At just four years old, Joseph Schlipstein was thrust into a nightmare he could never have imagined. In the dark of night, hidden within a suitcase by his desperate father, he was smuggled toward an uncertain fate. But fate is a cruel master. Discovered by guards, Joseph’s life hung by a thread, his chances of survival slim. Yet, against all odds, he was allowed to live.

For the next few years, Joseph endured the unimaginable within the walls of Buchenwald, a place where childhood should have been, but was cruelly stolen away. By the time liberation arrived, he was no longer the carefree child he once was. At seven, he stood there in ragged striped clothes, his face reflecting a sorrow far beyond his years, his eyes holding the weight of horrors no child should ever witness.

Joseph’s survival was a fragile chance—a twist of fate that spared him from a fate shared by so many others. His story, though marked by unimaginable suffering, serves as a powerful reminder: Behind every number, every statistic, there was a child. A child who once dreamed of a future, of love, and of peace. A child who, against all odds, survived.