Five Chimneys: The Story of Auschwitz

Clothing and possessions brought by the deportees who died in the gas chambers are sorted in a warehouse called “Canada.” Those who work in Canada are extremely privileged; they often have opportunities to steal items that are circulated among the camp’s black market. Some prisoners who work in Canada try to barter with guards to escape, but mostly the guards shoot the inmate and simply take the item offered in the barter.

Lengyel reflects that she is particularly struck by the memory of rows of baby carriages lined up in Canada.

In an adjacent enclosure to Lengyel’s, a group of Czechs live in relative luxury; their children are spared and they are allowed to keep their clothes. However, one day the Czech camp is abruptly liquidated and these individuals are sent to the gas chambers. A Czech boy who had fallen in love with a girl on Lengyel's side of the fence trades a diamond to a guard for the opportunity to spend a few hours on her side of the fence. He is killed the next day.