Szyja Opatowski, nicknamed Samy, was 17 when the German troops invaded Poland in September 1939. For this young Jew, a long fight for survival began, a struggle at every moment to escape extermination. From April 1940, Samy was deported to Belzec, then a labour camp at the frontier of the Soviet Union. There, his analytical skills, his resourcefulness and extraordinary instinct enabled him to get out, without compromise.