Moni: A Novel of Auschwitz

כרוניקה של משפחה יהודית במאה העשרים #3

by Ka-tzetnik 135633

Yehiel Feiner was born in Poland in 1917.During the German occupation of Poland he was first in a ghetto and then in Auschwitz, where, according to his own account, he escaped from a selection despite the fact that he had already been reduced to the level of a Mussulman (Muselmann), that is, a living skeleton, in the parlance of the inmates. He once more escaped from a death march only moments before the prisoners were executed by their SS guards (who then proceeded to put on the prison uniforms of the dead so as to avoid punishment by the Red Army). Feiner came to Palestine as part of the Brihah operation organized by the Jewish Brigade and the Haganah and changed his name to Dinur, or "of fire" in Aramaic (the name may also be associated with the Hebrew word "din," which can mean trial, justice, and punishment, and especially with the Dinur river mentioned in the Book of Daniel and interpreted by the Kabbalah as "a river of fire in the upper reaches of hell that descends upon the evil after their death to purify them"). For the next four decades he devoted himself to writing on his own experience in the camps, on the fate of his parents, siblings, and wife, who all died in the Holocaust, and on his post-Auschwitz life in Israel and his struggle to build a new identity while remaining totally obsessed with the genocide he had survived.

Until the early 1960s Dinur retained his anonymity. His books were all published under the pseudonym Ka-Tzetnik, which is derived from the German acronym for concentration camp (KZ for Konzentrationslager) and was a commonly used term among the inmates (but may also be associated with Kafka's character K.). His identity was revealed during the Eichmann trial, where his testimony, which was cut short when he collapsed in the courtroom and was ushered to a hospital, made public his assertion that Auschwitz was "another planet," that is, a universe in which the conventional rules and customs of human civilization did not apply.

Piepel, is the story of Harry's young brother Moni, who is made into the servant and sexual slave of various barracks commanders in Auschwitz until he too is finally killed (such child prostitutes were called Piepel in the jargon of the camps, a term apparently derived from the German provincial word for lad and penis).

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

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1961

About the author

Yehiel De-Nur or Dinur (born: Yehiel Feiner; Hebrew: יחיאל דינור), known by his pen name Ka-tzetnik 135633 also Ka-Tsetnik (Hebrew: ק. צטניק) was a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor best known for his 1955 novel "The House of Dolls", which he claimed was inspired by his time as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Reviews

[Wilma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mensonterend, rauw...Moni probeert Auschwitz te overleven door zich als 'Piepel' (hoer) aan te bieden aan de Blockältesten van het doodskamp. Als 'Piepel' behoort hij tot de prominenten, hij is een prins...hij zorgt voor de Blockälteste; hij regelt sigaretten, eten, doet de was, strijk, poetst zijn laarzen en deelt het bed met hem...totdat de Blockälteste genoeg van hem heeft...hij is z'n leven dan niet meer zeker. Steeds voelt Moni dit moment aankomen en biedt zich aan, aan een andere Blockälteste...Door al het seksueel misbruik krijgt hij geen hap door zijn keel en blijft mager...uiteindelijk wordt hem dit fataal...
De schrijver, overlevende van Auschwitz, schept zo'n rauw beeld dat het je voorstellingsvermogen te boven gaat. De hiërarchie binnen het kamp, vergelijkbaar met de hiërarchie binnen het nazisme, alles om te overleven...hier uit voortvloeiend kannibalisme: een dode Piepel in stukken snijden, de stukken gebraden vlees verkopen voor een rantsoen brood om dit weer te verkopen voor sigaretten...gruwelijk...
Berust dit verhaal op waarheid? Feiten...Fictie...ik weet het niet...
In ieder geval het gruwelijkste verhaal dat ik ooit gelezen heb over het leven in Auschwitz...

