Anus Mundi: Five Years In Auschwitz- A Personal Record (1981) By Wieslaw Kielar
 
Mr. Kielar's memoir is the definitive book on Auschwitz/Birkenau. This book is moving, horrific and full of feeling. It goes beyond the documentation of events to the dreams, fears, and struggles of a human being in the face of one of the worst events in history. Anus Mundi gives a personal view of the people and events that shaped the concentration camp from those that helped ease suffering, to those who created it. Mr. Kielar shares not only the persecution of the Jews, but also the Gypsies, political prisoners, homosexuals, and more. This book is a beautifully detailed, extremely personal look at life and death in Auschwitz.
 
Wies aw Kielar (12 August 1919 - 1 June 1990) was a Polish author, filmmaker, and prisoner in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Kielar was arrested in the beginning of 1940 in Jaros aw and was one of the first prisoners of concentration camp Auschwitz (identification number 290). He spent almost five years in different parts of the complex. He held various positions, including nurse, writer and "prison senior". After the Second World War, he went to the National Film School in ód and worked as a filmmaker.
 
About his stay in Auschwitz he wrote the book Anus Mundi: 1,500 Days in Auschwitz/Birkenau.
 
He was nineteen when he was given the number 290 in Auschwitz, and when he arrived he still asked himself, "Auschwitz? The devil heard about it. And what could a concentration camp look like? I'll find out soon. " As a matter of fact, he could get to know him thoroughly in five years. He learned all the "up-to-date" ins and outs of the art of survival, the exchange value of toothpick, cigarette, potato, and the complete disregard for the value of human life. And Kielar knew all kinds of death before he could know love, life.
 
This black memoir is an underworld travel guide; it lists all the sights of hell and, like all good travel guides, finally conveys a glossary of death, the German language of conversation spoken by both prisoners and captives. The reader is captivated by the author's individual charm and individual vision. And what we have said so many times: Generations born after the age of the death camps can learn from this book a world that is far away, but which advanced humanity will never forget.
 
Hard Cover With Dust Jacket
312 pages
In Good Condition