Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz

by József Debreczeni, Paul Olchváry (Translator), Alexander Bruner (Contributor)

The first English language edition of a lost memoir by a Holocaust survivor, offering a shocking and deeply moving perspective on life within the camps―with a foreword by Jonathan Freedland.

József Debreczeni, a prolific Hungarian-language journalist and poet, arrived in Auschwitz in 1944; had he been selected to go “left,” his life expectancy would have been approximately forty-five minutes. One of the “lucky” ones, he was sent to the “right,” which led to twelve horrifying months of incarceration and slave labor in a series of camps, ending in the “Cold Crematorium”―the so-called hospital of the forced labor camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work awaited execution. But as Soviet and Allied troops closed in on the camps, local Nazi commanders―anxious about the possible consequences of outright murder―decided to leave the remaining prisoners to die in droves rather than sending them directly to the gas chambers.

Debreczeni recorded his experiences in Cold Crematorium , one of the harshest, most merciless indictments of Nazism ever written. This haunting memoir, rendered in the precise and unsentimental style of an accomplished journalist, is an eyewitness account of incomparable literary quality. The subject matter is intrinsically tragic, yet the author’s evocative prose, sometimes using irony, sarcasm, and even acerbic humor, compels the reader to imagine human beings in circumstances impossible to comprehend intellectually.

First published in Hungarian in 1950, it was never translated into a world language due to McCarthyism, Cold War hostilities and antisemitism. More than 70 years later, this masterpiece that was nearly lost to time will be available in 15 languages, finally taking its rightful place among the greatest works of Holocaust literature.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir, Holocaust, World War II, War, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

January 27 was Holocaust Remembrance Day. I didn’t read a Holocaust book near that date as I had planned , but it’s so important to remember it on any day. Gruesome, graphic, gut wrenching, this memoir written in 1950 was just recently translated from Hungarian.

Jozsef Debreczeni escaped the furnaces for the work camps, slave camps to be exact. For those who did, there was no escaping the horrors of daily life - no water to wash, the stench, lice, dysentery, typhus, whippings, almost no food with “daily rations: bread and a spoonful of sour jam” if that, soup with almost nothing in it . The hierarchy and cruelty of the kapo system pitting Jews against Jews , a tool of the Nazis is depicted in ways I had not read about previously. If the description of these horrific conditions don’t impact you, nothing will.

Translated works can sometimes lose something , but it feels as if the reality of this experience comes through vividly. The descriptions of the brutal reality of this all are difficult to read , but I couldn’t put this aside because I have to bear witness. It’s imperative to do so it doesn’t happen again . The only way I can do justice to this is to say, you must read it.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.

[William2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read dozens of Holocaust memoirs. Few rise to level of literary quality. I’m thinking primarily of Primo Levy and perhaps Victor Klemperer. Though strictly speaking the latter is not a Holocaust memoir, more a Jew-surviving-the-Third-Reich memoir.

Published in 1950, Cold Crematorium was not available in English until 2023. Levy‘s first book Survival in Auschwitz came out three years earlier. Both writers worked in a period of Holocaust denial. (Many Jews did not wish to talk about what had happened.) So these books addressed a void in the global knowledge then.

Shortly after the author arrives in Auschwitz, he meets a tubercular Frenchman : “‘Those chimneys spew that filthy smoke day and night,’ he says slowly and quietly. ‘A large-scale industry. If one day someone writes about what is happening over there, they'll be seen as either crazy or a perverse liar.’” (p. 51).

The Holocaust “amnesia” is at this point only anticipated. Later when the author is writing this book, it is reality. This Frenchman, explaining the layout and functions of the camp, is Virgil to the author’s Dante. This metaphor having been encouraged by the line: “Lasciate ogni speranza [Abandon all hope]!” (p. 47)

When those in leadership positions exhibit their worst behaviors, it seems to almost naturally elicit similar behaviors from the witnesses. So the madness just heightens, feeds on itself. You see this throughout the camps. And the violent are often, though not always, Jews beating Jews.

“The other branch of the camp aristocracy is the noble order of the medics. . . . Their ruler is a lawyer called Miklos Nagy. . . . He is an antsy, lanky young man of the sort who compensates for his physical slightness with bluster that has transformed itself here into sadism. He hasn't been sane for a long time. In fact, he is outright mad, but he is in charge. His specialty: striking the soles of bare feet and doing Indian war dances on the victim's naked belly. I once saw this lightweight man jump up and down on a patient's chest like a rubber ball, stomping on him with bloodshot eyes until he was worn out. The victim's crime: he’d tried conniving his way to a second helping of soup.” (p. 152)

Then the Nazis are losing and his tormentors minds are changing. One finds out he is a writer. Near death, days away from it, he finds a pseudo-protector. Ah, but then the Nazis bring in those infected with typhus . . . .

[Helga · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best-case scenario: gas chambers. The worst-case: slave labor until death.

In 1944, the Hungarian-Jewish journalist József Debreczeni was deported to Auschwitz, there to be dehumanized and made to suffer along with thousands of other unfortunates.

