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COSTA BOOK AWARD WINNER: BOOK OF THE YEAR • number 1 SUNDAY TIMES (UK) BESTSELLER

“Fantastically written and breathtakingly researched, The Volunteer smuggles us into Auschwitz and displays us—as though observing a film—the tale of a Polish agent who infiltrated the notorious camp, arranged a revolt, after which snuck again out. … Fairweather has dug up a tale of incalculable worth and introduced it to us in probably the most compelling prose I’ve learn in a very long time.” —Sebastian Junger, writer of The Best Storm and Tribe

The improbable actual tale of a Polish resistance fighter’s infiltration of Auschwitz to sabotage the camp from inside of, and his loss of life-defying try to warn the Allies concerning the Nazis’ plans for a “Ultimate Resolution” ahead of it was once too past due.

To discover the destiny of the lots being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp at the border of the Reich, a thirty-9-12 months-vintage Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious undertaking: suppose a faux id, deliberately get captured and despatched to the brand new camp, after which report to the underground on what had came about to his compatriots there. However amassing data was once no longer his most effective activity: he was once to execute an assault from inside of—the place the Germans may least be expecting it. 

The title of the camp was once Auschwitz.

Over the following and part years, Pilecki solid an underground military inside of Auschwitz that sabotaged amenities, assassinated Nazi informants and officials, and amassed proof of terrifying abuse and mass homicide. However as he pieced in combination the scary reality that the camp was once to turn out to be the epicenter of Nazi plans to exterminate Europe’s Jews, Pilecki discovered he must possibility his males, his lifestyles, and his circle of relatives to warn the West ahead of all was once misplaced. To take action, supposed making an attempt the inconceivable—an break out from Auschwitz itself.

Completely erased from the ancient file via Poland’s put up-warfare Communist govt, Pilecki continues to be virtually unknown to the arena. Now, with unique get entry to to prior to now hidden diaries, circle of relatives and camp survivor debts, and not too long ago declassified recordsdata, Jack Fairweather gives an unflinching portrayal of survival, revenge and betrayal in mankind’s darkest hour. And in uncovering the tragic result of Pilecki’s undertaking, he finds that its final defeat originated no longer in Auschwitz or Berlin, However in London and Washington.