The Auschwitz Escape (vuoden 2014 painos)

This book was a gift from a coworker and her husband. They wanted to know if it was as good as they'd heard, but neither one had time to read it, and they both know I love reading historical books, especially anything about the Holocaust/Shoah, so rather than trying to find the time to read it themselves, they bought it for me. Score! That's a job I don't mind doing for other people--at least not when the book is this good.

The story was realistic without being gratuitously violent or graphic; everything in here counts and adds realism and emotional depth to the story. There's romance, just enough, and tons of suspense. The story, itself, is fictionalized but was inspired by real people and actual events. The author includes a list of sources at the end of book in case anyone wants to read more about some of the situations and people that inspired his work.

One thing that stood out to me as I read, however, is just how much some of the events in this novel parallel things that are happening in our world today. It was a bit of a wake-up call that I hadn't expected when I first began to read The Auschwitz Escape. ( )

Holocaust story - very interesting, and as disturbing as expected. But not as dark and hopeless as some in this genre. OTOH, it had a sense of unbelievability - main character had a few too many "good luck" events, and the near misses involved required a lot of suspension of disbelief. ( )

This was okay. I really enjoyed parts of the novel but found myself skimming through parts that dragged. I've read a lot of WWII historical fiction novels, and this one didn't have the believability piece that I enjoy. ( )

This is the story of Jacob Weisz. He flees Germany to join the underground resistance during WWII. In the process of trying to help prisoners on a train escape, he gets locked in and finds himself on his way to Auschwitz. Because he isn't accounted for, a man on the train gives him his son's name, so that when he gets to the camp, he won't be shot immediately.



While at Auschwitz, Jacob is pulled into a group of prisoners who are planning an escape to tell the outside world what is going on in the camps. He becomes friends with a man name Jean-Luc Leclerc who is a Christian who was imprisoned helping Jews. They become a team when escaping Aushwitz, and are on a mission to tell the West what is happening in Poland.



This was a really good book on a lot of levels. For one - it has an amazing quote. One of the best I have ever seen:



"If you ask me, the question shouldn't be 'Why are you, a Christian, here in a death camp, condemned for trying to save Jews?' The real question is...'Why aren't all the Christians here?'"



The story, as always, it heart wrenching. What was witnessed inside these camps, and how the outside world was lead to believe that nothing was happening inside these camps but hard labor, is almost hard to imagine.



But - on the other hand.....this book was a bit preachy. It geared a bit more toward the religious differences between Jews and Christians and Bible passages that it took away from what I believe was the real story - the horrors of Auschwitz. I think this book could have been a couple hundred pages shorter and still been excellent if you take out the unnecessary religious spin.



It was worth the read. And you can always skim the heavy religious sections to get to the more detailed story. You can tell the author did his research regarding the camps. So it might be something you don't want to miss. ( )

This book should be required reading for all high schoolers. The very idea that what happens in this book could be forgotten, even dismissed, by this generation is disturbing. The visuals created by the author about those interred at Auschwitz, along with the attempts made by people on the outside to protect Jewish lives, will be long-lived in my heart and mind. ( )