This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
Encyclopedia
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, also known as Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Gas Chamber, is a collection of short stories
by Tadeusz Borowski
, which were inspired by the author's concentration camp experience. The original title in the Polish language
was Pożegnanie z Marią (Farewell to Maria). The book was featured in Penguin
's series "Writers from the Other Europe" from the 1970s. Philip Roth
was the general editor, and the series included authors such as Danilo Kiš
, Bruno Schulz
, Jiří Weil
, and Milan Kundera
among others.
Borowski was not part of the resistance against the Nazis during World War II
in Warsaw
but his girlfriend at the time took part in it. She was captured, and because he was so much in love with her, he went to a known resistance meeting place in order to get arrested in an attempt to go to the same concentration camp as her. He was incarcerated at the notorious Auschwitz death camp. In searing, satiric prose Borowski details what life and death were like in the Nazi concentration camps.
The short stories are linked by the themes as well as the presence of the main character Tadek, who serves the role of the narrator as well as the central character. To a large degree the short stories are autobiographical. Tadek is a condensed version of Tadeusz and there is a high likelihood that Borowski was writing from experience. But the two "characters" themselves are different. Tadek is a survivalist with a hard shell. Borowski, described by others, was a leader and a man who nobly helped others and did not only worry about himself.
The short stories contained in this volume include
With the author's permission, the volume was expanded to include further stories:
In the stories Borowski takes a "behavioral" approach – he only describes the behavior and outward reactions of the characters without delving into inner emotions and motivations, or specifying any kind of obvious moral judgment.
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
by Tadeusz Borowski
Tadeusz Borowski
Tadeusz Borowski was a Polish writer and journalist. His wartime poetry and stories dealing with his experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz are recognized as classics of Polish literature and had much influence in Central European society.- Early life :...
, which were inspired by the author's concentration camp experience. The original title in the Polish language
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
was Pożegnanie z Marią (Farewell to Maria). The book was featured in Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
's series "Writers from the Other Europe" from the 1970s. Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
was the general editor, and the series included authors such as Danilo Kiš
Danilo Kiš
Danilo Kiš was a Yugoslavian novelist, short story writer and poet who wrote in Serbo-Croatian. Kiš was influenced by Bruno Schulz, Vladimir Nabokov, Jorge Luis Borges and Ivo Andrić, among other authors...
, Bruno Schulz
Bruno Schulz
Bruno Schulz was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher born to Jewish parents, and regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. Schulz was born in Drohobycz, in the province of Galicia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and spent...
, Jiří Weil
Jirí Weil
Jiří Weil was a Czech writer. He was Jewish. His noted works include the two novels Life with a Star , and Mendelssohn Is on the Roof , as well as many short stories, and other novels....
, and Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
among others.
Borowski was not part of the resistance against the Nazis during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
but his girlfriend at the time took part in it. She was captured, and because he was so much in love with her, he went to a known resistance meeting place in order to get arrested in an attempt to go to the same concentration camp as her. He was incarcerated at the notorious Auschwitz death camp. In searing, satiric prose Borowski details what life and death were like in the Nazi concentration camps.
The short stories are linked by the themes as well as the presence of the main character Tadek, who serves the role of the narrator as well as the central character. To a large degree the short stories are autobiographical. Tadek is a condensed version of Tadeusz and there is a high likelihood that Borowski was writing from experience. But the two "characters" themselves are different. Tadek is a survivalist with a hard shell. Borowski, described by others, was a leader and a man who nobly helped others and did not only worry about himself.
The short stories contained in this volume include
- Pożegnanie z Marią (Farewell to Maria)
- Dzień na Harmenzach (A day in Harmenza)
- Proszę państwa do gazu (This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen)
- Śmierć powstańca (Death of an insurrectionist)
- Bitwa pod Grunwaldem (Battle of Grunwald)
With the author's permission, the volume was expanded to include further stories:
- Chłopiec z Biblią (A boy with a Bible)
- U nas, w Auschwitzu... (Among us, in Auschwitz...)
- Ludzie, którzy szli (The people who walked by)
- Ojczyzna (The motherland)
- Ofensywa styczniowa (The January Offensive)
In the stories Borowski takes a "behavioral" approach – he only describes the behavior and outward reactions of the characters without delving into inner emotions and motivations, or specifying any kind of obvious moral judgment.