Rezso Kasztner: The Daring Rescue of Hungarian Jews: A Survivor's Account

By Ladislaus Löb and lob-ladislaus

Book Overview

Two months after his eleventh birthday on 9 July 1944 the gates of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp closed behind Ladislaus L b. Five months later with the Second World War still raging he crossed the border into Switzerland cold and hungry but alive and safe. He was not alone but part of a group of some 1 670 Jewish men women and children from Hungary who had been rescued from the Nazis as a result of a deal made by a man called Rezso Kasztner - himself a Hungarian Jew - with Adolf Eichmann the chief architect of the Holocaust. Twelve years and a miscarriage of justice later Kasztner was murdered by an extremist Jewish gang in his adopted home of Israel.

To this day he remains a highly controversial figure regarded by some as a traitor and by many others as a hero. He was accused of betraying the bulk of the Hungarian Jewry by hand-picking only those who were politically and personally dear to him or those from whom he could benefit financially and the judge of his post-war trial concluded that he had 'sold his soul to Satan'.

Rezso Kasztner tells his story - and also the story of a child who lived to grow up after the Holocaust thanks to him. A compelling combination of history and memoir it is also an examination of one individual's unique achievement and a consideration of the profound moral issues raised by his dealings with some of the most evil men ever known.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1845950089
• ISBN13: 9781845950088
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Random House UK
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"