Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe

 

Over the weekend, I finished reading Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe by Steve Sheinkin. This narrative nonfiction book is about two Jewish teenagers from Slovakia, Rudolf (Rudi) Vrba and Gerta Sidonová, who are racing against time to survive the Holocaust during World War II.  At seventeen years old in 1942, Rudi tries to join the fight against Hitler by crossing the border into Hungary and continuing south into Yugoslavia to get on a boat to Great Britain, but he is captured. Through a series of events, he ends up in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Over the next two years, he learns the terrible secret that Jewish prisoners are being murdered methodically and knows he must escape. After barely surviving the next two years, in 1944, Rudi and his friend, Alfred Wetzler, plan their escape, so they can reveal the truth and save lives. Meanwhile, Rudi's schoolmate, Gerta, is in hiding with her family in Hungary after fleeing from Slovakia. As Hungary begins to cave under pressure from Hitler, it becomes less and less likely that she will avoid capture.

This book was such a captivating read. I was aware that some prisoners did escape from Auschwitz, but I didn't know of anyone in particular. I loved learning about Rudi Vrba and thought that his method of escape with Fred was quite clever. His story was definitely very suspenseful because so many things could have gone wrong. Even though it was obvious that he and Fred were successful from the summary of the book, there were times when escape really did seem impossible because so many others failed in their attempts and Rudi came pretty close to death himself a few times from typhus and getting into trouble. Gerta's story was also very engaging. I thought it was interesting that for a while Hungary stood up to Hitler, so Jews could hide there, at least until Hitler ordered his troops to occupy the country. It also made me very happy when Rudi and Gerta finally saw each other again. After an epilogue covering what happened after the war, Sheinkin includes an author's note, source notes, a bibliography, and an index. Anyone who is interested in hopeful stories about the Holocaust should read Impossible Escape.