Frediano Sessi is an authority on books about Auschwitz; he is clear, concise, at the same time he is plenty of stories, anecdotes. He has written for remembering what it was, for remembering the atrocities committed by german Nazis and for remembering the place, Auschwitz and people spent years there. In this latest work published by Marsilio, Auschwitz,
Storia e Memorie Sessi tells what it was Auschwitz, how and why, forst of all the camp was created. Not only: the birth of Birkenau, differentiations, love stories lived by prisoners where possible, languages spoken in the camp, buildings, works done by prisoners, methods for eliminating prisoners. Gas chambers with Zyklon B, the most known one, prisoners previously were examined, and nazis removed gold teeeth, rings etc before to starting these "showers". Death reached prisoners also because of malnutrition. Located close to the city, Auschwitz became with the time and after the last World War Conflict the symbol of the Nazi horror.
Everything could be useful to Germans; from hair to jewels, once the camp was set free, what allied discovered was a shocking reality.
With the time and decades digging for the most diversified reasons, people found out written material of several prisoners about their existence in the camp. Sometimes these prisoners didn't survive.
Analyzed also the percentage of people closed to Auschwitz per country. The country with more deported was Ungheria with 437.685; then Polland, France. Italy deported 7.827 souls. Norwegian 690.
When I interviewed Lee Staub a Jew from Ukraine, deported to Auschwitz, I asked him if it was possible to escape away from that camp. I won't never forget his expression; it was as if he was seeing again the camp, if he was still there; he said me, just with a whisper of his voice: "Trust me, it was impossible to do that" with sadness and resignation.
Yes, it was and who tried to do that as Mala Zimetbaum and Edeck Galinski who run away from the camp of Birkenau were captured, tortured; for not being killed by Nazis, they both tried to kill themselves without success.
Someone tried and this time with success!
The story of Jerzy Bielecki and Cyla Cybulska is beautiful. They escaped away, they won! saving their existences and re-meeting each other only 39 years after that courageous gesture.
When Nazis understood that they would have lost the war, tried to eliminate part of the physical evidencies of their horror, although prisoners busy in this work will sabotage in various different ways the purpose of Nazis for let see to the allies of seeing what it was going on in the camps.
Trying to evacuate the camp the most robut prisoners were constricted to march somewhere else with Nazis. While Primo Levi was forced to stay in the camp because as many other people sick, his best mate could go; anyway these marches in the profound cold and heavy snow meant for most of these people a certain death.
Once the camp was set free, departments in the past devoted to horrors of various genres became places where people could heal from physical and psychological wounds.
Reunions with families and places of origin took place after a lot of months.
Auschwitz became a museum where it is possible to go for understand what happened during the last Second World War.
From books to movies, memory of what has been has always been a priority, and many physical witnesses spread the word not just for not forget, it would be impossible, but for avoid another horror like this one.
Highly recommended to everyone!
I thank Marsilio for the physical copy of this book.
Anna Maria Polidori
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