strength to this day. All this, he is convinced, in order to bring about the punishment of his former tormentor Göth himself after his liberation, by turning him in personally on behalf of the Americans. And to become the saviour of hundreds of Jewish orphans, whom he tracked down with great effort and freed from often terrible living conditions. "My survival had to have a purpose," says Josef Lewkowicz today - and he did everything to make it true.