I really struggled while reading this particular book because of its content primarily. The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C. Rosenberg is the first book I have ever read by him and was both great and incredibly sad. As the title indicates it is about WWII, more specifically it is a fictional account of a Jew who managed to escape from Auschwitz and carry the news of what was actually going on to the Allied forces. The protagonist is Jacob Weisz, a young German Jew who became part of the Jewish resistance, first in Germany and then later in Poland, both prior to and during the early stages of the war. While trying to release a train full of Jews heading to Auschwitz he unintentionally ends up trapped on the train himself and a prisoner in the infamous camp. While there he almost immediately gets recruited for the resistance movement in camp where they work on collecting information about what is happening and arranging escape plans for their members to help get the news out. Alongside Jacob’s timeline we also meet Jean-Luc LeClerc, a French Protestant clergyman who was imprisoned for helping smuggle Jews out of Nazi occupied territories.
I liked this book despite how sad it was or maybe in part because of how sad it was. It deals with the horrors of the Holocaust and what happened during the war both in and out of the concentration camps. However, it also covered some rather interesting elements that are frequently overlooked in these types of stories. The first is that there were people who successfully escaped from those camps and lived to tell their stories. Without them the allies would not have probably known what was happening and may not have worked so hard to liberate the camps. The second is that there were non-Jewish people who helped smuggle Jews out to safety. Jean-Luc is a fictional character but his backstory is loosely based on actual events and people. I think it interesting that these people are overlooked when reading about this. It added interesting dynamics to the story because it in large part changed the story being told. The book was not about surviving in the camps, it was about the people who escaped the camps to help tell the rest of the world what was happening which altogether something entirely different. I will say that the book felt like it was a realistic portrayal of what had happened, as realistic as it can be anyway. However, the thing that I appreciated was that it did not try to hide anything about what had happened or downplay the effects it had on the people who went through it. Instead, it showed what happened in as close an approximation as possible and did its best to be respectful about it. Considering the potentially sensitive nature of the events being portrayed I felt like it did a good job in its portrayal. The only thing I didn’t really like about the book is how the narration changed over the course of the book. In several of the early sections of the book it is split between Jacob’s perspective and Jean-Luc’s perspective but when they actually meet in Auschwitz it changes to be entirely Jacob’s perspective. I kind of wish that we could have seen how both of them experienced life there, if only in order to get just a little more perspective on what was going on. Otherwise, this was a really good book and earns four out of five stars from me.
This was a great if incredibly sad example of historical fiction and one that I enjoyed and would consider reading again. If you enjoy that genre than I suggest you consider trying this one, especially if you enjoy reading about WWII or the Holocaust. That being said, considering the topics this book may also be difficult for a lot of readers so make sure you are prepared for the content and are able to handle it before you start it. It wasn’t overly graphic but it was enough that it may be difficult for some readers. For the same reason, I would also suggest that younger readers be extremely careful about reading it. Honestly, I would recommend nobody younger than their late teens should read it as it contains a lot of potentially difficult themes which may be too much for anybody younger than that. Despite all of this it was still a really good book and I hope you will consider trying it anyway. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.