A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz - Five Chimneys

Having read over 42 books on the holocaust, unquestionably, "Auschwitz" is thus far "the" most vivid description of the hell the Nazis inflicted on innocent people, young, old, children, informed, and various ethnic representatives. The psychology of the unbelievable sadism, brutality and terror inflicted by the Nazis to other human beings is incomprehensible to me. This book is a factual telling by a very heroic survivor. I am still in disbelieve that anyone could survive what she did - and then have the ability to recount her experiences and those of her fellow "prisoners" is beyond belief. If you are a student of history and want to learn what truly happened in Birkenau, Auschwitz, Treblinka, Ravensbruck, and on and on, read, "Auschwitz." I only hope that you won't develop a hatred of the German people who perpetrated this darkest history in the existence of all humanity. What you do need to do is everything you can to insure this NEVER happens again!!!

Outstanding Book- this book on the Holocaust is the most detailed of any one I've read concerning the concentration camp of Aushwitz. It was almost brutal in the description but was written so well that it read like a novel. I highly recommend it; especially if you know little about that time.

I have been reading many books on this subject and the horrific details of what this poor race of people went through and endured is something that should never be forgotten. It would be difficult to rate this book anything but 5 stars. After reading many of these books one starts recognizing the brutal characters and even the events that happened but that may have been seen from a different area of the camp by the survivors. I highly recommend this book.

Five Chimneys is a story everyone should read. Yes, it is horrendous to read of the atrocities those people endured. It is also a story that shows how the human spirit can survive under the worst possible conditions. We must all know Olga's story and all of those she speaks for so that we never, ever allow this to happen again.

This book is the story of Olga Lengyel, an Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor. Her personal story is horrifying but also true. She did what she had to do to survive.
Olga's eyewitness accounts are descriptive in every way and shows indictment of what the Nazis have done to the unfortunate.
Surprising to me was that so many non-jews were also executed along with jews. The torture and living conditions were worse than any hell could be imagined. Olga's writing of this book should be laudable so that others will never forget these atrocities; this history should be remembered so that it will NEVER be repeated...

The best report Germans treatment of the non Germans that I have read. Shows how man with out a God consciousness can and will act. If man is just an evolved creature this is how he act with no awareness that he is wrong or that he will face judgment from God,

Disturbing. Rating it 5 stars and saying 'I love it' doesn't seem quite ... accurate. This isn't a book you 'love'. The events described are horrifying in every way. It's well written and drives its point home, but the subject matter itself just isn't something you 'love'.

If you want to read an excellent book on an awful subject, read this one.

Recommended read. Another writer with an excellent ability to tell the story with a direct manner to provide the information without unnecessary gore & detailed horrors. An excellent told story of a horrific period of time without making the reader sick, but definitely leaving the reader educated and aware.

This was the MOST DETAILED, MOST SATISFYING, and MOST INFORMATIONAL holocaust book I have ever read. She covered every question that's EVER crossed my mind about those horrible years. Usually these accounts and testimonials leave me with more questions and curiosity after I've finished them BUT THIS DID NOT! I sat down and thought about every word written and I was PLEASED that my hunger for it was fed ! Definitely worth the read. You will NOT be disappointed.

What an amazing woman. This is a harrowing read, but something that should be read! The strength & courage of the survivors is something I find difficult to comprehend. But, it's compelling reading, we all need to ensure this never happens again.

I have just finished reading Olga Lengyel's book, and cannot really add anything to the excellent review by "Lawyeraau" which covers just about everything.

I would, however, like to make it clear that Mrs Lengyel was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, when most of Europe's Jews - bar the Hungarian Jewish people - had already been murdered. While she was there, almost every Jew arriving from Hungary was sent directly to be gassed. This is the main reason for her reminding us that her companions in captivity were not Jewish: the Jews were dead.

This does not detract one bit from the horrendous treatment meted out to non-Jews. Mrs Lengyel describes the gassing of priests and nuns, and their amazing fortitude under appalling circumstances. I did not know about this, or knew only very little, and it's important to be more informed than previously. Her book also tells of the fact that until the end of 1942/beginning of 1943, the Germans were indiscriminate in their gassings. Anyone and everyone of whom they "disapproved" was sent to a gas chamber, and this included very many Polish people, particularly intellectuals and clergy. I feel sad and guilty at not having realized the full extent of Polish suffering under Nazi domination. Perhaps such appalling trauma goes some way to explaining their very negative post-war behaviour. Trauma evinces itself in strange ways. After 1942 (with a total of five gas chambers now, instead of just one, or one plus the little white house), the Germans reserved gassing almost exclusively for Jews and Gypsies, but found plenty of other methods for torturing and killing their non-Jewish civilian captives.

