It is also implausible that the entire burden of mistreating and torturing prisoners during interrogations was placed on the shoulders of another prisoner by the SS men, as we see in the series. The interrogations were personally conducted by the SS men and involved sophisticated torture methods aimed at coercing confessions.
The series perpetuates the myth of the omnipotence, arbitrariness and impunity of everyone, even the ordinary SS man at KL Auschwitz. This is apparent in the previously mentioned sequences featuring Baretzky or the spontaneous executions of camp inmates, as well as in the scenes involving other officers. The series creators did not explicitly depict the hierarchical structure within the SS ranks, which determined the scope of their responsibilities and authority based on their military rank and position in the camp. As an example, it is worth noting that contrary to the portrayal in the series, the selection process in the camp was not conducted by SS privates (as depicted in episode 2) but always by SS doctors.
One scene that significantly lacks authenticity is the depiction of prisoners burning documents without any form of supervision in preparation for the camp's liquidation (episode 5). In reality, there was always an SS officer present to oversee the task and ensure that no documents were hidden or kept that could serve as evidence of the crimes committed in the camp.
Returning to the plot of Lali's imprisonment in Block 11, the series' creators have deviated considerably from the true story, resulting in a
lack of clarity regarding the sequence of events. After the interrogations, the serialised Lali, badly beaten, with obvious fresh wounds on his face, happily returns. Ultimately, he was allowed to return to his block and resume his former position, all thanks to Gita's plea for help from a beautiful young inmate - Cilka. Fortunately, the creators of the series decided to remove the controversial and unrealistic storyline involving the sexual relationship between Cilka and (as the author writes) the "camp commandant" Schwarzchuber, which was described extensively in Morris' book (it is worth noting that SS-Obersturmführer Johann Schwarzhuber was not a commandant of Auschwitz, but rather oversaw the men's camp). Nonetheless, the filmmakers have included single scenes that hint at a possible connection between the two, even though the nature of this relationship remains uncertain. Hence, the viewer is utterly perplexed by the reasons behind Lali's release from Block 11 and Cilka's role in it. The book says that Cilka regularly slept with the commandant and thus could influence his decisions - patently untrue, but at least the cause-and-effect chain of events was comprehensible to the reader. On the flip side, the series leaves viewers with the impression that Cilka did 'something', but the details of her actions and methods remain shrouded in mystery. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that at the time of Lali's interrogation in 1944, block 25 had already stopped functioning as a death block for a year.
Although the story is modified relative to the book's content, it still falls significantly short of the historical truth. Indeed, following a period of detention and a thorough inquiry, Ludovit Eisenberg was assigned to a penal company in June 1944 (for an undetermined duration) - a fact that is conspicuously absent from the series. Upon the conclusion of his sentence, he was reintegrated into the camp and reinstated within his commando, a customary course of action given the realities of 1944 (in 1940, being assigned to a penal company would probably have led to his untimely demise).
Before we wrap up this thread, one additional minor flaw is worth mentioning. This pertains to the scene where Gita examines the list of prisoners assigned to Block 11, searching for Lali's name. Putting aside the improbable coincidence of the relevant document (which is supposed to be a Penal Company book) conveniently lying open on the adjacent desk and the perplexing matter of how the documentation for the men's camp ended up in the office of the Birkenau women's camp, what is more puzzling is the misspelling of Lali's name. A page with Eisenberg's name from an authentic Penal Company book was made public by the Museum online in a public review of the book that the series' creators consulted. Surprisingly, in the serialised copy of the document, they recorded Lali's name incorrectly - in the camp documentation, he is listed as Ludovit, not Ludwig.