Leap Into Darkness: Seven Years on the Run in Wartime Europe

by Michael Olesker and Leo Bretholz

Book Overview

A harrowing, action-packed account of the author's series of audacious escapes from the Nazis' Final Solution--"riveting...a fascinating and moving piece of history" (Library Journal).

Young Leo Bretholz survived the Holocaust by escaping from the Nazis (and others) not once, but seven times during his almost seven-year ordeal crisscrossing war-torn Europe. He leaped from trains, outran police, and hid in attics, cellars, anywhere that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385497059
• ISBN13: 9780385497053
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

This is an excellent book which I truly enjoyed. I have stopped reading at some points just because I had to take a moment to fathom how Leo did the things he did to survive!

Leap Into Darkness

Leap Into DarknessLeo BretholzAuto-BiographicalLeo Bretholz is a young boy in this book who is running for his life in the Holocaust. He was born in Vienna, Austria.He survived the Nazis' plan to kill all the Jews. He escaped seven times during almost a seven-year time period. During his seven-year run for his life he was in many countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and a few others. He was in Internment Camps, Forced Labor Camps, and was improsined a few times. It was unbelievable to here the story of how he escaped death. This book was one of the greatest Holocaust. Books I have ever read. It contains a great deal of information on the Holocaust. The author Leo Bretholz was a survivor of the Holocaust. This book compares to "Night" by Elie Wiesel. This book was different though because Leo encountered so much more and was on the run for seven years. It is unimaginable. "Leap Into Darkness" was one of the most touching books I have experienced. I could not put the book down. I have read many Holocaust books but this was by far the best book I have ever read. It contains the greatest story of how Leo Bretholz was a brave man and he escaped from danger. It's amazing to here all that he had to go through but that he was still here today. It was also interesting to here that after the Holocaust his name was posted in a book for those who had passed away but he was grateful to be living. He dealt with the loss of family members but he still didn't give up. Leo Bretholz touched my life because he wasn't a quitter. A quote on page 158 he asked, "What will happen to us?" Even though there were bad possibilities Leo Bretholz never gave up. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 12. If you are looking for suspense this is a great book for you. If you want to learn a lot of information on the holocaust this is definitely the answer. This may be too scary for younger children and if you don't like sad Holocaust stories this may not be the right thing for you. Overall this is one of the best stories I have ever read and I encourage you to read it.

This Thriller is one man's Real Life Story

A fantastic story told by the man for whom it was a reality Leo Bretholz set out to write a book, not because he is a bookwriter, but because he has a story to tell. His childhood in Vienna, living the holocaust as a life event, loss, danger and the exhileration of escape and survival unfold with the suspense one usually expects from a fictional thriller. The thing that makes this book important it that it is the truth. Highly recommended for those interested in this period of history, and equally as a good read for for everybody.

A "Must Read" for students of the "Holocaust"

"Leap into Darkness" is an absolutely spellbinding account of the author's transformation from a boy growing up in a sheltered environment to a resourceful, daring, brilliant escape artist matching wits with the Nazis and their French collaborators. The intellectual honesty, the ever-present fear, the self-doubts, the worries about family and friends, the repeated encounters with treachery, the enemy and with those who risked their lives to help, ranks this work with the best of Holocaust literature.

This is a fast-paced, well written, story of survival.

I came across this book at a Baltimore bookstore on the day the authors were doing a signing, and was very pleased. This is the story of a young Jewish man and his flight for life across Europe during the Nazi invasion. The book is gripping as Mr. Bretholz is dealt one fate after another during his many attempts to outrun the Nazis. The tension mounts as you follow Mr. Bretholz through the horrifying adventure of Nazi Germany and run in his footsteps. I've read numerous books about World War II, but this is the first that to give me a true sense of seeing the horror first hand as it unfolded. It is a tragic personal adventure that will bring you to tears as you experience the inhumanities and tragedies of the war and then share in the author's final triumph of coming to America. I've read two memoirs this year, this one and Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. While they are two very different tragic stories, they are among the better books I have read in quite some time.

Well written. Well researched. Easy flowing story.

This is one of the best written stories from the Holocaust. It details one young mans experience in running from the Nazis. The moral courage, love of life and family shows throughout this book.Bretholzs' detail in recall is outstanding. Everyone with a Holocaust interest must read this book.