I had previously read (Kazimierz Tyminski : "To Calm My Dreams") that living children were frequently thrown into a pit, doused with gasoline and set alight, but had difficulty believing this. I thought perhaps Mr Tyminski could have been mistaken. But here it is again, towards the end of Olga Lengyel's book. Such deeds were heinous, even for Nazis, and it increases my indignation that, post-war, so few Nazis were punished and so many went on to occupy high positions in the "new" Germany and in the USA. Mrs Lengyel must surely have been disappointed too, as she lived until well into her nineties and knew what happened. To quote one of the book's final sentences, she would have seen it as "an outrage against the millions of innocent dead."

Mrs Lengyel does not sanitize the bizarre sexual behaviours within the camp, which I found startling and sickening. It is good that at least this one writer tells it as it really was. Many who chronicled the Holocaust prudently avoided the subjects of sex and bestiality, but avoidance serves no good purpose. We need to know the depths to which we humans can sink when pushed unbearably.

An immense amount of food for thought in this remarkable and courageous memoir.

Books about the Holocost have always interested me. As many as I have read, they are all different and equally disturbing. I can't begin to imagine the utter Hell these poor people had to endure day after day!! Only my faith gives me peace knowing that God is just!!

Books about the Holocost have always interested me. As many as I have read, they are all different and equally disturbing. I can't begin to imagine the utter Hell these poor people had to endure day after day!! Only my faith gives me peace knowing that God is just!!

I've read quite a few Holocaust biographies and this paints a far more rounded and detailed picture of the camps in general - but more importantly the underground prisoner society in the camps. Amazingly thorough. Every human should read a holocaust bio to learn what these brave individuals suffered in order to survive to tell their stories so that this kind of tragedy never happens again.

This true story of Olga Lengyel's Auschwitz experience is truly heart wrenching and frank. She relays the most heinous living conditions and brutal "man's inhumanity to man" experiences I have ever read. It is hard to imagine such terrifying ordeals and live to tell about them. Reading a book like this makes all our mediocre problems in life disappear in comparison.
She is a courageous woman and a survivor of indescribable horror, and yet has the hope and desire to go on proving man's insatiable will to live. A very good book for all to read...and remember.

Until reading Five Chimneys, my knowledge of the holocaust was limited by the sanitized versions of school text books or local TV broadcasts. This author's account was a true education. This is a book which should be required reading, in my opinion, in twelfth grade.

a well written story that never should have happened to any human being. my parents and i talked about this book and i just don't know if i could've endured what this family and our families went through. it was pure evil and pure hell for everyone at every concentration camp i'm sure. and if stories like this aren't told a piece of history is also lost. we must never forget and forget the freedom and peace that we have today. again, a must read.

Blunt but compassionate. Detailed and yet left me wanting more about the reason her husband was taken. Irma Griese and Mengela are written about; among many others. The book stops at liberation, but her dreams and instructions don't. Her humanity before, during and after kept me reading. I won't forget this book.

This "story" is a very difficult~emotional read. Having visited Prague and one of the nearby camps this winter....I wanted to read and understand some more of the "story". This author does a good job of accounting for what she saw, felt and experienced in an absolutely unbearable and unreal life journey of that time period. We need to read about what happened here to truly understand the responsibility of changing the future.

I am silent with grief after reading this first-hand account of the horrors these poor souls endured and the strength, bravery and sheer will Olga Lengyel and the others who endured this horrific shame of history. I have her book, a second edition that I dared not read for fear of damaging its perfect condition and was thrilled to be able to read it on my Kindle.

I believe and I cannot believe anyone can survive such numbing inhumanity. How can such hellish, cruelness exist. Utter disrespect and hateful annihilation of a people I cannot fathom. I believe. Thank you for surviving to tell the stories and to rid us of some of the Nazi vermin.

Very enlighting....It gives the reader another side to look from, some one who had no clue what was happening. Ms Olga makes you understand why the Jews walked to their deaths without a cry for help,a show of force,or just stop doing anything....but its hard for her to answer the question, "How can someone be so mean and hate someone so bad to do the things they did." I would like to read something written by a German at one of the camps to give his/her point on the camps.....

Unbelievable does not even begin to cover the atrocities of the Holocaust! Prior to reading this book, I only knew what I had learned about the Holocaust from textbooks and other required readings from high school. The author described for her readers the way life in Auschwitz really was and not some edited version. Words cannot express just how much this book has changed me. I will never again take anything for granted that's for sure!! I highly suggest this book for anyone who truly wants to know what life was like in the concentration camps. I can assure you that you didn't read this kind of stuff in a textbook!

Beautifully written. No how many books I read on this horrific time in history, the realization of the extent of this kind of suffrage is incomprehensible. It's like asking someone who has never been hungry to feel starvation. It's impossible, but a journey worth the travel for sure. So many things to learn, so little time to learn them.

