The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz: A True Story of Family and Survival

by Jeremy Dronfield

The #1 Sunday Times bestseller—a remarkable story of the heroic and unbreakable bond between a father and son that is as inspirational as The Tattooist of Auschwitz and as mesmerizing as The Choice.

Where there is family, there is hope

In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholster from Vienna, and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz are arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Germany. Imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, they miraculously survive the Nazis’ murderous brutality.

Then Gustav learns he is being sent to Auschwitz—and certain death.

For Fritz, letting his father go is unthinkable. Desperate to remain together, Fritz makes an incredible choice: he insists he must go too. To the Nazis, one death camp is the same as another, and so the boy is allowed to follow. 

Throughout the six years of horror they witness and immeasurable suffering they endure as victims of the camps, one constant keeps them alive: their love and hope for the future. 

Based on the secret diary that Gustav kept as well as meticulous archival research and interviews with members of the Kleinmann family, including Fritz’s younger brother Kurt, sent to the United States at age eleven to escape the war, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is Gustav and Fritz’s story—an extraordinary account of courage, loyalty, survival, and love that is unforgettable.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Holocaust, World War II, Biography, Historical, War

464 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz reads like fiction, but it’s based on meticulous research, including interviews with the family. This book is brilliant, all heart, and an absolute must-read if you are drawn to Holocaust and World War II fiction, so we never forget the despicable transgressions to humanity.

Gustav and his son Fritz are sent to Buchenwald together. It’s then determined that Gustav should be sent to Auschwitz, and Fritz will not let him go alone. The Nazis allow him to go, and the father and son spend six years together as prisoners across the two camps. What keeps them strong is their tremendous devotion for one another and their hope for the future.

As hard as it is, I’m going to leave it at that. This book begs to be read, and I’m so grateful this stunning story of a father and son’s love was shared.

I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[Lindsay L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars.

Based on the secret diary of Gustav Klienmann, this novel shares the detailed story of Gustav and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz’s devastating and horrific six year journey from the Buchenwald concentration camp to Auschwitz. Gustav and Fritz face the endless unfathomable Nazi brutality yet together they remain hopeful for survival and for reaching a better future.

This is an excellent book if you are looking for a historically factual and detailed account of this time in history. For me, it felt more like a history textbook rather than a novel. While I think that the author did a phenomenal job giving a voice to Gustav and Fritz, I didn’t personally connect with the book. It was informative and heavy on factual historical content which prevented me from emotionally connecting with the storyline or characters — I felt as if I were reading facts and statistics instead of immersing myself in their personal story. The historic detail overshadowed my potential emotional connection. This was more of an educational reading experience, which I do appreciate but simply didn’t fully enjoy.

I do recommend this to WWII readers who are looking for an informative, historically detailed factual account rather than a character driven storyline. Thank you to Edelweiss for my review copy!

[Justo Martiañez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Estrellas

Periódicamente intento leer algo sobre el holocausto, aunque acabe destrozado mentalmente al volver a leer sobre todo el repertorio de salvajismo que desplegaron en sus campos los nazis. Creo que es necesario tener fresco en la mente lo que pasó. Si todo el mundo lo hiciera quizá no asistiríamos al repunto de las peligrosas ideologías de extrema derecha en nuestras sociedades.

En este libro asistimos a un caso excepcional. La historia de un padre y un hijo, judíos vieneses, detenidos en 1938 tras la anexión de Austria por Alemania que dio comienzo a la brutal represión nazi contra los judíos austriacos y que luego fueron extendiendo por todos los territorios incorporados al Reich durante el transcurso de la guerra. A los judíos alemanes ya les llevaban dando desde el ascenso al poder de Hitler en 1933.
Fueron enviados a Buchenwald en Austria y allí comenzaron un recorrido brutal por casi todos los campos de concentración, Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Bergen-Belsen, juntos (casi hasta el final), aguantaron y sobrevivieron hasta 1945. El padre (Gustav), escribió un pequeño diario durante estos años y el hijo, Fritz Kleinmann, se dedicó a dar conferencias para que la terrible experiencia vivida en los campos no cayera en el olvido.

