In 1947, Olga Lengyel, a Romanian heroine, published the book named “I Survived Hitler’s Ovens”, in which she mirrored the tangible Hell she lived in. What could possibly mean “hell” during 1947? Auschwitz.
Olga was born on the 19th of October 1908 and she kissed the ground on April the 15th 2001. She worked as a nurse at a hospital in Cluj, which was ruled by her husband, Miklos Lengyel. She succeeded in creating a beautiful family and raising two wonderful children . They were the living proof of the great , short-on-nothing life she had up until the point where this “hell” took over everything concerning humanity. But what could her greatest flaw be? She was Jewish, fact that demolished her entire existence.
In her writings, she emphasizes on what was really going on in and around Auschwitz. Many people “see” just half of the actual torture, but nobody besides the camp survivors know the whole of it.
During the Spring of 1944, Olga was deported to the labour camp in Auschwitz, along with her husband, children and parents. Before they have left, everything they agonized for their entire life was taken by one of their best friends. He was actually a helping hand for the Nazis, who were yearning for financial power.
After arriving to the camp, the last moments she got to look her family in the eyes were the ones in which they were being selected when getting off the trains. The ones able to work were on the right, but the elderly and children were on the left – this meant straightforward extermination by gas poisoning or being burnt in crematories. Children up to the age of 12 were undoubtedly exterminated, while the ones older than 12 had only a couple of months left. These months were spent labouring, more like trying to survive the brutal work they were forced to do. Not knowing what the left side was all about, Olga sent one of her boys who hadn’t turned 12 yet along with his grandparents, not wanting to leave him all alone. What she didn’t know is that she pushed him straight into the widely-open arms of death.
The power of this woman is shown in her struggle to survive such a miserable life, in which she had mainly the same diet as rats do, she washed her hands with the soap made of leftover fat from the people burnt alive, and she also worked as a nurse in the concentration camp of Auschwitz, where she was forced to witness the most terrifying moments of her life.
Although she lost her whole family, her faith was never taken away – it kept her moving and surviving. We could learn from her what really means to face a kind of hell without complaining for even a second, but taking everything as it is, with dignity and reverence. It’s all you’ve got left to keep you going. (TRANSLATED BY KELEMEN PETRA)
See original text at: ALEXANDRA MIHOC: O viaţă dincolo de iad
KELEMEN PETRA
LOGO paper 