The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz

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To uncover the fate of thousands interred at a mysterious Nazi camp, a thirty-nine-year-old Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for a daring mission: to assume a false identity, get captured, and report back on what happened to his compatriots. His mission was not only to gather intelligence but also to execute an attack from within the camp, where the Germans would least expect it. The camp was Auschwitz. Over two and a half years, Pilecki built an underground army that sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi informants, and gathered evidence of horrific abuses and mass murder. As he uncovered the grim reality that Auschwitz was central to Nazi extermination plans, Pilecki recognized the urgency of warning the West before it was too late. This meant attempting the impossible—escaping Auschwitz. Erased from history by Poland's postwar Communist regime, Pilecki remains largely unknown. With exclusive access to hidden diaries, survivor accounts, and declassified files, Jack Fairweather presents a stark portrayal of survival, revenge, and betrayal during humanity's darkest hour. The tragic outcome of Pilecki's mission reveals that its ultimate defeat stemmed not from Auschwitz or Berlin, but from London and Washington.