Escape: From Holocaust survivors to prisoners behind the Iron Curtain: The saga of two families' dramatic escape to Denmark

by Jesper Clemmensen, Mark Mussari (Translator)

On Sunday, July 24, 1960, Jan Rocek—along with his wife, mother-in-law, and two small boys—jumped over the railing on the East German ferry, the Seebad Ahlbeck, and down into the water at the harbour in Gedser, Denmark. The next day, the family's closest friends tried to repeat that feat, thereby ending decades of oppression for two Jewish families in Eastern Europe.

ESCAPE is the unbelievable story of surviving Nazis atrocities in the concentration camp in Auschwitz, being trapped behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, and finally escaping Communism via Denmark.

The book is a spectacular tale about life in totalitarian darkness and the longing for freedom—an extraordinary story of seeing most of a family exterminated and then the survivors seeking a new life through a daring and hair-raising escape from Prague and then north through East Germany, Denmark, and eventually to England and the United States.

Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2025

Reviews

[Martin Roček · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, I am biased, being one of the characters in the book, but on the other hand, it gives me some extra insights: I can vouch for the book’s accuracy—the author is a skilled reporter and did a lot of research. Also, even though I know the story well, I find the presentation gripping and suspenseful. I can also attest that the translation is excellent.