In this issue, we present a review of new books printed abroad. This review is designed to expose readers to useful new publications that otherwise might remain unknown.

• Das Auschwitz – Album; Die Geschichte eines Transportes (The Auschwitz Album ; The Story of a Transport), edited by Israel Gutman, Bella Gutterman
• Dagmar Ostermann: Eine Lebensreise durch Konzentrationslager (A Journey of Life through a Concentration Camp); Hrsg. von Martin Krist.

Das Auschwitz – Album; Die Geschichte eines Transportes (The Auschwitz Album ; The Story of a Transport), edited by Israel Gutman, Bella Gutterman

 This is the German edition of one of the most significant visual sources on the Shoah. Prior to this edition, a Hebrew and an English version were published. This collection of 207 photos was made on the ramp of Birkenau in late Spring 1944, by two SS-photographers: Walter and Hoffmann. Although we do not have any documents relating to this photography-project, we assume that the goal of the collection was to counter the rumors on Auschwitz and its function as a killing center, rumors which spread quickly in 1944. It was in the interest of the Nazi-regime to prove that Auschwitz was a peaceful, safe camp, in which the Jews were well-treated, with no occurrences of criminal activity. A quiet and harmonious atmosphere does characterize this photo collection, in which no aggression or brutality are noticeable. If we did not know the truth behind these photographs we would not so much as glance at them. These photos were, most certainly, taken in order to be used as a propaganda tool to prove to the free world as well as to the remaining victims, the Hungarian Jews, that they had nothing to fear on arrival, that they would be treated humanely, and that they were only being sent for “resettlement” in Poland.

Let us remember the historical circumstances: the rumors about the “Final Solution” had spread in 1944, and the killing by gas was not a secret anymore. Besides, firm news about the gas installations in Birkenau had already been handed over to the world by the two Jewish pairs of escapees from Birkenau: Rudolf Vrba (Walter Rosenberg) and Alfred Wetzler (Josef Lanik) (April 1944) and Czeslaw Mordowitz and Arnost Rosin (May 1944). A secret negotiation process began between Jewish circles in Slovakia and Hungary (April-May 1944), in which the Nazi leadership had taken an interest. The negotiations, in which several Jewish organizations took part (including Rudolf Kasztner, on behalf of the “Relief and Rescue Committee” in Budapest), were at a crucial stage in May 1944. Due to these developments, it was essential to refute and contradict the information, which leaked from Auschwitz-Birkenau. A visual photographic document could supply the means for such a propaganda campaign.

The photographers documented the whole process, from the arrival of the “transport” on the ramp to the end of the process. The photos can be divided into six themes: one is the arrival on the ramp, showing us Jews leaving the wagons, filling the ramp, and being welcomed by the “Kanada Kommando” prisoners. Later we follow the crucial and dramatic part of the “Selection”, during which an SS-physician chooses between those who will be immediately sent to their death in the gas chamber and those who will temporarily be allowed to live as slaves, working for German industry and the army. The third theme is the ideological one: the photographers present us stereotypical Jewish men and women, who correspond to Nazi racial propaganda based on their pseudo-scientific ideology. The photographers force some of the “objects” – Orthodox Jews – to remove their hats in order to humiliate them publicly. In the fourth chapter we accompany  Jews who were “selected” for death. We see them walking slowly to the place of murder with many children and old people, noting how they wait in the forest near the Crematoria building. The fifth chapter describes the route which those who have been allowed to live follow after “the selection”. The sixth shows the huge effort invested by the Germans to make a profit out of the victims’ property.

The photographers, professional and experienced, achieved their aims in two ways: part of their photographs document existing scenes. In others, they direct and stage scenes, telling their subjects what to do. They climb on the train’s roof in order to show a wide angle of the ramp, and thus enable us to have a complete look at the ramp and its environs.

In this edition readers will find victims’ photos with names attached - victims identified by relatives and friends who survived. In case of double-identification, both names are mentioned.

