Jonathan Freedland

It's King Winter's birthday, and he wants his party to be really special. He asks all of his brothers and sisters to be there: Queen Spring, King Summer and Queen Autumn. But the wind and the trees whisper a warning, and as the four play magical games, something strange begins to happen outside.

A thrilling true story of courage, resistance and ultimately betrayal in the Third Reich captured by internationally bestselling author and prize-winning journalist Jonathan Freedland. The Traitors Circle tells the true, but scarcely known, story of a group of secret rebels against Hitler. Drawn from Berlin high society, they include army officers, government officials, two countesses, an ambassador's widow and a former model - meeting in the shadows, whether hiding and rescuing Jews or plotting for a Germany freed from Nazi rule. One day in September 1943 they gather for a tea party - unaware that one among them is about to betray them all to the Gestapo. But who is the betrayer of a circle themselves branded 'traitors' by the cruellest regime in history? In another page-turning work of nonfiction that reads like a thriller, Jonathan Freedland, acclaimed author of The Escape Artist, sheds light on one of the most dramatic episodes of the second world war, telling a story of courage, resistance and ultimate betrayal that has deep moral resonance for our own time, and asks what kind of person it takes to risk everything and stand up to tyranny. PRAISE FOR THE ESCAPE ARTIST: '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

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist, an extraordinary true story of resistance, heroism and betrayal.When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.Berlin, 1943: A group of high society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer's afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo.They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering head mistress. What unites every one of them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance: meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the F hrer's rule. Or so they believe.How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap?Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruelest men, they showed a heroism in the face of the most vengeful regime in history that raises the question: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist, an extraordinary true story of resistance, heroism and betrayal.When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.Berlin, 1943: A group of high society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer's afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo.They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering head mistress. What unites every one of them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance: meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the F hrer's rule. Or so they believe.How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap?Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruelest men, they showed a heroism in the face of the most vengeful regime in history that raises the question: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?

A thrilling true story of courage, resistance and ultimately betrayal in the Third Reich captured by internationally bestselling author and prize-winning journalist Jonathan Freedland.The Traitors Circle tells the true, but scarcely known, story of a group of secret rebels against Hitler. Drawn from Berlin high society, they include army officers, government officials, two countesses, an ambassador's widow and a former model - meeting in the shadows, whether hiding and rescuing Jews or plotting for a Germany freed from Nazi rule. One day in September 1943 they gather for a tea party - unaware that one among them is about to betray them all to the Gestapo. But who is the betrayer of a circle themselves branded 'traitors' by the cruellest regime in history? In another page-turning work of nonfiction that reads like a thriller, Jonathan Freedland, acclaimed author of The Escape Artist, sheds light on one of the most dramatic episodes of the second world war, telling a story of courage, resistance and ultimate betrayal that has deep moral resonance for our own time, and asks what kind of person it takes to risk everything and stand up to tyranny.PRAISE FOR THE ESCAPE ARTIST:'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

"riktigt välskriven och fängslande text ... en väsentlig och stark skildring som äntligen har fått fin svensk språkdräkt. Verkligen läsvärd och förtjänar att läsas!" Btj, betyg: 5/5"Den överlevande József Debreczeni publicerade egentligen sitt verk redan 1950, men boken lät sig inte inrättas i vare sig västlig eller östlig historieskrivning under kalla kriget och tystades därför ner. En omständighet som, förstås, gör den ännu angelägnare."Dagens Nyheter Journalisten och författaren József Debreczeni anländer till Auschwitz 1944. Tolv fruktansvärda månader av fångenskap och slavarbete i en rad olika läger följer. Slutstationen är ett kallt krematorium det så kallade sjukhuset i tvångsarbetslägret Dörnhau, där fångar för svaga för att arbeta väntar på att bli avrättade. När sovjetiska och allierade trupper närmar sig lägren beslutar lokala nazistbefälhavare att lämna de återstående fångarna att dö. Debreczenis Kallt krematorium är en av de hårdaste och mest skoningslösa anklagelserna mot nazismen som någonsin skrivits. Denna gripande och osentimentala memoar är en ögonvittnesskildring med stora litterära kvaliteter. Boken publicerades först på ungerska 1950, men översattes aldrig till något annat språk på grund av det kalla kriget. Mer än 70 år senare är detta mästerverk, som nästan gick förlorat, tillgängligt på 15 språk och kan äntligen inta sin rättmätiga plats bland de största verken inom förintelselitteraturen.JÓZSEF DEBRECZENI (Budapest 1905 Belgrad 1978) pseudonym för József Bruner, författare och journalist från regionen Vojvodina i Jugoslavien (dagens Serbien). Han skrev romaner, poesi och pjäser. Efter kriget jobbade han för ungerskspråkig media i Vojvodina, såväl som Belgrads stora nyhetstidningar."Debreczeni förenar den styva journalistens sinne för att återge individer, detaljer och miljöer med en sociologs och etnografs förståelse för det större skeendet. Allt med en poets språkkänsla." Hynek Pallas, Göteborgs-Posten "Den mest omedelbara konfrontation med lägrens fasor som jag någonsin har stött på. [...] Debreczeni har bevarat en panoptisk skildring av helvetet, på en gång personlig, gemensam och stämningsfull." New York Times "En memoarbok om Förintelsen värdig Primo Levi." The Times of London "Den borde vara obligatorisk läsning." Jonathan Safran Foer, författare till Allt är upplyst"En läglig påminnelse om människans omänsklighet mot människan." Jung Chang, författare till Vilda svanar"En skatt [...] Debreczenis memoarer är ett avgörande bidrag till förintelselitteraturen, en bok som vidgar vår förståelse av 'livet' i Auschwitz." Wall Street Journal