Uno de los testimonios que más asco me ha dado, es cuando relatan como de la noche a la mañana, muchos de sus vecinos (no todos), se convirtieron en delatores, enemigos, torturadores y hasta asesinos de aquellos que habían sido sus amigos y conciudadanos, siendo su motivación, en muchos de los casos, el ansia por quedarse con los negocios y propiedades de aquellos con los que habían convivido pacíficamente. Triste y repugnante, pero así es el ser humano.

Otro de los testimonios que no conocía demasiado y que me ha asqueado sobremanera ha sido sobre las trabas burocráticas y económicas que, los países occidentales como Inglaterra y EEUU, pusieron a la inmigración judía austriaca y alemana, lo que condenó a miles de judíos a una muerte segura. Eso se llama hipocresía. Pese a ello dos hijos de Gustav se salvaron en Inglaterra y EEUU, a parte de Fritz, claro.
Sin embargo, otro de los testimonios me ha permitido recuperar algo de confianza en el género humano. El relato del soldado alemán lisiado, destinado en la retaguardia y que descubre la terrible realidad de los campos, de la que muchos alemanes por ignorancia o por puro lavado de cerebro nazi no tenían conocimiento real. Este hombre se jugó la vida por ellos y, si sobrevivieron finalmente, fue en gran medida gracias a él.

Lo que se cuenta es necesario e imprescindible que sea conocido por el mundo. La forma de contarlo no me ha parecido especialmente atractiva. Todo está muy bien documentado, trufado de citas y referencias, que yo, que soy muy bien mandado, no puedo dejar de leer. Entre las atrocidades y sufrimientos sin cuento y la multitud de parones para leer las citas, no lo he disfrutado tanto como me hubiera gustado.

Leedlo. Esto no se puede olvidar y, menos aún, trivializar y banalizar.

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
One glance at the title of Jeremy Dronfield’s The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz will have you shaking your head in sheer disbelief. A place of certain and horrific death, why anyone would willingly choose this path of fate is unfathomable. But it did happen, to Austrian Jews Gustav Kleinmann and his faithful son, Fritz. The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is an almost unbelievable account at times of one of the worst years in our history books, the Holocaust. It is also a very personal recollection, based on smuggled diaries smuggled from camp to camp by Gustav Kleinmann. It will both unsettle and astound you.

Biographer, historian and experienced non fiction author Jeremy Dronfield has compiled an incredibly moving account of the Holocaust. I have to agree with Jeremy in his Preface, that one side of us wishes that the terrible event of the Holocaust never happened and it wasn’t true. But the other half desperately wants to give brevity and acceptance to those that were a part of the Holocaust, the survivors and those who perished. It is vital to give recognition to the memory of those who were touched by one of our most regrettable events in history. Following author Jeremy Dronfield’s Preface is a Foreword penned by the son and brother of the two men featured in this book. Kurt Kleinmann’s words held plenty of weight for me. Kurt states:

“I am grateful and appreciative that my family’s Holocaust story has been brought to the public’s attention and will not be forgotten.” The act of simply selecting this book and taking some time out of your day to read the Kleinmann’s story is an important act, working towards preserving the memory of those who remind us about how we take freedom for granted.”

Composed in four parts, beginning in Vienna, then Buchenwald, Auschwitz and ending in ‘Survival’, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is a moving memoir. This book reads much like a novel at times, inspired by the preserved diaries of Gustav Kleinmann, the father figure of this tale. A detailed Epilogue, Bibliography and Sources page, Acknowledgements, Notes and Index characterises Jeremy Dronfield’s book. There is no denying the amount of time, effort, research and heartache that went into forming this book. We learn that The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz was formulated on the basis of personal diaries, firsthand accounts and research. Together, these sources work to support the other, so a full and very visual representation of what happened to the Kleinmann family forms. There were many moments where I felt that this book could be easily transferred to the screen and beamed across cinemas worldwide.

