The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

In April 1944, the two men hid and waited for their chance. Walter Rosenberg (later Rudolf Vrba) knew the intricacies of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp down pat. He and a fellow prisoner concealed themselves from SS troops and prison guards for three days until the focus of the search would provide the men with a window to flee. Rosenberg had been at Auschwitz for two years and was only nineteen years old when he broke out.

Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, the increasingly Nazi-allied government’s repressive actions against the Jewish people led to Rosenberg’s first attempt to flee. Apprehended between Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Rosenberg would be shuttled off initially to the Majdanek labor camp and then Auschwitz. During his internment at Auschwitz, Walter witnessed the “Final Solution” in all its horror. After his flight, he and others would attempt to tell the world about the genocide being perpetrated.

The Escape Artist is a powerful and painful memoir about a young man’s descent into hell on earth. Author Jonathan Freedland captures his subject in an empathetic portrayal wherein the rebellious Rosenberg refuses to give up even under the direst conditions. His story remains of utmost significance nearly eighty years after.