Night of the Mist:
“Over half a century has passed since the events described in NIGHT OF THE MIST.
It has been over two decades since Eugene Heimler’s own death in London on a cold, grey winter’s day. But the story he tells is vividly, immortally alive. It is a tale of horror and heartbreak, of loss and degradation – yet also of hope and faith and warmth and humor and immortal humanity. It is unlike any other work that came out of the ashes of World War Two. His is a poet’s voice as well as a philosopher’s and a psychologist’s. It is a young voice, an ageless voice. Our lives are the fuller for listening to it.”
- Rabbi Dr. André Ungar
"...It is a human document of great value. It contains wounds, both familiar and less familiar, that will long haunt the reader.”
“Eugene was 21 when he arrived at Birkenau. His description of what he saw, heard and lived through is sincere and restrained. He tells wonderful and moving stories of his childhood and adolescence in Hungary – his first loves and youthful reveries – the sudden German occupation – the wedding in the ghetto. The beginnings of fear, the intimations of the trials to come. The rebellion against destiny: Eugene and his loved one are married, but their happiness lasts only one night. Their honeymoon is spent in a sealed boxcar heading towards the unknown.”
“This gripping account is profoundly honest. The astounding episodes he relates are both atrocious and bizarre. In Auschwitz, a few paces from the crematoriums, the daughter of the chief of a Gypsy camp takes a liking to him. She feeds and protects him. They make love. In Auschwitz. Later on, a Lagerältester [head of the camp] takes notice of him. Thanks to an SS officer, he is put in charge of a group of ten young prisoners. Surely a guardian angel is watching over him. On the edge of despair, a man consoles him; it is the rabbi who officiated at his marriage so many eternities ago.”
“These miraculous moments were more often than not engulfed in the all-encompassing climate of brutality. Heimler captures it well. The stark dehumanization of some, the desperate solidarity of others. The pangs of hunger: the power of attraction of a piece of bread. The disappearance of all traces of civilization, culture, morality. The conversations about the past, meditations on God, the dreams that make waking harder, more unbearable.”... - Elie Wiesel
“As a University professor who has been teaching literature of the Holocaust, I have read a lot of books on this subject. I found that I could not put down this book, it was so captivating and well written. It qualifies as literature, since the author manages to tell the reader many things between the lines ... The most unexpected things happen in this book.... The author's sensitivity, common sense, intelligence, modesty and warmth vibrate through the pages of this outstanding book, which I personally prefer to famous texts on the Holocaust such as for example Elie Wiesel's "Night". You will love this book!”
- Professor Dr. Sarah Morris
“A dramatic and readable book.”
- The Times Literary Supplement
“Behind the eerie, the manic, the disgusting, he still conveys the desirability of life, the variety of human behavior, the power of imagination. His own conclusions were not of hate, but of discriminating tolerance.”
- Peter Vansittart in The Observer (London)
“This book has an important lesson to teach – that faith in God and in the dignity of man can overcome the greater evils that men can devise.”
- The Catholic Times
Eugene Heimler's memorable account of the holocaust, is a work of the utmost poignancy and importance. This is a book which the adult reader will find difficult to put down. His descriptive narrative of the sufferings of those he lived with in the Concentration Camps during World War 2 - and his own fight for life - his inner growth and understanding, are quite exceptional.
The book takes on for the reader, a personal involvement in the brutalities, bestialities and horrors perpetrated on the inmates. That which would be unspeakable, Eugene Heimler has been able to articulate. The breakdown of all moral and ethical values, be they of the imprisoned or be they of their captors - a so called 'civilization' within a 'civilization'. It is quite extraordinary how he makes this come to life. It is even possible to laugh at some of the incidents related, we can really see the funny side!
The portrayal of his own inner growth, his little acts of kindness albeit in an environment of unspeakable horror, his strength of character, leaves the reader with a feeling that there's hope for us yet!
This small volume is a masterly account of man's inhumanity to man. A must for every student of Holocaust Studies and might I add, for every student of Political and Social Studies. - Mrs. Sheila Lyons
back to Home
“Over half a century has passed since the events described in NIGHT OF THE MIST.
