Five Chimneys

1. Deception and the Horrific Journey to Auschwitz

So in a dozen little ways they mollified, and even encouraged me.

Fatal decision. Olga Lengyel recounts how German authorities cunningly encouraged families, including her own, to accompany deported husbands, assuring them there was nothing to fear and they would be reunited. This deliberate deception led her to bring her parents and two young sons, a decision she would forever regret as it sealed their fate. The initial apprehension was tempered by false promises and a lack of credible information about the true destination.

Cattle car hell. The journey itself was an unimaginable torment, with 96 people crammed into a single cattle car designed for eight horses. Conditions were horrific:

• Extreme overcrowding, forcing many to stand for days.
• Lack of sanitation, leading to unbearable stench and disease spread.
• Scarcity of food and water, causing intense suffering and desperation.
• Constant fear and tension, eroding civility and leading to quarrels.

Death en route. The brutal journey claimed lives even before arrival, with the sick and elderly succumbing to the conditions. Guards were indifferent, refusing to remove corpses and even demanding valuables under threat of death. This initial experience stripped away dignity and foreshadowed the horrors to come, revealing the utter ruthlessness of their captors.

2. Arrival and the Deadly Selection Process

How could I have known? I had spared them from hard work, but I had condemned Arvad and my mother to death in the gas chambers.

Window-dressing and lies. Upon arrival at Birkenau, deportees were met with deceptive displays of organization, including ambulances for the sick and promises of reunification. This elaborate facade was designed to maintain order and prevent panic among the thousands disembarking, masking the true purpose of the camp. The sight of striped uniforms was the first chilling hint of the reality.

The first selection. The most brutal shock was the immediate separation of deportees into two lines, right and left, by S.S. doctors like Fritz Klein. Children and the elderly were automatically sent to the left, while the able-bodied went to the right. Olga's tragic error was misrepresenting her older son's age to spare him hard labor, inadvertently sending him and her mother to the left, the line leading directly to the gas chambers.

Unimaginable truth. The sweetish odor pervading the air, initially dismissed as a "camp bakery," was the smell of burning human flesh from the crematories. The realization that those sent to the left – her children, her parents, and thousands of others – were immediately murdered and incinerated was a devastating blow that shattered all remaining hope and exposed the monstrous scale of the Nazi extermination plan.

3. Life in the Barracks: Dehumanization and Struggle

Hereafter, we would be no more than slaves, always hungry and cold, at the mercy of the guards, and without hope.

Animal existence. The barracks, originally stables, housed 1,400-1,500 women in unimaginable filth and overcrowding. Wooden bunks ("koias") meant 17-20 people huddled in a 12x5 foot space, with leaky roofs and mud floors. Basic hygiene was impossible with minimal water and shared, often stolen, chamber pots/bowls.

Constant deprivation. Food was meager and often inedible, consisting of insipid liquid called "coffee" or "tea," foul-smelling soup with debris, and small rations of sawdust-filled bread. Thirst was a constant torture, driving women to drink contaminated water or barter precious food for a few drops. This relentless hunger and thirst reduced many to an animalistic state.

Internal conflict. The extreme conditions fostered conflict among inmates, turning neighbors into rivals for space, food, and survival. The German system deliberately pitted prisoners against each other, empowering brutal "blocovas" and "Stubendiensts" who enforced rules with violence, further eroding solidarity and human dignity.

4. The Crematories: The Engine of Extermination

The "bakery" which gave off the sickeningly sweetish odor was the crematory, to which the young and the old and the sick had been consigned, and to which ultimately we were all doomed.

The true purpose. Birkenau was primarily an extermination camp, its existence masked by euphemisms like "bakery" for the crematories. While Auschwitz had work factories, Birkenau's main function was mass murder, primarily of Jews and Gypsies, but also other "undesirables." Those deemed unfit for labor were sent here to die.

Industrial scale killing. The camp housed four large crematory units, each with gas chambers and ovens, capable of incinerating thousands daily. When ovens were overtaxed, bodies were burned in "death pits." The process was chillingly efficient:

• Victims were deceived with promises of baths and amenities.
• They were stripped of all possessions, including valuables and hair.
• Packed into gas chambers, often left to suffer before gas was released.
• Bodies were searched for gold teeth and valuables before incineration.

Profit from death. The Germans meticulously reclaimed everything from the victims – clothing, jewelry, gold teeth, and even hair used for mattresses. Human fat was collected from the pits. This systematic exploitation of the dead highlighted the cold, calculated nature of the Nazi regime's atrocities, turning human beings into raw materials.

5. Survival Through "Organization" and Adaptation

To "organize" meant to steal.

The necessity of theft. Survival in the camp often depended on acquiring resources beyond the meager official rations. The term "organize" became a euphemism for stealing, initially from the Germans, but tragically, sometimes from fellow inmates driven by desperation. This moral compromise was a direct consequence of the inhumane conditions.

Black market economy. A thriving black market existed, fueled by goods stolen from "Canada" (the storage area for deportee possessions) or smuggled from outside. Food, clothing, and even small comforts like a comb or a piece of twine became incredibly valuable commodities, traded at exorbitant prices. This underground economy was essential for supplementing rations and acquiring necessities.

Adapting to degradation. The constant struggle for survival forced inmates to adapt in disturbing ways. Women who had been respectable citizens resorted to theft. Personal hygiene became almost impossible, leading to widespread infestation and disease. The physical and moral degradation was a deliberate outcome of the camp system, designed to strip prisoners of their humanity.

