The Escape Artist cover art

The Escape Artist

The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

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The Escape Artist

By: Jonathan Freedland
Narrated by: Jonathan Freedland
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About this listen

The astonishing, forgotten story of the hero who escaped from Auschwitz to reveal the truth of the Holocaust.

In April 1944, a teenager named Rudolf Vrba was planning a daring and unprecedented escape from Auschwitz. After hiding in a pile of timber planks for three days while 3,000 SS men and their bloodhounds searched for him, Vrba and his fellow escapee Fred Wetzler would eventually cross Nazi-occupied Poland on foot, as penniless fugitives. Their mission: to tell the world the truth of the Final Solution.

Vrba would produce from memory a breathtaking report of more than thirty pages revealing the true nature and scale of Auschwitz—a report that would find its way to Roosevelt, Churchill and the Pope, eventually saving over 200,000 Jewish lives.

A thrilling history with enormous historical implications, The Escape Artist is the extraordinary story of a complex man who would seek escape again and again: first from Auschwitz, then from his past, even from his own name. In telling his story, Jonathan Freedland—the journalist, broadcaster and acclaimed, multi-million copy selling author of the Sam Bourne novels—ensures that Rudolf Vrba's heroic mission will also escape oblivion.

©2022 Jonathan Freedland (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited 20th Century Military Modern Scary Thought-Provoking War Holocaust

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All stars
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An unbelievable story beautifully read and written. Moving and enlightening. Could not recommend highly enough. A must.

Completely gripping

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Well written account of the life of an incredible man with lots of details of the inner workings of the death camps.

Fascinating but harrowing

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What a fantastic book, and what an amazing man! This was thoroughly engrossing, at times gruesome, disturbing and utterly shocking, but ultimately a story of the indomitable human spirit. So many lessons to be learned for us today by listening to this

Absolutely brilliant!

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Beautifully written and read. A fascinating story against such a truly awful story which you think you may know but which reveals so much more than, in fact, I did. And yet whilst many elements of this are heartbreaking the quality of how this is presented will sweep you along. Brilliant. Highly recommended.

Stunning read.

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An incredibly gripping tale of a remarkable man. Wonderfully told and read by Jonathan Freedland. Walter/Rudi’s story had me captivated from the start, you must listen. May the atrocities of the Holocaust never be forgotten, and never allowed to happen again.

A must listen

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Truly gripping story of one teenager's determination to survive the horrors of death camps and to tell the outside world. Other brave men are also involved but it is basically his story and incredible memory. We learn the aftermath and psychological effects he was left with, but it is an inspiring story.

Amazing true story.

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An incredible story, written with detailed accuracy and respect
A fascinating, gripping book that I would recommend to anyone

Exceptional powerful storytelling

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An incredible story about an incredible man. Cannot recommend highly enough. A harrowing yet inspiring story

Simply, incredible

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I loved the performance, but the way the reader pronounced 'Zsuzsa' and 'Zsuzsika' hurt a bit.
it's not a 'z' sound, but more like "je" in French, like "je m'appelle X".
The rest of the Hungarian names were okay. thank you for trying, it's a very different sounding language.

great listen!

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An immense achievement by the author. Riveting in every moment. A must listen, even if (maybe because) at times it is hard to listen to.

Biographical History at its best

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