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One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jun 2019, 416 pages
Paperback:
Jun 2020, 528 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers
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Winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award. The incredible true story of a Polish resistance fighter's infiltration of Auschwitz to sabotage the camp from within, and his daring escape to warn the Allies about the Nazis' true plans for a "Final Solution."
To uncover the fate of the thousands being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp on the border of the Reich, a young Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: intentionally get captured and transported to the new camp to report back on what was going on there. But gathering information was not his only task: he was to execute an attack from inside' - where the Germans would least expect it.
The name of the camp was Auschwitz.
Over the next two and half years, Pilecki forged an underground army within Auschwitz that sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi informants and officers, and smuggled out evidence of terrifying abuse and mass murder. But as the annihilation of innocents accelerated, Pilecki realized he would have to attempt another perilous mission: escape Auschwitz and somehow - with more than 900 miles of Nazi-occupied territory in the way - deliver his alert to London before all was lost...
Completely erased from the historical record by Poland's Communist government, Pilecki remains almost unknown to the world. Now, with exclusive access to previously hidden diaries, family and camp survivor accounts and recently declassified files, Jack Fairweather reveals Witold's exploits with vivid, cinematic bravura. He also uncovers the tragic outcome of Pilecki's mission, in which the ultimate betrayal came not on the Continent, but England.
Chapter 1
Invasion
KRUPA, EASTERN POLAND
AUGUST 26, 1939
Witold stood on the manor house steps and watched the car kick up a trail of dust as it drove down the lime tree avenue toward the yard and came to a stop in a white cloud beside the gnarled chestnut. The summer had been so dry that the peasants talked about pouring water on the grave of a drowned man, or harnessing a maiden to the plow to make it rain—such were the customs of the Kresy, Poland's eastern borderlands. A vast electrical storm had finally come only to flatten what was left of the harvest and lift the storks' nests off their posts. But that August Witold wasn't worrying about grain for the winter.
The radio waves crackled with news of German troops massing on the border and Adolf Hitler's threat to reclaim territory ceded to Poland at the end of World War I. Hitler believed the German people were locked in a brutal contest for resources with other races. It was only by the "annihilation of Poland ...
Costa Book Awards
2019
I have read many WWII books both fiction and non-fiction and this is one of the best. Kudos to Mr. Fairweather (Joanne V). The author's often harrowing account helped me see clearly how arrogance can make us look down upon our fellow human beings and see them as inhuman objects (Sandra H). This is a book that should be read by everyone, especially today's youth. Book clubs will be able to find so many questions to discuss about this book and the time it represents (Peggy K)...continued
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
Sebastian Junger, bestselling author of The Perfect Storm and Tribe
Superbly written and breathtakingly researched, The Volunteer smuggles us into Auschwitz and shows us—as if watching a movie—the story of a Polish agent who infiltrated the infamous camp, organized a rebellion, and then snuck back out. We are squarely confronted with the other human truth: ordinary people will happily risk their lives to help others. Fairweather has dug up a story of incalculable value and delivered it to us in the most compelling prose I have read in a long time.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (the setting of Jack Fairweather's riveting history The Volunteer) was liberated by the Soviet Army on January 27, 1945. In 1946, Poland's Ministry of Culture and Art recognized the need to preserve the site of so much horror for memorial and educational purposes, and set to work on a museum. Delegates from the Jewish Historical Commission advised, and the facility, while still under construction, began admitting the public in June of 1947.
Today, the museum and memorial at Auschwitz (which encompasses both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, situated just under two miles from one another) serves a vital role in educating the public about the atrocities of the Nazis—a stark reminder of ...
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