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The Most Important Book I’ve Ever Read
When Viktor Frankl arrived into Auschwitz concentration camp, he still had hope.
Most people did, he recalls. Everybody on the train knew what Auschwitz was, and what it meant for the passengers. Many had been to other concentration camps before.
And yet, most people genuinely believed that somehow, it might all end up being okay.
They were quickly dispelled of that belief. As soon as the train stopped, the passengers were forced into a line. An SS officer in charge would inspect them, one by one. A lazy gesture to the right meant “suitable for work.” A lazy gesture to the left meant the gas chambers. Or, the “bath.”
90% of the arrivals were sent to the left. They were poisoned and burned within hours. It was still dawn at Auschwitz.
The Question
The name of the game, Frankl and his colleagues quickly learned, was to look fit for work. That’s how you stayed alive in Auschwitz.
If a guard sees you limping or taking a break too many, they’d calmly look at the number tatooed on your arm and let you finish your work. Then, usually by the next morning, someone would quietly take you to the gas chambers.
“But one thing I beg of you: shave daily,” Frankl was told on one of his first nights by a more…
