Chapter 5, The Inferno Summary and Analysis

On April 7, 1944, Alfred Wetzler and Walter Rosenberg-Vrba, two Jewish inmates of Auschwitz II-Birkenua, escaped from the death camp. They took camp drawings, crematoria construction details, and a label from a Zyklon B container which had been obtained by Muller. The escape was sanctioned by the camp resistance, and the two men carried their information to the outside world in an attempt to stop the mass execution of Jews. Their successful escape led to the hope of immediate change but, seemingly, nothing changed. Muller reports that most camp inmates surmised that the pair were either captured or were deemed insane upon reporting to the outside world. During May, 1944, Czeslaw Mordowicz and Arnost Rosin also escape on a similar mission.

The death camp continues to grow and an endless supply of people arrives to be murdered. They bring all-season...