CZŁOWIEK STAJE SIĘ NUMEREM – When Man Becomes a Number – a horrifying photo album documenting the crimes of the Nazis. Published by RSW Artistic and Graphic Publishing House, Kraków, 1958 – first edition. Text by Jadwiga Bezwińska; photographs by Stanisław Kolowca, Henryk Makarewicz; includes photos from the report of German forces commander in Warsaw Jürgen Stroop, among others. Some of the images utilize photomontage techniques. Edited by Jerzy Domański. In Polish and French.
The album opens with quotations taken from SS commanders themselves, spoken or written during the war regarding their goal of annihilating the Jews. Several passages are quoted from the memoirs of Rudolf Höss, describing the horrific working conditions and the severe suffering of women in the camps. The booklet is accompanied by detailed descriptions of the atrocities committed by the Nazis in various death camps—primarily in Auschwitz—including the number of victims in the different camps, the torture methods employed by the Nazis, and the various means by which Jews were exterminated. Throughout the booklet appear harsh photos, such as: tattooed arms of prisoners bearing inmate numbers, severed limbs of inmates, emaciated children, Zyklon B gas canisters, prisoners in extremely poor physical condition, a horrifying photo of women on their way to the gas chamber (originally taken by the inmate and underground photographer David Szmulewski), wooden bunks in Auschwitz, and bodies of prisoners who had been tortured and discarded in the camp. Among the contents is also a large fold-out panoramic photograph [46×12 cm] showing a general view of the barracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The front and back covers feature photos of inmates—men and women in prison uniforms with numbers—photographed by the Nazis themselves in the camps.
Extremely rare. Only one copy recorded in the WorldCat global library catalog—in a library in the Netherlands.
64 pp. 17×12 cm. Good condition.
