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The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World Audiobook
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Winner of the National Jewish Book Award · New York Times Bestseller
""A brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information—and misinformation. Is it possible to stop mass murder by telling the truth?"" — Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
A complex hero. A forgotten story. The first witness to reveal the full truth of the Holocaust . . .
Award-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Jonathan Freedland tells the astonishing true story of Rudolf Vrba, the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world of a truth too few were willing to hear.
In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom—among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen—a forensically detailed report that eventually reached Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the Pope.
And yet too few heeded the warning that Vrba had risked everything to deliver. Though Vrba helped save two hundred thousand Jewish lives, he never stopped believing it could have been so many more.
This is the story of a brilliant yet troubled man—a gifted “escape artist” who, even as a teenager, understood that the difference between truth and lies can be the difference between life and death. Rudolf Vrba deserves to take his place alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler, and Primo Levi as one of the handful of individuals whose stories define our understanding of the Holocaust.
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“I thought I knew the Auschwitz story, but Freedland retells it from a fresh angle so powerfully that I read it with my heart beating fast, full of horror, rage, despair—and admiration for this potent demonstration of the stubborn resilience of the human spirit.”
— Tracy Chevalier, New York Times bestselling author
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“Raw and gripping.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“Astonishing…The most extraordinary Holocaust story you’ve never heard.”
— The Guardian (London) -
“His story must be told and read: a brave man who did his best to warn a world which wouldn’t listen.”
— Financial Times (London) -
“The narrative is extraordinary. In great and heart-stopping detail it tells of Vrba’s plan and how he executed it. It also explains why.”
— Jewish Chronicle -
“A riveting tale with a fascinating protagonist…a gripping description of Vrba and a companion’s planning, breakout, and grueling walk to Slovakia…A powerful story of a true hero who deserves more recognition.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“A thrilling read, a piece of redemptive storytelling, and a work of important Holocaust historical research…a book that I couldn’t put down.”
— Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestselling author
Awards
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Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month
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A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
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Winner of the National Jewish Book Award
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About Jonathan Freedland
Jonathan Freedland is a journalist and broadcaster who in 2014 won the George Orwell Prize for Journalism. He is a weekly columnist for the London Guardian, for which he edits the op-ed pages and chairs its editorial board. He was previously the Guardian’s Washington correspondent.