Polish construction workers find letter written by Auschwitz prisoners

London, Apr.28 (ANI): Polish construction crew renovating a cellar near the notorious Auschwitz death camp in Poland have discovered a letter written by prisoners more than 60 years ago. The note, written in pencil then rolled up and inserted in a bottle, contains the names of seven young people who probably thought they were doomed to die at Auschwitz. Workmen found the letter inside a concrete wall.

"They were young people who were trying to leave some trace of their existence behind them," The Telegraph quoted Auschwitz museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt, as saying.

He said two of the prisoners survived the camp but he did not have further details.

Workmen were tearing out a wall in the basement of a college building in the town of Oswiecim - which was called Auschwitz by the Nazis during World War II - on April 20 when they discovered the bottle, college spokeswoman Monika Bartosz said.

She said the note appeared to have been written on a scrap from a cement bag.

Museum experts have verified the authenticity of the note, which will be handed over to the museum in early May.

The Nazis set up the Auschwitz camp in 1940 in occupied Poland. At least 1.1 million people, mostly Jews - but also non-Jewish Poles, Gypsies and others - died in Auschwitz-Birkenau's gas chambers, or from starvation, disease and forced labor, before Soviet troops liberated the camp on January 27, 1945. (ANI)