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The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland

2. The Devastating Deception

Duration: 14 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM

The award-winning journalist Jonathan Freedland reads from his powerful and moving new book. Today, in Auschwitz, a young Jewish man arrives at a devastating realisation and he is compelled to make a courageous decision.

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland, the award-winning journalist, broadcaster and international bestselling author, tells the remarkable story of a young man who made it his mission to expose the chilling reality of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Courage and a steely determination to do the right thing led Rudolf Vrba and his friend, Fred Wetzler, to make a daring escape from the heavily guarded concentration camp. An eyewitness to many stages of the Final Solution, Vrba committed to memory details of the concentration camp's brutal and murderous regime. His testimony found its way into report that was disseminated to Churchill, Roosevelt and the Pope and ultimately saved the lives of 200,000 Hungarian Jews.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard Show less

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