ABANDONED. Fiction about POWs and a sadistic POW camp commander

[cathy lanier]

I read this book in the mid seventies. The captain of the prisoners has a false back tooth that contains poison so he has the option of killing himself. Knowing that gives him the strength to carry on. One day he goes to take a shower and forgets the tooth in his room. When he comes back and realizes that the tooth is gone he loses hope. In another scene a superior of the commandant of the camp visits and is going to report the abusive behaviour. He is brutally tortured and eventually killed.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

What war is it? Or what time period/country?

[cathy lanier]

It was WWII in Germany in the 1940's.

[``Laurie]

Could it be something along the lines of Stalag 17. ?

[cathy lanier]

It was a book without humor. I had mistakenly remembered it as slaughterhouse five by Kurt Vonnegut. I quickly realized I was wrong when I decided to re-read it. It is almost a horror story. There was something haunting about the way the book was written. It had an air of hopelessness and despair.

[``Laurie]

Are you sure it was set in a German Stalag? Could it have been a Soviet gulag instead such as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ?

[cathy lanier]

I wish I could remember with certainty other details. The POWs might have been British instead of American. Even if I don't find this specific book, I have been looking at lists of WWII books and I have found quite a few that I am going to be reading

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Cathy, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

cathy (OP) was last active on the site in September 2019.