Book Review: Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli
Introduction: Book Information
This book is a memoir that is non-fiction of a Hungarian medical doctor that is Jewish. This man had operated and not horrible “research” on his fellow Jewish inmates. This man participated in killing Jews alongside with the help of the evil Dr. Josef Mengele who was known as the "Angel of Death." When the Nazis invaded the country the book explains how in 1944, the Nazis took most of the Jews from Hungary straight into Auschwitz death camp. Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, a Jew and a medical doctor, managed to escape from death in order to become a pawn of evil. This evil was helping Dr. Mengele kill some of the inmates in the camp. Nyiszli would eventually be called Mengele’s private apprentice. Amazingly, he was able to live in order to give this frightening and sobering interpretation.
This book basically provides an in depth interpretation of the horror the holocaust transported to a Jewish man that was picked by Dr. Mengele, wicked incarnate, to aid him in performing horrific medical type of experiments that took place inside Auschwitz.
This book was chosen because I have always been interested in reading about the holocaust. I grew up watching movies like Schindler’s List, Diary of Anne Frank and The Pianist. These movies gave a detailed glimpse inside what Jews went through during World War II. I have also always been interested in finding out why this horrific event took place and the terrible things that actually went on in the camp. I use to watch the History channel and there were a lot of documentaries that talked about the Jewish Holocaust but not many of the talked about the concentration camps. Most of them talked about of the Jews were persecuted in Europe and all of the hate crimes that done against them, but there was limited information in regards to concentration camps.
For years, I have been reading a lot of World War II books, and I am still amazed of the horrors which happen, and what is more astonishing is the approach of how individuals react. I chose this book because one of the most thought-provoking sections of the book was the outstanding introduction and how it talked about the different sections of the death camps.
Summary of Contents and Conclusions
The book had 28 chapters and in most of them, Dr. Nyiszli gives a detailed description that involves all the terrible things he had observed and participated in. Early on in the book Dr. Miklos Nyiszli starts fantasizing claiming that his study was utilized by the “most experienced medical places throughout the Nazi Regime” in the entire world. The book goes in detail to explain that this institution was absorbed on trying to create some kind of racial superiority.
Other content explains the importance of memoirs, along with personal stories which give a new meaning of what the holocaust had been. The book has a section where it not only talks about the Jews but also talks about the experiments that had been done on gypsies. It also has a huge content that centers on the fact that Mengele enjoyed to most of his experiments on twin children. With rapping up the conclusion, it basically makes the point that this book is a cautionary story on numerous stages; it is likewise a vital historical masterpiece and a good book. It has not been easy to finish out this book, but the author wraps up the conclusion by learning how to move on with his life and at the same time forgiving the evil that he had to encounter.
Primary Book
This book tells a lot about the past. First it is during World War II which was one of the most horrific wars that this world has ever been through. It was a period where Jews were clearly discriminated against and looked as animals. They were stripped from all human rights and where not even looked at as a group of people that were worthy for anything.
This book helps you to understand the past because it gives the most real insights inside the concentration camps of the Nazi establishment. There has not been any other book that I have read which exposes in such detail, the murders of the Nazis and the procedures they utilized to slaughter millions of human beings that were innocent. The book helped me to understand the past because it gave a big glimpse into the way Nazi thought and how they went about doing things. The book helps to understand the past because it explains how the Nazi were able to come up with horrible plans in killing innocent people.
Evidence used by Author
There is a lot of evidence by the author to support his points. Dr. Nyiszli's does this by explaining the horror that went on in the camp by giving specific details. It gives an in depth narrative in regards to the horrible crimes and the injustice done to the Jews for the purpose of racial cleansing. The evidence that he uses shows the manic surgeons, who he clearly calls convicts, the callous and unkind SS soldiers, the deaths, the crematoriums, the calls for help, and the noise of bullets that destroy the lives on the innocent people. Reading this book gives plenty of evidence of a time when killing and torture were normal. The evidence of babies being operated alive and small children being left on the operation to die a very slow death is horrifying. The book also gives evidence of how Mengele enjoyed what he did by constantly getting more and more inmates to operate on because he felt bad when there was not enough work going on.
My Understanding of the Topic
My understanding of the topic has changed radically since reading the book. Going into it, I thought it was just another typical Nazi concentration type of story but it was far from it. As I read and got deeper into the book, I came to the understanding that it was not just another holocaust story. This one gave the reader an in depth look at atrocities that went on everyday inside the camp. I understood that it was more than just hard labor without rest or even being starved to death. This was a book that taught me how sick human beings can be and how they have no regard for human life. This book was the only holocaust story that I have ever read that shows how there was a relationship between the sadistic nazi and the prisoner. I was not expecting that part at all. My whole outlook is that it was more than an eye witness account but it seemed that it displayed more of the relationship that was among Dr. Mengele and the Jewish prisoner. I was just thinking it was going to be the man's personal story, but it turned out to be more of relating of facts, even though a lot of the passages were very explicit and effective.
Comparison to Treatment of the Topic
The book does not really compare to the treatment of the topic due to the fact it did not feel like it was a narrative. There were scenes in the book where it appeared as though Dr Nyiszli was looked as if he was better than everyone else. And perhaps it could have been a situation that was unavoidable granted the privileges he was fortunate enough to have been provided. This could possibly be extremely eye opening for some that may read the book, nevertheless if a person has not read books like Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally or Night by Elie Wiesel, I would probably recommend trying those first if a reader is looking for a book that has a more narrative feel to it.
Works Cited
Nyiszli, Dr. Miklós. Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli. New York City: Arcade Publishing, 2007.