This lost classic, a crystal clear eyewitness account of the Holocaust, has been translated into English for the first time, 70 years after it was first published.'A literary diamond... A holocaust memoir worthy of Primo Levi' The Times'A masterpiece' New Statesman**SELECTED AS ONE OF THE 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2024 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES**For many years this powerful classic of Holocaust literature was forgotten. József Debreczeni was a journalist and poet who arrived in Auschwitz in 1944. He survived the initial selection and endured twelve months of incarceration and slave labour in a series of camps. He ended up in the ‘Cold Crematorium’, the so-called hospital of the forced labour camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work were left to die. Debreczeni beat the odds and survived. This is his story, written in haunting, lyrical prose, compelling us to imagine the unimaginable.Although published in Hungarian in 1950, the book was then lost for the next seventy years. Now, finally, this important eyewitness account takes its place among the great works of Holocaust literature.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JONATHAN FREEDLAND

Kviten 1944-go. V'jazen Aushvitsu, dev'jatnadtsjatilitnij Valter Rozenberg (jakij zgodom zminit im'ja na Rudolf Vrba), za kilka poperednikh rokiv uzhe zitknuvsja z usima zvirstvami taboru smerti: gazovimi kamerami, krematorijami ta zhorstokistju okhoroni. Odnogo razu jomu doruchili pereviriti rechi novikh v'jazniv: zhinok, cholovikiv, ditej, tsilikh simej... Zrozumivshi, scho tsi rechi nikoli ne znadobljatsja vlasnikam, oskilki jikh stratili vidrazu pislja togo, jak voni potrapili do taboru, khloptsja okhopiv zhakh. Vin virishiv dijati. Jogo metoju stala vtecha, prote ne tilki zadlja vlasnogo porjatunku, a j schob vidkriti svitovi pravdu pro Aushvits ta poperediti reshtu jevrejiv pro te, jaka dolja chekaje na nikh u kintsi zaliznichnoji koliji. Junak rozpochav svoju pidgotovku j zapam'jatav usi zvichaji ta rozporjadki kontstaboru. Vin vikoristovuvav tsju informatsiju dlja vtechi ta stvorennja detalnogo zvitu, jakim mozhna podilitisja zi svitom...PerekladachKhristina Radchenko

An achingly beautiful, timeless picture book by bestselling author Jonathan Freedland and illustrated by Emily Sutton, inspired by a story from Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, author of The Passenger It's King Winter's birthday, and he wants his party to be really special. He asks all of his brothers and sisters to be there: Queen Spring, King Summer and Queen Autumn. But the wind and the trees whisper a warning, and as the four play magical games, something strange begins to happen outside. Inspired by a story from Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, written while he was interned on the Isle of Man during the Second World War, this timeless fairy tale is a celebration of nature's rhythms, and of a chaotic world restored to balance.

