The chilling reason why this Auschwitz book is like no other

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is the rock star of rare book fairs. At this year’s event, dealers came from Europe and Asia to showcase ancient manuscripts, first edition James Bond books, the first scribbled notes of famous Beatles songs, 1970s protest literature, and much more.

There was even a dealer from Hungary, which specialised in socialism, Hebraica and Judaica. My family is Hungarian, so it was a natural port of call. As I inspected their offerings, my eye caught sight of something over in the corner of the stall. At first, I thought it must have been a prop, a gimmick.

I turned to the dealer: “Is this what I think it is?”

“Yes, it’s real, it’s authentic,” he replied. “You can pick it up.”

Lying in front of me was a book bound with a piece of the blue and white uniform that inmates of Auschwitz were forced to wear. There was no title, no writing on the cover, only a badge owned by one of the authors, sewn onto the material.

I could not believe my eyes. Forget Beatles lyrics, this blew everything else in the fair out of the water.

On the page inside was a title whose brevity was overpowering: We Were In Auschwitz (Byliśmy w Oświęcimiu) followed by the three authors and the numbers whey were given in the camp- 6643 Janusz Nel Siedlecki, 75817 Krysytn Olszewski, 119198 Tadeusz Borowski. The three men were Polish political prisoners. The Polish-language book was published in 1946.

According to the dealer, Földvari, the book is “believed to be the first-ever published about the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps”.