But why? Almighty madness, why?

This is not only a memoir of the unimaginably harrowing experiences of one man in a hopeless situation in a place where he is robbed of his name and his belongings; where he is forced to lose his dignity and bit by bit his hope, desires and memories; where the thought of imminent death becomes utterly desirable.

It’s not bad, lying there like this. To see nothing with open eyes, to feel my immaterial lightness, to lazily vanish behind the canopy of immortal indifference. And—oh, bliss!—to need nothing, not even cigarettes, to need nothing …

No, this is not only a memoir of survival, but a testament; a first-hand witness to inhumanity, savagery, indifference, betrayals and also camaraderie and endurance.

A powerful resolve matures in me: I want to live, to live again.… I make a vow: no longer will I buy more tobacco in exchange for food. I want to live; I want to go home.… To run amok taking revenge, calling to account, and meting out justice to those who dragged me here…
I want to go home.…

This testament of wickedness and evil is a sincere, unsentimental philosophical meditation on survival in the face of physical and psychological suffering.

“Beside the train they divided us into two groups. The others had to go by truck. You haven’t seen them?” A singular, agonized smile comes over his sunken face. “Was the other group lined up on the left?” “Yes. We were told they’d get to ride on trucks.” This man in a striped uniform raises one of his thin hands and points into the distance. “See those chimneys there? That’s Birkenau. The crematorium city. The smoke there is already—them. Those who stood to the left.”

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At the end of the day, though, every last bit of the will to live is inevitably drowned in the hellish vortex we inhabit. The mills of God grind slowly--those of the death camps, faster. The ash of this bitter recognition quickly extinguishes the flame of hope that burns in more tranquil moments. All around me are examples of reality: lice larvae, bunker soup, corpses flung on the trash heap, swollen living dead, rubber truncheons, and revolvers. Days of despondency, of lethargy, then come again, those days from which I had once roused myself."

I finished this days ago, but it's taken me some time to gather my thoughts to write a review. Debreczeni's writing isn't vague, but informative. Since he was a journalist, he knows how to tell a story without missing anything of substance.

Just now, translated in English, this is one of the most remarkable and important bodies of work regarding the Holocaust. For many years, the translation to a wider audience was delayed and I'm glad it's finally seeing the light of day. This should be mandatory reading in American schools, yet I have a feeling it won't be; America has a habit of sugar-coating travesties during war and not letting children learn for themselves what truly happened in all its horrible qualities.

Recommended.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was INCREDIBLE! I appreciated every glimpse he gave me into his experience in the various camps he was condemned to. Jozsef survived unthinkable circumstances. His testimony has changed the way I understand the Holocaust. Joszef’s account was almost lost to time, but I’m so glad it’s been recovered and translated from his native Hungarian. Now that it's available in other languages, it's definitely going on my list of books that I advise all my friends and family to read. There is no way for me to be able to compare Holocaust survivor's accounts, but I'd say this definitely deserves a place up at the top of the well-known memoirs such as Elie Wiesel's "Night." I don't know how to review this book and do Jozsef's story justice, so I'm going to just tell you that this text will impact every single person who takes the opportunity to learn about his story and experiences.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook!

[Steven Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, supposedly due to the war in Gaza, which is erroneous as the phenomenon was increasing long before Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7th. At the same time, we recognize Holocaust Remembrance day which commemorates the annihilation of Jews during World War II. It is fitting that at this time Josef Debreczeni’s memoir of his time in “the land of Auschwitz,” COLD CREMETORIUM: REPORTING FROM THE LAND OF AUSCHWITZ has been rereleased.

Originally published in 1950 it was never translated because of the rise of McCarthyism which rejected any pro-Soviet literature; Cold War hostilities as Stalinists refused to accept the Jews as “victims of fascism” singled out for extinction; and the rise of anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe. However, its appearance has made an important contribution to the great works of Holocaust literature as its author points out many things that have either been forgotten or overlooked.

Jonathan Freedland writes in the Forward to the book, referring to Debreczeni as a “witness, survivor, victim, and also an analyst, offering ruminations on some of the enduring questions raised by the Holocaust among them the puzzle of how arguably the most cultured nation in Europe could have led the continent’s descent into the most brutal savagery.” Other vital insights provided by Debreczeni include a reminder that the victims of Nazi brutality did not know their imminent fate, a crucial fact in trying to comprehend how the Final Solution was possible, and that so many others certainly did. Debreczeni reminds us that the Holocaust may have been developed in Berlin, it relied on accomplices throughout Europe – from liberal France to anti-Semitic Poland. Many of these individuals may have suffered from “willful blindness,” as they would later deny seeing or participating in atrocities. The author’s account of the actions perpetrated by Kapos, many of which were Jews is disturbing and for most beyond the capacity to imagine. In a diabolical Nazi system “the best slave driver is a slave accorded a privileged position” is an accurate and scary proposition.

