This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen is a novel by Tadeusz Borowski. The book paints a dramatic picture of the way the Jews who came to Auschwitz were treated. Short stories additionally address the way of life in these concentration camps for both the prisoners and, to some extent, the leaders. Other stories tell the struggles faced by those who survive the concentration camps once they return to life outside the camps.

The narrator is a member of the Kommando, a group of labor prisoners who are used to unload the incoming prisoners, strip them of their belongings, and clean out the cattle cars used to transport the Jews to the camp. A Polish citizen, Borowski was arrested when he was found with copies of his poems and a book by Aldous Huxley. In his stories, Borowski records his time working with the Jews entering the camps as well as his time taking classes to be an orderly. He additionally records memories of a time when he lay in the Auschwitz prison, convinced he was going to die.

Borowski survives his time in the camp. His stories (“The January Offensive,” “A Visit,” and “The World of Stone” ) tell about his time after being released from the camp. Though he is free, Borowski’s mind still seems to be held captive by the things he has seen and done in the camp. He and his friends contemplate if it is understandable that a person who has once had to steal and kill to survive should keep acting in this way.

One of the major themes of the novel is the idea that there is no limit to the cruelty through which one man can put another. Borowski has learned firsthand how cruel people can be to one another. Despite their cruelty, however, humans also have the ability to be selfless and self-sacrificing in their desire to help others. Both these sides of humanity are explored in Borowski’s stories.