Auschwitz Sonderkommando survivor's notebooks revealed, adapted into graphic novel
Four notebooks by Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Alter Fajnzylberg, a Sonderkommando member, were revealed by his son Roger nearly 20 years after Alter's death in 1987. Found in a shoebox, the Polish-language notebooks detail his camp experiences. Translated with help from Alban Perrin and his wife Patrycja, Fajnzylberg, born in 1911 in Stoczek, was a communist activist and fought in the Spanish Civil War. After fleeing to France in 1939, he was interned and deported to Auschwitz on March 27, 1942, in convoy number 1. He joined the Sonderkommando in November 1942. His memoirs, published as "Ce que j'ai vu à Auschwitz – Les Cahiers d'Alter," have been adapted into a graphic novel. Roger lectures on his father's story.
Key facts
- Alter Fajnzylberg was a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and member of the Sonderkommando
- His son Roger discovered four Polish-language notebooks after his father's 1987 death
- The notebooks were translated with help from Alban Perrin of Mémorial de la Shoah
- Fajnzylberg was deported to Auschwitz on March 27, 1942, on convoy number 1 from France
- He was assigned to the Sonderkommando in November 1942
- The testimony has been adapted into a graphic novel by Jean-David Morvan, Victor Matet, and Rafael Ortiz
- Fajnzylberg testified before a Polish commission on Nazi crimes in Krakow in April 1945
- The notebooks reveal his involvement in resistance activities at Auschwitz including clandestine photography
Entities
Artists
- Alter Fajnzylberg
- Roger Fajnzylberg
- Jean-David Morvan
- Victor Matet
- Rafael Ortiz
- Jorge Semprun
Institutions
- Mémorial de la Shoah
- Seuil
- Dupuis
- International Brigades
- Komintern
- Organisation Todt
- Service de recherche des crimes de guerre ennemis
Locations
- Auschwitz-Birkenau
- Poland
- Stoczek
- Warsaw
- Paris
- France
- Spain
- Barcelona
- Saint-Cyprien
- Gurs
- Argelès-sur-Mer
- Lorient
- Drancy
- Compiègne
- Royallieu
- Cracow
- Krakow
- Reims
- Moscow
- Buchenwald