The Druggist of Auschwitz by Dieter Schlesak

Author:Dieter Schlesak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2011-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

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Dr. Lucas in the Auschwitz Trial: “On the very first day over a glass of schnaps I was told about what was going on in Auschwitz—including the gassings. I said I was a doctor, my job was to save human lives, not destroy them … They assigned me to be the medical head of the Gypsy section and the Theresienstadt section of the camp at Birkenau. The Gypsy camp was in dreadful condition. The barracks had no windows, just a hole front and back. There were no beds or cots, just wooden boxes where five or six people had to sleep. The sanitary conditions were a catastrophe. There were no toilets. Even the term ‘latrine’ was inappropriate to describe the facilities they had to use to relieve themselves. There was almost no water supply. I don’t know how many prisoners there were. You couldn’t get any numbers. There were maybe six to eight thousand prisoners in the camp. The Gypsy camp was for families. The inmates didn’t wear prisoner’s clothing. Their hair was not shaved off. Most were undernourished, emaciated skeletons. The prisoners suffered from diseases that to that point were unknown to me. A condition called ‘Noma disease’ was very widespread. It appears in insufficiently nourished and physically run-down people. First a blister appears on the mucous membrane of the mouth. Then this turns into an ulcer. Eventually this breaks through to the outside of the cheek. Then a hole forms, through which the jaw of the afflicted person can be seen. After consulting with the inmate doctors, I turned in a written request to change conditions in the camp. But I got no answer.”

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