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Secrets of the Dead

Escape from Auschwitz

Season 7 Episode 2 | 53m 50s

Nazi records show that tens of thousands of Jews from German-occupied territories were sent to Auschwitz to be executed each month. But two Auschwitz prisoners, Rudolph Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, were determined to expose the horrors of the Nazi genocide and stop the killing factories forever. To do that, they had to become the first to escape from the heavily-guarded camp.

Aired: 04/29/08
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
Extras
Watch • 2:08
Secrets of the Dead
Ascending the Summit of Mt. Phu Kao
An archaeological team recreates the ascent that Khmer kings would have made up the holy mountain.
Clip: S22 E4 | 2:08
Watch • 2:11
Secrets of the Dead
Signs of Human Habitation in Kurukshetra
Archaeologists dig through layers of earth in search of evidence of pre-Angkorian habitation.
Clip: S22 E4 | 2:11
Watch • 1:30
Secrets of the Dead
Cymbal Found at Ancient Khmer Temple Site
Archaeologists find a small cymbal dating back to the 7th century.
Clip: S22 E3 | 1:30
Watch • 2:50
Secrets of the Dead
A Gruesome Discovery in Rural Poland
In 2022, a team of archaeologists unearthed a strange burial in the Polish village of Pień.
Clip: S22 E2 | 2:50
Watch • 1:44
Secrets of the Dead
Reconstructing the Face of a 17-Century Woman
A forensic artist reconstructs the face of a woman buried as a vampire in 17-century Poland.
Clip: S22 E2 | 1:44
Watch • 2:48
Secrets of the Dead
Radar Technologies Aid in Search for Civil War Burial Site
A team searches for the remains of the soldiers slain in the Simpsonville Massacre.
Clip: S22 E1 | 2:48
Watch • 2:17
Secrets of the Dead
Remembering the Fallen Soldiers of the Simpsonville Massacre
The search for the remains of 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry in Kentucky begins.
Clip: S22 E1 | 2:17
Watch • 2:53
Secrets of the Dead
How Technology Revived Seneca the Elder
Researcher Valeria Piano discovers long-lost history of Rome written by Seneca the Elder.
Clip: S21 E6 | 2:53
Watch • 3:34
Secrets of the Dead
Decoding the Herculaneum Scrolls: AI Meets Ancient Texts
Artificial intelligence is used to find out what some carbonized Herculaneum scrolls say.
Clip: S21 E6 | 3:34
Watch • 2:25
Secrets of the Dead
Another Composer in the Mozart Family?
Letters between siblings Wolfgang and Maria Anna Mozart suggest she, too, composed music.
Clip: S21 E5 | 2:25
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Episode: S22 E2 | 55:15
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Episode: S21 E6 | 55:15
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Episode: S21 E5 | 55:15
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Episode: S21 E4 | 54:45
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Episode: S21 E3 | 55:15
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Episode: S21 E2 | 55:15
Watch • 54:45
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Episode: S21 E1 | 54:45