Francesc and Emili, two ex republican soldiers in the Spanish Civil War who are now in the French army, get captured by Nazi troops. They, along with other Spanish former fighters, are
deported to Mauthausen concentration camp, where their nightmare begins—the terrible experience that turns them into witnesses and victims of the so-called International of Pain. The story
focuses on Emili, who manages to survive by making pornographic drawings for the SS. Through him we see the inner workings of the camp: the corrupt network of kapos, the different classes of
prisoners, the horrific extermination system, the malnutrition—the inhumanity of one of the most tragic chapters of our history. Author Amat-Piniella wrote this novel, published for the first
time in 1963, based on his experiences as a prisoner for nearly five years in different Nazi concentration camps. His objective was to carry on the memory of the thousands of Spaniards
interned in camps.
