During World War II, Kon Piekarski was a member of the Polish Underground Army, a clandestine resistance movement which operated even inside Auschwitz - organizing spectacular esacpes, operating a secret radio network and matching wits with the Gestapo.
After Auschwitz, Piekarski became a prisoner of war at Buchenwald and spent time working in a factory where Russian prisoners of war were used for labour. In the face of constant danger, he and his comrades took every possible opportunity to sabotage the German war industry. He was finally transferred to a small camp near the French border, and escaped three months before the end of the war.
After the war, Kon Pierkarski was educated at London and Iowa State Universities. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Biomechanical Engineering from Cambridge. In 1951, he immigrated to Canada and is now a semi-retired professor at the University of Waterloo.