In a book that deals with such a grim and heartbreaking subject matter it is hard to develop a sense of hope, but The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is a story of survival, against all odds. It begs belief and reminds us both of the human spirit to endure, but also the strength of the bond between a son and his father. I do have to admit that this book got to me, more than a few times. I had to close it, walk away, refresh and recoup. I also found it hard to review and rate a book of this nature, how can you put a value on the determination to survive, in the face of such overwhelming defeat?

I consider myself quite well read in the subject area this book covers, having devoured a vast range of fiction, non fiction, memoirs, articles and museum based information on the Holocaust. But, yet again, I was truly amazed that an original story has come to our attention, after decades of laying this truly atrocious time in our world history to rest. I was able to grasp at new stories of the Holocaust, which were experienced by the Kleinmann family. The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz reminds us that no experience of the Holocaust should be discounted, nor is it the same. We need to continue to revive and share these powerful accounts, may they never be buried.

*I wish to thank Penguin Books Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several books about the Holocaust but this one will stay with me for a long while. It has been the most graphic book that I have read about the atrocities that happened in the hands of the Nazi’s and the concentration camps.
It’s 1939 Gustav Kleinmann a furniture upholsterer and son Fritz Kleinmann are sent to Buchenwald in Germany were a new concentration camp is being built. Fritz is put to work building the camp. By learning construction skills, it stops him being exterminated from the Nazis. Whilst he is doing that his father Gustav is working in one of the factories. But one day Gustav is summoned to be transferred to Auschwitz. Fritz told by his friends to let him go. As anyone that goes there dies there, never to return. But the bond between son and father is too strong and Fritz decides to go with him. The story continues for the next 5 years. Gustav writing all what he sees and hears in a diary that is kept hidden.
The is a story about the bond between father and son and the resilience they had, to stay alive from the cruelty and suffering in the concentration camps. This was a real eye opener for me as I learnt more about what happened then in other books I have read. Although this is not a nice subject to be liked. This was a real page turner for me and I couldn’t put this down. I highly recommend it.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield is the true story of the atrocities in the concentration camp during the Second World War.
Gustav and his son Fritz are arrested and sent to a Buchenwald concentration camp.
Father and son are put to work and are treated cruelly. When Gustav is to be transferred to Auschwitz his son goes with his father even though he has heard that no one survives there.
This is the story of the bond between father and son and the determination to face their fate together.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been interested in books on the Holocaust and as soon as I read the blurb for this one I was desperate to read it.

This is another book though that I am going to be in the minority with. Yes it is a harrowing tale but for me it lacked depth and emotion. I didn't feel any of the horrors that were happening to people or the atrocities that were going on in the camp. It was all to much matter of fact rather than really getting into Gustav and Fritz's minds.

There is certainly a lot of description and background of what things were like during the war and the camps and the author really does go into detail and it is really interesting. It's really hard to not be overly positive about a book when the story is true and I know the people whose story is being told will have been to hell and back. I am always grateful to them for telling their story. For me though the authors writing style just didn't pull on my emotions. Like I say, am no doubt I will be in the minority and would still urge people to read as anyone that went through what Gustav and Fritz did, deserve to be heard.

My thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

[Olaf Gütte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es grenzt an ein Wunder, diese wahre Geschichte von Vater und Sohn,
die beide eine grauenhafte Odyssee durch drei Konzentrationslager überlebten.
Mir zeigt der Roman auch, wie abgestumpft man als Häftling wird,
wenn man permanent mit diesen Gräueltaten konfrontiert wird.

[Dora Santos Marques · Rating 4 out of 5]

A minha opinião em vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLLBp...

[Amanda Hupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Harper Perennial For the opportunity to read this book!

The Boy Who Followed His Father To Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield is such a powerful read. This account is by Gustav Kleinmann and his family. They are Jews that live in Vienna. Gustav is married to Tini and they have 4 children: Edith, Herta, Fritz, and Kurt. The world is changing but they could never guess how much. In 1939, Gustav and his son Fritz are arrested and imprisoned. Edith manages to get a work visa and goes to England. Kurt is just a child and is sent to America. Gustav and Fritz are sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. When Fritz’s father gets transferred to Auschwitz, even though it is a death sentence, he can’t let him go on his own…so he volunteers to go.

