Having lost her husband, her parents, and her two young sons to the Nazi exterminators, Olga Lengyel had little to live for during her seven-month internment in Auschwitz. Only Lengyel's work in the prisoners' underground resistance and the need to tell this story kept her fighting for survival. She survived by her wit and incredible strength. Despite her horrifying closeness to the subject, FIVE CHIMNEYS does not retreat into self-pity or sensationalism. When first published (two years after World War 2 ended), Albert Einstein was so moved by her story that he wrote a personal letter to Lengyel, thanking her for her "very frank, very well written book". Today, with 'ethnic cleansing' in Bosnia, and neo-Nazism on the rise in western Europe, we cannot afford to forget the grisly lessons of the Holocaust. FIVE CHIMNEYS is a stark reminder that the unspeakable can happen wherever and whenever ethnic hatreds, religious bigotries, and racial discriminations are permitted to exist.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Five Chimneys "Gritty, poignant; A Great Book!":
Olga Lengyel was a woman who had been trained as a surgical assistant. She was the wife of a leading Surgeon and their affluent family was well respected in their community. They lived in the city called Cluj (also known as Klausenburg or Kolozsaur) in Transylvania.
Olga's life was full of love, laughter and she had a contented home together with her husband Miklos, her two sons Thomas and Arvad, her parents and her god father.
In 1944, the war became very real to Olga and her family who up... more info
"Life" in Auschwitz; Nazi Genocidal Ambitions beyond Jews and Gypsies:
This review is based on the original (1947) edition. Let's focus on some seldom-developed issues. Large numbers of Polish clergy were sent to Auschwitz in the early years of the camp. However, Lengyel reports many more arriving in 1944 (pp. 108-110). They were often put to death immediately; the remainder being subject to degrading humiliations and tortures. Polish children were frozen to death (p. 210) and mostly Polish women were used by the Germans for vivisection experiments. (p. 176) Ironically,... more info
Invaluable heartbreaking truth!:
Incredible book! Can't stop reading once you start. This books is the prove "THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!" Very heartbreaking. It will change your life.
Like watching a car wreck when you know you shouldn't gawk:
One of the top few books I've read about the holocaust. Riveting. Couldn't put it down. One of those "stories" that really hook you - you can't wait to see what happens next and you're a little horrified that you're reading it so avidly and enjoying it. At the same time you feel such sadness for the people who lived (and didn't) through it.
