‘I am convinced that not only are we free to speak of these things, we must speak of them …’

In 1947, Holocaust survivor Andor Rostás wrote a series of articles about his experiences for the Hungarian daily newspaper Világ. A decade later, he and his family moved to Australia, where they built a new life. Driven to preserve knowledge of the Holocaust for future generations, he recorded his memories in a more personal way, emerging as a writer of extraordinary elegance and humanity.

In cultured, lucid prose, Notes from Hell describes Rostás's journey of suffering, loss and, ultimately, survival. After being taken first to Auschwitz, where his wife and young daughter were killed, Rostás was moved to forced labour camps at Lieberose, Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen. Finally, as typhoid raged, he was moved to Gunskirchen, where he narrowly avoided death before the camps were liberated.

Rostás devastatingly captures the cruelty of the Nazi camps, but also moments of humanity that emerged amid the darkness. His honest and unsparing narrative stands as a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust – and as a warning, lest such evil arise again.

‘Let this be enough – as a sign. A sign for those who set these events in motion. A sign for those who stood idly by and watched the criminals. A sign for everyone, that we must never again ignite the hellfires of Auschwitz.’