It has been over two decades since Eugene Heimler’s own death in London on a cold, grey winter’s day. But the story he tells is vividly, immortally alive. It is a tale of horror and heartbreak, of loss and degradation – yet also of hope and faith and warmth and humor and immortal humanity. It is unlike any other work that came out of the ashes of World War Two. His is a poet’s voice as well as a philosopher’s and a psychologist’s. It is a young voice, an ageless voice. Our lives are the fuller for listening to it.”
- Rabbi Dr. André Ungar
"...It is a human document of great value. It contains wounds, both familiar and less familiar, that will long haunt the reader.”
“Eugene was 21 when he arrived at Birkenau. His description of what he saw, heard and lived through is sincere and restrained. He tells wonderful and moving stories of his childhood and adolescence in Hungary – his first loves and youthful reveries – the sudden German occupation – the wedding in the ghetto. The beginnings of fear, the intimations of the trials to come. The rebellion against destiny: Eugene and his loved one are married, but their happiness lasts only one night. Their honeymoon is spent in a sealed boxcar heading towards the unknown.”
“This gripping account is profoundly honest. The astounding episodes he relates are both atrocious and bizarre. In Auschwitz, a few paces from the crematoriums, the daughter of the chief of a Gypsy camp takes a liking to him. She feeds and protects him. They make love. In Auschwitz. Later on, a Lagerältester [head of the camp] takes notice of him. Thanks to an SS officer, he is put in charge of a group of ten young prisoners. Surely a guardian angel is watching over him. On the edge of despair, a man consoles him; it is the rabbi who officiated at his marriage so many eternities ago.”
“These miraculous moments were more often than not engulfed in the all-encompassing climate of brutality. Heimler captures it well. The stark dehumanization of some, the desperate solidarity of others. The pangs of hunger: the power of attraction of a piece of bread. The disappearance of all traces of civilization, culture, morality. The conversations about the past, meditations on God, the dreams that make waking harder, more unbearable.”... - Elie Wiesel
“As a University professor who has been teaching literature of the Holocaust, I have read a lot of books on this subject. I found that I could not put down this book, it was so captivating and well written. It qualifies as literature, since the author manages to tell the reader many things between the lines ... The most unexpected things happen in this book.... The author's sensitivity, common sense, intelligence, modesty and warmth vibrate through the pages of this outstanding book, which I personally prefer to famous texts on the Holocaust such as for example Elie Wiesel's "Night". You will love this book!”
- Professor Dr. Sarah Morris
“A dramatic and readable book.”
- The Times Literary Supplement
“Behind the eerie, the manic, the disgusting, he still conveys the desirability of life, the variety of human behavior, the power of imagination. His own conclusions were not of hate, but of discriminating tolerance.”
- Peter Vansittart in The Observer (London)
“This book has an important lesson to teach – that faith in God and in the dignity of man can overcome the greater evils that men can devise.”
- The Catholic Times
Eugene Heimler's memorable account of the holocaust, is a work of the utmost poignancy and importance. This is a book which the adult reader will find difficult to put down. His descriptive narrative of the sufferings of those he lived with in the Concentration Camps during World War 2 - and his own fight for life - his inner growth and understanding, are quite exceptional.
The book takes on for the reader, a personal involvement in the brutalities, bestialities and horrors perpetrated on the inmates. That which would be unspeakable, Eugene Heimler has been able to articulate. The breakdown of all moral and ethical values, be they of the imprisoned or be they of their captors - a so called 'civilization' within a 'civilization'. It is quite extraordinary how he makes this come to life. It is even possible to laugh at some of the incidents related, we can really see the funny side!
The portrayal of his own inner growth, his little acts of kindness albeit in an environment of unspeakable horror, his strength of character, leaves the reader with a feeling that there's hope for us yet!
This small volume is a masterly account of man's inhumanity to man. A must for every student of Holocaust Studies and might I add, for every student of Political and Social Studies. - Mrs. Sheila Lyons
back to Home
