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For us the night is relentlessly black, the ground relentlessly white, the wind relentlessly cold … There is no light anywhere to give us any hope, just onward, weiter, los, los…

Saturday, January 20, 1945. Grey clouds hid the sky. I was not surprised that the sky did not want to know what went on here.

From the Journal of the late Dr Andor Kämpfner, donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by his wife, that has been translated into English from Hungarian and is published for the first time.

Early eyewitness testimonies constitute the most important body of Jewish documents pertaining to the history of the Holocaust, at a time when memory was still fresh. Amongst them, this Journal stands out.

Upon liberation Dr Kämpfner, a young Budapest University graduate, hastened to put his survival story on paper. A notebook served as an archival depository, recording the horrific episodes and traumatic experiences of his journey through the landscapes of the Holocaust.

Striking features of his narrative are the concise description and the eloquent language, intertwined with the search for words to explain and to understand the horror he encountered. Like Elie Wiesel and others, he wrestled with G-d, asking where he has been in Auschwitz.

Emeritus Professor, Dr Konrad Kwiet, Resident historian Sydney Jewish Museum

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