[Dolceluna ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piepel.
Una parola dall'origine e dalla pronuncia sconosciute, derivata da non si sa quale lingua. Ma che, in quell'inferno chiamato Auschwitz, purtroppo, era tristemente familiare quanto i termini "crematorio" e "camera a gas". I Piepel erano i ragazzini che i capi blocco del campo si sceglievano per soddisfare le loro perversioni sessuali...dei mini gigolò pronti a scendere a tutto pur di sopravvivere, della merce di scambio su cui scaricare ripicche e vendette, dei giocattolini da coccolare finchè si aveva voglia per poi distruggere non appena ci si stancava. Degli oggetti. E questo libro è la storia di uno di loro, Moni, il fratello di Daniella, protagonista dello struggente e bellissimo "La casa delle bambole".
Ancora una volta Ka-Tzetnik ci svela uno degli aspetti forse meno testimoniati dell'orrore dei campi nazisti, quello della prostituzione, che si rivelerà solo un appannaggio di salvezza per i poveri che ci cadranno. Non c'è stasi, non c'è sospiro si sollievo, non c'è abbozzo di sorriso in nessuna della pagine di questo romanzo: tra le disavventure vissute da Moni, la descrizione della passività dei poveri "musulmani" (gli uomini non più uomini, scheletri ancora viventi) e la testimonianza di ciò a cui portava la fame, la fame animalesca e onnipresente, l'autore ci trasporta in un tunnel infernale senza via d'uscita.
Forse di intensità emotiva leggermente meno forte rispetto a "La casa delle bambole" (soprattutto nella seconda parte), anche Piepel è comunque una testimonianza da raccogliere per cercare di comprendere il perverso mondo di Auschwitz in tutte le sue ombre...anche quelle di cui si parla meno, anche quelle poco testimoniate, anche quelle che la nostra razionalità di rifiuta di accettare..ma l'Olocausto è stato anche questo.
Dolorosamente meravigliosa l'immagine delle ultime tre righe.

[Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this account of Ka-Tzetnik from the concentration camp of Auschwitz, the reader is left flabbergasted. Yehiel Feiner, the protagonist survives the horrors of hell, but his sufferings are never ending. In his new land there is another war waiting for him to be tested once more. There is so much pain in this book, and so many horrors, that it feels like fiction or like surrealism from another planet. But it is real and it is documented. Dinur’s escape from the jaws of death has to do with a divine reason. He is stronger than he thinks, and I believe it was no coincidence that he survived, though it may seem extremely accidental. One of the things that really stunned me in this book was the fact that despite all the horrors which Yehiel experienced in life, he found reason in living. That reason is love for life, and it gives him strength to move on and survive. Life is beautiful in its pure essence, and no matter how ugly reality is, life itself remains a beauty. The impact with hell, however, is destruction that can only be healed by death. There is no catharsis in life for the survivors of the concentration camps; But Yehiel finds solace in his new name, Dinur. He defies the notion of death as a liberator despite everything. There is a meaning in going through hell; A meaning which is beyond the understanding of an ordinary man. ‘How can God allow such evil? Was God wrong in giving man free will?’ I asked myself at the end of the book. Tears left me wondering about our existence on earth. There is so much evil out there. Dinur, with his holocaust literature has overcome this evil and gave many readers the strength to go through hard challenges in life. Humanism is not a burden, it is a gift, like life, cherish it.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het verhaal Moni, gaat over een jongen die uit Polen komt en in Auschwitz terecht komt. Daar verkoopt hij zijn lichaam om bescherming te genieten van de blokoudsten. Zo komt hij enkele maanden door, maar zal het hem uiteindelijk niet helpen om te overleven.

Waardering
Een ontroerend en hard verhaal, waarbij ik in sommige gevallen niet kan geloven dat het echt is gebeurd. Het is lastig om je in het geheel verplaatsen. Het boek is echter wel goed geschreven en het komt ook grauw over wat betreft de sfeer van het boek en de omgeving waar het zich afspeelt.

Over de auteur is weinig bekend of te vinden, buiten Wikipedia.
Wat mij bekend is, is dat Ka-Tsetnik 135633 het nummer is waaronder de auteur was geregistreerd als gevangene van Auschwitz.

