The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz: A True Story of Family and Survival

"Brilliantly written, vivid, a powerful and often uncomfortable true story that deserves to be read and remembered. It beautifully captures the strength of the bond between a father and son."--Heather Morris, author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz The #1 Sunday Times bestseller--a remarkable story of the heroic and unbreakable bond between a father and son that is as inspirational as The Tattooist of Auschwitz and as mesmerizing as The Choice. Where there is family, there is hope In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholster from Vienna, and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz are arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Germany. Imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, they miraculously survive the Nazis' murderous brutality. Then Gustav learns he is being sent to Auschwitz--and certain death. For Fritz, letting his father go is unthinkable. Desperate to remain together, Fritz makes an incredible choice: he insists he must go too. To the Nazis, one death camp is the same as another, and so the boy is allowed to follow.&nbsp; Throughout the six years of horror they witness and immeasurable suffering they endure as victims of the camps, one constant keeps them alive: their love and hope for the future.&nbsp; Based on the secret diary that Gustav kept as well as meticulous archival research and interviews with members of the Kleinmann family, including Fritz's younger brother Kurt, sent to the United States at age eleven to escape the war, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is Gustav and Fritz's story--an extraordinary account of courage, loyalty, survival, and love that is unforgettable.

Biographies & Memoirs

Dronfield, Jeremy

Community & Culture

Harper Paperbacks

Product Description 
“Brilliantly written, vivid, a powerful and often uncomfortable true story that deserves to be read and remembered. It beautifully captures the strength of the bond between a father and son.”--Heather Morris, author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz 
The #1 Sunday Times bestseller—a remarkable story of the heroic and unbreakable bond between a father and son that is as inspirational as The Tattooist of Auschwitz and as mesmerizing as The Choice.Where there is family, there is hope 
In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholster from Vienna, and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz are arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Germany. Imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, they miraculously survive the Nazis’ murderous brutality. 
Then Gustav learns he is being sent to Auschwitz—and certain death. 
For Fritz, letting his father go is unthinkable. Desperate to remain together, Fritz makes an incredible choice: he insists he must go too. To the Nazis, one death camp is the same as another, and so the boy is allowed to follow. 
Throughout the six years of horror they witness and immeasurable suffering they endure as victims of the camps, one constant keeps them alive: their love and hope for the future. 
Based on the secret diary that Gustav kept as well as meticulous archival research and interviews with members of the Kleinmann family, including Fritz’s younger brother Kurt, sent to the United States at age eleven to escape the war, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is Gustav and Fritz’s story—an extraordinary account of courage, loyalty, survival, and love that is unforgettable. 
 Review 
“Brilliantly written, vivid, a powerful and often uncomfortable true story that deserves to be read and remembered. It beautifully captures the strength of the bond between a father and son.” -- Heather Morris, author of #1 
New York Times bestseller 
The Tattooist of Auschwitz\n“Today, when studies are showing many Americans know little about the Holocaust, this will serve as a compelling remedy: a personal and universal account of brutality at its worst and of family devotion at its best.” -- 
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)\n“An extraordinary tale of endurance and filial love. It is a miraculous story with many twists and Dronfield tells it well in an energetic and lively style.” -- 
The Times (London)\n“The horrors of the Holocaust are effectively conveyed on a human scale in this gripping account.” -- 
Publishers Weekly\n"Heart-wrenching yet compelling. . . . Beautifully written, deeply poignant in its detail, it is a necessary testament today in the fight against Holocaust denial." -- Helen Fry, author of 
The London Cage: The Secret History of Britain's World War II Interrogation Center\n“Astonishing. . . . Brilliantly researched and written with searing clarity.” 
 -- 
Daily Mail (UK)\n“A deeply humane account. This book could not be more timely and deserves the widest possible readership.” -- 
Daily Express (UK) 
 About the Author 
Jeremy Dronfield is a biographer, historian, novelist and former archaeologist. His recent non-fiction titles include Dr James Barry: A Woman Ahead of Her Time, a Sunday Times Book of the Year. He lives in England.

Harper

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz: A True Story Retold for Young Readers

This powerful, moving middle grade adaptation of the adult international bestselling narrative nonfiction book The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz shines a light on the true story of two brothers who experienced the atrocities of the Holocaust in very different ways. 
Fritz Kleinmann was fourteen when the Nazis took over Vienna. Kurt, his little brother, was eight. Under Hitler’s brutal regime, their Austrian-Jewish family of six was cruelly torn apart. 
Taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, Fritz and his Papa, Gustav, underwent hard labor and starvation. Meanwhile, Kurt made the difficult voyage, all alone, to America, to escape the war. 
When Papa was ordered to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp, Fritz—desperate not to lose his beloved father—insisted he must go too. Together, they endured countless atrocities to survive. 
Jeremy Dronfield authentically and accurately captures this family tale of bravery, love, hope, and survival with the help of extensive research and primary sources like Gustav’s diary and interviews with family members. Maps, black-and-white photos, a timeline of events, a glossary, and more are included.