For Debreczeni many chroniclers of the Shoah do not emphasize the economic function of Auschwitz enough. The author describes the German corporations involved to the point that many victims would have company names printed on their striped pajama type uniforms. The brutal conditions that victims faced were laid bare. The illicit trade between prisoners, kitchen workers, guards is ever prevalent – a life for people denied the fundamentals needed for survival – to eat, drink, bathe are all missing with disease and lice everywhere caused by a total lack of sanitation. People were treated like animals, and for a chance at survival the same people morphed into animalistic behavior as they completely lost their identity, self-respect, and will to love. The end result is a slow descent into madness and suicide for many who Debreczeni comes in contact with. For those who deny the Holocaust this memoir is a stark response.

Debreczeni has written a haunting memoir, conveyed in the precise and unsentimental style of a professional journalist whose eyewitness account is of unmatched literary quality. The author’s writing is evocative, employing irony, sarcasm, and an acerbic humor as he prods the reader into the “the Land of Auschwitz,” a place that is intellectually incomprehensible. What sets the book apart is the reporting that the German guards were largely absent or stay in the background. Instead, it is the prisoners themselves who rule over each other depending on their status which forms a window into the complex organization of the camps.

The memoir begins in January 1944 with a prisoner transport where victims are oblivious as to their location and what the immediate future might bring ending with liberation by Soviet forces in early May 1945. Debreczeni provides precise details of who certain prisoners were and what they experienced. For example, Mr. Mandel, a carpenter who always had a cigarette in his hand, but once they were taken away he still raises his empty fingers to his lips – he will be the first to die on the transport or the TB riddled Frenchman, a lower level Kapo in Auschwitz who developed a semblance of humanity as he warned prisoners as to what was about to happen to them. Debreczeni holds nothing back in describing how people of varying backgrounds cooperated with the Nazis, including Jews. A prime example is Weisz, a low brow salesclerk from Hungary, “a low-life Jew” who wielded a truncheon. He was “power crazed, malicious, a wild beast,” who was the epitome of the Nazi system that “the best slave driver is a slave accorded a privileged position.” Most of these types of slave drivers came from the “lower rungs” of Jewish society before the war. Those who came from the highest levels of Jewish society were found to be helpless in the Nazi camp hierarchy. Another is Herman, an SS guard who had been a bartender before the war and was one of the few guards who exhibited a degree of empathy as opposed to his murderous compatriots as he would drop a half smoked cigarette to the ground for a prisoner to find. A typical power hungry individual was Sanyi Roth, a room commander for tent #28, a notorious repeat offender, serial burglar who was put in charge of the worst tent which housed murderers, robbers, and other “creatures.” Interestingly, after Debreczeni flatters him he begins to take him under his wing. Perhaps the most despicable person was Moric, the foremost Kapo of all camps, whose nickname was the Fuhrer of the death camps – the sole Jew who held as much power as Nazi officials. Another individual who stands out, but in a positive fashion is Dr. Farkas, a Jewish physician who was forced to cooperate with the SS. But at the same time was able to display compassion and medical knowledge to treat many inmates. In fact, without his care Debreczeni would not have survived.

The author provides an understanding of the evil the Nazis perpetrated aside from annihilation. He describes the genius of those who developed the Final Solution. To achieve mass death a killing infrastructure needed to be created. A key aspect of which was the hierarchy of power which the Nazis implemented providing certain prisoners a key role in the genocide. The Germans kept themselves invisible behind the barbed wire as “the allocation of food, the discipline, the direct supervision of work, and the first degree of terror – in sum, executive power – were in fact entrusted to slave drivers chosen randomly from among the deportees.” For their hideous work they received certain benefits including more food, clothing, the opportunity to steal, and power over their fellow prisoners – power over life and death, which for many was intoxicating. They all played a role in the vertical structure that resembled a military command where each person from the highest to the lowest Kapo knew their job and what would happen to them if they didn’t carry it out. This structure also was apparent in camp hospitals like Dornhau where Doctors, medics, nurses, and other workers had specific roles in the Nazi hierarchy.

Debreczeni offers an exceptional description of the “Land of Auschwitz” which consisted of many sub-camps in addition to the more famous areas like Birkenau or lesser labor camps like Furstenstein which the author experienced personally which was typical of other work camps who held the same characteristics. This area consisted of a castle complex which the Nazis destroyed in order to create an underground complex for a new headquarters for Hitler, should retreat be necessary and an arms factory on the site.

German corporations do not escape Debreczeni’s withering description as they paid the Nazi regime to rent slave labor and profited immensely. Many books have been written about this subject. For a complete list one can be found at https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/.... In Debreczeni’s case it was Sanger and Laninger who enslaved him as a tunnel digger.

There are many other elements that the author describes from the use of cigarettes as a medium of exchange which became its own underground industry. Another medium of exchange was extracted gold crowns which many inmates did themselves to trade for food – the going rate was one crown for a weeks’ worth of soup. The concept of the “will to live” is explored in detail with harrowing examples. For the author, the will grew and like others he was willing to steal, fake jobs, and other strategies as a means of survival. Debreczeni’s commentary concerning prisoner roundups is very disconcerting as prisoners were asked to volunteer for certain jobs and transport. Many prisoners were willing to play Russian roulette to survive, most who did died, but a few would escape.