Overige boekinformatie
Uitgeverij: Kadmos
ISBN: 90.6790.023.0
334 pagina's; Hardcover

[Jonas Paro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Svårt att sätta ett betyg men får bli en fyra ändå då jag knappast lär glömma den. Auschwitzöverlevare, vars verk bland annat kallats gräslig våldspornografi, berättar om unga pojkar som utnyttjas sexuellt av koncentrationslägerpersonalen. Den känns självupplevd men om författaren överdriver (vilket han anklagats för) eller ej vill man nog inte tänka på.

[Elliot Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of literature about Auschwitz and seen a significant amount of cinema and documentaries but this book was something else. To understand the daily suffering and the lengths people went just to eat food has not been described to me in greater detail than by Yehiel De Nur. The suffering, the squalor and the descent into hunger was captured in a way that was both moving but also real. You can feel the hunger from the words. The death and suffering around you constantly is drilled by this book. You can actually understand what it was like being there from these words on a page. Such is the recollection and literary skill of Mr De-Nur.

I have seen some negative reviews of this book, but I believe they do not understand the descent into madness that a place like Auschwitz can cause. The description of emotion spurred on by the hunger and the constant burning of the crematoria smoke stacks is exemplified excellently by the author. It is the most personable and real account of the holocaust I have read thus far and it is absolutely vital that people read this book and the associated works of Mr De-Nur (aka Ka-Tzetnik 135633).

[Ari Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a horrific place and time. As the author says elsewhere, it's a story from Planet Auschwitz; it is not of this Earth.

The characters in this book from Planet Auschwitz are fully invested in their reality. I think it's easy to take something horrific and show it from the outsider's point of view, full of comparisons and acknowledgements of the rape and the death and the misery, but I appreciate that this book puts you next to the characters who don't even recognize their rape as rape — it's simply what they need to do, what they want to do to survive.

You, as the reader, are the only one comparing the rules of Auschwitz to the rules of the rest of the world. You, as the reader, are not fully invested — this is a good thing; you are able to maintain your humanity.

[Jolieg G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wat moet ik er over schrijven.. ??
Zo verschrikkelijk om te lezen.. zo indringend ook..

[Iñaki Tofiño · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it's never easy to talk about concentration camp literature... Usually first person narratives of people who suffered the unimaginable, but the goal is to criticize their style not their life, so here I go.

Boring, very boring. Sold as a scandalous, tell-all kind of book ("Moni was chosen by the block chiefs for their sexual orgies"), in fact it is the very sad story of an eleven year old boy who has only his body to trade in that Hell. The book describes the role of fellow prisoners as camp rulers, the business going on with gold teeth, bread, potatos, turnips... nothing new, but it has great virtue. Instead of selling a nice and clean image of the narrator and the camps (endurance, solidarity...), it dares explain the horror of camp life: sex, hunger, diarrhea, etc. In that sense, it sets itself apart from other authors such as Jorge Semprún.

Here the Germans are almost absent; once the camp created, the running of it falls into the hands of its prisoners, in a sort of Home rule that creates monsters.

[Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read ‘Piepel’ as a child, I did not realize that this book would help me much later in the future. Piepel struggles to survive owing to his talent to entertain the Nazis. It is a horrible story with atrocious accounts from hell. Death upon death, diseases, starvation, atrocities upon atrocities, murder upon murder, cannibalism, rape and deprivations, and there is no God to stop this madness. I cried a lot in this book. However, I have also learned that even in the most diabolical and pernicious societies in the world there is always a need for culture and theatre. Even among murderers there is a spark of art. Piepel, the epitome of culture, was like music to appease the beasts. If you dare to read this book, don’t forget your handkerchief.

[Pahraydolliah · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the subject was interesting, the book was droll. From a technical standpoint, there is nothing to move the plot along and there were pages of describing the same things from a chapter ago. Boring book overall, and there was a bit of redundancy for each new arch which added to the overall monotony.

[Zivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year for Holocaust remembrance day I decided to plug a hole in my education and read a Ka-Zetnik book.

Very brutal. I didn't think such stories came out that early.
Though this one does seem to coincide with the Eichman trial.

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book dealt with a very difficult, horrific situation, but was very well written.