I have always studied World War II. In fact, my senior research paper in college was on the Jewish Forrest Camps. However, this is a difficult subject. It is difficult to even fathom. The author does a wonderful job with the research but also intertwining the accounts from the Kleinmann family. The suffering this family went through is just unimaginable but there is something inspiring at their determination to survive.

Within the despair, torture, desperation, there are moments of hope, determination, strength, and mostly courage that really shine. It is so important to study this part of our history because we do not want to be doomed to repeat it. Some quotes really stayed with me and we can relate to in our current political climate.

“Around the world, people condemned the Nazis and criticized their own governments for doing too little to take in refugees. But the campaigners were outnumbered by those who did not want immigrants in their midst, taking their livelihoods and diluting their communities. The German press jeered at the hypocrisy of a world that made so much indignant noise about the supposedly pitiful plight of the Jews but did little or nothing to help.”

THE BOY WHO FOLLOWED HIS FATHER INTO AUSCHWITZ
Right now, I am thinking of all those children separated from their parents at U.S. detention centers. I am angry. I angry for all those millions of lives lost, and lives that were destroyed because people choose to hate. I really recommend this book. We need to be better. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

[Evalunasylva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro real, sobre pessoas reais, acontecimentos reais e dramas reais. Um livro muito completo sobre o Holocausto e os seu horrores contados sobre o olhar de quem os vivenciou. Recomendo vivamente a quem aprecia o género.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The boy is my greatest joy,' Gustave wrote in his secret diary in Buchenwald. 'We strengthen each other. We are one.'

So, in 2018, do we really need another book about the Holocaust? In the case of this one I think we do. In the face of many memoirs, fictions, academic and journalistic studies, what Dronfield brings to this story is the sense of the local and particular as he follows a single family of Viennese Jews.

From the Anschluss to the end of the war, this is an unashamedly emotive and deeply moving story as Gustave and his eldest son, Fritz, are rounded up and put on one of the first transports to a Nazi labour camp and then moved to Auschwitz.

Based on Gustave's diary that he somehow managed to hold onto plus interviews this book does a tremendous job of telling the personal stories at its heart against the backdrop of the war more generally. It's nice to see, too, Dronfield's gestures to our present as desperate refugees are refused visas to the US ('the United States had a theoretical quota of sixty thousand refugees a year, but chose not to use it') and face xenophobic treatment in the UK ('The press - with the Daily Mail at the forefront -had helped whip up paranoia about fifth columnists' - i.e. German-speaking Jews who had fled from Austria and Germany and now faced internment in the UK in case they were closet Nazis...) I couldn't help also reading a reference to Brexiteering isolationist rhetoric about Britain's lone stand against Hitler in the corrective comment from Dronfield: 'the RAF had become a coalition force, its British and Commonwealth pilots joined by exiles from Poland, France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia. Britain still liked to think of itself as a sole nation, but it was nothing of the sort.'

Ultimately, though, this is a story about unimaginable human endurance and the love that binds Gustave and Fritz. Dronfield is not blind to the selfish instinct for survival that, of course, is a part of camp narratives, but in this story there is compensating comradeship, friendship in some surprising places, organised resistance and sheer good luck, too.

A harrowing read but also, I think, a heartening one. Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley.

[Abyssdancer (Hanging in there!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has changed the way way I look at the world for the rest of my life … right now, color drains to sepia as the heaviness of the details of the Holocaust bombard my brain … even my soul feels different in my body …

This book follows the lives of Gustav (the father) and Fritz (the son) from their capture by the Nazis in Vienna 1938 and their experiences in Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and other concentration camps … the details of survival in the camps are captured through their eyes as their indomitable wills to survive the systematic torture and execution of Jews carried them through the threat of death and violence pervading every day and night of their life as they fight starvation, disease, and random beatings by SS guards keen on justifying their brutality with Hitler’s policies of the execution of the Jews and the forced labor they impose on prisoners … Gustav, a decorated veteran of World War I and a tradesman as a civilian, is able to perform many different types of labor that make him indispensable as a worker … and Fritz is trained by a kindly Polish political prisoner to develop several different skills as a construction worker … even so, the threat of the gas chambers and the firing squads always looms, as the crematoria run all day and night to rid the camps of the victims - mostly women, children, the elderly and other Jews who were unable to work hard labor in the camps … the deep, abiding love that Gustav and Fritz feel for each other and the attitude of kindness and bravery expressed by Gustav in his secret diary help temper the horrors described in this book …

