Nel 1941 Berek Jakubowicz (ora Benjamin Jacobs) fu deportato dal suo villaggio polacco e rimase prigioniero del Reich fino agli ultimi giorni della guerra. Il possesso di alcuni strumenti odontoiatrici e abilità rudimentali gli ha salvato la vita. Jacobs, oltre ad aver aiutato a montare i razzi V1 e V2 a Buchenwald e Dora-Mittelbau ha trascorso un anno e mezzo ad Auschwitz, dove gli è stato affidato il compito di estrarre i denti d'oro ai deportati. Questa è la sua storia, firmata con il nuovo nome che assunse negli Stati Uniti dove emigrò dopo la liberazione. Una storia cruda e sconvolgente di chi sopravvisse al quotidiano orrore della vita nei lager.

In 1941, Jacobs, a Polish Jew was forced to abandon his dental studies when he and his family were transported to a Nazi labor camp. He brought along his dental tools and did his best to help his fellow inmates. Once he was sent to Auschwitz, he worked in the dental clinic, working on inmates and SS officers. The book describes in detail the horror of camp life, including the near starvation, cold and horrors of the crematoriums. Despite his struggles to survive, Jacobs shows great courage and determination in a horrible situation.

Well written, this is an unusual holocaust memoir. Jacobs, compared to the other inmates, is lucky to have a skill that allows him to survive. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the holocaust and survival. ( )

I find this work interesting, not just for the story Benjamin shares, but for what he leaves unsaid...there is more to his concentration camp experience than he lets on. I wonder if he feels guilt over his privilaged camp position or if he feels guilt over the unmentioned things he must have had to do in order to maintain it. ( )