The testimonies of Holocaust survivors collected in the last years, enable us to reconstruct the process of “selection“, registration in the camp and directing of the Jews into the gas chambers. However, in order to obtain an accurate picture of the procedure, we need a visual document. The numerous photos that survived in the Auschwitz Album make it possible for us to glance into the world of the camps, into the making of the so-called “Final Solution of the Jewish Question“ and especially – into the functioning of the biggest extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The story of how the Album was found is so unbelievable that one can, without any difficulty, write a book or produce a dramatic documentary about it. The most striking fact is that the Album, documenting the dispatch of a Jewish transport of deportees from Hungary towards the last station in their life – falls into the hands of a survivor of that same death transport, one of the few lucky ones, who opens the Album and suddenly recognizes the people of her community in it, those who arrived with her on the platform at Birkenau: her rabbi, even her numerous family relatives and ... herself! The most gifted producer or playwright, author or poet, could not have invented a more dramatic and tragic scene, a fact that makes the Auschwitz Album one the most remarkable visual documents in the history of the twentieth century.

Many components of the story were, and still are, mysterious and it is doubtful whether they will ever be solved. For example, why was such a photographic-documentation made in Birkenau? What was its aim and why on that specific date – only a few months before the evacuation of the camp? Who decided on this action? Why did the only ones that were authorized to photograph inside the boundaries of the camp deny that they had accomplished the task? How did it occur, that photographs with such historical importance and rarity on the one hand, and with the character of secrecy and concealment on the other, found their way into the hands of a private person, and more interesting: how was it possible that a historical treasure was incidentally arranged in a private photo album?

Nonetheless, even concerning the Album, from the historical perspective, it is important that such rare photos were taken at all - and survived. They serve as an excellent reconstruction and provide visual proof of the bitter fate of the Jewish people on the grounds of the slaughterhouse called Auschwitz-Birkenau.

 A thorough and careful examination of the photos leads to the following conclusions:

The many locations of the photos (the ramp, "Kanada", "Frauenlager", etc.) indicate that more than one photographer was involved in the action. The technical quality of the photos denotes professional work. Another significant point is that the photographers were familiar with the process of arrival of the transport and the "treatment" of the deportees. With their cameras  they report every important step in the process, but are extremely cautious not to show anything specifically connected with the crimes there. There is no evidence of brutality, aggression or killing in the photos. On the contrary: there is an atmosphere of order and discipline. The complete set of photographs is characterized by a calm, non-aggressive, non-violent atmosphere. There is no beating or maltreatment of prisoners with guns, whips or sticks. The SS men are not equipped with rifles or dogs – a permanent factor in the Nazi camps. The deportees do not reflect a horrified look. A spirit of order and discipline – although cool and mechanic - prevails in most of the photos.

Those who relate to this Album as a propaganda project of the Nazi leadership, may be correct in their assumption. The German criminals standing near their victims have already decided to kill most of them in cold blood. In the photos, however, they appear businesslike, practical and restrained. It seems like the documentation of a boring routine, not unique in any way.

As educators we need to keep in mind that the photographers knew everything and the people who they obsessively documented – knew nothing. This tension  can be seen in the photographs. They radiate a tense peacefulness, concern and especially a lack of certainty – the sense of an approaching disaster.

What the photographers feel vis-a-vis the horrible fate of the people they are photographing, people of whom soon nothing will be left, but a handful of ashes - is hard to evaluate. Are they mocking them? Do they despise them? Are they apathetic or, who knows, merciful? It is possible that they are estranged from the reality, and their only interest is to fulfill their professional duty. But it is also possible, that they regard their task as an artistic challenge, for which they must use all their talent and professional experience.

Regardless of the photographers’ feelings, the terrible secret is not unveiled. There is no dialogue between the photographed and the photographers.

If we accept the theory, that the action was performed for propaganda purposes, how can we explain the part of the documentation that shows the confiscation of property and the sorting done by the “Effektenlager“ prisoners?