Auschwitzin kauhut paljastaneen sankarin unohdettu tarina, josta tuli kansainvälinen bestseller. Rudolf Vrba oli ensimmäinen juutalainen, joka onnistui pakenemaan Auschwitzista. Hänen trillerimäinen tarinansa syntyy toistuvista pakoyrityksistä ja uhasta tulla tapetuksi mitä julmimmalla tavalla. Kirja avaa myös toisenlaisen näkymän maailman tunnetuimmalle kuolemanleirille. Vrba työskenteli siviilivaatteissa muita inhimillisemmissä oloissa, minkä ansiosta hänellä oli voimia toteuttaa uhkarohkea pakomatkansa. Pakonsa jälkeen Vrba kirjoitti käänteentekevän raportin, jonka tietojen avulla liittoutuneiden joukot pelastivat 200 000 unkarilaista. "Loistava ja raastava teos." - Yuval Noah Harari

A lost classic of Holocaust literature translated for the first time - from journalist, poet and survivor József Debreczeni'A literary diamond... A holocaust memoir worthy of Primo Levi' THE TIMES'A masterpiece' NEW STATESMANWhen József Debreczeni arrived in Auschwitz in 1944, had he been selected to go 'left', his life expectancy would have been approximately forty-five minutes. One of the 'lucky' ones, he was sent to the 'right', which led to twelve horrifying months of incarceration and slave labour in a series of camps, ending in the 'Cold Crematorium' - the so-called hospital of the forced labour camp Dörnhau, where prisoners too weak to work were left to die.Debreczeni beat the odds and survived. Very soon he committed his experiences to paper in Cold Crematorium, one of the harshest and powerful indictments of Nazism ever written. This haunting memoir, rendered in the precise and unsentimental prose of an accomplished journalist, compels the reader to imagine human beings in circumstances impossible to comprehend intellectually.First published in Hungarian in 1950, it was never translated due to the rise of McCarthyism, Cold War hostilities and antisemitism. This important eyewitness account that was nearly lost to time will be available in fifteen languages, finally taking its rightful place among the great works of Holocaust literature more than seventy years after it was first published.

La verdadera historia de Rudi Vrba, el primer jud o que escap de Auschwitz y trat de advertir al mundo de las atrocidades nazis.En abril de 1944, Rudolf Vrba se convirti en el primer jud o en escapar de Auschwitz. Contra todo pron stico, tras esquivar por poco las balas alemanas, l y su compa ero de fuga escalaron monta as y cruzaron r os para alcanzar la libertad. Vrba quer a advertir a los ltimos jud os de Europa del destino que les esperaba al final de la v a f rrea. Brillante estudiante de ciencias y matem ticas, memoriz cada uno de los detalles de la maquinaria nazi y lo arriesg todo para recopilar los primeros datos de la Soluci n Final. Tras su huida, sac de contrabando el primer relato completo de cuanto acontec a en los campos de exterminio, un informe detallado que finalmente llegar a a manos de Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill y el papa, y que acabar a salvando miles de vidas jud as. El maestro de la fuga es la historia de un hombre que merece ocupar su lugar en la historia junto a Ana Frank, Oskar Schindler y Primo Levi, protagonistas todos ellos del cap tulo m s oscuro de nuestro pasado reciente. Un cl sico inmediato de la literatura sobre el Holocausto. Magn ficamente investigado y escrito, se trata de una historia apasionante y profundamente conmovedora. No pod a dejar de leerlo. Antony Beevor Un libro brillante y desgarrador, con lecciones universales y oportunas sobre el poder de la informaci n y de la desinformaci n. Yuval Noah Harari Una lectura inspiradora, cautivadora y emocionante. Freedland ha dado a Rudolf Vrba el lugar que le corresponde en la historia, y en el proceso ha escrito un libro que no se puede dejar de leer. Simon Sebag Montefiore El maestro de la fuga es un cl sico moderno de la literatura de la atrocidad m s absoluta. Simon Schama Maravilloso... Es original, meticuloso y totalmente irresistible. Philippe Sands Un libro extraordinario. En algunos momentos apenas pod a respirar. Es un homenaje a su extraordinario h roe, y una historia muy importante y necesaria de leer... No puedo elogiarlo lo suficiente. Philip PullmanENGLISH DESCRIPTIONIn April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom--among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world--and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen. This is the story of a complex hero, one of the first witnesses to reveal the truth of the Holocaust.

The astonishing, forgotten story of the hero who escaped from Auschwitz to reveal the truth of the Holocaust.

