News
Auschwitz from A to Z. New publication of the Museum
A new publication entitled Auschwitz from A to Z. An Illustrated History is an encyclopedia-like, richly illustrated compendium of knowledge about the history of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz.
The book by Piotr M.A. Cywiński, Jacek Lachendro and Piotr Setkiewicz presents knowledge about the camp compiled in more than 300 articles. Entries arranged in alphabetical order explain the essential developments and events in the history of Auschwitz. "After prolonged editorial deliberations, we arrived at a list of entries that struck us as essential to the history of the camp. We also drew on the experience of educators and guides at the Memorial in assessing which topics to take up." - the authors write in the introduction.
Historians describe the process of the extermination in the gas chambers, as well as lay out the structure and functioning of the whole sophisticated Auschwitz complex, its largest work details, the division of the SS administration, the most important buildings and facilities of the camp, the main phenomena of everyday prisoners’ life, and finally they present biographies of some of the prisoners and members of the SS.
In addition to the texts in the publication, there is a wide selection of illustrative materials, complementary to the entries. It mostly includes archival photos and documents, as well as reproductions of works of art, which give the whole publication a dimension, which should be not only interesting, but also useful to the readers in their own research and reflection on the history of Auschwitz.
According to the authors, the biggest challenge was to select the entries pertaining to the prisoners and victims of Auschwitz themselves. "Naturally, we would have preferred to publish at least a brief entry on every victim and every prisoner, if only that were possible. Unfortunately, it could not be so – if for no other reason than the fact that we know nothing, or practically nothing, about the vast majority of them." - write Piotr M.A. Cywiński, Jacek Lachendro and Piotr Setkiewicz.
The authors emphasise that their role was primarily to describe the complicated history of the camp in a way that would be condensed and make it accessible to a wide audience. "It was not our aim to describe everything conveyed by the eyewitnesses, nor to present the entirety of the knowledge attained in decades of historical research. We wanted this publication to reach out to every reader interested in the history of Auschwitz, and not exclusively to the narrow circle of specialists in the history of the Third Reich." - we read in the introduction.
You can already buy the book Auschwitz from A to Z. An Illustrated History in the online bookstore of the Auschwitz Memorial.