I must admit, this book was very difficult to complete …. I would find myself staring into space, numb and almost traumatized as I absorbed the terrors described in chapter after chapter … the fate of Tini (the mother) and Herta (the daughter) especially horrified me … the descriptions were so overwhelming sometimes that tears would well in my eyes and I had to walk away from the book to decompress …

But this book … this book needs to be read … people need to be aware of the atrocities mandated as part of Hitler’s campaign to annihilate the Jewish race in as cruel and mercilessly as possible … through this book, I could feel the slow starvation, the abject terror from the perpetual threat of the gas chambers and the firing squad, the smell of death from the crematoria that ran night and day … my rudimentary high school and college education of this period in history did not prepare me for the horrors expressed in this book …

But these shocking descriptions were not written for the sake of being shocking … the author portrays this world with bold honesty and sympathetic humanity, humanizing all aspects so that the experiences of the Jews sink into the psyche and soul of the reader …

I will never forget this book … this book needs to be read …

[le.lyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

puhh ich weiß garnicht wo ich anfangen soll: „Der Junge der seinem Vater nach Auschwitz folgte“ ist einerseits eine sehr berührende/bewegende Geschichte von einer Familie, sie hart für das überleben gekämpft hat. Das Buch ist aber auch sehr lehrreich, da vieles genau erklärt wird und die Aussagen auch belegt werden.
Die Misshandlungen, die alle unschuldigen Gefangenen ertragen mussten, ist unvorstellbar und an manchen Stellen echt schwer zu lesen, aber die Geschichte verdient Aufmerksamkeit und verdient es 1000 mal mehr gelesen zu werden als ein NewAdult Roman..

[Rita Costa (Lusitania Geek) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today it’s the 75th anniversary that the gates of Auschwitz are open and I finish this book with deep thoughts and try to imagine the cruelty and what human beings can do to each other’s in this particular environment in their very worst and best. It’s a hard chapter of human race to remember the atrocities but also a life lesson.

This is a book about a boy who followed his dad to Auschwitz concentration camp, even when he heard about the existence of gas chambers, slavery, hunger and diseases that can easily spread and be deadly...still he didn’t want to be apart or leave his dad alone.

4 ⭐️

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully devastating and moving account from a Jewish family in nazi occupied territory during the war. Like Anne Franks diary, notes were kept throughout the war describing the atrocities committed against prisoners within the many concentration camps positioned throughout Europe.

This was an incredibly detailed and well researched book; much of it is taken from eyewitness accounts of experiences in the camps. The resilience of the prisoners is astounding and heartbreaking at the same time.

A thoroughly worthwhile read for those intrigued by World War Two history.

[Ariannha · Rating 5 out of 5]

“La prensa alemana se mofaba de un mundo que hacía mucho ruido, indignado por la supuesta situación lamentable de los judíos, pero hacia muy poco o nada para ayudarlos.”

“El chico que siguió a su padre hasta Auschwitz” nos narra la historia real de la familia de Gustav Kleinmann y cómo la llegada de la Segunda Guerra Mundial cambió por completo su vida apacible en Viena.

En 1939 la familia Kleinmann fue separada para siempre, tanto el padre Gustav, como su hijo Fritz, fueron arrestados y deportados a Buchenwald, uno de los campos de prisioneros más grandes de Alemania. La madre Tini y su hija mayor Herta, años más tarde fueron deportadas y desaparecieron sin quedar en los registros. Los hijos más pequeños Kurt y Edith, fueron trasladados en barcos de refugiados a Gran Bretaña y Estados Unidos, evitando los horrores de la guerra.