Each chapter seems more disturbing than the next and ranking the most horrifying material presented is very difficult. Perhaps the chapters that stand out are those involving the Dornhau camp hospital which describes the Nazi approach to medical care and its sadistic treatment techniques carried out by most medical professionals. It is this hospital that the term "cold crematorium" refers to. Debreczeni’s recounting of the plight of his bunkmates is indescribable especially as typhus became rampant.

As Menachem Kaiser writes in his New York Times review, “How To Talk About Auschwitz,” “Debreczeni recounts his deportation to Auschwitz, and from there to a series of camps. This isn’t the sort of book you can get a sense of from a plot outline. Debreczeni suffers; he survives (or, more accurately, he does not die); he observes. His powers of observation are extraordinary. Everything he encounters in what he calls the Land of Auschwitz — the work sites, the barracks, the bodies, the corpses, the hunger, the roll call, the labor, the insanity, the fear, the despair, the strangeness, the hope, the cruelty — is captured in terrifyingly sharp detail.”

In conclusion, Debreczeni has written haunting conformation of the terror of that was the Holocaust, and the will to survive.

[Stitching Ghost]

No rating because I don't give star ratings to memoirs.

If you're looking for something that'll make you feel better about humanity, this book will not be it. If you're looking for a deeply horrifying and tragic account of survival that will not let you forget the tragedy of lives disappeared that's also very well written, this book might be for you.

Debreczeni also doesn't let us forget the industrials that profited from the situation, and I think that aspect is still uniquely timely. I can't recommend this book enough even though it was exceedingly hard to read.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. Republished January 23, 2024 (First published January 1, 1950) by St. Martin's Press.


Un-put-downable! There is no other word for this book. It is short - just 243 pages - however I read it in one sitting. That is something I rarely do, but I could not put this book down. The topic is horrific and heart breaking, but the need to read on is powerful.

The author, an Hungarian Jew, spent years in German prison camps -in extermination camps - starting off with Auschwitz. The story takes you from the first step onto the railroad car to the splitting of the prisoners, between walking and traveling by truck and what that meant, to being liberated from Dornhau, after a near fatal bout of typhoid.

There is nothing happy or pleasant about this story, but it details a time in our history that must be remembered. It must be remembered so that we never again put in office a monster, a tyrant that thinks he is a God and able to do anything at his own whim. Dictatorship is a crime in itself. We need to be diligent and make sure we never see the likes of a modern day Hitler.

[Danielle Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not confident in how to score this book. At times, i would rate it 5 stars. The details about lice infestations, diarrhea, and just the general state of no sanitation hit hard. Evocative, and emotionally wrenching. But at other times, I got slogged down. The details about the various hierarchies and the names and histories of individual people, slowed the pace and left it hard for me to focus. There were also some strong opinions about other 'types' of captives that didn't sit well with me. There was a general sense that people who 'made nothing of themselves' in the before times, were allotted privileged standing in the camps. That feels like a stereotype to me. Same goes for assuming that the women had it easier. So i'll end this review with accepting that I both love and hated this book. And that I give grace to the author for the experiences he survived and thank him for his brutal honesty.

[Adrian Dumitru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inghețat de profund.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes stories can lose some of their message in translation but not this one. This story is very raw, honestly brutal and an amazing tale of human survival. This is a book that everyone should read. It was a privilege to read his story. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

[☮Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate so much the galleys offered by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. So many wonderful books have come to my attention that I otherwise might never have heard about.

This exceptional memoir is no exception. A rare firsthand account of life as a slave worker in Auschwitz, first published in 1950 but only recently translated. As the author was a poet and journalist, this has good bones and fabulous writing. It's hard to believe it's a translation -- just an effortless personal narrative of the every day occurrences.

The audiobook narrator Laurence Dobiesz makes this difficult-to-read account almost easy listening. I'll definitely look into what else he's narrated.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s surprising to me this was only recently translated to English given what an important addition it is to Holocaust history and memoirs. Debreczeni not only provides more insight into the concentration camps, he sheds light on the hierarchical structure that was present there. A difficult read but one I am glad I did as I continue to educate myself on the past.

[Pedro Pacifico Book.ster]

O crematório frio: um relato de Auschwitz, de József Debreczeni
Por 70 anos, esse relato impressionante sobre a barbaridade dos campos de concentração ficou restrito aos leitores húngaros. Por conta das consequências da Guerra Fria e do antissemitismo, a obra não chegou a ser traduzida para outros idiomas, o que faz da sua publicação décadas depois de seu lançamento uma redescoberta necessária, uma denúncia sobre o horror do holocausto.

No Brasil, a edição, que conta com uma tradução direta do Húngaro, chega no 80° ano da libertação dos prisioneiros do campo de concentração de Auschwitz-Birkenau. E o relato de József consegue ficar ainda mais chocante quando se percebe como os acontecimentos são recentes e ainda sobrevivem na memória das gerações seguintes.

