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This only had a 94% rating on Litsy, which reminds me of that one sportswriter who didn't vote Michael Jordan into the Basketball Hall of Fame. History books don't get much better than this.

#2025Book19

The French-Jewish philosopher Raymond Aron would say, when asked about the Holocaust, "I knew, but I didn't believe it. And because I didn't believe it, I didn't know."

Rudolf Vrba/Walter Rosenberg, was the first of 60,000 Jews who were deported from Slovakia between March and October 1942. He was the first to escape the hell of Auschwitz and just one of only four to do so. His friend Fred Wetzler escaped with him. Walter was caught and taken to Majdanek and was there for twelve days; from there he went to Auschwitz, having heard of something better called ‘Kanada‘. He had no idea what nightmares awaited⬇️

Fascinating, detailed true story. (There are some sections you don‘t want to be eating anything 😞).
The overall lesson from these tellings is that we don‘t learn from history, and we carry on killing people thinking it solves things. It never has, nor will it.

Train reading. On work thing to London. Travelling with 4 people, we‘ve all sat separately and are working/reading. My kind of work colleagues!

#quicklunchtimeread
Hardly anytime to read at the moment, squeezing 20 mins in.

Escaped the city and real life for a bit during the long weekend.

An incredible account of one of the only Jewish men to escape Auschwitz‘s-Birkenau.

This is an excellent account of a man who escaped from Auschwitz, and his determination to warn the world of the genocide. He was positive that once the world was aware, they would put an end to the death camps. He did not account for people‘s unwillingness to believe the unthinkable, or for political maneuvering. This is an important book about the atrocities committed by the Nazis, and the heroism of those who fought them.

A brilliant book about Rudi Vrba‘s escape from Auschwitz with Fred Wetzler and their attempt to tell the world about the Final Solution. Highly engaging despite the harrowing material, I could not put this down. Gives a sense of the Europe-wide nature of the program & the deception & secrecy involved. And humans‘ refusal to believe even when told. Our discussion up now on Books On The Go 🎧.

The Escape Artist is an excellent historic/biography that I listened to. It‘s the story of Walter Rosenburg, later Rudolf Vrba, who, along with Alfred Wetzler escaped Auschwitz. He is given credit to sounding the bell about what was happening at Auschwitz. A sad story but an important one. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award. #Booked2023 ~wrongly incarcerated main character #Pop23 ~a book with a map

My other current non-fiction read I stopped because it‘s to fraught right now. I picked this one to replace it🤔.

A gripping recounting of one man's determination to break out from Auschwitz and warn the world. Walter was an intelligent young man who had a knack for numbers. He quite literally held the number of Jews killed at the concentration camp in his head until he could finally tell the right people.

#nonfiction2023

Sometimes you just have to let the cuddles take over everything….

More than 600 Jewish men from Trnava had been deported to Auschwitz... in 1942. By the spring of 1944, only two were still alive: Walter Rosenberg and Alfréd Wetzler. All the rest had either been swiftly murdered... or suffered the slow death in which Auschwitz-Birkenau specialised... Fred and Walter had grown up with those 600 boys and men - as teachers and schoolmates, family friends and acquaintances...

now every last one of them was gone.

This story is incredible. Not romanticized, but a pure survival story with a variety of close calls along the way. Not only was the time in Auschwitz well written, but I especially liked the ending- the mental toll that surviving had and it‘s impact on relationships thereafter. It‘s just remarkable anyone could survive that experience.

Rudolf “Rudi” Vrba - a hero. May he rest in peace, a peace I don‘t know if he ever found on Earth.

It seems fitting that I finished this the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah). Let us all remember those who told their stories, those who didn‘t shy away from telling the world of the horror of the Holocaust. Let us especially remember all of the Jews who died, and honor them.

#12Booksof2022 🎶 On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love read to me, an incredible true story 🎶

For my twelve, I‘m highlighting my favorite audiobooks of the year. Great books that were all the more enjoyable thanks to outstanding narration &/or production.

December was the only month I wavered on @Andrew65 but ultimately this true story of a young man who‘s unnerving determination to be heard completely won me over💓💓💓💓💓 Thanks for hosting #12Booksof2022 💚I enjoyed seeing all the recommendations and have now added MORE books to my never ending list 😅
Looking forward to 2023 🤓

Oh wow - love it! Thank you so much @jenniferw88 Have a really lovey holiday. 🎄❤️🎄
#jolabokaflodswap2022

I‘ve read dozens of Holocaust NF and this one ranks amongst the most moving & compelling. Walter Rosenberg, a bright young man from Slovakia risked his life to escape from Auschwitz, in order to warn the Hungarian Jews, the last Jewish community to be deported, what would befall them in the coming weeks. Rosenberg defines the word hero in every sense & facet. This book is begging for a movie adaptation! It‘s a stunning story & worthy of 5 ⭐️
👇🏼

I‘ve read dozens of true accounts from Holocaust survivors and each time I‘m shocked by the depravity & cruelty against innocent children, babies, the elderly, and the unknowing men & women. It‘s impossible to comprehend. this type of evil. This book is breaking my heart.

What an incredible story of survival of a man who would be one of the first (and only a handful of) Jews that escaped from Auschwitz. It‘s amazing how resilient he was and utterly heartbreaking what he had to go through - not just during his time there but after his escape as well. Well written and laid out well

#nonfiction #NFnovember

That feeling when your book does not auto-renew and you have a couple days to finish it and you‘re only halfway through 😬

Not that I can‘t do it because I definitely should‘ve had it read by now but I need to make it a priority now or else deal with some fines 😂

Riveting read! Rudi Vrba‘s story is amazing and deserves to be more well-known. In Freedland‘s hands, his account reads more like a thriller (which he has experience writing under the pseudonym Sam Bourne). I can definitely see why this made the #BaillieGifford2022 shortlist.

I went with a mix of print and audio. The print includes maps and photographs. Freedland does a great job narrating the audiobook.

Just finished this on audio and it was so very interesting and of course terrifying as well. Unsurprisingly I had to take breaks from the brutality of everything Vrba lived through, but otherwise found this to be a very engrossing read. One of the best books I‘ve read in 2022.

Friday #bookmail Part 2 - Nonfiction

A few options for Nonfiction November. The Escape Artist and Super-Infinite are both on the Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist and I‘ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Muppets in Moscow since I first heard about it months ago. Here‘s hoping for a great reading month!