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The “gripping” (The New York Times) true story of a Jewish lawyer who returned to Germany after World War II to prosecute war crimes, only to find himself pitted against a nation determined to bury the past—from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Volunteer.
“Compulsively readable . . . with liberal democracies once more imperiled and indifference to the Holocaust stupefyingly widespread, The Prosecutor could hardly be more timely.”—Financial Times
At the end of the Nuremberg trial in 1946, some of the greatest war criminals in history were sentenced to death, but hundreds of thousands of Nazi murderers and collaborators remained at large. The Allies were ready to overlook their pasts as the Cold War began, and the horrors of the Holocaust were in danger of being forgotten.
In The Prosecutor, Jack Fairweather brings to life the remarkable story of Fritz Bauer, a gay, Jewish judge from Stuttgart who survived the Nazis and made it his mission to force his countrymen to confront their complicity in the genocide. In this deeply researched book, Fairweather draws on unpublished family papers, newly declassified German records, and exclusive interviews to immerse readers in the shadowy, unfamiliar world of postwar West Germany where those who implemented genocide run the country, the CIA is funding Hitler’s former spy-ring in the east, and Nazi-era anti-gay laws are strictly enforced. But once Bauer landed on the trail of Adolf Eichmann, he wouldn’t be intimidated. His journey took him deep into the dark heart of West Germany, where his fight for justice would set him against his own government and a network of former Nazis and spies bent on silencing him.
In a time when the history of the Holocaust is taken for granted, The Prosecutor reveals the courtroom battles that were fought to establish its legacy and the personal cost of speaking out. The result is a searing portrait of a nation emerging from the ruins of fascism and one man’s courage in forcing his people—and the world—to face the truth.
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"Jack Fairweather has taken it upon himself to revive our awareness of humankind's most terrible known moral crime—the Holocaust. He is a fine writer and a meticulous historian, and his books make for riveting reading. This spellbinding account details the extraordinary life story of Fritz Bauer, a German Jewish prosecutor who devoted himself to the cause of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice in a postwar Germany that preferred to look the other way. By doing so, he changed history. This is a book of great importance. The Prosecutor is, quite simply, a stunning achievement."
— Jon Lee Anderson, bestselling author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
The Prosecutor is a tour-de-force of both historical research and absolutely terrific writing. It reads like the best sort of cloak-and-dagger novel.
— Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of War, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and A Death in BelmontThe Prosecutor is a tour-de-force of both historical research and absolutely terrific writing. Fairweather's topic—the criminal prosecution of war criminals—is of the upmost importance, and the book itself reads like the best sort of cloak-and-dagger novel. As a writer and journalist, I gauge books by how much I learn about my own craft, and this book was a kind of masterclass.
— Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of War, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and A Death in BelmontJack Fairweather continues his stellar writing career with an important new book about a hitherto unacknowledged hero, Fritz Bauer. In a world where the loathsome bacillus of anti-Semitism is once again on the rise, this well-researched, well-written and hard-hitting book could not be more timely. Fairweather has unearthed a vast amount of new information about the darkest period in the history of Mankind.
— Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyJack Fairweather brilliantly captures the poignant and insightful story of one lonely, determined man’s quest to bring Nazis to justice for the Holocaust. Fritz Bauer sought to bend the arc of history, a noble pursuit of great inspiration and agony. This is history not to be missed.
— David E. Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Dead Hand and Give Me LibertyThe Prosecutor is a tour de force of both historical research and absolutely terrific writing. Fairweather’s topic—the criminal prosecution of war criminals—is of the utmost importance, and the book itself reads like the best sort of cloak-and-dagger novel. As a writer and journalist, I gauge books by how much I learn about my own craft, and this book was a kind of masterclass.
— Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of War, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and A Death in BelmontJack Fairweather, a brilliant researcher and compelling writer, tells the remarkable and inspiring story of German jurist Fritz Bauer. Both Jewish and gay, Bauer survived Hitler’s concentration camps and exile and returned to help remake his country, braving public opprobrium and personal danger to pursue the complicit and compel a national reckoning with his country’s crimes. . . . A triumphant story.
— Mark Bowden, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Black Hawk DownJack Fairweather continues his stellar writing career with an important new book about a hitherto unacknowledged hero, Fritz Bauer. In a world where the loathsome bacillus of antisemitism is once again on the rise, this well-researched, well-written, and hard-hitting book could not be more timely. Fairweather has unearthed a vast amount of new information about the darkest period in the history of mankind.
— Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyJack Fairweather, a brilliant researcher and compelling writer, tells the remarkable and inspiring story of German jurist Fritz Bauer. Both Jewish and gay, Bauer survived Hitler’s concentration camps and exile, and returned to help remake his country, braving public opprobrium and personal danger to pursue the complicit and compel a national reckoning with its crimes. A triumphant story.
— Mark Bowden, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Black Hawk DownDeeply humane, powerfully wrought and an essential tale in this age of impunity.
— Phillipe Sands, author of The Ratline and The Last ColonyBeautifully written and hugely evocative, Jack Fairweather's new book is a powerful literary memorial to Fritz Bauer, the German-Jewish lawyer whose tenacity forced a nation to confront its crimes.
— Katja Hoyer, bestselling author of Beyond the WallOne of the great untold stories of the Holocaust—and Jack Fairweather is the perfect person to tell it.
— Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape ArtistDisturbing insights into a bygone era. . . . Stirring revelations of an unsung hero of postwar Germany.
— Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewJack Fairweather brilliantly captures the poignant and insightful story of one lonely, determined man’s quest to bring Nazis to justice for the Holocaust. Fritz Bauer sought to bend the arc of history, a noble pursuit of great inspiration and agony. This is history not to be missed.
— David E. Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Dead Hand and Give Me LibertyJack Fairweather has taken it upon himself to revive our awareness of humankind's most terrible known moral crime—the Holocaust. He is a fine writer and a meticulous historian, and his books make for riveting reading. The Prosecutor is, quite simply, a stunning achievement.
— Jon Lee Anderson, bestselling author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary LifeDeeply humane, powerfully wrought and an essential tale in this age of impunity.
— Phillipe Sands, author of The Ratline and The Last ColonyOne of the great untold stories of the Holocaust—and Jack Fairweather is the perfect person to tell it.
— Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape ArtistThis meticulously researched and well written biography brings to life one of the unsung heroes of the twentieth century. . . . Fairweather brilliantly evokes the dark, morally ambiguous atmosphere of postwar Germany and a man whose story . . . contains the moral lessons we need today.”―Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize–winner and bestselling author of Autocracy, Inc.
The Prosecutor is a tour de force of both historical research and absolutely terrific writing. Fairweather’s topic—the criminal prosecution of war criminals—is of the utmost importance, and the book itself reads like the best sort of cloak-and-dagger novel.
— Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of War, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and A Death in BelmontA rich, compelling and deeply researched account of a little-known lawyer who fought long and hard to expose the criminals who underpinned Hitler’s monstrous regime. Another page-turner from Jack Fairweather.”―Giles Milton, bestselling author of The Stalin Affair
Breathtaking scholarship delivered with a compelling flair for storytelling—returns the seminal figure of the courageous Fritz Bauer to his rightful place at the centre of our collective reckoning with the Nazis’ crimes.”―Robert Jan van Pelt, award-winning writer and leading Holocaust expert
Jack Fairweather has taken it upon himself to revive our awareness of humankind's most terrible known moral crime—the Holocaust. The Prosecutor is, quite simply, a stunning achievement.
— Jon Lee Anderson, bestselling author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary LifeIn a world where the loathsome bacillus of antisemitism is once again on the rise, this well-researched, well-written, and hard-hitting book could not be more timely.
— Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyHaunting . . . [A] gripping and well-researched biography.
— The New York TimesFairweather tells this story with impressive clarity and pace. . . A compulsively readable account . . . with liberal democracies once more imperiled and indifference to the Holocaust stupefyingly widespread, The Prosecutor could hardly be more timely.
— The Financial TimesNot all superheroes wear capes. Some, as Jack Fairweather’s superb biography of the German prosecutor and judge Fritz Bauer shows, wear lawyer’s robes instead. . . . A magnificent book about a magnificent man.
— The TelegraphBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Jack Fairweather has been a correspondent for the Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph, where he served as the Baghdad and Persian Gulf bureau chief. His reporting during the Iraq War earned him Britain’s top press award. The author of A War of Choice and The Good War, he lives in Charlotte, Vermont.
David Rintoul, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is a stage and television actor from Scotland. A former student of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he has worked extensively with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has also appeared regularly on BBC television, starring as Mr. Darcy in the 1980 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and as Doctor Finlay in the television series of the same name.