- Summary
- "Early in the morning of November 26, 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz heard a deafening explosion. Emerging from their barracks, they witnessed the crematoria--part of the largest killing machine in human history--come crashing down. Most assumed they had fallen victim to inmate sabotage and thousands gave a silent cheer. However, the Final Solution's most efficient murder apparatus had not been felled by Jews, but rather by the ruthless architect of mass genocide, SS chief Heinrich Himmler--an edict that has puzzled historians for more than six decades. Holocaust historian and New York Times bestselling author Max Wallace--a veteran interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation--draws on an explosive cache of recently declassified documents and an account from the only living eyewitness to unravel the mystery. For the first time, he reveals an incredible story involving the secret negotiations of an unlikely trio--a former fascist President of Switzerland, a courageous Orthodox Jewish woman, and Himmler himself--to end the Holocaust, aided by clandestine Swedish and American intelligence efforts. He documents their efforts to deceive Himmler, successfully prevent the extermination of hundreds of thousands of Jews during the last months of the Second World War, and thwart Hitler's plan to take "every last Jew" down with the Reich. These are revelations that will help rewrite the history of the Holocaust and the Second World War."-- Provided by publisher.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Wallace, Max, author.
- Published
- New York, NY : Skyhorse Publishing, [2018]
©2018
- Locale
- Poland
Oświęcim
Europe
- Contents
-
The lifeboat is full
The Swiss Schindler
Betrayed
Strange bedfellows
The Reichsführer-SS
Evacuation to the East
Saving the guardians of the Torah
The Sternbuch cable
March of the rabbis
The rescue committee
The spy chief and the devil's doctor
Blood for trucks
An unlikely ally
Fall of the killing machine
Forty tractors
Deal with the devil
Waiting in vain
Dithering
Agreement: "In the name of humanity"
At daggers drawn
Race against time
Epilogue.
- Notes
-
"First published 2017 by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited."--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 403-458) and index.
The lifeboat is full -- The Swiss Schindler -- Betrayed -- Strange bedfellows -- The Reichsführer-SS -- Evacuation to the East -- Saving the guardians of the Torah -- The Sternbuch cable -- March of the rabbis -- The rescue committee -- The spy chief and the devil's doctor -- Blood for trucks -- An unlikely ally -- Fall of the killing machine -- Forty tractors -- Deal with the devil -- Waiting in vain -- Dithering -- Agreement: "In the name of humanity" -- At daggers drawn -- Race against time -- Epilogue.