Logically, this should have been omitted from the documentary. On the other hand, these pictures can also be presented as proof that the Germans took care of their prisoners in the camps.

One central and final chapter is not part of the documentation: the murder in the gas chambers. The photographers stop at the gate of the gas chambers and do not leave documentation of the murder itself. The reason is clear. The real crime is hidden and allows them to present the arrival of the transport of Jews as a bureaucratic action, not as a murderous and brutal one. Photos naturally have objective limitations, as well as certain disadvantages and advantages. Through the lens of the camera many details get lost. The natural is always a little falsified. Just seeing a camera, we immediately try to make a better impression, start to smile and the picture becomes artificial. Professional photographers can change reality. Small can become bigger, black can even become white and vice versa. Ugly places can suddenly look beautiful, and since photographers are also artists, they can even find nice places in the vicinity of the Crematoria.

 This collection of photos can be seen as a memorial to the gassed Jews and as a substitute for the thousands of family photos, that the Jews brought from their homes. Photos are an important source of remembrance of something lost. Photo albums were usually burnt together with books, Torah-scrolls, personal documents, etc., because they had no value in the eyes of the SS. Therefore, no photos of the burnt people exist.

Only a fortunate coincidence saved the Auschwitz Album for the world - a document that describes in pictures only one transport that symbolizes many others which were not documented or photographed.

The Auschwitz-Album is an excellent source for the teaching of the subject “Auschwitz” and the “Final Solution of the Jewish question”. Since the many photos included in this document have a peaceful character, it can also be used for teaching youngsters. Here lies the importance of the Album now being published in German. Teachers in Germany can now use this unique source for explaining to their pupils what a ramp in an extermination camp means and what a “selection” looks like. They can show them the faces of murdered Jews and enable them to feel the atmosphere of the place, in which over 1,100,000 Jews lost their lives.

The pictures supply the tools to explain issues which normally are not discussed in detail – and are so central to understanding the Shoah: the methods of deceit and fraud used by the Germans on the one hand, and the naivety and innocence of the victims on the other.

To sum up: the Auschwitz-Album is a “must”-document for anyone who wishes to better understand Auschwitz and to get acquainted with the system that enabled Nazi-Germany to slaughter so many millions in a relatively short period of time.

Das Auschwitz – Album; Die Geschichte eines Transportes (The Auschwitz Album ; The Story of a Transport)
Wallstein Verlag / Yad Vashem / Göttingen / Jerusalem, 276 Seiten. Herausgegeben von (edited by)  Israel Gutman, Bella Gutterman

Dagmar Ostermann: Eine Lebensreise durch Konzentrationslager (A Journey of Life through a Concentration Camp); Hrsg. von Martin Krist.

The appearance of every new biography connected with Auschwitz is of huge importance for our ability to understand this extermination center which has become a synonym for the Shoah. Holocaust survivors’ memoirs enable those born after the war to identify with the innocent victims of Auschwitz and to gain a deeper insight into the events. The story of Dagmar Ostermann is unique since the hero of this story was Christian, whereas her father was Jewish. For this reason she lived in much better conditions in the camp and her chances for survival were greater.

Dagmar’s personal story reflects the complexities connected with the category of mixed marriages.   For the Nazis, it was an unresolved issue on how to treat people who were not one hundred percent Jewish.

Dagmar Ostermann was deported to Auschwitz from Ravensbrueck on October 5, 1942. She arrived in Auschwitz on October 6. Two months before, at the beginning of August 1942, the women’s camp BIa was established. Until the beginning of November 1944, Dagmar worked at the “Stammlager” – the main camp of Auschwitz- as a typist-secretary in the civil registry office (“Standesamt”) in the “Politische Abteilung” – the political department. This position gave her the rare opportunity to observe important events in the SS secretariat where the fates of so many people were decided. The majority of  the secretaries in Auschwitz were Jewish:  Jewish women were better educated and knew more languages than other female prisoners. In addition, they knew how to type. Therefore the SS-officers preferred Jewish secretaries. The atmosphere prevailing in the Politische Abteilung’s offices was “cultivated” and “dignified”. The relations between the “bosses” and their secretaries were almost as normal as in other working places, in the prewar period. The “bosses” behaved well, spoke politely and did not use any violence. This pattern of behavior was, of course, unusual and did not reflect the general patterns used by the SS in other parts of the camp, where they were brutal, evil, aggressive and sadistic.

