“Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account”
By Miklos Nyiszli

“Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account” is an autobiography by Miklos Nyiszli depicting one of history’s worst moments.

In it, Nyiszli, a Jewish Hun garian pathologist, has committed to paper the horrors of his experiences in one of the worst Nazi death camps of World War II.

The Third Reich attempted to conceal many of the tragedies that took place within the concentration camps.

Although many perished, Nyiszli promised that the terrifying tribulations suffered by the slain would not vanish with them.

Nyiszli and his family were abducted when the Germans invaded Hungary in 1944.

The doctor, his wife and young daughter were crammed into to a tiny cattle car and sent on an arduous journey to Auschwitz.

Ninety captives huddled close together in each car, breathing in putrid air that reeked of human waste.

After a grueling four days, the prisoners had not even begun to experience the hell they would eventually be put through.

At the camp’s depot, the weary travelers were lined up for selection by the infamous Dr. Mengele.

With a simple wave of his hand, Mengele sent thousands to burn to death in the scorching fires of the crematoriums.

Those prisoners who were not sent to immediate death were sentenced to a life of hard labor and continuous suffering.

Unfortunately, their eventual fate was the same as those who went before them.

Nyiszli’s medical expertise allowed him to bypass the selection process. He announced his skills as a pathologist to Men gele and found himself recruited as a member of the demented doctor’s research team.

The novel focuses on Nyiszli’s job as Auschwitz’s chief physician.

Little did the Hungarian doctor know that he would travel down a path he feels is far more terrifying than any prisoner of Auschwitz.

Nyiszli was forced to perform autopsies, and through them, discovered the ways other Jews were killed in the camps.

Nyiszli became a member of the elite group of prisoners who knew of all of Auschwitz’s dirty secrets.

Each day he learned more and more of the extensive extermination process and wrestled with the fear that his own life could be stomped out at any moment.

The novel is fast paced and not for the faint of heart.

The graphic nature of the text ensures that the audience comprehends the hellish conditions of the concentration camp through precise details. I found it amazing that a man could endure such suffering and live to tell his tale.

Both while in camp and through his story-telling, it is evident that Nyiszli is a confident man, often treading on the brink of arrogance.

His self-assurance served as a curse and saving grace.

In a time when all faith in humanity seemed lost, Nyiszli depended solely on his instincts.

The novel has a surprise ending that will leave the reader’s head spinning.

– Kathleen Donaghey