Coward Charles

Coward, Charles Joseph During World War II, a captured British soldier holding the rank of sergeant major, helped to save a number of Jews, while interned near Auschwitz. Coward joined the British army in 1924, and served five years in India. In 1940 he fought on the French front, was wounded and captured at Dunkirk. He escaped from captivity several times, was recaptured and eventually interned in Monowitz camp, near Auschwitz. During this time, he became known as the “Count of Auschwitz.” Coward had the idea of collecting precious chocolate and cigarettes from his fellow British prisoners, and exchanging them with a Auschwitz guards for dead bodies. He substituted these bodies for Jewish inmates who were then helped to escape. A book about the bravery of Charles Coward, written by John Castle, The Password is Courage (1954) was filmed. Coward visited Israel in 1962. On February 16, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized Charles Coward as Righteous Among the Nations.