Customer Reviews
Five Chimneys "Gritty, poignant and clinical-a Great Book!" 
2008-09-09
Five Chimneys, (Book Review)
A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz
Written By: Olga Lengyel
Published by Academy Chicago Publishers, Chicago, 1st Ed., 1995, paperback, 231 pages.
"Five Chimneys is the authentic testimony of Olga's hellish journey through the terror and unbelievable horrors of Auschwitz."BCM
Olga Lengyel was a woman who had been trained as a surgical assistant. She was the wife of a leading Surgeon and their affluent family was well respected in their community. They lived in the city called Cluj (also known as Klausenburg or Kolozsaur) in Transylvania.
Olga's life was full of love, laughter and she had a contented home together with her husband Miklos, her two sons Thomas and Arvad, her parents and her god father.
In 1944, the war became very real to Olga and her family who up until that point had been very sceptical of the atrocious stories they had been hearing.
They, along with many other deportees arrived in Auschwitz...
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"Life" in Auschwitz; Nazi Genocidal Ambitions beyond Jews and Gypsies 
2008-06-29
This review is based on the original (1947) edition. Let's focus on some seldom-developed issues.
Large numbers of Polish clergy were sent to Auschwitz in the early years of the camp. However, Lengyel reports many more arriving in 1944 (pp. 108-110). They were often put to death immediately; the remainder being subject to degrading humiliations and tortures. Polish children were frozen to death (p. 210) and mostly Polish women were used by the Germans for vivisection experiments. (p. 176) Ironically, the Germans forgot their racism when they included the use of Jewish blood for transfusions to save the lives of wounded German soldiers. (p. 176)
Recent claims that Jews and homosexuals were consistently treated the most harshly are fallacious. Lengyel says: "It would be difficult to say which of the internees were treated worst. Most of us, whether political, racial, or criminal prisoners, were reduced to existence on the animal level. But the Jews and the Russians were treated cruelly. On the other hand, the German internees, whether common-law criminals, perverts, or political prisoners, benefited from certain privileges. They provided large numbers of the camp functionaries; and, no matter what their duties, were never chosen in the dreaded `selection'." (p. 44) In fact, homosexuals were also victimizers: "The prisoners, men or women, were frequently abused by the German barrack leaders, among whom was a high percentage of homosexuals and other perverts." (p. 185) The camp "beasts" included Irma Griese, an SS woman (p. 40) and bisexual, who forced her way on female inmates and then disposed of them when she got tired of them. (pp. 185-186)
Lengyel describes the Sonderkommando revolt, as well as the escape of a Polish inmate with his Jewess lover (pp. 124). Unfortunately, the SS uniforms that they had stolen fooled the Germans for only a few weeks.
Once finished with the Jews, the Germans intended to do the same to the Slavs. After describing gruesome experiments designed to perfect mass-sterilization methods (pp. 177-179), Lengyel comments: "Once we asked an Aryan German inmate, a former social worker, for the basic reason for the sterilization and castration. Before his captivity he had been active in German politics and had known many eminent people. He told us that the Germans had a geopolitical reason for these experiments. If they could sterilize all non-German people still alive after their victorious war, there would be no danger of new generations of `inferior' peoples. At the same time, the living populations would be able to serve as laborers for about thirty years. After that time, the German surplus population would need all the space in these countries, and the `inferiors' would perish without descendants." (pp. 179-180)
Invaluable heartbreaking truth! 2008-01-24
Incredible book! Can't stop reading once you start. This books is the prove "THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!" Very heartbreaking. It will change your life.
Like watching a car wreck when you know you shouldn't gawk 2007-11-13
One of the top few books I've read about the holocaust. Riveting. Couldn't put it down. One of those "stories" that really hook you - you can't wait to see what happens next and you're a little horrified that you're reading it so avidly and enjoying it. At the same time you feel such sadness for the people who lived (and didn't) through it.
Everyone should read this 2007-11-12
I was captured by this book. It is amazing what the human body and mind can endure. Also appalling what horrors humans can put upon each other. I was afraid it would be too graphic or depressing but it was quite the opposite. You get a very good idea of what it was like, i.e., the point is made. This book is a lesson about civilization and I could not put it down.
heartbreaking tale that needed to be told 2007-05-27
We know it happened; many of us have read books by others on the same subject--and yet it is hard to believe what went on. People gassed and tossed into ovens (even though some weren't even completely dead...) Then you've got your so-called Dr. Mengele who performed castrations on patients (male as well as female) without anesthetics. It goes on. It's gut-churning, but needs to be read. Because if we don't read about what happened, and if we don't see films about it--not only to honor all the innocent who were murdered (six million of the Jewish faith, and another six million non-Jewish), but as a reminder to remain vigil, keep alert...because you've got wannabe little Hitler jerks all over the place who'd love to do a re-peat of what their sorry and confused, not to mention mentally imbalanced "hero" set out to accomplish back in the 1940s--and, thankfully failed.
