Hanns and Rudolf: The German Jew and the Hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz - Hardcover

Harding, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434022365 ISBN 13: 9780434022366

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 2013

Synopsis

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE JQ WINGATE PRIZE 2015 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD The true story of the Jewish investigator who pursued and captured one of Nazi Germany's most notorious war criminals. Hanns Alexander was the son of a prosperous German family who fled Berlin for London in the 1930s. Rudolf Höss was a farmer and soldier who became the Kommandant of Auschwitz Concentration Camp and oversaw the deaths of over a million men, women and children. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. Lieutenant Hanns Alexander is one of the lead investigators, Rudolf Höss his most elusive target. In this book Thomas Harding reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss’ capture. Moving from the Middle-Eastern campaigns of the First World War to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s, to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, it tells the story of two German men whose lives diverged, and intersected, in an astonishing way.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas Harding is a bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than 16 languages. He has written for the Sunday Times, the Washington Post and the Guardian, among other publications. He is the bestselling author of HANNS AND RUDOLF, which won the JQ-Wingate Prize for Non-Fiction; THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE, which was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award; BLOOD ON THE PAGE, which won the Crime Writers' Association "Golden Dagger Award for Non-Fiction" and FUTURE HISTORY, which was shortlisted for the German Children's Literature Award 2021. His next book, WHITE DEBT, was published in January 2022. You can follow Thomas on twitter @thomasharding

From the Back Cover

‘Fascinating. As awareness of the full horror of these dark years continues to advance, this book fills a unique and vital role.’
Lyn Smith

‘A remarkable book: thoughtful, compelling and quite devastating in its humanity. Thomas Harding’s account of these two extraordinary men goes straight to the dark heart of Nazi Germany.’
Keith Lowe

‘Thrilling… Closely researched and tautly written, this book sheds light on a remarkable and previously unknow n aspect of the Holocaust – the moment when a Jew and one of the highest-ranking Nazis came face to face and history held its breath.’
Jonathan Freedland

‘A fascinating, well-crafted book, entwining two biographies for an unusual and illuminating approach to the history of the Third Reich, its most heinous crime and its aftermath.’
Roger Moorhouse

‘In this electrifying account Thomas Harding commemorates (and, for the tired, revivifies) a ringing Biblical injunction: Justice, justice, shalt thou pursue.’
Cynthia Ozick

Edition details

• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0434022365
• ISBN 13: 9780434022366
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368