Inside the Gas Chambers

Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz

Nonfiction, History, Jewish, Holocaust
Cover of the book Inside the Gas Chambers by Shlomo Venezia, Wiley
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Shlomo Venezia ISBN: 9780745683775
Publisher: Wiley Publication: December 6, 2013
Imprint: Polity Language: English
Author: Shlomo Venezia
ISBN: 9780745683775
Publisher: Wiley
Publication: December 6, 2013
Imprint: Polity
Language: English

This is a unique, eye-witness account of everyday life right at the heart of the Nazi extermination machine.

Slomo Venezia was born into a poor Jewish-Italian community living in Thessaloniki, Greece. At first, the occupying Italians protected his family; but when the Germans invaded, the Venezias were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and sisters disappeared on arrival, and he learned, at first with disbelief, that they had almost certainly been gassed. Given the chance to earn a little extra bread, he agreed to become a ‘Sonderkommando', without realising what this entailed. He soon found himself a member of the ‘special unit' responsible for removing the corpses from the gas chambers and burning their bodies.

Dispassionately, he details the grim round of daily tasks, evokes the terror inspired by the man in charge of the crematoria, ‘Angel of Death' Otto Moll, and recounts the attempts made by some of the prisoners to escape, including the revolt of October 1944.

It is usual to imagine that none of those who went into the gas chambers at Auschwitz ever emerged to tell their tale - but, as a member of a ‘Sonderkommando', Shlomo Venezia was given this horrific privilege. He knew that, having witnessed the unspeakable, he in turn would probably be eliminated by the SS in case he ever told his tale. He survived: this is his story.

Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This is a unique, eye-witness account of everyday life right at the heart of the Nazi extermination machine.

Slomo Venezia was born into a poor Jewish-Italian community living in Thessaloniki, Greece. At first, the occupying Italians protected his family; but when the Germans invaded, the Venezias were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and sisters disappeared on arrival, and he learned, at first with disbelief, that they had almost certainly been gassed. Given the chance to earn a little extra bread, he agreed to become a ‘Sonderkommando', without realising what this entailed. He soon found himself a member of the ‘special unit' responsible for removing the corpses from the gas chambers and burning their bodies.

Dispassionately, he details the grim round of daily tasks, evokes the terror inspired by the man in charge of the crematoria, ‘Angel of Death' Otto Moll, and recounts the attempts made by some of the prisoners to escape, including the revolt of October 1944.

It is usual to imagine that none of those who went into the gas chambers at Auschwitz ever emerged to tell their tale - but, as a member of a ‘Sonderkommando', Shlomo Venezia was given this horrific privilege. He knew that, having witnessed the unspeakable, he in turn would probably be eliminated by the SS in case he ever told his tale. He survived: this is his story.

Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

More books from Wiley

Cover of the book Global Consumer Behavior by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Digital SLR Cameras and Photography For Dummies by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Mass Spectrometry in Polymer Chemistry by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Low-Frequency Waves in Space Plasmas by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book You've Been Framed by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Orthodontics at a Glance by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Successful Job Interviews For Dummies - Australia / NZ by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Electrohydraulic Fracturing of Rocks by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book QuickBooks Online For Dummies by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Probability and Statistics for Finance by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Statistics with JMP by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Internet Communications Using SIP by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Professional Android Sensor Programming by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Functionalization of Semiconductor Surfaces by Shlomo Venezia
Cover of the book Sociologies of Interaction by Shlomo Venezia
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy