Karel Švenk
Karel Švenk, sometimes referred to in German as Karl Schwenk (Prague, 17 March 1917 – near Karlsberg, en route to Mauthausen, 1 April 1945), was a Czech cabaret artist, comedian, songwriter and writer. A leading figure in the cabaret at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, a "show" concentration camp for artists, Svenk was eventually sent to Auschwitz and later to Meuselwitz. He died on a death march from Kraslice about two weeks before the end of the war. Being completely exhausted and unable to continue, his friend hid him in the straw in the barn where the prisoners spent the  night. It is unknown whether he died of exhaustion or was discovered by the SS and shot. Karel's parents were Rudolf Schwenk (1880-1944) and Klara Koráleková (1882-1944), both were killed in Auschwitz concentration camp presumably shortly after their arrived on 9 October 1944. Karel had three sisters - Erna, Lili, Ottilie as well as a younger brother Otta. Only Ottilie survived the holocaust and emigrated to the US with her husband Rudolf Wenzel Köegler and son Heinrich Frederick Köegler. Ottilie died on 9 April 1996 in Ramsey County, Minnesota. Biography. Švenk was one of the members of the  avant-garde "Klub zapadlých talentů" (German "Klub der ungenützten Talente", "Club of Wasted Talents") in Prague. He was one of the first artists to be deported to Terezín on November 24, 1941, and was among the 342 young Jewish men sent to prepare the previously non-Jewish camp for the Jewish artist inmates to follow. In the autumn of 1942 he appeared in passing in the propaganda film "Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet", standing with the puppeteer Otto Neumann and the dancer Kamila Rosenbaumová. Svenk was sent to Auschwitz, then to Meuselwitz. He died on a death march  from Kraslice about 2 weeks before the end of the war. Totally exhausted and unable to continue he was hidden by his friend in the straw of the barn where he and the rest of the prisoners spent the night. It is not known whether he died of exhaustion or was discovered by the guards and shot.