By Selwyn Duke

American student Otto Warmbier (shown) was recently seen in a video released by North Korea, after being accused of crimes against the state, tearfully pleading for mercy. But the University of Virginia student’s request fell on deaf ears, and his captors sentenced him to 15 years hard labor. And that’s even worse than it sounds, says an ex-North Korean prisoner, as the 22-year-old will face a torturous existence under Auschwitz-like conditions.

Kang Chol-hwan knows whereof he speaks, as he’s a rare individual: someone who escaped a North Korean prison camp (in 1992). As for what awaits Warmbier, Kang “described how prisoners are woken up at 5am and are forced to work until sunset,” writesthe Express. “He said: ‘We are forced to watch public executions. We are physically abused — hit and tortured. I think of it as another form of Auschwitz.’”

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