6. The Infirmary: A Battleground of Hope and Despair

However, we had an infirmary; and we were doing good, useful work.

Limited resources. The infirmary, initially housed in a dilapidated barrack, was severely lacking in basic medical supplies, including bandages, disinfectants, and even clean water. The small staff of five women doctors and nurses were overwhelmed by the sheer number of sick, often treating purulent wounds with unsterilized instruments.

False hope. While providing some care, the infirmary also served as another tool for selection. Patients, especially those with contagious diseases, risked being sent to the "hospital" section, which was often a direct route to the gas chamber or death by phenol injection. This created a tragic dilemma for the medical staff, who sometimes advised patients to hide their illnesses.

Moral compromises. The most agonizing task was dealing with births. German policy dictated that both mother and newborn be sent to the gas chamber. To save the mothers, the medical staff resorted to infanticide, making the babies appear stillborn. This horrific act, born of desperation, haunted the staff and highlighted the depths of depravity the system forced upon its victims.

7. "Scientific" Experiments: Cruelty Without Purpose

Human beings were sacrificed by the hundreds of thousands, and that was all.

Debauchery of science. Auschwitz-Birkenau became a laboratory for horrific and often pointless "scientific" experiments conducted by S.S. doctors like Mengele and Klauberg. Inmates were treated as disposable human guinea pigs, subjected to cruel tests with no scientific value. Deportee doctors were sometimes forced to assist.

Variety of torments: Experiments included:

• Inoculating inmates with diseases and observing without treatment.
• Testing human endurance to extreme cold, heat, or hunger.
• Injecting unknown substances, often with fatal results.
• Studying the effects of psychological stress on biological functions.
• Vivisection, bone grafting, and other surgeries without proper care.

Sterilization and genetics. A particular focus was on sterilization experiments using surgery or intense X-ray radiation, often causing severe burns and lasting damage. Mengele's obsession with twins and dwarfs led to bizarre and cruel genetic studies. These experiments were part of a larger Nazi goal to eliminate "inferior" races and control reproduction.

8. Psychological Degradation and Loss of Self

In many instances the inmates revealed signs of mental deterioration.

Erosion of identity. The camp system systematically stripped inmates of their former identities. They were reduced to numbers, their heads shaved, dressed in rags, and subjected to constant humiliation and violence. This deliberate process aimed to break their spirit and make them docile.

Mental toll. The constant fear, hunger, exhaustion, and exposure to death led to severe psychological trauma. Many inmates suffered memory loss, inability to concentrate, and a pervasive apathy. Some retreated into fantasy worlds, while others became indifferent to their own fate and that of others.

Loss of empathy. The struggle for individual survival sometimes overshadowed compassion, leading to instances of theft among inmates or betrayal during selections. While acts of solidarity existed, the environment fostered a sense of every person for themselves, a tragic consequence of the dehumanization process.

9. Moments of Humanity and Connection

Nature dictates that wherever men and women are together there shall also be love.

Finding connection. Despite the brutal environment, human connection persisted. Friendships formed, offering mutual support and comfort. Even romantic relationships, though often fleeting and fraught with danger, provided moments of solace and a reminder of life outside the barbed wire.

Acts of kindness. Amidst the cruelty, there were instances of remarkable selflessness. Inmates shared meager rations, risked punishment to help others, or offered emotional support. The medical staff, despite their limited resources and forced compromises, worked tirelessly to alleviate suffering.

Resistance through spirit. Maintaining one's dignity, sharing news, or simply offering a kind word became acts of resistance against a system designed to crush the human spirit. These small moments of connection and compassion were vital for survival, providing glimmers of hope in the darkness.

10. The Underground: Resistance in the Face of Death

We lived to resist and we resisted to live.

Forms of resistance. An organized underground movement existed within the camp, engaging in various forms of resistance, from small acts of sabotage and "organization" (stealing from Germans) to disseminating news and planning larger actions. This network provided a sense of purpose and solidarity.

Information warfare. A key activity was gathering and sharing news from the outside world, often via a clandestine radio. Disseminating news of Allied advances boosted morale, although it also provoked brutal German reprisals. The underground also sought to inform the outside world about the camp's atrocities.

Armed rebellion. The most dramatic act of resistance was the attempted blowing up of the crematories by the Sonderkommando, the inmates forced to work in the extermination process. Though only partially successful and met with horrific retaliation, this act demonstrated immense courage and a refusal to passively accept death.

11. Bearing Witness: The Imperative to Remember

Later we shall write down everything we’ve seen. When the war is over the world must know about this. It must know the truth.

The mission to tell. For many who survived, the primary motivation became the moral imperative to bear witness to the horrors they had experienced. Members of the underground, like Olga, risked their lives to gather information and statistics, determined that the world should know the truth of the Nazi extermination camps.

Unforgettable reality. The author's vivid and harrowing descriptions, from the stench of the crematories to the casual cruelty of the guards and the suffering of her fellow inmates, serve as a testament to the reality of Auschwitz-Birkenau. She recounts specific incidents and individuals, ensuring their stories are not forgotten.

A warning for the future. By sharing her experiences, Olga Lengyel fulfills her promise to those who perished. Her account stands as a stark warning about the depths of human cruelty and the dangers of indifference, urging future generations to remember the past to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

Last updated: May 4, 2025