Olga Lengyel was a Hungarian author and Holocaust survivor best known for her memoir Five Chimneys, which provides a harrowing account of her experiences in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II. Born in 1908 in Cluj, Hungary (now Romania), she was the wife of Dr. Miklós Lengyel, a respected surgeon. When Nazi forces occupied Hungary in 1944, Olga, along with her husband, two sons, and her parents, were deported to Auschwitz. She lost her entire family to the horrors of the Holocaust.
In Auschwitz, Olga was subjected to unimaginable suffering and witnessed the brutalities inflicted upon thousands of prisoners. After surviving the camp, she emigrated to the United States, where she dedicated her life to educating the world about the atrocities of the Holocaust. Her memoir, published in 1947, was one of the earliest survivor accounts to be widely read and remains a crucial document for understanding the human cost of the Holocaust. Lengyel's work not only serves as a personal testimony but also as a historical record of the systematic genocide perpetrated by the Nazis. She passed away in 2001, leaving behind a legacy of courage and a commitment to never forget the atrocities of the past.
