Review: Cold Crematorium by József Debreczeni, Translated by Paul Olchváry

I'm always astounded by what the human body and spirit can endure.

Debreczeni's account of his Holocaust experience is harrowing, and it's regrettable that it was inaccessible to a wider audience for so long. Only translated from Hungarian to English in 2023, Cold Crematorium delivers a shockingly raw report of Auschwitz and neighboring labor camps. Previously a journalist, Debreczeni writes with an elite level of observation, telling his story as deftly as the likes of Primo Levi.

Surely a work I will not forget.