Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account [Paperback]

Dr. Miklos Nyiszli (Author), Tibere Kremer (Translator), Richard Seaver (Translator), Bruno Bettelheim (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1993

When the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, they sent virtually the entire Jewish population to Auschwitz. A Jew and a medical doctor, the prisoner Dr. Miklos Nyiszli was spared death for a grimmer fate: to perform "scientific research" on his fellow inmates under the supervision of the man who became known as the infamous "Angel of Death" - Dr. Josef Mengele. Nyiszli was named Mengele's personal research pathologist. In that capactity he also served as physician to the Sonderkommando, the Jewish prisoners who worked exclusively in the crematoriums and were routinely executed after four months. Miraculously, Nyiszli survived to give this horrifying and sobering account.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hungarian

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559702028
• ISBN-13: 978-1559702027
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > History > Historical Study > Oral History
  • #44 in Books > History > Europe > Hungary

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A historical read., July 26, 2011

By 

Adam Stayer "WKU2004" (El Paso Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account (Paperback)

Having just finished this book, I will say that it is a must read. This is a very disturbing look into Auschwitz and the attrocities that took place, under the direction of Mengele. This account, from a Dr. details that number of people massacred and how they were relieved of their lives. This man, for one reason or another, managed to stay alive and recount the life in Auschwitz as no other could. He is detailed in his memories of the place and gives a clear image for the reader to understand. It is one of those books that you don't often find, in which once you start, you simply cannot put it down. Truly one of the best accounts to date, as it has held up under the years.

119 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Holocaust Study., October 21, 2001

By 

M. D Roberts (Gwent, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account (Paperback)

I have always had an interest in the Holocaust, but until I read this book some fourteen years ago, it had always remained at a distance.

A reputable colleague at work handed me a copy of this book and said `this is worth a read'.

Having begun, I could not put the book down. The book gripped me from start to finish. The story is horrific but, nevertheless, it is a story that we all owe it to ourselves to be familiar with.

The story and the author's experiences were so profound and penetrating that I have spent the last fourteen years studying and reading as much about the Holocaust as I can. I have visited the Concentration Camps at Treblinka, Majdanek, Auschwitz, Birkenau and Plaszov, together with other areas in Poland directly connected with the Jewish Holocaust. I have seen the buildings full of human hair from the Jewish victims, the gas chambers, crematoria and the other hideous instruments of mass murder referred to in this book.

The book by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli will not take you long to finish. The voices of the victims referred to have long since disappeared. Many people today are not even aware of the Holocaust and others deny it's very existence. Books like these, written by people who were actually there, are essential if our this and forthcoming generations are to be made aware of "man's inhumanity to man" and to prevent such a horror from occurring again.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Quick and Informative, July 27, 2011

By 

Katherine R. Roelke (Amesbury Ma.) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Auschwitz (Kindle Edition)

I read this book recently and found it thought provoking and certainly informative. This isn't a classic or great piece of literature. It's a essentially a pretty frank account of the Nazi atrocities as seen through the eyes of a medical professional who worked alongside Dr Mengele in Auschwitz and fought to stay alive. The material is different than the typical camp survivor because the author lived a much different life than the majority of those crammed into barracks.
I found the book worthwhile and I'd read it again. This isn't an all encompassing piece of work about the holocaust, rather a view through the eyes of a survivor who had to watch those around him suffer and perish. I'd recommend it to anyone who already has read a fair bit on the holocaust and wants to see it through a different set of eyes.