The Devil's Workshop by Jáchym Topol

The Devil's Workshop

Jáchym Topol

In the hierarchy of suffering which country is at the top of the tree? Rival claims for Czechoslovakia and Belarus are presented here with savage humour. Former death camps are exploited as attractions by cynical regimes and enthusiastic amateurs, including a narrator whose adventures in holocaust tourism get more and more bizarre. Please avoid the bones as you make your way through the museum. And remember to exit through the gift shop.

Extract
He shines his light into the crates. They're filled with corpses. Ancient, rotted corpses. One or two in each crate. Some are just a heap of bones. Their skin looks like an old rag or piece of paper with a coating of dried grey cement. In some there's just a skull and bones. They must have a special rat patrol, that's for sure.
Parallels
  • Coming From an Off-key Time by Bogdan Suceava
  • East of the West by Miroslav Penkov