The Druggist of Auschwitz
This work, described as a ‘documentary novel’, follows the true story of Dr. Victor Capesius, an ethnic German pharmacist from Transylvania who eventually found himself a member of the SS assigned to duty at the infamous death camp at Auschwitz. It follows his activities at the camp, his prosperous life in post-war Germany, followed by his arrest and subsequent trial at Frankfurt in the mid-1960s. Much of this trial focused on his duty as a ‘sorter’ who, like the infamous Dr. Mengele, was responsible for choosing who would live and who would immediately die. Poignantly, he performed this sorting even when the transports delivered people from his homeland, many of whom knew him well.
Much of the ‘novel’ consists of actual testimony from the trial, as well as the author’s own interviews. The only fictional portions concern a camp worker named ‘Adam’, who offers his own interpretations of life in the camp, as well as the meaning to be the found in all the apparently pointless suffering. The book itself is divided into sections, each carrying a particular theme, such as ‘Love of Order’ and ‘The Suspension of Time’, which attempt to explore how it all happened, and more importantly, why.
This is an important work in the literature of the Holocaust, delivering further testimony as to what exactly happened. Moreover, in the person of Dr. Capesius, we have someone who seemingly considered himself as much a victim as the rest, albeit one who had the capacity to do what was necessary to survive. It calls into question once again the question of guilt, and the inadequacy of the justice system to deal with crimes of such enormity. At its core, however, are the voices of the real victims, the fathers and the mothers and the children, whose fate was to be obliterated, only to live again in pages of books such as this, adding their voices to those who implore us to ‘never forget’.
