The Escape Artist
Ratings15
Average rating4.1
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE, RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE, WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR AND LONGLISTED FOR THE WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE A MAIL ON SUNDAY, THE TIMES, THE ECONOMIST, GUARDIAN, THE SPECTATOR, TIME, AND DAILY EXPRESS/DAILY MIRROR BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Thrilling' Daily Mail 'Gripping' Guardian 'Heartwrenching' Yuval Noah Harari 'Magnificent' Philip Pullman 'Excellent' Sunday Times 'Inspiring' Daily Mail 'An immediate classic' Antony Beevor 'Awe-inspiring' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Shattering' Simon Schama 'Utterly compelling' Philippe Sands 'A must-read' Emily Maitlis 'Indispensable' Howard Jacobson April 1944. Nineteen-year-old Rudolf Vrba and fellow inmate Fred Wetzler became two of the very first Jews to successfully escape Auschwitz. Evading the thousands of SS men hunting them, Vrba and Wetzler made the perilous journey on foot across Nazi-occupied Poland. Their mission: to reveal to the world the truth of the Holocaust. Vrba's unique testimony would save some 200,000 lives. But he kept on running - from his past, from his home country, his adopted country, even from his own name. Now, at last, Rudolf Vrba's heroism can be known.
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Superb. Freeland composes an exciting biography balanced on the precipice of the horrors in Auschwitz.
The Escape Artist was a tough read for me to get through because of its subject matter. School education prioritizes statistics and generalities, glossing over darker details and lived experiences. The Escape Artist introduces the experiences of Jews in Europe during the Holocaust through the eyes of Rudolf Vrba.
Throughout this book, I was astonished by the mind and soul of Vrba. While his near perfect memory, intelligence, linguistic abilities, and survival instincts are worth mentioning (something that I would like for myself), it's his resilience to endure and persevere even through the most difficult and inhumane situations. His motivation to escape and warn the world never wavers, even if his ability and will to live, does. It is hard to stomach what Vrba and his fellow inmates go through, and what happens to the Jews upon arrival at Auschwitz. However, I found it an important read to better grasp and understand it.
Something I had not known was the role Jewish and Allied leadership failed to play in preventing mass genocide, as well as how information and truth will not always lead to a better informed populace. A powerful message that Vrba and Freedland hone on is how knowledge does not stem from information alone, but comes from the combination of information and belief. Only then can that knowledge be used to potentially save your own life, or give you that choice.