O autor foi uma jornalista húngaro, que passou meses preso em campos de concentração. A sua captura ocorreu em 1944, no ano anterior ao final da guerra, o que sem dúvidas assegurou que seu final não se assemelhasse a de tantas vítimas fatais do Holocausto. Mas isso não significa que por muitos momentos o autor não acreditou que fosse morrer nas mãos do exército nazista. Pelo contrário, a leitura deixa claro que ter resistido com vida até a libertação pelas tropas soviéticas foi um resultado milagroso (ainda que seja difícil utilizar o termo em uma circunstância tão brutal).

Lendo os relatos é até difícil de acreditar como o corpo humano consegue resistir (em alguns casos) a uma situação de tanta falta, medo e exaustão. Em seus últimos meses preso no campo, o autor foi mandado para o “crematório frio”, destino dos presos mais fracos e que eram deixados para morrer. Nunca tinha lido nada sobre esses locais e posso afirmar que essas páginas foram as mais inacreditáveis e doloridas de ler. É difícil de compreender o nível de desumanidade que alguém pode checar por conta do poder e do ódio ao diferente.

É a importância de conhecer e ler sobre o passado para que atrocidades como essa não se repitam, ainda que muitos tentem fechar os olhos para o que o ser humano já foi - e ainda é - capaz de fazer.

Tem cupom de desconto na Amazon: 20COMPANHIA, link nos stories.

Nota 10/10

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[Yani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the first testimony I have read about a Jewish person during World War II. However, Cold Crematorium still brought me a “different” version of this dark period of history. Indeed, if the books/films/documentaries that I had consulted in the past talked about life in the camps, none did it in as much detail as this one. Through the chapter we discover the functioning and hierarchies that are created in the various camps in which Jozsef Debreczeni finds himself imprisoned. The tone is less personal than some other testimonies which tell of the previous lives of the authors and their loved ones. In Cold Crematorium there are mentions of the life Jozsef Debreczeni led before being in Auschwitz, but the focus is on daily life inside a camp. It is therefore a book that is sometimes hard to read, not because it is boring, but because the subject it deals with is one which is tragic. In short, I recommend reading it, despite the subject which can be heavy at times.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending this book as a presale!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ce n’est pas le premier témoignage que je lis à propos d’une personne juive pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Cependant, Cold Crematorium m’a tout de même apporté une version « différente » de cette sombre période de l’histoire. En effet, si les livres/films/documentaire que j’avais consultés dans le passé parlaient de la vie dans les camps, aucun ne le faisait autant en détail que celui-ci. À travers les chapitres on y découvre les fonctionnements et hiérarchies qui se créent des divers camps dans lesquels Jozsef Debreczeni se retrouve emprisonné. Le ton est définitivement moins personnel que certains autres témoignages qui racontent la vie antérieure des auteurs et de leurs proches. Dans Cold Crematorium, il y a des mentions par rapport à la vie que Jozsef Debreczeni menait avant d’être à Auschwitz, mais l’accent est mis sur la vie quotidienne à l’intérieur d’un camp. Il s’agit donc d’un livre parfois dur à lire, pas parce qu’il est ennuyant, mais parce que le sujet dont il traite en est un qui est tragique. Bref, je recommande de le lire, malgré le sujet qui peut être lourd par moment.

Merci à St. Martin's Press pour l'envoi de ce livre en prévente !

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 5 out of 5]

,,Crematoriul înghețat" oferă o voce nu doar celor care au murit și celor care au supraviețuit fizic, dar nu și sufletește, ci și celor care au pierdut pe cineva în Holocaust. Redă identitatea pozelor vechi, oaselor putrezite, crucilor sparte de timp și singurătate chiar și după moarte și lacrimilor vărsate de cei care au sperat până în ultima clipă. Debreczeni nu a scris o carte, ci a închinat o odă durerii inimaginabile, pe care au suferit-o atâtea suflete pierdute într-un fel sau altul. De încadrat în categoria lecturilor obligatorii. Recenzia aici: https://shorturl.at/ROD2V.

,,Morile lui Dumnezeu macină încet, cele ale lagărelor morții - mai repede."

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so revolted by the author's descriptions that I kept wanting to stop reading and skip right to the review. I did not. I took a (relatively) short break from the horrors and read on through to the end.
Remember those photos repeated in history books and TV where they show the living skeletons of men hanging onto the wire fences watching the allies enter the camps? Joseph was one of those men and, as a journalist, he wrote his memoir in his native language in 1950. This is a clear condemnation of man's inhumanity to man, diarrhea and all.
Well worth everyone's time to read and be repulsed. Never forget. Never again.
Paul Olchváry tackled the unbearable task of translating the author's 1950 original memoir into English.
I requested and received an EARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I seek light in the darkness, conjuring up a lost reality behind my closed eyelids."

