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

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of genocide; starvation; systematic, state-sponsored violence and persecution; and antisemitism perpetrated by Germany and its collaborators during the Holocaust. This section also discusses suicide.

“The order came wrapped in gentle, even genteel, language. Jews were not to be deported, still less expelled. No, they were to be resettled. And not all the Jews. Only the men, only the able-bodied, only those aged between sixteen and thirty. If they would agree to go voluntarily, quietly and without fuss, then nothing would happen to their families, who would be allowed to stay behind and follow later.”

One of the key themes in the book is The Power of (Mis)Information and Deception. The Nazis and their collaborators used a web of lies to hide their intentions of genocide from the Jewish people. The letters described above are one example. While the Jewish people were in fact being deported to unknown destinations, the letters used the words “resettlement.” This softer language gave Jewish people hope that their lives might be the same in this new destination. The Nazis and their collaborators also wanted to remove the able-bodied men first to reduce the risk of potential uprisings. They made the false promise that their families would join them to prevent unrest associated with these orders. Many Jewish men and their families believed these orders, leading to their demise.

“The Jews in the wagon were not only being degraded in front of each other, they were being rejected by the outside world. That driver could see and hear sick children begging to drink and he could not even look in their direction. Bastards, he had called them, while he stared into the middle distance.”

Despite the deplorable conditions on the train, this moment shook Walter the most. For the first time, Walter realized that the outside world had turned their backs on his people. The train conductor refused to help even the children. At the time, Walter did not realize that the SS officers killed people and their families for harboring or helping Jewish people. The train conductor knew this and perhaps had even seen a fellow colleague murdered.