studies. Archival documents also need to be read through and their content critically reviewed. However, in some cases, it is doubtful whether the authors have taken the trouble to read them at all - particularly where, for instance, data from maps and sketches contradict the text of the novel. Nina Majewska-Brown included in her book a copy of the instructions for writing a camp letter. The attached translation is incorrect at first glance (six points of the instruction from the copy of the document correspond to seven points in the translation). Not only did the author not translate the included document (she may have thoughtlessly inserted the very first translation found somewhere), but she also did not investigate the reason for this discrepancy.
The second reason why these books cannot be treated as reliable camp literature is the already mentioned deficiencies in the historical knowledge of their authors, which require a great deal of time and commitment to fill in. The issues of KL Auschwitz are as broad as its complex and multidimensional realities. In contrast to a story that may only refer to a small fragment of reality, the novel tackles all its contexts and dimensions: social, historical, institutional, bureaucratic, emotional, organisational. When creating a novel that aspires to be authentic, based on specific microhistory (which, for obvious reasons, is only available fragmentarily), the author must fill the gaps in the source narrative with imaginary elements; however, if they are to be credible, they must be based on extensive and in-depth knowledge of the subject. One cannot from the position of an expert extensively tell a story that one is not familiar with, and which is what the authors of contemporary novels attempt to do.
The question that came up earlier resurfaces here: is it possible to create literary fiction embedded in the reality of Auschwitz? The answer, of course, must be: yes. Art is governed by its laws, and as experience shows, the idea of freedom of artistic expression forgives a lot and can defend a lot. The author of what we call belles-lettres (as opposed to scientific literature and factual literature) is obviously not obliged to have such knowledge and professional competence necessary to create texts of paramount substantive significance. However, it is one thing to propose a fictional novel to the reader and another to convince him that this fiction has been documented and factually verified when indeed it is not.
So far, the deliberations have focused on the content, form and quality of the publications discussed here. In assessing the phenomenon of the growth of this peculiar "fashion for Auschwitz" in mass literature, it is also (and perhaps most importantly) worthwhile to take a critical look at the consequences of their impact on the mass audience and consider what the consequences of popularising this type of literature might be, especially in terms of memory and education about Auschwitz.
KL Auschwitz is presented in these novels in an extremely simplified and falsified manner. Besides not explaining the various phenomena of the camp, these books consolidate erroneous clichés of thinking and replicate stereotypes about the realities of prisoners' lives. They unify phenomena that were, in fact, diverse. An example is the replication of the stereotype idea of arrival at the camp - mass transport in cattle wagons, their opening on