The book ”Why me?-How to survive Auschwitz I. Nuengamme and Watenstedt”

Author: Stefan Kazikowski

Hardcover:  196 pages

ISBN: 978-91-859025-14-1

Format: 155 x 223 mm

Published: 18th of April 2022

”Why me?” is a question that I have asked myself many times: if my father had not survived the day to day hell of the German concentration camps, then neither myself nor my brother would have been here today.

”Why me?” is a question that my father also surely thought about and many other prisoners who, in extremely difficult circumstances where life hangs on a thread and despite everything, pulled through. In the early 90s, my father visited many schools and told the story of his imprisonment and experiences in the concentration camps. He focused more on the facts describing the camps and how they were organized. In my version, I have chosen to describe more of the brutal incidents he witnessed and the pure luck that saved him and his brother. Both had no Jewish origin. The warmth and strength of having his brother’s companionship together with his never-failing hope were additional factors that carried him through the daily hardships. There are many heroic situations where my father succeeded in making life bearable for his fellow prisoners and in so doing probably saved lives. Although he was reluctant to tell of these incidents during his school visits, I have chosen to highlight them in my book. ”Why me?” is a reoccurring thought throughout the text and leads us to delve deeper into the extreme events that even today we can witness. For those wanting to go beyond my book and to read a more detailed account, then my father’s book, “Arbete ger frihet (Arbeit Macht Frei)” is still available, only in Swedish. Explore a detailed account in the books, which provide impactful narratives shedding light on the untold stories from the concentration camps.

This book is an excellent reading for preparation of visits to the Holocaust Memorial Sites.