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The Volunteer

The True Story of the Resistance Hero who Infiltrated Auschwitz – Costa Book of the Year 2019

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The 2019 Costa Book of the Year and Biography Winner.

How do you keep fighting in the face of unimaginable horror?

Narrated by David Rintoul, this is the untold story of one of the greatest heroes of the Second World War.
In the summer of 1940, after the Nazi occupation of Poland, an underground operative called Witold Pilecki accepted a mission to uncover the fate of thousands of people being interred at a new concentration camp on the border of the Reich.

His mission was to report on Nazi crimes and raise a secret army to stage an uprising. The name of the detention centre - Auschwitz.

It was only after arriving at the camp that he started to discover the Nazis' terrifying designs. Over the next two and a half years, Witold forged an underground army that smuggled evidence of Nazi atrocities, culminating in the mass murder of over a million Jews, to the West. His reports from the camp were to shape the Allies response to the Holocaust - yet his story was all but forgotten for decades.

This is the first major account of his amazing journey, drawing on exclusive family papers and recently declassified files as well as unpublished accounts from the camp's fighters to show how he saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
The result is an enthralling story of resistance and heroism against the most horrific circumstances and one man's attempt to change the course of history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our Desktop Site.

© Jack Fairweather 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

 20th Century Historical Military Military & War Modern World War II War Crime Scary Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Holocaust

Critic reviews

Well-researched, well-written and searingly memorable, Jack Fairweather’s book reminds us of the capacity for nobility in the human soul in times of unimaginable peril
Few books have enthralled, incensed and haunted me as “The Volunteer” has done. There were times I felt compelled to set it aside. There were others when hours of reading passed in what felt like moments … This is a story that has long deserved a robust, faithful telling, and he has delivered it
An extraordinary story
Superbly written and breathtakingly researched … a story of incalculable value delivered in the most compelling prose I have read in a long time
What distinguishes The Volunteer is Fairweather’s meticulous attention to accuracy … if it sometimes seems as though there is nothing left to uncover about the Holocaust, Fairweather’s gripping book proves otherwise
Combines the verve of a thriller with the detailed evidence of the sober, hideous truth (Anne de Courcy)
A searing account … a fitting memorial to one of Poland’s greatest war heroes and a shaming indictment of the western allies’ failure to act
A forceful narrative with unstoppable reading momentum, Fairweather has created an insightful biography of a covert war hero and an extraordinary contribution to the history of the Holocaust.
Witold Pilecki is one of the great—perhaps the greatest—unsung heroes of the second world war ... Jack Fairweather's meticulous and insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life
An outstanding achievement ... a harrowing tale, revealing the depths of human depravity, redeemed by the shining courage and nobility of one of humanity's heroes.
All stars
Most relevant
A gripping and unique narrative brilliantly wending the story of an incredible man at the epicentre of one of the darkest times of human history with the broader political setting. And a call to moral courage which surpasses history.

Absolutely brilliant

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I found this to be a compelling and insightful account. I have read a number of Jewish accounts of Auschwitz so it was fascinating to read a different perspective. Witold Pilecki, the hero of this account, was a Catholic Pole, and so his experience of the horrors of Auschwitz was necessarily different from that of Jewish victims, to whose murder he was a crucial witness. I learnt a great deal about daily life in the camp and about Poland's experience of occupation. Anyone with an interest in Nazi Germany, the Second World War, Polish history or the Holocaust will appreciate this book. The narrator also does an excellent job.

Great story, well told.

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Completely gripping story of courage and, indeed, dignity in the face of an unfolding horror which would be completely unbelievable unless it were so well documented. And delivered in a restrained yet powerful way by Davod Rintoul, who not once stumbled over a Police surname or placename. Left me feeling strangely stunned, emotional and empty at the same time.

Astonishing story, brilliantly told

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Incredibly well narrated, with certain part almost feeling that you’re in there.
It come to light not only one forgotten Poland hero but a different perspective that isn’t the Jewish view of the holocaust, helping us to broaden our view about what was done and said during this war.

Impressive book

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Amazing story which should never be lost and will remind us how fragile civilization is.

Amazing story

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