Book review Life in The Death

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Book review Life in The Deaths Empireby Oliver
Lustig

• Not long ago, I was living my life monotonously,
  without thinking what my life has in store for
  me. Everything looked simple to me, because I had
  everything that I wanted without fighting for my
  possessions, for liberty or even for life. But I
  was frightened when, one day, I found out about
  the massacre that took place around 1940-1945.

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• In the extermination camps from Auschwitz hundred
  of thousands of innocent Jews were killed, only
  because of Nazis wish to create a pure race !
• Since this subject seemed interesting to me, I
  went at the library and I borrowed a book about
  Holocaust, Life in The Deaths Empire, by the
  Romanian writer Oliver Lustig, born Haftering.
• He wrote this book in the memory of his mother,
  Iolanda, killed at Auschwitz, of his father,
  Edmund, killed at Maulhousen, of his twin
  brothers, Cornel and Cornelia, killed in the gas
  chambers from Birkenau- Auschwitz, when they just
  reached the age of 14, and of his little brother,
  Valentin, aged only 8.

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• He also says that he dedicated this book to all
  those at whose fight and death I was eye witness
  in Birkenau Auschwitz, Kaufering no.4,
  Kaufering no. 9 and Landsberg camps , also to
  all the deported persons and antifascists
  fighters who were taken in the Nazi concentration
  - camps that studded Europe - , and who died
  convinced that the fascism will be defeated, that
  the life will win over death
• This way, I found out things at which I have
  never thought, things that my outlook refuses to
  perceive. What fault had those people that they
  were born Jews? Or who gave the fascists the
  right to end the life of so many people? Did they
  really have no mercy? These are questions at
  which no one can answer.

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• After the Jews were taken from their homes, they
  were transported to camps in ware wagons, 60
  people in each one, without water and food, so
  that not many Jews arrived alive at destination.
• Once they arrived, the ones able to work were
  separated from the others and the old ones, the
  children, the invalids and the ones weakened
  because of the long travel, were taken directly
  to the gas chambers.

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• To avoid the panic that would have been made
  because of the separation of the families, the
  soldiers told the Jews that they were separated
  because they had to go much more and they didnt
  have vehicles available for everybody, so that
  the ones still in power had to walk. These people
  went calm, not knowing that that was the last
  time when they saw their old parents.
• Those who were chosen for work were undressed
  and they were given other used and signed
  clothes. In the camps they were taken, they
  didnt have enough space not even to move, they
  slept in barracks, one next to the other, so that
  they couldnt even stretch their legs. They were
  given food only in the evening, a slice of bread
  each.

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• They were working from the early morning till
  evening, and those who fainted or collapsed
  because of being tired, were shot. When they
  stopped working, they couldnt even think of what
  was waiting for them. They lost trust, hope and
  they were willing to die faster in order to get
  rid of the torture.
• Every time, at the evening control, the thinner
  ones were chosen and taken to the crematory.

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• So thats how days, months, even years passed,
  while thousands of people died, until the fascism
  was defeated.
• When the Nazi felt threatened, they started to
  wipe off their tracks, they burnt to the ground
  the crematories and fled.
• Before that, they poisoned those who remained
  alive. Only a few survived from the hundreds of
  Jews and other populations.

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• Reading this book, I realized that even a second
  can be fatal, when you dont do anything to
  prevent this kind of events. I learnt to cherish
  more every second of my life and everything I
  have got. In my opinion, it is important to know
  these things to avoid a replay of history and to
  build our future on moral values and on
  tolerance.
• We are fortunate that some of those people who
  experienced Auschwitz are still alive, because in
  this way we can find out about it directly from
  the source, and together we can learn the most
  important lesson History has ever taught human
  kind that the greatest evils are prejudice,
  discrimination and intolerance.
• We should be more confident, we should not let
  ourselves influenced by doctrines and we have to
  choose our leaders carefully.
• As long as we know about our past and we support
  each other, no one will be able to take control
  over our lives.
• Class 9F2