AUSCHWITZ IN CONTEMPORARY POPULAR LITERATURE.
ASSESSMENT OF THE PHENOMENON
Over the last couple of months, one could observe a real flood of publications about Auschwitz on the book market. However, these are not scientific literature, but literary products which, given their form and subject matter, ought to be classified as historical novels.
Dr. Wanda Witek-Malicka, Auschwitz Memorial
The first of these novels had already achieved commercial success, which resulted in the almost immediate appearance of other similar novels. It led to a peculiar situation in which the once sinister and emotionally painful word "Auschwitz" became part of the social space (especially in the cities), was visible: in bookshop windows and news-stands, in shopping malls and petrol stations. Covers in grey-blue stripes soon became a fashionable prop which, together with a glass of iced coffee or a straw hat and beach blanket, created a pastel holiday photography composition shared on social media sites. The knowledge of the history of Auschwitz became a real must-have for anyone who declared themselves to be a literature lover in the virtual space. The popularity resulted in the fact that incidents (including fictional ones) described in such novels slowly began to permeate the discourse about the history of the camp, becoming a component of social conceptions about the reality of Auschwitz. It was first sighted by the guides and educators of memorial sites, who are often confronted with the need to verify and straighten out the information published in contemporary popular literature. The phenomenon became the inspiration for writing this text, the aim of which is not only to review contemporary novels but above all to assess the phenomenon of this peculiar "fashion for Auschwitz in literature" on the example of several selected works. These include The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (2018, published in Poland by Marginesy), Cilka's Journey by the same author (2020, Marginesy), Kommando Puff by Dominik W. Rettinger (2018, Świat Książki; the 2018 edition is titled: Eliza's Secret. Auschwitz. Paid Love), The Angel of Auschwitz by Eoin Dempsey (2019, Unique Edition), Black and Purple by Wojciech Dutka (2019, Albatros; I Edition: 2013), Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar (2019, published by Kobiece) and The Secret from Auschwitz by Nina Majewska-Brown (2019, published by Bellona).
A cursory reading of the novels mentioned above already makes it clear that what distinguishes them from the previously known camp writing is the lack of strict adherence to facts and the use of literary fiction as an essential tool for developing a narrative. The common denominator of almost all previous literary representations of Auschwitz was the realism and authenticity of the description.
The subject matter was primarily dealt with by researchers and specialists who did not go beyond strict facts in their analysis. A slightly more subjective type of writing about Auschwitz was proposed by reporters, who generally made efforts to maintain professional and factual reliability. The most extensive group among those who made literary attempts to depict the realities of the concentration camp over the years following the war were the survivors themselves. Although the memoirs of former prisoners were sensitive to imperfections in perception, memory and interpretation, and a subjective representation of Auschwitz in literature, the credibility of authors was supported by their personal experience.