Heartbreaking. I don't know how anyone could live with themselves with how they treated people. This should be recommended reading!

[Jena Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cold Crematorium” is the memoir of József Debreczenia, published in 1950 in Hungary. Jozsef was a journalist and poet. He had been in a camp for Jewish people in Hungary for 3 years and then was sent to Auschwitz in 1944.

Reading a memoir of the Holocaust is far different from reading a fictional account of the atrocities. In fiction, there can be a love story, or a fearless prisoner or a good-hearted camp official. There is none of this in “Cold Crematorium”. This is a stark, clearly written account of nothing but suffering, extreme forced labor, incredibly horrible food- when there was any- revolting living conditions, dreadful epidemics of diseases such as typhus or infestations of bed bugs and lice. All horrific.

Few positive things happen to Mr. Debreczenia. The first was- at his brief stop in Auschwitz, he chooses the correct line to be in and thus avoids the gas chamber. (He is sent to an industrial work camp, where he experiences all the depravity.) Another positive is that he did have friends, including a doctor who cared for him. And the third good thing is- he survived.

This book is only now being published in America. I’m glad that his voice is being heard. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

[Merey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a journalist, Jozsef had a very raw and unique account of his time through the network of concentration camps. I’ve read several different books on this subject but none gave such glimpse into how the camps hierarchy were established and worked. Everyone should read this, especially with the way our world is now. It’s sad to see how humans treated each other so horribly and how we still do. I won this in a giveaway through goodreads.

[Adam Madalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

❄️Sa fac o recenzie la aceasta carte ar fi ca și cum as reduce-o la o simpla poveste, pe când ea este o capodopera. Avem o poveste despre supraviețuire, despre curaj, despre lupta pentru a trai în pofida "calailor" din lagăre, dar în același timp este o poveste despre cruzimea umana, nu exista cuvânt care sa ii descrie pe cei care au făcut acele fapte abominabile, pentru ca nu ai cum sa te gândești cum a fost sa le facă placere sa facă toate acele lucruri unor persoane care nu au greșit cu nimic și noaptea sa poți dormi neintors, nu poți fi numit om, dar nici animal nu poți, pentru ca ele au mai mult suflet decât au avut ei.
❄️"Crematoriul inghetat" exact asta este, locul unde au fost duși unii dintre ei și au fost lăsați sa moara de frig fiindu-le luate toate hainele, fiind lăsați sa moara de foame sau fiind lăsați sa moara din cauza diferitelor boli, fiind nevoiți sa doarmă lângă cei care au murit toată noaptea, fiind obligați de circumstanţe sa pretindă ca încă sunt toți în viața doar pentru a primi și partea lor de mâncare, dacă putem numi mâncare ce primeau ei.
❄️Care este cel mai incredibil lucru pe care îl poți auzi de la cineva după ce ești scos din Iad? "Noi nu am știut nimic. Nu am știut ce se întâmplă acolo!".
❄️Este o carte care te tulbură, care te trece prin toate stările, dar în același timp este o carte care merită citita. O carte care a fost publicata inițial în anul 1950 în maghiara și abia după 70 de ani a fost tradusa în alte 15 limbi.
De ce? Citiți-o și o sa aflați!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟+±++++

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly horrifying, incredibly well written.

I will be back with an in-depth review after I process the thoughts and emotions that arose while reading this book.

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalism is unquestionably Debreczeni's calling –– to write such a devastating yet deeply dignified chronicle of life in the camps (and, along with it, the quotidian torments and petty grievances exacted between guards and between prisoners) while also living and nearly-dying under those same conditions is a profound achievement. While he certainly does not shy away from the more startling elements of life enslaved at a concentration camp, what struck me as even more sinister, even more surreal, were the ways that squabbles and personal prejudices so clearly stood in the way of prisoner solidarity, a grim reminder that shared suffering does not necessarily produce shared commitment or care. It is just as likely to drive oppressed peoples apart, and often, straight to our demise.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz" was a difficult, sobering and horrifying book to read. This first English translation of Jozsef Debreczeni's 1950 memoir of his time in Nazi concentration camps is an important accounting of the inhuman treatment inflicted on the prisoners by those in power. That people actually survived is a miracle. Since Mr. Debreczeni was a journalist, the format is an eyewitness account in an unadorned style of reporting. As hard as this was to read, we must never forget the horror and inhumanity that existed then. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in return for a honest review.

[Aleksandra Gratka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Przed rozpoczęciem lektury zastanawiałam się, czy dowiem się czegoś nowego. Czy w ogóle można dowiedzieć się czegoś nowego o potworności obozów koncentracyjnych, potworności wojny, tej apokalipsy spełnionej, w której człowiek przestał być człowiekiem...
Długo miałam poczucie, że przecież wszystko to znam, chociażby z opowiadań Borowskiego. Straszna podróż bydlęcymi wagonami, rampa, selekcja, katorżnicza praca, głód, zobojętnienie, śmierć. Tyle że akurat ta relacja jest jednak na wiele sposobów wyjątkowa.

