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Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chamber
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Editorial
Review
Toward the end of Muller's three years at Auschwitz, there was an uprising of desperate prisoners. When the SS opened fire, Muller, who by then knew every niche and shadow of the place, hid by climbing into one of the unused crematoria and stood in the flue between the oven and the chimney. There he smoked a cigarette, and as the smoke curled up the chimney he mused on the many people whose mortal remains had disappeared that way. He was committed to survival and so, being a strong young man, he had worked on the Sonderkommando - the prisoner squad that ran the gas chambers for the SS. He had stripped bodies, guided them with forks into the flames, and cremated his own father. There was nothing he would not do. Once, overcome by the horror, he had tried to join the victims in the gas chamber but a young woman told him to save himself "to explain to them that they must free themselves from any illusions." It was this determination to "bear witness" that Muller claims as his reason to "see everything, experience everything, go through everything and consciously record everything in your mind." The details of how the camp operated are presented with sickening precision down to the mixture of healthy and emaciated bodies necessary for efficient burning. Contrary to common wisdom, "the crematoria were not modern or technically advanced. . . . Their operation depended entirely on slave laborers." Muller's account, unlike Elie Wiesel's, deals little with inner states. He accepts "organization" [theft] of valuables as necessary to make life more bearable. Although his descriptions are sometimes marred by pointless adjectives ("bloodthirsty gaze," "terrible sneer," "eagle eyes") and by stilted dialogue (possibly the fault of the translator), we are left with an account of an exceptional experience. Its ramifications, however, seem not to have struck him; and there's no sign that the Des Pres-Bettelheim controversy (sheer survival vs. principled resistance) has reached his ears. (Kirkus Reviews)
Editorial
Product Description
Filip Muller's firsthand account of three years in the gas chambers. One of the few prisoners who saw the Jewish people die and lived to tell about it, Muller has written one of the key documents of the Holocaust. A very detailed description of day-to-day life, if we can call it that, in Hell's inmost circle...jammed with infernal information too terrible to be taken all at once. --Terrence Des Pres, New Republic
Editorial
Synopsis
This work offers a shattering account of an Auschwitz prisoner who worked for more than two years in the gassing installations and crematoria and lived to tell about it.
Disappointing
Review date: 2008-07-15 Rating: 2 out of 10
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.
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Reviews
ochmister
Review date: 2008-06-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.
An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand.
Review date: 2008-05-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.
You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.
During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.
At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.
Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.
There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.
The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.
Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.
The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.
The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.
Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.
As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.
This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.
Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.
His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.
As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.
A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.
If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.
Brings the Reality of what went on home !
Review date: 2008-05-11 Rating: 10 out of 10
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !
Gripping
Review date: 2008-04-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!
Product Details/Specifications
Authors:
Filip Muller
Recording label: Ivan R Dee, Inc
Manufacturer: Ivan R Dee, Inc
EAN: 9781566632713
Binding: Paperback
Dewey decimal number: 940.547243094386
ISBN: 1566632714
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 192
Publication date: 1999-08-24
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Unknown)
Language: English (Published)