The rather pleasant atmosphere in the offices encouraged the young women to do courageous acts and change prisoners’ work cards. They used the card collection to save the lives of prisoners in danger by changing the personal number of the prisoners who were about to die of exhaustion. Many of them received important information which was used to help save lives. This is exactly what makes Ostermann’s book so unique. She is able to describe Auschwitz both as a prisoner with a tattooed number on her forearm, and as an “outsider”.

The girls working in the offices often had more self-esteem and self-confidence because they were less humiliated by the SS and felt more secure. They were allowed to dress differently from other female prisoners and were not as miserable. Dagmar Ostermann was a young woman, and the Politische Abteilung Office provided her with much better conditions than the majority of other prisoners. The fact that a monster can sometimes be “human” – when he decides to be – is one of the surprising facts, which can be learned from Dagmar Ostermann’s book.

Although the period she spent in Auschwitz is very central in the book, Dagmar wanted to emphasize all the stations in her life, including her childhood in Vienna, her family members and her life after the war.

Martin Krist, the publisher of this book, first met Dagmar in 1990. He lives in Vienna and works as a lecturer at the University of Vienna, the Institute for Contemporary History and as a history teacher at a high school in Vienna. He is intensively involved in historical projects connected with Holocaust teaching. After meeting Dagmar for the first time, he invited her several times to speak to his students and to accompany them on a study tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

This book was created from a series of interviews with Martin Krist during the years 2001 to 2004. Krist invested a lot of effort and time in an effort to produce a different biography of a survivor – more personal, and with an emphasis on a woman’s interpretation of the events. Indeed the text is vivid and fluent, as the following passage proves:

“I open my eyes, and observe the familiar landscape of my apartment. I close my eyes again, and compare this with Auschwitz-Birkenau. This does not happen daily but often. I put my shoes on and always think how difficult it was to remove the wooden clogs in Auschwitz. And then, the waking up and climbing down from the upper bunk of the so-called “bed”. There is always something which forces me to make  comparisons with Auschwitz. It becomes a daily habit. When I go to sleep, I think: “My God, such a pleasant bed, but how could you sleep there, on that sack of straw, which pierced you everywhere, without any blanket to cover you.” Also the consciousness of calmly falling asleep knowing that nothing can happen to you. You never knew if during the night there would be a roll-call. Such memories do not appear everyday, but nevertheless they accompany me always.”

Mrs. Ostermann became famous in Austria and was invited to many high schools and universities. She appeared before thousands of listeners until she suffered a heart attack and had to stop her public activities.

This book sheds light on a unique group of prisoners in Auschwitz. In one place, she insists on reminding us that although she was sitting in her office typing all day long, and free from physical suffering, she could nevertheless not forget where she was:

“We constantly thought that we would not survive. We knew very well how many people went to the gas chamber. And we said: ‘As long as we live, that much we have survived! But this reality was not a method of survival for us. We hoped nevertheless to survive, but did not think about it. As long as man can breathe, so long does he pursue his hopes. And so we used each and every minute to laugh or to celebrate.. We lived from early morning to evening and from evening to morning. Who knows what can happen tomorrow. Several of our friends who were not needed anymore, were sent to Birkenau, like my friend Susan Czermyak-Spatz, or Lilly Toffler and other girls. Our biggest fear was precisely this- to be sent to Birkenau- since Birkenau meant death – we lived from today till tomorrow. That’s all.” 

Dagmar Ostermann: Eine Lebensreise durch Konzentrationslager (A Journey of Life through a Concentration Camp); Hrsg. von Martin Krist.

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