Notes from the Lampert Library

Seventy years ago on January 27, 1945, before most of us were alive, freedom finally came to the inmates of Auschwitz. That place, in reality a complex of main camp and myriad satellite camps, has become a symbol for the terror and barbarism wrecked upon Jews and others in death and work camps.

On the orders of Himmler, 58,000 prisoners had been marched out of the camp about ten days before. Twenty thousand made it to Bergen-Belsen in Germany where they were liberated by the British Army in April 1945. Himmler’s order stated that he was “making sure that not a single prisoner from the concentration camps falls alive into the hands of the enemy.”

On January 27, the Soviet Army entered the camp and discovered about 7500 survivors and the possessions of thousands of others. Those too weak to walk had been left behind.

January 27 has been designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The history of the camps is brutal. The images are disturbing. It behooves us not to forget the horrors that one person can inflict upon another in the name of country, king, or God.

Below is a list of books for further reading about Auschwitz. There are many other books in the library about additional concentration , death and work camps and World War II in general.

JFIC                Kacer                     The Magician of Auschwitz
FIC                 Antoni                    Block 11
FIC                 Croci                      Auschwitz
FIC                 Hackl                     The Wedding in Auschwitz
940.43          Levi                       Survival in Auschwitz
YA940.41      Deen                     Auschwitz
YA940.41      Robson                 Auschwitz
YA940.43      Bitton-Jackson     I have Lived a Thousand Years