John Wiernicki was a Polish underground fighter who was captured and beaten by the Gestapo in 1943. He was then shipped to Auschwitz, the infamous death camp. As a young non-Jew, Wiernicki was acutely sensitive to the depravity and injustice that engulfed him at Auschwitz. In his memoir, he bears witness to the selection and extermination of Jews doomed by birth to the gas chambers, as well as the savage camp policies, brutal SS doctors, and rampant corruption within the system. Wiernicki also recounts fearful encounters with two notorious "Angels of Death," Josef Mengele and Heinz Thilo. His portrayal of prewar and wartime Poland, along with his experiences in German concentration camps, provides an important historical and personal document. It contributes to fostering comprehension and understanding of this dark period in history.