This book is outstanding! I had a difficult time putting it down. So much I information on events that happen as well as the people involved. I would highly recommended this book to any one who wants to learn about the Holocaust from a women's victims . great book

This book is definitely a shocking eyeopener and the atrocities the author lived through were heartbreaking and unimaginable. I had no idea that this camp existed or that there were female SS Guards who were just as ruthless as their male counterparts and in some cases moreso. I saw some of the low star reviews that stated the author was unemotional as she told her story. I believe that if I had witnessed and lived through what she did, I would be unemotional too. Try walking for just a day or two in her shoes before passing judgement. Something like this has to harden you to some degree, otherwise she may never have survived the nightmare she lived on a daily basis. I appreciate her honestly immensely and thank her for telling the world her story. Very well written book and I definitely recommend it!

An amazing story told with brutal honesty. The fact that the author got out of this horrible situation alive and was able to tell the world what she had been through is a true testament to human perseverance and spirit. Anyone wanting to experience what life was like for a concentration camp prisoner will get a full understanding after reading this book.

I was riveted from the beginning, yet consumed with disbelief at the horrific ordeals these poor brave souls endured. I cannot imagine living through any of the things these people endured on a daily basis. Hope mankind learned something from this. Hopefully, bell has a special place for the sadistic monsters who did all these acts.

From the first time I read Elie Wiesels' book "Night" I have been reading other books on the Holocaust
Very few have been this descriptive and detailed
It is a look into the horror of the Holocaust from one that lived it and had intimate details of what went on it other parts of the camp

I have read quite a few memoirs by holocaust survivors. This one gave so many details and described events in such a way that the reader understands a little better the horrors that occurred and the terrible, tragic loss of so many innocent human beings.
Read this memoir and speak out against injustices when you see them happening.

In all the books I have read about the Holocaust, I shall say that this one was very revealing. The enduring pain these people experienced is frightening. This is a must read for anyone who needs to know the harrowing depth of which humanity was tested. My heart breaks at the thought of this injustice. I can not fathom all of the pain these people experienced. The evil that lurks in the world. The millions of lives that were forever altered by the cruelty of man and power. Please read this book because it lets you know that survival is possible even in the darkest of trials. I would like to thank the author for her bravery and perseverance it took to tell her story, you are an inspiration.

Since there are those in this world who believe the horrific crimes against humanity never happened, it is important that those who survived write their stories of what happened to them. The read was compelling. I was inspired to check my own life and how I look at people after reading his. I am sure you will do so as well.

This book leaves very little to the imagination. The pictures it sends into your mind are quite graphic but you will not put it down. It almost feels wrong to say that you liked this book. I only gave it 4 stars because the ending for me was flat.

I've read many books on this subject, the personalized narration gave me a more close up look at both sides of the equation. The honor and loyalty of the prisoners really helps the reader to understand their superiority over their captors. I only wish the world, the Churches, the German people who knew what was happening could have made a more concerted effort to win back and protect these people and punish the perpetrators of these horrible crimes before so many had been needlessly slaughtered. I ask people to pay closer attention to what is happening in the world, and to be very vocal for change. You can't wait for someone to do it for you. As you see in this book, waiting has disastrous consequences.

Mary Donnelly

This is the most graphic documentation I have ever read and my heart breaks for this precious woman and her courage.
Everyone should read this book and especially the young who have no idea of what happened.
We must NEVER let this happen again ! Stay informed always!

I've been interested in reading on the concentration camps for years and only recently began getting down to business. Glad I found this one. It's readings like these which make me grateful for my everyday existence and keep me aware of the fact that THIS must NEVER be allowed to occur again. Although something close to this treatment has gone on in Darfur and Rwanda. Great read. Two days--couldn't put it down.

very tough book to get through--because of the subject matter. the book is very good and your heart just goes out to everyone in the book. the author makes you feel everything. she is a great writer.

Dark, disturbing, compelling... as difficult to read as it is to STOP reading. This story should and must be read, and the horrific lessons learned within must continue to be taught into posterity. The world collectively owes the victims of Auschwitz - Birkenau a great debt... God bless their weary souls...

Five Chimneys tells the most detailed Holocaust survivor's story I have read to date. The fact that she escaped death so many times is a testament to her strength and dedication in getting the story out.

This is the most comprehensive personal account of a Holocaust survival story I have read. I cannot call this book "good" or "great" as is it heart-wrenching. The author does just as she aspires - she shares all that she saw and experienced (with some self-imposed limits as she withholds some gruesome details) in hopes that it can never be allowed to happen again.

One of the most informative of the holocaust books I've read. This one concerns the women who bravely endured the torments. It is typically difficult to read of all the suffering they had to endure, but this education is important to ensure to the best of all our efforts it never happens, although us Bible believing Christians know it will.

This is the frank, often brutal story of one woman's survival in Auschwitz concentration camp. She lost her entire family, and how she managed to go on day after nine chilling day is an inspiration to read. Lots of photos in the back too.

Had never read any actual information on WW!! and Holocaust from someone who had lived it. Horrible events and unimaginable.
Can't believe a human could treat another human so ........ can't find any words.

I picked up this book and read it voraciously from beginning to end. Of course I knew the subject and the ending, but the story is one that should be known. There is evil in this world and we need to be reminded that it could happen again.