Auschwitz: a Doctor's Eyewitness Account

 

    Many of the readings this semester have stuck with me, but none as much as the one of Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. Reading books where the stories are non-fiction are a lot easier for me. I am reading actual events that someone describes in their own words, and I can usually picture the events happening in my head as I cannot seem to turn the pages fast enough. The words written by those who experienced the events hold power that no one can take away from them, but only if they choose to write them down. In class, we discussed how difficult it was for survivors of the Holocaust to talk about their experiences after the war. Many never mentioned what they went through or only gave a glimpse of the brutality they suffered as it was too difficult to relive it all again. Those who were brave enough to write down what they went through in detail gave the generations after them a history that they would have otherwise never have been able to gain an indepth understanding of. While we read many short accounts of survivors during class, and I personally have read multiple other stories over the years, Dr. Nyiszli’s words were different in many ways. Reading his account during the course of this class enlightened me to outrageous ideas of a demented doctor Mengele, the innerworkings of concentration camps such as Auschwitz, and the determination that led some to hold on for as long as possible to survive in unspeakable conditions until help arrived.

    Dr. Nyiszli, by pure luck or grim fate, was spared the harsh realities of life in Auschwitz when he volunteered his expertise as a medical pathologist to the “Angel of Death” Dr. Josef Mengele not realizing what was laid in store for him. “Among malefactors and criminals, the most dangerous type is the ‘criminal doctor’ especially when he is armed with powers such as those granted to Dr. Mengele. He sent millions of people to death merely because, according to a racial theory, they were inferior beings and therefore detrimental to mankind.” (Nyiszli, 60) Nyiszli was put to work performing autopsies on twins and dwarfs all so that Mengele could send their findings on to a larger Nazi research institution. Nyiszli’s attention to detail and skills made him a valuable asset to Mengele who in return gave him more freedoms and luxuries than any other Jewish prisoner experienced while at Auschwitz.

    Nyiszli learned the intimate details of the crematoriums and the men that were forced to work inside. He described in detail the liquidation of entire camps and the emotional toll it took on all involved. While he tried to do what he could to help those around him, he knew he also had to be careful to watch his own back as he was not immune to the endgame of all those who entered the gates of Auschwitz. He was able to share medicine, cigarettes, blankets, and more with others to make their short time in Auschwitz a little better. With the help of Mengele, he was able to find his wife and daughter and warn them to transfer to another camp before their entire section was liquidated. He befriended soldiers, guards, and prisoners alike and treated them all with the same respect. The constant fear that his turn was next as he saw comrades come and go kept him vigilant and determined to somehow survive. The Sonderkommando’s life expectancy was short at Auschwitz, and that terror hovered over their heads daily. They experienced a few months of better living conditions, but in the end their fate was the same as everyone else. “Death stalked our every move, in the form of the lethal machine guns manned by our guards. We wanted to live. We wanted to get out of there. But even if most of us failed to make it, even if only one or two escaped, we would still have won out, for there would be someone to tell the world about the dark mysteries of these death factories.” (Nyiszli,130) Outside of Auschwitz other survivors described similar experiences. “After the second mass-murder all of us were certain that the Germans made no difference between one Jew and another... They deceived the Judenrat and the Jewish Police when they promised them that they would stay alive if they helped to carry out the slaughter, and in the end they killed them too.” (Jaffe, 24-25, 70-72) A short reprieve for some that eventually ended in a similar fashion.

    With the end of the war in sight, many German troops were unsure what their orders were. We can read about this from survivor Edi Weinstein: “Several days passed without transports. The workers cleaned the platform, covered it with ashes, and laid fresh branches along the fence. But the stench of charred corpses hung in the air. In the barracks at night we bolstered one another’s morale, trying to construe the changes as an indication that the ordeal was about to end and our release was imminent.” (Weinstein, 51) Feelings of uncertainty and fear were widespread as many were still unsure of what their future was supposed to look like. Nyiszli talks about this same uncertainty when he explained his recollection of events towards the end. “A new life began in the KZ. There were no more violent deaths, but the bloody past had to be hidden. The crematoriums had to be demolished, the pyre ditches filled in, and any witnesses to or participants in the horrors perpetrated here had to disappear.” (Nyiszli, 191) Nyiszli was able to cheat death once again when he escaped the annihilation of every man working the crematoriums at that time. As the Allies drew closer, Mengele had fled, the SS had fled, and the Russian saviors were still too far away, so Nyiszli decided to join the other prisoners and lose himself in the crowd fleeing Auschwitz. “My eyes had followed countless innocent souls to the gas chambers, witnessed the unbelievable spectacle of the funeral pyres. And I myself, carrying out the orders of a demented doctor, had dissected hundreds of bodies, so that a science based on false theories might benefit from the deaths of those millions of victims.” (Nyiszli, 220-221) After eight months, Nyiszli was able to physically walk away from it, but mentally he would never be able to hold a scalpel again.

    While I have read the many great words of Viktor Frankl, Anne Frank, Edith Eger, Corrie Ten Boom, Art Spiegelman, and William Styron, Dr. Miklos Nyiszli took me on a different journey altogether. He was able to take me behind the scenes and into the mind of Dr. Mengele. He was able to describe in frightening detail the innerworkings of the crematoriums at Auschwitz. His attention to detail when it came to the emotional way he described his interactions with his comrades showed his empathy for them and his desire to compasionatly portray even the worst of them. His determination to not give up hope, to try to make it home - not knowing if anyone would be there to greet him - all so that he could be the one to tell the world about the death factory called Auschwitz. While it must have been very hard for Nyiszli to write down his story and relive all those moments of terror and emotional trauma, his words need to be out there as a reminder of what happens when we allow prejudice and hatred to go unchecked.

Sources:

J. Jaffe, Partizanim ("Partisans"), Tel Aviv, 1951.

Miklos Nyiszli, Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account (New York: Arcade Publishing, 1993).

Edi Weinstein, Quenched Steel. The Story of an Escape From Treblinka, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem 2002.

[Paper written for HIST 4130 class UVU Fall 2024]

Amy Brouwer . 2024 . All Right Reserved