Mörket är omätbart i lysande bok om mannen som flydde från Auschwitz Dagens NyheterEn lysande och hjärtskärande bok med universella och aktuella lärdomar om styrkan i information och desinformation. Är det möjligt att stoppa massmord genom att berätta sanningen? Yuval Noah Harari, författare till Sapiens och Homo DeusI april 1944 planerar tonåringen Rudolf Vrba en vågad och aldrig tidigare skådad flykt från Auschwitz. Efter att ha gömt sig i en hög med timmerplank i tre dagar medan 3 000 SS-män och deras hundar sökte efter honom skulle Vrba och hans medflykting Fred Wetzler så småningom korsa det nazistiska och ockuperade Polen till fots, som medellösa flyktningar. Deras uppdrag: att berätta sanningen om den slutgiltiga lösningen för världen. Vrba skulle från minnet producera en hisnande rapport som avslöjade Auschwitz verkliga natur och omfattning en rapport som skulle hitta vägen till Roosevelt, Churchill och påven och så småningom rädda över 200 000 judiska liv. Men Vrba slutade aldrig tro på att det kunde ha varit så många fler. Mannen som flydde från Auschwitz är den extraordinära historien om en man som skulle komma att försöka fly igen och igen: först från Auschwitz, sedan från sitt förflutna, till och med från sitt eget namn. Genom att berätta sin historia säkerställer journalisten och den hyllade författaren Jonathan Freedland att Rudolf Vrbas heroiska uppdrag också kommer att undgå glömska. Gripande GuardianMagnifik Philip Pullman Utmärkt Sunday TimesEn omedelbart klassiker Antony Beevor Imponerande Simon Sebag Montefiore

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award - New York Times Bestseller"A brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information--and misinformation. Is it possible to stop mass murder by telling the truth?" -- Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of TomorrowA complex hero. A forgotten story. The first witness to reveal the full truth of the Holocaust . . .Award-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Jonathan Freedland tells the astonishing true story of Rudolf Vrba, the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world of a truth too few were willing to hear.In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom--among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world--and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen--a forensically detailed report that eventually reached Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the Pope.And yet too few heeded the warning that Vrba had risked everything to deliver. Though Vrba helped save two hundred thousand Jewish lives, he never stopped believing it could have been so many more.This is the story of a brilliant yet troubled man--a gifted "escape artist" who, even as a teenager, understood that the difference between truth and lies can be the difference between life and death. Rudolf Vrba deserves to take his place alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler, and Primo Levi as one of the handful of individuals whose stories define our understanding of the Holocaust.

Auschwitzin kauhut paljastaneen sankarin unohdettu tarina, josta tuli kansainvälinen bestseller.Rudolf Vrba oli ensimmäinen juutalainen, joka onnistui pakenemaan Auschwitzista. Hänen trillerimäinen tarinansa syntyy toistuvista pakoyrityksistä ja uhasta tulla tapetuksi mitä julmimmalla tavalla.Kirja avaa myös toisenlaisen näkymän maailman tunnetuimmalle kuolemanleirille. Vrba työskenteli siviilivaatteissa muita inhimillisemmissä oloissa, minkä ansiosta hänellä oli voimia toteuttaa uhkarohkea pakomatkansa.Pakonsa jälkeen Vrba kirjoitti käänteentekevän raportin, jonka tietojen avulla liittoutuneiden joukot pelastivat 200 000 unkarilaista."Loistava ja raastava teos." - Yuval Noah Harari

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award - New York Times Bestseller"A brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information--and misinformation. Is it possible to stop mass murder by telling the truth?" -- Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of TomorrowA complex hero. A forgotten story. The first witness to reveal the full truth of the Holocaust . . .Award-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Jonathan Freedland tells the astonishing true story of Rudolf Vrba, the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world of a truth too few were willing to hear.In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom--among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world--and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen--a forensically detailed report that eventually reached Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the Pope.And yet too few heeded the warning that Vrba had risked everything to deliver. Though Vrba helped save two hundred thousand Jewish lives, he never stopped believing it could have been so many more.This is the story of a brilliant yet troubled man--a gifted "escape artist" who, even as a teenager, understood that the difference between truth and lies can be the difference between life and death. Rudolf Vrba deserves to take his place alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler, and Primo Levi as one of the handful of individuals whose stories define our understanding of the Holocaust.