Antoni Caputa

Antoni Caputa was born in Poland, in Pietrzykowice, in 1907. He became a member of the Polish Army Ski Team in the 1930s. He fought against the Germans when they attacked Poland in September 1939.

When Germany occupied Poland, he tried to escape to Hungary where Polish soldiers were given a possibility to travel to France where the Polish Army was being organized. Unfortunately, he was caught by Slovakian police, who were collaborating with the Germans, and sent back to Poland.

There he became one of first prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp - his camp number was 312. He survived this and two other of Nazi Germany's most notorious concentration camps: Mauthausen (where his number was 11281) and Dachau (where his number was 39027).

After the war he emigrated to Canada to make a new life for himself and help others from Poland do the same. He settled in Kitchener – Waterloo in Ontario, and was very active in Polish community organizations.

Antoni published two volumes of his memoires: “Z Pietrzykowic w szeroki świat” and “Póki my żyjemy”. The former was published in English under the title: “From Pietrzykowice across the world”

Antoni passed away in Waterloo on 3 May 1995 at the age of 88 years. . He was buried at the Parkview Cemetery. His wife Felicitas died two years later.