Makes you wonder what Olga Lengyel's life was like after she survived her ordeal. How do you go on, knowing that your husband, your two kids and both of your parents were senselessly slaughtered? How was she able to endure?
I read somewhere that she died a few years back. Not much else about her on the internet.
All I can say is read the book--and pass it on to someone else.
R.I.P.
No Nonsense, Articulate and to the point, historical view of Auschwitz 2007-03-29
An accurate reference of the history of one persons life and the atrocity of the Nazi, Auschwitz death camp. One can only hope that this book remains in the public eye so that this kind of history is never repeated. We need to pass on this kind of information to future generations.
I have read several other books in reference to the Holocaust and what is different about this book is the matter of fact way the author dealt with the issues. I am not in any way critical of this author or her method of writing.(She did a wonderful job) I am simply saying that she does stay with the issues at hand and does not offer much in regard to a personal reflection of herself or her family.(She does respect the medical aspect of confidentiality) From the standpoint of a person who obviously was educated and cared for the well being of mankind, this had to be a difficult task for this author, to write this book. Consequently from a historical and reference standpoint this book tells the story and succeeds in relating to the reader the atrocities of Auschwitz. This is a must read for anyone who values life and questions the evil capabilities of mankind. A follow-up to this book would be to read: Auschwitz by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. These two books and the authors will pretty much sum up the difference in professionals, their conduct in difficult situations, and the story of death at Auschwitz.
Completely Haunting 2005-10-18
I actually stumbled upon this book because it was referenced in "A Death in Vienna" by Daniel Silva (his fictional spy novels involving a character Gabriel Allon mostly had a holocaust theme). After reading Five Chimneys there was no question in my mind why Albert Einstein praised this book as such an important work. Olga Lengyel's horrific and heartwrenching tale filled me in on so much I did not know about the Nazi death camps - including the fact that many people who were neither Jews nor minorities were sent there "just because." The book was very emotionally draining (especially when Lengyel talks about what happened to pregnant women and the babies they delivered) but the book left me completely changed. The unimaginable courage and hope that Lengyel and other prisoners conveyed was a tribute to the human spirit.
In our daily quest to get more money, drive a bigger car, buy a better house - we forget the reality of how little we really need to be human beings. This book will be required reading for my children when they are older. I am completely humbled and grateful to Ms. Lengyel for her ability to replicate such painful experiences into this book.
Gripping tale of the Holocaust! 2005-06-22
Olga Lengyel has written the most graphic, horrifying look at the holocaust I have read.
Olga was an uppermiddle class wife with a degree in the medical sciences. She was married to a doctor who was arrested by the Germans. She felt it was best to stay with her husband and was lulled by the Germans into thinking that she would be fine if she accompanied him. So she, her parents and children followed her husband only to discover that they were not to join him but were sent to a concentration camp.
At the camp an unwitting Olga made the mistake of telling the Germans her son was under 12. Though he was large and could pass for over 12, Olga thought he would be treated in a lenient manner due to his age. Little did she know older and young people were almost immediately put to death. If the loss of her parents, her children and not knowing what had happened to her husband were not enough Olga had to endure the mental and physical trials of the camp.
Those who were not put to death were put to work in the most menial tasks under the most horrible conditions.
Olga leaves nothing to the imagination. Here you will find the most graphic details of mans inhumanity to man. Naked roll calls while shivering for hours exposed to the elements, being examined everywhere when entering the camp, having all body hair clipped off, using the same bucket to eliminate in and eat from, the sex at the camp, the cruelness of the officers and of fellow campmates who were trying to save themselves, the things some women would do for a crust of bread, the smell of the camp, the beatings....Olga spares no detail.
It is not for the weak of stomach. You will feel the despair and wonder how man could ever be so cruel and pray that this never ever happens again.
"It must never be allowed to happen again!" 2005-06-02
Olga Lengyel's story is extraordinarily heartbreaking and powerful, but I think the book would have been even more effective and much easier to read if she had told her entire story from beginning to end in order instead of jumping around so much.
That small complaint aside this book should still be mandatory reading by anybody who has at least a little bit of humanity in them. Be warned though, Olga does not sugarcoat anything. I had to stop reading on more than one occasion cause I felt sick or thought I was going to cry.
Also read "The Painted Bird" by Jerzy Kosinski.
