Hanged at Auschwitz: An Extraordinary Memoir of Survival

by Sam Kessel

Many simply incredible tales of survival have come out of the Nazi death camps, but none more so than this. Kessel, a member of the French Resistance, was arrested by the SS at age 23. He was tortured, sent to work in mines, and dumped into a series of work and death camps. While he was being hung, the rope miraculously broke, so he was sentenced to be shot. Instead, he fooled his captors by assuming the identity of another prisoner and lived to tell the tale.

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

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read quite a few books written by the Holocaust survivors but this one was a little different. Sim Kessel was a member of the French Resistance when he was arrested and sent to Auschwitz. Of course he was treated no different than any other prisoner in the concentration camps. He wrote a very explicit book about the conditions and mentality of the kapos in the camps. He explained to be a survivor, one had to do the impossible and sometimes go against what the morals you had been taught just to live.

I am always amazed how tenacious these people were/are. I have also wondered when does a human being become ambivalent and accustom to the sufferings and cries of their victims.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I’ve read many books by Holocaust survivors I realized only a couple were from a male perspective. I learned a of a couple horrors new to me. This was a hard book to put down. Raw and emotional. I was holding my breath on the last page. I do wish Mr. Kessel would have told us more about his activity in the French Resistance, but am grateful he shared his story.

[Bev Walkling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and horrifying read of one man's experiences at Auschwitz. Written in 1972, the author acknowledged that events might be out of order as it was impossible to record anything while a prisoner. At times I felt he repeated himself and wasn't sure if he had told the same story earlier. Kassel was a member of the resistance when he was arrested by the Gestapo. He was also a boxer. This played a significant role in his memoir because it apparently saved his life numerous times. In the book he refers to "Dr. Mendele". I don't know if this was a typo or simple error on his part. The book details torture and violence so reader be aware.

[Edward Janes · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible story by a rare survivor of Auschwitz Birkenau and other camps. Below are brief notes from my read..

This passage on page 118 caught my attention;

"Once again I'd been saved! This broken nose SS man who had plucked me from the door of the gas chamber now drove me straight to Krankenbau.... I never saw him again. Being attached to the execution squads, he lived in a world apart from mine. This act of mercy which he performed in the name of boxing meant something totally different to each of us. Obviously to me it was everything; for him, nothing at all. I was like a worm that one doesn't step on at the last minute, a scrap of wood saved from among a thousand scraps being tossed into the fire, saved for no good reason."

And on page 185, just after liberation by American forces from Gusen II;

"Somehow, all of us concentration camp alumni assumed that a fate as cruel as ours was bound to be known, that the monstrous conditions in the concentration camps would have aroused the indignation of the entire world. It came as quite a shock to realize that this was not true, that people knew nothing at all of our plight, and that to these soldiers we might just as well been criminals who escapes from their prison. Suddenly we became shatteringly aware that we meant exactly nothing to anyone."

One point Kessel makes came across to be as not believable. He says "Jacob", a Jew and his would be executioner after the failed hanging, carried a revolver and killed his victims with a gun shot. Previous study indicated Jews NEVER carried guns. Otherwise Kessels book contains important accounts from a number of camps, that are important documentation of Nazi atrocities.

[George Hebenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a very old forlorn copy of this book in the library where I work, gathering dust in the storeroom which houses the last remaining copies of books in our council area ... The title intrigued me and I'm glad I began reading it one lunchtime. The author had a young mans bravado and his pre war boxing, determination and at times sheer good luck allowed him to survive the most barbaric places surely of the Second World War ... Germany's concentration camps. I found myself wincing imagining some of the brutalities he suffered and the long march and train journey when Germany retreated within its own borders with the camp inmates who hadn't died along the way was especially harrowing .. But in a way at the end it was ultimately uplifting knowing someone has the capacity to live through that and takes steps towards a normal life once he was home in Paris once more

[CathyNJ Truppo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing! I cannot say that I enjoyed it because at some points I was so sick to my stomach. I had to turn my head at other points but I couldn't take reading about the torture. I have read other books about the camps but this is the first memoir I have read. WOW!! My boss is a survivor and after reading this, I will never ask him what he went through. I can imagine he does not want to be reminded, although I am sure he cannot get some images out of his head.

[Mem · Rating 4 out of 5]

A member of the French resistance becomes a prisoner of war at Auschwitz. A true story recounting years of torture and survival. No embellishments, no illusions, no storytelling. One man's struggle to survive.

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Original comment: I read this multiple times in high school after finding it on the bookshelves at home. I'm keen to find it and read it again; I know the last time I went looking for it at mum's place, years ago, there was no sign of it. I was so careless with things.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a awesome book of a former boxer who used the intangible skills of boxing to survive in Auschwitz. His ability to take bold chances encouraged his survival more than once. He survived the crematorium and a hanging. This is a very interesting and insightful book on what happened in Auschwitz and how prisoners lived in it.

[George Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't actually finished the book i was in the process of reading it many years ago but a work mate absconded with my copy and i have never gotten round to finishing it.What i remember was how harrowing and amazing the story was as they say fact is often stranger than fiction.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote about Sim Kessel and his book in my December 27, 2010 guest entry at the blog Executed Today.

[Liam Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir was so straightforwardly brutal that was difficult not to become transfixed by this man's story. The details of his experience will stay with me forever

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disgusting book, Kessel also lost a finger, pulled out by a guard, He was forced to stand on one leg, very small cell. He was hung, but the jailer found Kessel had not perished, and saved him. strange story,