2024-09-16
30 分钟Maxwell Smart survived the Holocaust by living in a makeshift bunker on the forest floor. Maxwell Smart was just 11 years old in 1941 when the Nazis took over his town in eastern Poland. One by one his Jewish family were disappeared or killed, but his mother implored him to run for his life just as she and his sister were being loaded onto a German truck. Using his extraordinary ingenuity he managed to survive in remote woodland for the rest of the war, mostly alone, sleeping in improvised shelters and foraging for food. He eventually met another orphaned Jewish boy in the woods, Janek, whose friendship would come to have a profound impact on Maxwell’s life. In this second episode, Maxwell describes how his life changed again after the war was brought to an end and decades later is part of a shocking reunion. A feature film based on Maxwell’s life has been released, it’s called The Boy in the Woods. Presenter: Emily Webb Producers: Edgar Maddicott and Rebecca Vincent Editor: Munazza Khan Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
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It is not possible.
I don't believe what I hear.
My family did come back to me.
I started to cry.
We were crying on the floor.
Those are overwhelming things.
I fought for to survive, to rebuild and to make it back.
So how it was I succeeded.
Survival.
That was Maxwell Smart's mother's dying wish, that he survive.
Maxwell was a child in the Holocaust.
An 11 year old forced into a terrifying new reality after Nazis took over his home country, Poland and killed his family.
I'm Emily Webb, bringing you lives Less ordinary from the BBC World Service.
This is part two of Maxwell's story.