A life sentence of memories - Issy Hahn

A Life Sentence of Memories is the true story of Issy Hahn and his brother, aged thirteen and fourteen at the beginning of the war. It begins with the invasion of Konin in Poland, when all of that town's Jewish population was deported to the city of Ostrowiec. There in the ghetto, they were forced to work for the Gestapo headquarters. Issy worked for the Gestapo Chief who later saved his life. The brothers watched as their parents, brother and sister boarded the train for Treblinka and saw their aunt and uncle shot dead in cold blood. In the early part of the war, while trying to escape the Gestapo, Issy stumbled upon a Polish underground movement, where he learned to use a gun. Months of training would later help him to survive many tough times throughout the war. The two brothers were then transported to Auschwitz where they made a remarkable escape. Sadly, this was followed by just as remarkable a recapture and return to Auschwitz. When his brother was not picked for a work party one day, it was only Issy's quick thinking which saved him from the gas chambers. Even after all this, they still had hope, and longed for the day when they would be able to return to Korin.