Death by Design

Alexandra Sosnowski is an assistant professor in the Department of
German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba.

“I have to stay alive to tell the world.” With this book, Canadian
author Ruth Bindefeld Neray fulfils her responsibility as a
concentration camp survivor. Death by Design is a powerful account of
her experiences during the last two years of World War II, particularly
at the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland.

While at Auschwitz, and also after reuniting with her family after the
war, Ruth Bindefeld was unable to comprehend the Holocaust. Even now, in
her book, she can equate it only with pure insanity. Remarkably, at
Auschwitz, she managed to establish friendships with some of the other
women prisoners. These friendships, along with music and
poetry—reminders of the beautiful world of the past—helped her to
overcome her increasing aversion to life.

The story of Ruth Bindefeld greatly enriches the existing collection of
Jewish women’s Holocaust writing.