Nonfiction: The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

Reading nonfiction often means encountering hard issues and events that are a part of our history. It is one thing to read a horror novel, be scared, and then put the book down and move on. The events in The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland are very real, and it was not a situation from which those who were involved could simply walk away. Freedland gives a detailed account of a man who did the impossible in World War II, and that was escape Auschwitz with the hope of warning his fellow Jews.

Genre, Themes, History: This book follows the story of Walter Rosenberg, later Rudolf Vrba once he left Auschwitz and needed to adopt a new name for safety purposes. When he was only 19, Walter would escape the concentration camp along with one other trusted friend, a task that many, including the Nazis themselves, had believed was impossible. But while Walter may have been young, and not nearly at his healthiest because of the months of hard labor and harsh living conditions that he had endured, he was also clever, smart, and determined. Earlier escape attempts had served him as harsh lessons about what another failed attempt may mean. However, Walter wanted to not only secure his own freedom, but also warn the world, more specifically the Jews who had not yet been transported away from their homes under the guise of 'resettlement.' He needed them to know that going to Auschwitz almost certainly meant death. And while a good portion of the book deals with life in the camp, and the escape, there is still the task of alerting the world, and being believed.

My Verdict: Hitler's planned and methodical extermination of the Jews in Europe is a tough subject to read about. No matter how well written, or how thoroughly researched the subject may be, there are parts that are simply going to be hard to get through. I applaud the author for doing what is necessary, and that is confronting the subject head on, while presenting what happened through the eyes of Vrba, allowing the reader to learn about the events from someone they have probably never have heard of. And while Vrba's main objective seemed straight-forward enough - escape Auschwitz, warn the world, prevent more death - Freedland explains why things were not that simple, clearly having done the research into how everything happened, or did not happen, as it did. I have always had a personal fascination with the financial aspect of it all, and how interested the Nazi's were in taking everything from the Jews, because simply being rid of them was not enough. Even this is thoroughly explored and explained.

Favorite Moment: Vrba had the ability, or maybe simply the utter determination, to remember the smallest details about his life at the concentration camp if he felt the detail would later be useful to whoever he would report to after he escaped.

Recommended Reading: I recommend Solito by Javier Zamora, another nonfiction read covering a difficult subject, that follows a small boy on a seemingly impossible journey.