assumption is wrong to its core. That Auschwitz shows the human who is not facing extreme situations, but remains within the world programmed for total dehumanization. This totally changes the perspective. So, let me explain it as follows: if we do not face this book, do not discuss it honestly and do not draw practical conclusions, we will commit the fatal sin of neglect.
Which of the chapters have moved you the most? Has anything surprised you?
A hard question. This book really needs to be read as a whole. Each chapter constitutes a closed story, but they all form a panoramic view. Cywiński’s analysis is like a mosaic: every single component impresses, but only by taking a step back and admiring the entire intricate arrangement one can see the image of Auschwitz. Once again: the image so close to reality that the camp becomes nearly tangible and possible to experience with one’s senses. What is more, the structure of the book is so elaborate also thanks to its carefully thought-out order of chapters. Cywiński is consciously guiding the reader through the maze of Auschwitz.
If I had to choose one chapter, I would point to the one devoted to becoming a Muselmann, a prisoner experiencing the state of extreme exhaustion and numbness. The last stage of life without life. It is the subject that, if it can be said so, has been fascinating and absorbing me for years. But while reading I was surprised how many accounts Cywiński managed to pick out. How many new things I have learned from these fifteen pages. And most of all: how much more I have understood. All in all, after this chapter there comes the next one… about strong will. And this is what it is all about: Cywiński juxtaposes two extremely different situations and makes prisoners’ accounts even more meaningful.
For the reasons that Cywiński mentions in the introduction, “Auschwitz. Monograph of the Human” is not a complete book, for example due to wide linguistic range of the accounts. Do you have any advice for the author? On one hand the book can be considered a complete work, while on the other – just its beginning.
Auschwitz and the Holocaust need to remain the open and unhealed wound forever. As I have already said: this story will never come to its end as we will always be only approaching the heart of darkness. But the entire meaning is in fact hidden in this effort of constantly coming closer. It was claimed for years that everything had been said about Auschwitz. Piotr Cywiński has just changed the rules of the game. He showed the new direction. He did it to himself and to the other. It is now our common responsibility, and I am not afraid to say so, to follow him.
Marek Zając. Photo. Inbornmedia / POLSAT