At the edge of the abyss

First published in 1977, this is the diary of a Jewish prisoner who was in a German concentration camp during World War II. It weaves poetry and powerful insights into the emotional life of a camp prisoner. David Koker was twenty-one when he was transported to the Vught Concentration Camp in 1943 and he recorded his thoughts, feelings, and observations almost daily. He was able to smuggle 73,000 words our of the camp, almost a year's worth of entries. In June 1944 he was sent to Auschwitz, then to Langenbielan in August 1944, and on to Dachau in February 1945. He did not survive the journey to Dachau.