Autor, węgierski dziennikarz i poeta, trafił do Auschwitz (a później jego podobozów) w 1944 roku, jako niemal czterdziestolatek. Wykształcony, władający piórem, dojrzały i świadomy. Jego relacja jest oszczędna emocjonalnie, ale czuć, że Debreczeni potrafi pisać. Określenie "Kraina Auschwitz" to trochę jak "Inny świat" Grudzińskiego - absurdalne, nierzeczywiste miejsce, które wydaje się być projekcją chorego umysłu. Selekcja to wybór między Scyllą a Charybdą, potwornością życia w obozie i potwornością śmierci.

Tytoń, który przypomina o normalnym życiu. Głód, który zabija wszystkie inne pragnienia. Smutne dni, które z nieszczęśnika robią wymęczoną wiązkę kości obciągniętych skórą. Obozy, w których nie ma ludzi - więźniom odebrano człowieczeństwo, pogwałcono je i podeptano, strażnicy sami się tego człowieczeństwa pozbawili.

To wszystko było mi znane. A wtedy autor zaczął część opisującą czas, gdy trafił do tytułowego "zimnego krematorium", obozu szpitalnego w Dörnhau, umieralni, przedpiekla, koszmaru, który przyśnił się szaleńcowi. Ta część mnie przygniotła. Śmierć, która przychodzi po wymęczonych głodem, biegunką, chorobami. Śmierć, która chłodzi ciało towarzysza z pryczy. Śmierć, która zabiera na chwilę przed końcem wojny...

Oszczędna to relacja, a przecież subtelnie piękna, z celnymi metaforami, które tu nie zgrzytają, a przejmująco podkreślają wojenną potworność.
Bardzo cenna pozycja. Polecam, choć to trudne doświadczenie.

[Dora Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

" É uma tortura deliberada e perversa,uma agonia aniquiladora de um género especial. Ficarmos encharcados e com frio,estando já esfomeados,cheios de piolhos e negros do pó de pedra- na água e na lama,depois de andarmos aos tropeções durante treze horas".

Já li muitos livros sobre Holocausto, em Janeiro e graças ao projecto da Dora,leio sempre alguma ou até várias obras sobre o tema.
É um tema duro,rasga o coração e infelizmente é uma realidade que parece não estar assim tão longe.
Nesta narrativa contada na primeira pessoa vamos conhecer Jozsef Debreczeni um jornalista, romancista e poeta que foi deportado para Auschwitz no dia 1 de Maio de 1944.
Teve a sorte de sobreviver aos fornos que reduziram a cinza milhões de pessoas, no entanto foi feito escravo,mas sobreviveu.
É um livro que causa impacto.
Não será para toda a gente porque é muito gráfico e apesar das descrições eu não consegui para de o ler.
Entre chicotadas,frio e fome as memórias aqui relatadas reflectem uma vontade enorme de que não se possa esquecer as atrocidades de seres humanos para com outros seres humanos e nem deixar repetir.
Impossível conter as lágrimas e não sentir toda a narrativa.
Vou partilhar mais aprofundamente a minha leitura no livros à Lareira com chá no YouTube.

[Thomas George Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1950 in Hungarian. This historical and first account of life in Auschwitz would not be translated into world languages until decades later, long after Mr. Debreczeni had died.

Mr. Debreczeni was a renown poet and journalist, and with those talents he has written about the horrors and mass murders of Jews at the notorious camp in Auschwitz.

To many of the readers, this book will be similar to watching the mass slaughter of Jews in the movie, 'Schnidler's(sic) List.'

What is so uncanny about Mr. Debreczeni's story is that he predicted that Germany and the World would rewrite and ignore the mass murders of Jews in Auschwitz. Below is a poem Mr. Debreczeni wrote about his suspensions of reinterpretation of Nazi Germany;

"What is any damn thing worth
While weeds run riot over earth
And poisons fail to crush it?

What's winter or the summer for
When my mother's murderer
Still lives and thrives a fascist?

He may yet live or he may not
He may yet breathe and stuff his gut
The priest might have absolved him

He won't be haunted, live in fear,
A song might nestle in his ear
And sunlight may well bronze him.

Heroes and prophets pass him by
Poetry, science, leave him dry:
Are there blessings set and waiting?

Mothers have been born in vain
Into the gas chambers they came
Their children at breast, suckling

It leaves him laughing as they go
The gas once more begins to flow
Time grinds out hell's new kingdom

Dagger and atom now align
More dreadful still when they combine,
Pick up where they began

What is man expecting now?
What point in beating breast or brow?
While showers spew out murder?

All his guilt is in the past.
He finds a new uniform at last,
And poses where he killed her.'

