Liebe Mutti
is a true story of Jerzy Pindera, a Polish Catholic reserve officer in Sachsenhausen, one of the first concentration camps built to hold political prisoners, located just outside Berlin. This memoir is an insightful observation of the complexities of concentration camp life and society. Pindera, who arrived at the camp condemned to being worked to death, gradually rose to a position of prominence in the camp structure. During his five years of incarceration at Sachsenhausen, Pindera wrote powerfully about his experiences in a series of "fragments," each of which recalled specific aspects and events of his internment. Using those "fragments," as well as the transcription of extensive interviews, and letters he wrote to his mother while imprisoned, editor Lynne Taylor has woven together a compelling story of life in Sachsenhausen.