Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli

I picked up "Auschwitz:  A Doctor's Eyewitness Account" by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli recently.  I have read a lot on Auschwitz and related topics, and it always makes me, understandably, very sad.

This book is a very unique one concerning Auschwitz, as it is written by a Jewish prisoner Dr. Nyiszli, who would end up assisting his Nazi captors in their dissecting of prisoners.

One might give the author somewhat of a pass in his collaboration with the Nazis.  In some ways, he didn't have much of a choice when it came to refusing to do what they demanded.  He was very much at their mercy.

The late (and controversial) Bruno Bettelheim criticizes the author in his forward for being too passive.  He provides a very thoughtful passage on what exactly influences prisoners to literally walk into a gas chamber to their own death.  In his discussion, he brings up the fact that Nyiszli described his compliance with the Nazis by continuing to call himself a doctor.  "How Dr. Nyiszli fooled himself can be seen, for example, in his repeatedly referring to his work as a doctor, though he worked as the assistant of a vicious criminal."

After reading the intro, I did not want to believe that a Jewish doctor in a concentration camp could be so passive, even to save himself....  but he was.

In defense of the author, he was in an exceptionally desperate situation, AND, I am glad that he decided to write such an honest account of what he did, and what he personally witnessed.

The book is a nearly unbelievable read.  Nyiszli does provide an eye witness account of the inhumane acts at Auschwitz.  He describes the heartless things he saw, including the murders.  And he describes his own story and involvement.