I got a good ways into this audiobook before I just couldn't listen to the pure emotional spiral it brought. This is an astounding look at one of the world's worst periods of time. It's definitely an important listen and told very well, but I never found myself wanting to pick it up because of how purely hopeless and helpless it made me feel.

"The Cold Crematorium" by József Debreczeni is a haunting memoir that offers a riveting and must-read account of one man's harrowing experiences in the depths of Nazi concentration camps. Debreczeni's precise and unsentimental style, coupled with his use of irony, sarcasm, and acerbic humor, creates a compelling narrative that is both heartbreaking and thought-provoking. His eyewitness testimony provides an incomparable indictment of Nazism, shedding light on the unimaginable horrors endured by those deemed "lucky" enough to survive. Originally published in Hungarian in 1950, this masterpiece was unjustly overlooked for decades due to political tensions and antisemitism. Now, with translations into 15 languages, "The Cold Crematorium" rightfully claims its place among the greatest works of Holocaust literature, ensuring that its powerful message will resonate with readers for generations to come.

Wow, that was so much information. I would recommend grabbing the physical copy as well. No got quite turned around with the hierarchy and kept wanting to be able to highlight or map things out for myself to keep track.

This book should be required reading for everyone. Sometimes it seems like The Shoah is a far removed part of history, but it is truly not.
Cold Crematorium was absolutely heartbreaking and a necessary reminder of what could easily happen again if we were to allow it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy of the audiobook of Cold Crematorium. This was a tough read. The agonizing daily life of a man who, against all odds, survived the Holocaust. Nearly dead when the Germans flee the camp, our narrator is left for dead. Alive and recovering, at the end of the novel, he is ready to tell his story. Much like Elie Weisel’s Night, Joszef is detached from the recounting of events. Without the extra details and romanticization of the horrors, Joszef’s clinical, reporter background tells the story as it unfolds. At times, this is frankly more unsettling than some of the fictionalized, sensationalized literature I’ve read. I’m very thankful this book was not lost to time forever, so I have the opportunity to read and to know. May we never forget.

Cold Crematorium
Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz
by József Debreczeni
Narrated by Laurence Dobiesz

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Cold Crematorium is a harrowing first-person account of the author's experiences at the concentration camps at Auschwitz. This isn't a fun listen, admit. I had to take breaks throughout, but it's a very important book and should be required reading for everyone, especially when learning about the Holocaust. I've read quite a few books on the Holocaust, but none have been this descriptive and well-accounted. It's the best book I've ever had the privilege of reading from a prisoner's perspective. It's awful, terrible, and so important to learn from so that history does not repeat itself.

The narration was done perfectly as well. Between the writing that made you feel as if you were right there, to the fantastic narration, well, I just highly recommend this vitally important piece of literature to everyone. Thank you so much to the author, NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for the change to listen to and review this ARC.

This first hand account of the work camps during the Holocaust is devastating! This story is written by the author and translated into English. He had the opportunity to go left which would have taken him to the gas chambers or go right. He chose right and went through extensive hardships and neglect in various work camps. I highly recommend this book!

This book is not the kind of book you read to "enjoy." It isn't the kind of book you read to "escape." And yet, it's the kind of book that SHOULD be required reading for all human beings.

This book paints a vivid picture of what life was like for Jews living in Nazi Germany. It's heartwrenching. It's sad. If you're a decent person, reading it will make you angry.

It's the kind of book you read and then wonder how anyone -- even the strongest of people -- could have survived what they survived. Reading this book (or listening to it, in my case) broke my heart. And I am still so glad that I read it.

I could give an actual review, but there's no need. I'll simply say it again: This book should be required reading for all human beings.

This like all of these stories are hard to read, yet they are vitally important to listen to and learn from. Cold crematorium was something I had not heard before and is one of those realizations that what occurred is always worse than we can believe. This was an amazing tell of an amazing man and the people he encountered during the most horrific of times. I feel honored to have heard his story.

Also I listened to this as an audiobook and would recommend it as an audiobook. The narrator did a great job on such a hard story.

This is a review based upon an ARC copy provided by NetGalley.

