The SS guards came to treat the Polish boy as a camp mascot, and even had him appear at roll call wearing a child-sized striped uniform.

In January 1945, Joseph Schleifstein, then age four, and his father, Izrael, were deported from German-occupied Poland to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Izrael hid Joseph in a large sack with some tools during the selection process, in which prisoners were sent to their death or chosen for work details. Camp officials later discovered Joseph but spared his life.

Despite this special treatment, Joseph was not safe. He remembers being lined up for execution at one point. His father intervened to save him. Months after their liberation, Joseph and his father were reunited with his mother, Esther, in Dachau, where they lived until immigrating to the United States in 1947.

Joseph, wearing his old uniform, was interviewed by a journalist.

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