The Volunteer

The True Story of the Resistance Hero who Infiltrated Auschwitz – Costa Book of the Year 2019

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Pub Date 9 Jan 2020 | Archive Date 27 Oct 2020

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Description


'Totally gripping'-- Simon Sebag Montefiore

‘Pilecki is perhaps one of the greatest unsung heroes of the second world war ... this insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life’ -- Economist


Would you sacrifice yourself to save thousands of others?


In the Summer of 1940, after the Nazi occupation of Poland, an underground operative called Witold Pilecki accepted a mission to uncover the fate of thousands of people being interned at a new concentration camp on the border of the Reich.

His mission was to report on Nazi crimes and raise a secret army to stage an uprising. The name of the detention centre -- Auschwitz.

It was only after arriving at the camp that he started to discover the Nazi’s terrifying plans. Over the next two and half years, Witold forged an underground army that smuggled evidence of Nazi atrocities out of Auschwitz. His reports from the camp were to shape the Allies response to the Holocaust - yet his story was all but forgotten for decades.

This is the first major account to draw on unpublished family papers, newly released archival documents and exclusive interviews with surviving resistance fighters to show how he brought the fight to the Nazis at the heart of their evil designs.

The result is an enthralling story of resistance and heroism against the most horrific circumstances, and one man’s attempt to change the course of history.


'Totally gripping'-- Simon Sebag Montefiore

‘Pilecki is perhaps one of the greatest unsung heroes of the second world war ... this insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780753545188
PRICE £9.99 (GBP)
PAGES 400

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Average rating from 13 members


Featured Reviews

Not my usual type of book but I do like historical fiction so although it is set later than I normally read, I liked the sound of the blurb so I took a chance. I bloody loved it. What a story, ww2 showed the world how evil we can be, and this book doesn't shy away from details, fantastic book and a must read in my opinion.

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thoroughly researched and investigated account of a man who volunteered to be taken into a concentration camp. necessary and timely.

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Totally different from the easy to read style of books I like to read for relaxation but oh my, what a read. A well researched put together account of the horrors of Auschwitz from an underground volunteer who entered the horror camp to uncover its true purpose. I have visited this place myself and could clearly visualise it as I read. He uncovers the horrific truth of what is happening here and the writer describes those horrors as they were. Hard to read historic novel but well deserving a place in your library.

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What an amazing read about loyalty, perseverance, bravery and dedication to saving a mistreated section of mankind, in this case the innocent victims incarcerated and killed in Auschwitz. It was evident that it is only in the recent past that the full story of Witold, his family and his experiences could be told to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the ‘death camp’. His story brings to the reader the full impact of what went on in Auschwitz that I have never read before but having visited 3 sites of NAZI atrocities I was brought closer to the “inhumanity to man” that occurred within living memory.
In the latter part of the story after Witold had escaped (a story in itself) the double standards of allegiances of the Polish underground in Warsaw was another revelation that has at last been revealed in the West and explains the evolution of Poland from German occupation to Soviet domination to a free country aligned to the West today. I had great sympathy with Witold and his family over the way the underground dealt with him at the end and he most certainly did not deserve the execution that was handed out. His recognition as a Hero of Poland is well deserved.

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