Children's Books

Biographies

Quill Tree Books

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz: A True Story of Family and Survival

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz

Michael, Joseph

Revealed for the first time: how the SS rounded up the Nazis' most prominent prisoners to serve as human shields for Hitler in the last days of World War II In April 1945, as Germany faced defeat, Hitler planned to round up the Third Reich's most valuable prisoners and send them to his "Alpine Fortress," where he and the SS would keep the hostages as they made a last stand against the Allies. The prisoners included European presidents, prime ministers, generals, British secret agents, and German anti-Nazi clerics, celebrities, and officers who had aided the July 1944 bomb plot against Hitler--and the prisoners' families. Orders were given to the SS: if the German military situation deteriorated, the prisoners were to be executed--all 139 of them. So began a tense, deadly drama. As some prisoners plotted escape, others prepared for the inevitable, and their SS guards grew increasingly volatile, drunk, and trigger-happy as defeat loomed. As a dramatic confrontation between the SS and the Wehrmacht threatened the hostages caught in the middle, the US Army launched a frantic rescue bid to save the hostages before the axe fell. Drawing on previously unpublished and overlooked sources, Hitler's Last Plot is the first full account of this astounding and shocking story, from the original round-up order to the prisoners' terrifying ordeal and ultimate rescue. Told in a thrilling, page-turning narrative, this is one of World War II's most fascinating episodes.

Hitler's Last Plot: The 139 VIP Hostages Selected for Death in the Final Days of World War II

History

SAYER, IAN

Europe

Da Capo

This is the inspiring true story of Captain Robert Trimble, who laid his life on the line to rescue hundreds of World War II POWs, including women and children, on the Eastern Front. Near the end of World War II, thousands of Allied and civilian ex-prisoners of war were abandoned to wander the war-torn Eastern Front. With no food, shelter, or supplies, the POWs were at great risk of perishing. As the Red Army advanced across Poland, the Nazi prison camps were liberated. In defiance of humanity, the freed camp inmates were discarded without aid. The Soviets viewed POWs as cowards, and regarded all refugees as potential spies or partisans. Thus many including civilians, were rounded up again and put in detention camps. The United States repeatedly offered to help, but were refused. With relations between the Allies strained and the crisis growing, an eleventh-hour plan was conceived for an undercover rescue mission. In total secrecy, the OSS chose an obscure American air force detachment stationed at a Ukrainian airfield. The man they picked to undertake it was veteran 8th Air Force bomber pilot Captain Robert Trimble. With little covert training, Trimble took the mission. He would survive by wit, courage, and determination. This is the compelling true story of an American hero, who risked everything to bring his fellow soldiers and abandoned civilians home to safety and freedom. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Beyond the Call: The True Story of One World War II Pilot's Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front

Trimble, Lee

Leaders & Notable People

Dutton Caliber

This is the inspiring true story of Captain Robert Trimble, who laid his life on the line to rescue hundreds of World War II POWs, including women and children, on the Eastern Front. Near the end of World War II, thousands of Allied ex-prisoners of war were abandoned to wander the war-torn Eastern Front. With no food, shelter, or supplies, the POWs were an army of dying men. As the Red Army advanced across Poland, the Nazi prison camps were liberated. In defiance of humanity, the freed Allied prisoners were discarded without aid. The Soviets viewed POWs as cowards, and regarded all refugees as potential spies or partisans. The United States repeatedly offered to help, but were refused. With relations between the Allies strained, a plan was conceived for an undercover rescue mission. In total secrecy, the OSS chose an obscure American air force detachment stationed at a Ukrainian airfield. The man they picked to undertake it was veteran 8th Air Force bomber pilot Captain Robert Trimble. With little covert training, Trimble took the mission. He would survive by wit, courage, and determination. This is the compelling, true story of an American hero who risked everything to bring his fellow soldiers home to safety and freedom. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Beyond The Call: The True Story of One World War II Pilot's Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front

A traumatized woman is living on a remote farm, looking for peace. A stranger appears one rain-swept night. He has no memory and no idea who he is. Tentatively the two form a relationship. Both dream of escape, change and redemption - but find they have opened the door to their worst nightmare.

The Locust Farm

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Feature

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