This is a masterpiece from a Jewish survivor of the holocaust; a disheartening and dramatic telling of Jozsef's experience. Unlike other memoirs, Cold Crematorium focuses on the captives' self preservation and cruelty to each other and not the German guards' behavior.

The title, Cold Crematorium, is fitting. The final extermination of many is not a result of gas or burning, but instead of laying naked and starving during cold season. This is not for the faint of heart. Jozsef illustrates the suffering intimately and vividly.

Thank you for the audiobook.

Honest and unflinching are my thoughts on both the written book and the audiobook. With the amount of books I have read on the concentration camps, I didn’t expect to learn anything new, but another witness version to the horror. I got both.
We must remember and not let these atrocities happen again!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Gosh I am so glad that this memoir is available to the public. Cold Crematorium was so horrific and yet it's non-fiction. wonderfully written.

gripping narrative translated to tell another heartbreaking story from concentration camps of WWII Germany. Jozsefs' story depicts his time in Auschwitz in great detail, adding to the collective history of atrocities we know happened.

This was so good. This was a different type of firsthand account. If you want a very descriptive account, this one does not gloss over the human suffering. It also is one of the few accounts that records what happened to those too sick to leave Auschwitz when the camp was liberated by the Russians. I highly recommend it.

This book was INCREDIBLE! I appreciated every glimpse he gave me into his life in the various camps he went to. Jozsef survived unthinkable circumstances. His testimony has changed the way people have understood the Holocaust in other places, with other languages. Now that it's available in English, it's definitely going in my list of books that I advise all my friends and family to read. There is no way for me to be able to compare Holocaust survivor's accounts, but I'd say this definitely deserves a place up at the top of the well-known memoirs such as Elie Wiesel's "Night." I don't know how to review this book and do Jozsef's story justice, so I'm going to just tell you that this text will impact every single person who takes the opportunity to learn about his story and experiences.

No matter how many times I read about the holocaust, it still tears me up, as it should. This one talk alot about how the Nazis used Prisoners to do alot of their work in the camps. They would reward them with more food and tobacco to run a tight place. I can't imagine how had that would have been. Having to deal with surviving and inflicting pain and suffering on your fellow people.
The narrator had a beautiful cadence and really made you feel what the author was writing.
I received a copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

This was a very interesting read. From the author, we get an inside look at what it was like to live in the concentration camps that the German's were using for those who they considered undesirables. We follow Jozsef through his journey, from his arrival, to the work details, moves to other camps, and the brutalities in which they were forced to endure.

This was one of those you hate to love it books. The material itself with stick with you long after you finish reading, but the will to live, to survive is there. I admired the author for his frank and honest look at what it was like. I am sure that there are things that he did not write about. However, to get a look at the camps through his eyes, and to see the unwavering conviction in which they continued to hope for freedom, and to survive is unlike any other book I have read.

Ghastly, haunting, and brutal - this book will continue to stay with you.

This is a heart-wrenching, personal account of a survivors’ experience at Auschwitz. It is a difficult read, but it is a must read. These books are so crucial for us to understand what humanity is capable of so that we can work towards a world where mass murder is millions of people doesn’t happen again.

I listened to the audiobook of the English translation


I have read many memoirs and autobiographies written by survivors of the Holocaust, and every time, I learn new information, get a better understanding of the absolutely unimaginable atrocities that people have had to endure. This book is no exception.

Very well written, and the audiobook narration is clear.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ARC.

Obviously this is not going to be a fun read. But as with most things dealing with the Holocaust it is an important read.

I have read a lot of books about the Holocaust and this revealed some things I had never heard of. Most books on this subject try to have uplifting, powerful dialogue. Jozsef Debreczeni does not sugar coat anything. There is no strong, survivor mentality. He simply tries to get through each day while watching the men around him do the same and often, lose.

Most of what you read in Cold Crematorium will be things you've already heard but I believe it is important for every voice to be heard. I'm glad this book was able to be translated and shared. May we all learn from this book as similar situations and hatred are being spread through the country.

I enjoyed the narrator and felt like he conveyed what was needed without putting on a cheesy performance.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to Cold Crematorium by Jozsef Debreczeni. I have written this review voluntarily.