Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land reads like a book of short stories, with each chapter a separate tale, yet there is the constant connection of the author in some measure rendering the recollections cohesive and very compelling manor. Although I have read and heard of accounts of World War II concentration camps for years, this book was still able to grab my attention and keep it because of the personal tone set by the author regarding the horror of her time spent at Auschwitz.
Full of contradictions, this book shows the unimaginable horrors and the surprising wonders of Auschwitz. Day in and day out, pain, death, suffering were commonplace here. Yet, it was also a place where friendships and love were able to blossom and compassion and laughter were impossible to stamp out completely. We see Auschwitz as a place where human nature became so twisted at times that innocents would turn on each other in a bid of survival and yet others would gladly inch closer to death themselves if their actions may add a day to the live of another or even the possibly of another day.
Nomberg-Przytyk describes the atrocities committed by the man known as the “Angle of Death” even for generations after the war has ended. She lets the reader in enough to understand how he could charm the near hopeless into trusting him and how, despite knowing the monstrous capabilities of Dr. Mengele, the handsome man was able to inspire complacent awe.
The numerous contradictions in Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land goes beyond the stories and lays the foundations for contemplating how the horrors of the death camps were able to occur. With panache for telling various sides of a story, Nomberg-Przytyk shows readers that though it was unlikely the world knew nothing of the camps, it is within us all to show understanding for inaction due to fear as the author herself admits it was fear and the will to survive that led her and others to do things they would normally abhor.
Seeing how so many fell into and accepted evil in a fight to survive, it is works like this that should remind all of modern humanity that the occurrences of WWII must never be allowed to flourish again. For, even the buds of evil grow and sometimes the growing process appears innocuous and ignorance seems an option. Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land shows ignorance is not an option.
Reference
- Nomberg-Przytyk, Sara. Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land. Chapel Hill; NC. The University of North Carolina Press; New Ed edition. 1986
