The title, Five Chimneys, stems from the five crematorium chimneys at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

It isn't enough that she witnessed the horrendous atrocities, but she also lost her family there. They all were exterminated in the gas chambers...her husband, two children and her parents. Her husband was under orders to be deported to Auschwitz. Olga Lengyel was determined, and went to the authorities insisting that she and her children be deported with him, as she assumed that he would be put to work in a hospital, as he was a medical doctor. She did not believe any of the stories she was told, about the actual situtation, and thought they were exaggerations. Her parents decided to go with her and the children, and the entire family went together. Little did she know it would result in the death of everyone, but her.

Her memoir is often harsh and brutal, but so were the conditions she had to live under. Her writing is well-articulated, filled with extremely clear descriptives that make our skin crawl. She doesn't seek sympathy, but rather wanted the realities and truth to be told. Olga Lengyel writes as if she is a reporter, with an unbiased-like mindset. As a survivor and a witness, she reports what she, herself, experienced, and what she saw. The facts and truth of the events are what motivated her to stay alive, when everyone she loved had been murdered. What Olga Lengyel witnessed and went through in Auschwitz, nobody should ever have to be a witness to, or have to endure.

From watching the crematorium workers load several bodies into the large ovens at once, to having to pile dead bodies atop one another...herself, to standing naked for hours in the freezing cold while waiting for roll call, to the beatings, to lack of food, and having to eliminate in a bucket...the same one used to eat in, and to the unbelievably horrific events that pregnant women went through, etc., the book is intense testimony to the brutality and inhumanity of man. It is also a testament to Olga Lengyel's strength and courage during the extreme circumstances she endured (that is putting it mildly). Her motivation for survival was the necessity to bear witness to the atrocious inhumanity of the Nazi Germans.

Albert Einstein, himself, read Five Chimneys, and actually wrote a letter to Olga Lengyl. Part of that letter is included in the book.

<c>"...Thank you for your very frank, very well written book. You have done a real service by letting the ones who are now silent and most forgotten speak...

With best regards and wishes,

A. Einstein</c>

The infusion of such atrocities, in great numbers, into one memoir is beyond belief, as Olga Lengyel manages to describe with graphic clarity the most minute detail of daily existence (if you can call it that) in the Women's camp at Auschwitz. She leaves nothing to the imagination, and each atrocious act is written boldly, powerfully, concise and to the point, no stone left unturned. Five Chimneys is heart wrenching, horrific, and overwhelming. It is not for the weak of heart or weak of stomach. Olga Lengyel's Five Chimneys describes the essence of man's inhumanity, and is a memoir that should be read with that in mind, as her overpowering documentation of the nighmares she experienced and witnessed is not coated over, in any fashion. The book is extremely haunting.

Olag Lengyel died at the age of 90, in 2001. Olga Lengyel's spirit and strength will survive through time, within the pages of her extraordinary memoir, Five Chimneys.

We must never forget the events of the Holocaust...

I personally own and have read this book.

~~~~~~
Jew Wishes...Peace to you all.
© Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.

Apa és fia együtt tekint át egy elrontott életen, amelyet talán még nem késő helyrehozni.

(Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami, Mindannyian Krisztusok vagyunk, lengyel filmdráma, rendezte: Marek Koterski, főszerepben: Marek Kondrat, Michał Koterski)

(Dzień świra, A bolond egy napja, PL, 2002, rendezte: Marek Koterski, főszerepben: Marek Kondrat)

(Nic śmiesznego, Nem vagy te intéző, PL, 1995, rendezte: Marek Koterski, főszerepben: Cezary Pazura)

A lengyel nyelv egyik legérdekesebb tulajdonsága, hogy szinte minden igéhez előképzőket (vagyis magyarul: igekötőket) lehet ragasztani. Különösen egy bizonyos trágár szóhoz lehet őket hozzátenni, így hozva létre egy rakás teljesen más (persze ugyanolyan durva) jelentésű igét. Hasznos ismerni ezt a nyelvezetet, még ha csak annyira is, hogy fölismerjük, ha a környezetünkben halljuk.

Először is nézzük meg a rakatnyi lengyel igekötőt: od-, prze-, przy-, na-, po-, za- stb. (hosszú a lista, akár a magyarban). Ott van pl. a jechać ige (azaz: járművel menni), amelyhez képzőket illesztve pl. ilyen szavak jöhetnek létre: przyjechać – megérkezni, vagy odjechać – elindulni. Magyar szemmel-füllel mindez nem meglepő. Örömmel vesszük észre: a logikánk közös!

Mert hát természetesen az a bizonyos szó a pi*rdolić – b*szni. Ez a szó lengyel testvéreinknél is ugyanolyan rugalmas, azaz konkrét jelentésétől elvonatkoztatva változatos élethelyzetekre alkalmazható. Néhány példa: wpi*rdolić – szétverni valakit (értsd: szétb*szni a pofáját); zapi*rdolić – ellopni a p*csába; podpi*rdolić – felb*szni (beköpni, feljelenteni). És így tovább. Ha elmegyünk egy étterembe, és a pincér kihoz elénk egy hegynyi rossz krumplit a gyűszűnyi rántottszeletkénk mellé, ekképpen nyilvánulhatunk meg: napi*rdolił ci ziemniaków – teleb*szta krumplival. Hasonlóan ehhez, „tenni-rakni” jelentésben korlátlanul felhasználhatjuk a szót: pl. pi*rdolnij mi to na stół – ideb*szta nekem az asztalra. Napi*rdolił mi farmazonów – hülyeségekkel b*szta tele a fejemet. És a sort tovább lehet folytatni orrvérzésig, például: pi*rdolnąć obrazek na ścianę – felb*szni egy képet a falra.

Láthatjuk: magyar nyelvi kifejezőkészségünket kevés csorba érheti, megfelelő nyelvekre minden további nélkül átültethető. Az író szavaival élve tehát: tanuljunk nyelveket!

It can't even get the things done
that are part of its trade:
dig a grave,
make a coffin,
clean up after itself.

Preoccupied with killing,
it does the job awkwardly,
without system or skill.
As though each of us were its first kill.

Oh, it has its triumphs,
but look at its countless defeats,
missed blows,
and repeat attempts!

Sometimes it isn't strong enough
to swat a fly from the air.
Many are the caterpillars
that have outcrawled it.

All those bulbs, pods,
tentacles, fins, tracheae,
nuptial plumage, and winter fur
show that it has fallen behind
with its halfhearted work.

Ill will won't help
and even our lending a hand with wars and coups d'etat
is so far not enough.

Hearts beat inside eggs.
Babies' skeletons grow.
Seeds, hard at work, sprout their first tiny pair of leaves
and sometimes even tall trees fall away.

Whoever claims that it's omnipotent
is himself living proof
that it's not.

There's no life
that couldn't be immortal
if only for a moment.

Death
always arrives by that very moment too late.

In vain it tugs at the knob
of the invisible door.
As far as you've come
can't be undone.