"I Speak With My Father"

[Orsolya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The atrocities of the Holocaust have been the subject of countless novels, memoirs, documentaries, movies, exhibits, poems, classroom lectures, etc; and will continue on into the indefinite future (as it should: never forget!). Although there are few Holocaust survivors living today; many left behind their stories and memoirs using their voice as a weapon and as a means of vindication. Countless explorations of torture, near-death and the fight for survival have graced our ears and eyes with each being unique and crippling anyone with an ounce of empathy to the core (I’m the granddaughter of a concentration camp survivor but you don’t have to be Jewish to understand the horrors of the Holocaust). One of these stories comes from Jozsef Debreczeni: a Hungarian Jew from the Hungarian region of Serbia who not only survived the Holocaust but painstakingly remembered every detail to tell his tale. Although Debreczeni found it difficult to publish his piece in the 1950s due to political upheaval; his words are now a worldwide best-seller translated into English for the first time by Hungarian translator (and a friend of mine!) Paul Olchvary. Debreczeni’s words will forever stand in the Holocaust memoir, “Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz”.

Prior to the Holocaust in his ‘old life’, Debreczeni was a leader in the world of journalism and known for his writing in local publications. All of this changed and his life was turned upside down when the deportation of Hungarian Jews began. Debreczeni was lucky – if you can even call it ‘lucky’ – that when he reached the Land of Auschwitz (Auschwitz was comprised of a multiple camp network under its jurisdiction versus just the Auschwitz camp in Poland we are all familiar with); he wasn’t led to the gas chambers but to an existence of slave labor, torture, disease, starvation and mental distress.”Cold Crematorium” follows his journey and offers readers one of the most enthralling Holocaust memoirs on the shelves standing out stylistically.

Being a professional writer/journalist, Debreczeni is incredibly detailed, manages to stay rather objective and pragmatic while still being vivid with his imagery and implied thoughts/feelings. This ratio of a journalistic piece but somehow drumming with the heartbeat and plotline of a masterful novel; “Cold Crematorium” is breathtaking and enthralling, to say the least. It’s shocking that Debreczeni wasn’t a Nazi working at the camps due to his deep understanding of the inner bureaucracy of the Nazi/camp staff and behind-the-scenes revelations. Even those readers familiar with the Holocaust will find new pieces of information and jaw-dropping disclosures. “Cold Crematorium” is equally a fantastic read and educational.

There is truth to the expression that “Little is more” as Debreczeni doesn’t dive too deep into the horrific details of camp life or his time at a job site in terms of emotions but even this doesn’t feel as though he held back but rather a beautiful, graceful expression of language and his story. What he does explain concerning the worst of the worst is very emotion-inducing and visual to the reader. “Cold Crematorium” does occasionally require a break from the reading as it is it quite heavy to read about all the terrors inflicted upon the Jews – but this also gives readers food for thought to appreciate their current life circumstances.

There is never a dull moment in “Cold Crematorium” and it is most certainly a page-turner but yet accessible to the average reader who isn’t previously well-informed on the subject. It is difficult to fully give “Cold Crematorium” its proper due/credit because it is that THAT GOOD that we are almost not worthy to even speak on it.

Debreczenci heightens the pace and tension in “Cold Crematorium” when he is taken to an abandoned portion of Auschwitz which serves as a sanatorium to the sick when nearing the days of liberation. Here, we find Debreczeni almost succumbing to the mental crisis to want to give up and resort to suicide, his feelings of losing his fellow prisoners to death, his battle with Typhus, the constant obsession with hunger and lice and his reaction to the actual liberation. Debrecenzi is slightly less journalistic at this junction and allows his personal emotion to shine through making this the climatic center of “Cold Crematorium”.

The only negative of “Cold Crematorium” is its finality which is somewhat abrupt and concludes when the Nazis fled and the camp is liberated. What happened after that? Where is Debreczenci go? How did he feel? What his life like? Understandably, this was a highlight of the Holocaust but readers become attached to the man and are left with unanswered questions on his post-Holocaust life. That said, perhaps Debreczenci wanted to keep that private and cherish it within himself.

“Cold Crematorium” contains a post-script glossary of terms and a brief afterword from his now-living nephew who is the benefactor behind the English-language translation.

“Cold Crematorium” is a masterpiece Holocaust memoir that truly opens the window to sides of the Holocaust that few have seen outside of the Nazis, themselves. “Cold Crematorium” is absolutely recommended for ALL readers, whether Jewish or not, interested in the Holocaust or not – as it is necessarily for mankind to remember and understand the horrible sides of our nature and what we are capable of (and to try to never repeat).

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't go out of my way to avoid Holocaust memoirs but after bingeing Primo Levi in the 90s, I don't seek them out either. This was originally published in Hungarian in 1950 and only translated in the last couple of years. Credit to the late translator Paul Olchvary who has made this accessible and readable in the best way. What we get here that I have not seen as much of before is a detailed description of the kapo system where the Nazis used brutalized prisoners to brutalize prisoners. That is not to judge one way or another (despite the strong instinct to do so), it is to acknowledge the well-planned evil that was perpetrated. Another aspect highlighted here is the last section where the narrator is transferred to the cold crematorium of the title - a prison hospital where very few were expected to survive. Worth your time.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal, honest read. Extremely difficult to read most of the time. But here for those who want a true account.