The Boy Who Followed His Father to Auschwitz. A True Story

BESTSELLER SUNDAY TIMES. Best Book of 2019 according to The Times. One of the most unusual biographies about the Holocaust — a tragic yet hopeful story of the son and father, Fritz and Gustav Kleinmann, who endured all the hardships of the Nazi camps together. When Gustav is sent from Buchenwald to Auschwitz, essentially handing him a death sentence, Fritz unhesitatingly follows him. Only their family care for each other allowed them to withstand all trials — which was rare at the time: stories of family members managing to go through death camps together are virtually absent. Based on Gustav's secret diary, meticulous archival research, and oral history, this book tells for the first time the incredible story of courage and survival, unmatched in Holocaust history. "The Boy Who Followed His Father to Auschwitz" is a reminder of the worst and best in humanity, of the power of family love and the strength of the human spirit. ------------------------------ "A deeply moving, humane book." — The Guardian "Brilliantly written, vivid, powerful true story that deserves to be read and remembered. It beautifully conveys the strength of the bond between father and son." — Heather Morris, author of "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" "The horrors of the Holocaust are masterfully conveyed on a human scale in this gripping book… accessible even to those unfamiliar with the history." — Publishers Weekly "A meticulously crafted, grim tale of the Kleinmann family, a Viennese family devastated by the Holocaust… One of the most touching aspects of the book is the relationship between Fritz and his father; both desperately struggled to stay together, and neither wanted to abandon the other. The resulting book clarifies the brutality in a way that a regular history book could not." — Kirkus Review