Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu's profound novel, 'The Twenty-Fifth Hour,' masterfully chronicles the harrowing odyssey of Iohann Moritz, a Romanian peasant caught in the dehumanizing maelstrom of World War II. Mistakenly categorized and re-categorized by bureaucratic forces, Moritz endures a relentless descent into absurdity, stripped of his identity and agency. From forced laborer to concentration camp inmate, his journey exposes the chilling mechanisms by which individuals are reduced to mere cogs in a tyrannical system. The book is a powerful indictment of totalitarianism and a timeless exploration of humanity's struggle for dignity and survival amidst unimaginable oppression.