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Nick Hancock
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1102-003
20 September 2015
Holocaust Inquiry Topic
An Accurate Map of Hell is an article written by Madeline Marget in 2001. In her
writing, Madeline Marget uses examples from Mr. Lawrence Langers writing Holocaust
Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory to display the horrible conditions in which these victims had
to survive. Throughout An Accurate Map of Hell, Madeline Marget conveyed that the work of
Mr. Langer is great and honest. In addition to this, she also reiterated the fact that these victims
had no choices to make, and instead all of the choices were already made for them. Madeline
Marget effectively did all of this through powerful and vivid testimony examples, as well as the
use of bold statements.
An Accurate Map of Hell was written in order to highlight the greatness and truth
behind Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory written by Lawrence Langers. Madeline
Marget believes that much of Mr. Langers writing was very pivotal in displaying how the
victims of the holocaust really felt. She showed this in the second sentence of her writing by
saying, Lawrence Langer, using as his primary text videotaped interviews of survivors, gives
unrelenting---and, with his argument, undeniableevidence. Madeline Marget used very bold
words such as unrelenting and undeniable evidence. Through this, Marget shows the extent
to which she believes in Lawrence Langers work and the information that he presents.
Madeline Marget wanted her audience to understand that the victims of the holocaust had
no freedom to live as they chose. Instead of living as they chose, they had to suffer as it all

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happened, as well as suffer future consequences. Madeline Marget effectively made her audience
understand when she said, The people he presents had no choices. They had no way to imagine,
and thus prepare for, the grief and degradation that would be imposed on them. Through saying
the word no twice, Madeline Marget shows that there were not any other options for these
victims. Madeline Marget made it known that these victims had to suffer, and that was their only
option.
Personally, I found all of the information to be quite interesting and informative. One
example of the writing that stood out to me was when Madeline Marget described the
concentration camps. She stated, the people were civilized, she says, and afraid to relief
themselves in the presence of others. The men took string and tied it around themselves. You
mean tied their penis? Yes so urine would not come out. That image was so vivid; it stuck in
my head throughout the rest of the article. It was a picture that I could not shake, because I have
never experienced such a travesty in my life. It was vivid examples like this in which Madeline
Margret used that made her writing very interesting and effective.
Although the writing was very good, like all writings, there is room for improvement. I
think that in order for it to be more interesting, Madeline Marget should have focused less on
glorifying Mr. Langer. Instead she should have let his writing and examples speak for
themselves. In order to do this Madeline Marget should have presented more examples like the
one explained above, and then explained how they are important. This would have had a much
more vital impact and made her writing more interesting and engaging.
The article connects to my inquiry topic because it is about Holocaust testimonies. The
article has many different instances in which the testimonies of others, describe in detail the
horrific events that occurred in the concentration camps. The article gave me a glimpse as to see

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how the victims were affected during and after the Holocaust. Most importantly, the article
connected in such a way, which makes me desire to research more and really dig deep into my
topic.