This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen Themes

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen Themes

The Holocaust and Its Literature

The term Holocaust refers to the genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II. The narrator of "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" is a prisoner at the infamous Auschwitz, one of the death camps where the brutal killings were carried out. Around six million Jews died in the Holocaust, along with at least three million prisoners of other backgrounds. The Nazis organized this mass extermination with extreme efficiency; for example, by the end of the day that the story takes place, 15,000 people have been sent almost effortlessly to their deaths.

"This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" is one of several of Borowski's Auschwitz stories and part of a larger genre of Holocaust literature. Writers such as Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel have produced some of the most famous accounts of survivor testimony. Holocaust literature focuses on how people survived amidst the horror of the concentration camps. Different Holocaust survivors have posited different explanations. One leading view, proposed by Viktor Frankl, states that in spite of terrible circumstances, the prisoners still found life to be unconditionally meaningful, even in its suffering. Other survivors support the idea that there was no real meaning to the death camps, that to survive people had to leave behind all their notions of the "normal world" and normal human behavior; Borowski's work falls into the latter category.

Death and survival are inextricably linked in "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen." For the narrator (and the other prisoners in his situation) to stay alive, he must take part in the business of the camp, which primarily revolves around the murder of the Jews and other "undesirables." The narrator must carry out jobs that facilitate the destruction of the "cremo" transports, be it actually unloading the Jews—as in the story—or some other camp-related job (as Borowski performed in real life). The physical welfare of the prisoners also depends on the destruction of the Jews. Prisoner-workers get necessary items, from clothing to food, from the prisoners who are sent to their death. As the story opens, the prisoners are feeling the effects of the recent lack of transports arriving at the camp. As Henri notes, if the camp "runs out of people" to kill, he and his fellow prisoners will starve to death. "All of us live on what they bring," he says, underscoring the connection between death and survival. Indeed, when the narrator leaves the barracks to attend to the transport—his first time doing so—he considers himself lucky. In aiding in the deaths of others, he will facilitate his own survival.

In the world of the camp, traditional notions of morality have no meaning. The narrator and his fellow prisoners rely on the deaths of others for their survival, so they are thus implicated in the murder of the Jews. What is more troubling, the prisoners are forced to take part...
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