En este libro, Jeremy Dronfield nos narra los horrores de los campos de concentración de los cuales fueron testigos Gustav y Fritz, porque no solo estuvieron en Buchenwald, pasaron por Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Mittelbau-Dora y Bergen-Belsen, fueron más de 6 años de padecer injusticias, agravios, hambre, enfermedades y el desprecio de los nazis.

La narrativa es exquisita, y se encuentra llena de descripciones necesarias para entender el contexto, aportando datos históricos que facilitan la comprensión de la Europa en guerra.
El autor ha hecho una magnífica labor de documentación para escribir este maravilloso libro y reflejar la realidad de lo sucedido de la forma más exacta posible. En una buena parte se basó en el diario que Gustav que escribió y logró esconder mientras estuvo prisionero, pero también entrevistó a la poca familia Kleinmann que sobrevivió y a otros judíos que fueron prisioneros.

Sin duda, ha sido un libro que nos cuenta más allá de los hechos ocurridos durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, nos narra la historia de supervivencia de padre e hijo, nos habla de la fortaleza interior de dos personas que no se rindieron, y definitivamente nos demuestra que el valor, la lealtad y el amor fraternal puede triunfar por encima de los momentos más oscuros.

100% recomendado

“Hacía falta fortaleza de carácter para compartir y amar en un mundo en el que el egoísmo y el odio eran el pan de cada día.”

[Adele Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply heartbreaking.
No matter how many books I have read about the atrocities of Auschwitz, I still find it hard to comprehend what people had to deal with.
This book is a book that must be read.

[The Tattooed Book Geek (Drew). · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can also be found on my blog The Tattooed Book Geek: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...

It feels wrong to write that I enjoyed The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz. Enjoyed isn’t the right word. Honestly, how can you enjoy something that is based on something so horrific? It feels disrespectful, like belittling history and making light of the persecution of the Jewish people and the atrocities that were committed in WWII. Instead, it is best to say that this book is an important book. A book that is harrowing, poignant and a book that has an impact upon the reader.

In Vienna, in 1939 after the Anschluss, Gustav Kleinmann, a furniture upholsterer and WWI veteran is seized by the Nazis. His teenage son, Fritz is also seized and the pair are taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

After three years in Buchenwald, Gustav is set to be transferred to Auschwitz, Fritz is not. Fritz, however, refuses to leave his Father’s side and even though Auschwitz likely means his death, Fritz demands to go there with Gustav.

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is primarily focused on the story of Gustav and Fritz but we also get to find out what happened to the other family members. Tini (Gustav’s wife and Fritz’s mother) and Edith, Herta and Kurt (their three other children and Fritz’s siblings) who were left behind in Vienna after Gustav and Fritz were taken away to Buchenwald.

The author’s own fastidious research, Gustav’s sparsely written diary that he somehow managed to keep miraculously hidden throughout his entire imprisonment, Fritz Kleinmann’s own memoir, interviews and correspondence by the author with Kurt Kleinmann have all been used to create The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz. It is written as a story but everything that takes place, every person involved, all of it happened and all of it is real. This is not fiction, you are holding history in your hands and knowing that is a sobering thought and one that lingers with you with every page that you turn. Reading about Fritz and Gustav, the Kleinmann family and the terrible things that they had to endure on a daily basis really brings home what they (and countless others) faced and it hits the reader hard.

The abuse that Gustav and Fritz suffer is graphic in detail with Dronfield depicting the brutality and harshness of the concentration camps and the torture that the pair endured. The author doesn’t over sensationalise events or add any excess gratuity for shock value. In the concentration camps for Gustav, Fritz and all the prisoners it is harsh with the spectre of death always looming over you. The daily struggle of survival, of being treated like animals, as cattle, as less than human, as nothing, the torment, watching, waiting, knowing that each day could be your last. Knowing that, even if you survive, if it’s not your time to die that you will have to repeat it all again on the following day. The depths of depravity on display, the sadism, the barbarity, the torture, the routine beatings, the doctors of death, the lethal injections, the starvation, the rampant disease and the twisted games that the guards would play at the expense of the prisoners. The sick games serving no purpose other than for the guards own vile amusement and as an excuse to mete out even more punishment and death. Your life in the hands of men who have nothing but malevolent intentions and evil in their hearts.

