In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz—one of only four 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 at the end of the railway line. And yet too few heeded the warning that Vrba had risked everything to deliver.
Raw and gripping ... Mr. Freedland’s compelling portrait of this neglected hero of Holocaust resistance leaves an inescapable imprint of a past now in danger of being minimized or forgotten.
Riveting ... Freedland...reveals many of the details of the escape in the book’s prologue. The real suspense begins afterward: not just the journey home...but what happened after they arrived ... The Escape Artist includes harrowing details about Auschwitz that still have the power to shock. But the reactions to Vrba’s testimony by those in power...are nearly as horrifying.
Compelling ... We know about Auschwitz. We know what happened there. But Freedland, with his strong, clear prose and vivid details, makes us feel it, and the first half of this book is not an easy read. The chillingly efficient mass murder of thousands of people is harrowing enough, but Freedland tells us stories of individual evils as well that are almost harder to take ... His matter-of-fact tone makes it bearable for us to continue to read ... The Escape Artist is riveting history, eloquently written and scrupulously researched. Rosenberg's brilliance, courage and fortitude are nothing short of amazing.
