Útěk z pekla Osvětimi – Byczkowska-Nowak Marta (2023)

The author was inspired to write the novel by the fate of Janina Nowak, the first woman to successfully escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she was imprisoned on June 12, 1942, as a Polish political prisoner with the number 7615. After a short stay in the camp, she successfully attempted to escape. The commando she worked in was brought to the camp for a punitive roll call, attended by commander Rudolf Höss, his deputy Hans Aumeier, head of the Political Department (the camp Gestapo) Max Grabner, and Rapportführer Gerhard Palitzsch. The female prisoners faced the threat that every tenth one in line would be shot, but after several hours, a decision came from Berlin to send them to a punitive unit. Janina Nowak's escape was the direct reason for the creation of the first punitive unit in the women's camp. At the same time, a requirement was introduced to shave the heads of all female prisoners, including those of non-Jewish origin. After several months of hiding in Łódź, Janina Nowak was arrested again based on a tip-off and transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 8, 1943. She was assigned the number 31592. All events from the heroine's life, apart from those mentioned above, are literary fiction. The description of living conditions and specifics of life in the camp, including the procedures for receiving prisoners, which...