death_place death_date birth_place nationality known_for article_title name occupation
wrocław 24 february 2004 sanok , poland polish first inmate of auschwitz stanisław ryniak
 stanisław ryniak architect
stanisław ryniak

stanisław ryniak -lrb- november 21 , 1915 -- february 2004 -rrb- was a polish political prisoner of auschwitz concentration camp during the second world war .
he was the first polish prisoner in auschwitz -lrb- that is , the one with the lowest number - 31 -rrb- .
he is buried in wroclaw , poland .
in may 1940 , when he was 24 , ryniak was arrested by the germans in his hometown of sanok and was accused of being a member of the polish resistance .
he was transported to tarnów prison on 7 may , together with 18 poles from jarosław , and arrived at auschwitz on 14 june 1940 , in the first mass transport of prisoners to the camp .
numbers were tattooed on prisoners ' arms in the order of their arrival .
the first 30 numbers were given to german criminal prisoners who would serve as camp guards .
ryniak 's number was 31 .
in 1944 he was sent to the leitmeritz work camp , in what is now the czech republic , where he was subjected to hard labour until the end of the war .
on his release , he weighed 88 pounds .
`` i have no idea how i survived it all , '' ryniak told the polish news agency p.a.p. in a 1995 interview .
`` where did i get the strength ? ''
