Meet New Books
Book Cover

Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz

Save:
Find on Amazon

Five Chimneys is a harrowing first-person account of Olga Lengyel's survival in Auschwitz and Birkenau during the Holocaust. Olga, along with her family, voluntarily accompanies her husband to Germany, only to end up in the nightmarish conditions of the concentration camps. The book details her experiences in a detached yet brutally honest manner, shedding light on the atrocities faced by the prisoners. Despite the lack of emotional narration, the story effectively conveys the horrors of Auschwitz through Olga's calm and matter-of-fact writing style.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is characterized by a dispassionate and factual tone, which serves as a coping mechanism while still conveying the gravity of her experiences.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot centers on Olga Lengyel's harrowing experiences in Auschwitz after accompanying her family during deportation, highlighting survival amid Nazi deception and brutality.

Setting:

The setting is predominantly the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps, capturing the harrowing environment and conditions endured by the inmates.

Pacing:

The pacing is slow and deliberate, mirroring the drawn-out trauma of camp life while allowing for thematic exploration.
Mea culpa, my fault, mea maxima culpa! I cannot acquit myself of the charge that I am, in part, responsible for the destruction of my own parents and of my two young sons. The world understands that I...

Notes:

Olga Lengyel survived seven months in Auschwitz after choosing to accompany her husband during deportation.
Her family, including her parents and two children, were murdered by the Nazis in the camp.
Olga was not Jewish; her husband was targeted for alleged anti-Nazi resistance activities.
The book explores broader themes of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity beyond just the Jewish experience.
Lengyel's perspective highlights how Germans deceived families into going to camps under false pretenses of relocation.
She details the daily horrors and manipulations faced by prisoners despite her detached writing style as a coping mechanism.
Olga worked in the camp infirmary, where she secretly aided the resistance movement.
She notes that even people with unimpeachable integrity could be reduced to cruelty under the pressures of the camp.
Albert Einstein praised Olga's memoir as one of the best Holocaust accounts shortly after it was published.
The title 'Five Chimneys' refers to the crematoria at Auschwitz.
Olga's narrative serves not only as a history but as a warning for future generations to prevent such atrocities from recurring.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include graphic violence, descriptions of torture and murder, loss of family members, and intense emotional trauma associated with the Holocaust.

From The Publisher:

Olga Lengyel tells, frankly and without compromise, one of the most horrifying stories of all time. This true, documented chronicle is the intimate, day-to-day record of a beautiful woman who survived the nightmare of Auschwitz and Birchenau. This book is a necessary reminder of one of the ugliest chapters in the history of human civilization. It was a shocking experience. It is a shocking book.

Reader Stats (2):

Want To Read (2)
 
Meet New Books is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products and services on amazon.com and its subsidiaries.
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.