With the worst of humanity on display in The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz, there are also motes of light shining through too. The comradeship, the solidarity of the prisoners, the small acts of generosity between them and the humbling random acts of kindness from strangers who put their own lives at risk to help ease the suffering of others. For Gustav and Fritz, it is the will to live, the hope (even if it falters) that they will make it through, the determination to endure, the strength inside, the tenacity of spirit, the ties that bind and the unbroken, the unyielding love of a father for his son and of a son for his father.

While reading The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz you are transported back to a time that is one of the darkest in the history of the world. It is a moving, powerful and remarkable story that deserves to be remembered and deserves to be read.

[Booksofcriss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verruit het meest heftige, maar ook het meest sterke boek over de holocaust wat ik ooit heb gelezen. Ik heb er even geen woorden voor, ben er stil van.

Soms lees je zo'n boek waarbij je tijdens het lezen al weet dat het sowieso 5 sterren gaat worden. Zo'n boek wat je éigenlijk niet wilt lezen omdat het zo onwijs heftig is, maar toch ook ontzettend belangrijk.
Zo'n boek waar onwijs veel uren onderzoek inzit, wat het verhaal alleen maar nóg heftiger maakt.

Nu lees ik vrij veel oorlogsboeken, en kan ik ook echt wel wat hebben qua heftigheid. Maar dit boek kwam binnen, zelfs zo hard binnen dat ik soms moest stoppen met lezen en mijzelf moest gaan focussen op leuke dingen omdat ik mijzelf er anders echt in zou verliezen.

Je volgt het onwijs schrijnende verhaal van Gustav en zijn zoon Fritz. Hoe zij in hemels naam de oorlog overleefd hebben is mij nog steeds een raadsel. De dingen die zij meegemaakt hebben zijn ontzettend rauw beschreven, geen detail wordt geschuwd en het feit dat dit allemaal écht gebeurd is maakt het te bizar voor woorden. Telkens als je dacht dat het niet erger kon worden, werd het weer erger..

Tussen de regels door lees je natuurlijk ook over hun kracht, doorzettingsvermogen, onvoorwaardelijke liefde voor elkaar. Maar ook over het belang van vriendschappen en connecties.

Dit verhaal gaat over Gustav en Fritz, maar vele gebeurtenissen hadden het verhaal van duizenden andere slachtoffers kunnen zijn. Zij hadden het geluk te overleven, vele anderen niet. Laat dit boek niet alleen een herdenking zijn, maar ook een les. Zowel om de geschiedenis nóóit meer te herhalen; maar ook voor jezelf. Want Gustav en Fritz hebben mij echt weer veel geleerd en veel in perspectief kunnen plaatsen.

Ontzettend fijn om dit boek te hebben kunnen buddyreaden met @booksbypatries, hierdoor konden we er samen over praten. Want geloof me, zo'n buddyread-therapie sessie ga je nodig hebben tijdens en na het lezen.

Dus niet voor tere zieltjes. Maar wel echt onwijs sterk geschreven en een verhaal dat verteld moet worden. Een van de beste boeken die ik ooit heb gelezen. Dikke 5 sterren ⭐️

[buchdate · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Fritz hatte wie so viele andere seine Religion ganz abgelegt. Er fand es unmöglich, noch zu glauben, dass sich Gott um die Juden scherte.”

Dies ist bereits jetzt schon das wichtigste, schmerzhafteste und schockierendste Buch, das ich in 2025 gelesen habe.
In diesem Buch geht es um das Leben von Familie Kleinmann, besonders aber Gustav und Fritz Kleinmann, ab dem Zeitpunkt der ersten Massenverhaftungen in Österreich bis zur Befreiung. Und obwohl ich mich nicht zum ersten Mal mit dem Holocaust auseinandersetze und auch nicht zum ersten Mal ein Buch über diesen Völkermord lese, ist es jedes verdammte Mal wieder ein Schock und ein Gefühl von Ohnmacht und Scham!

“Die Ungerechtigkeit und Grausamkeit des Systems konnte einen vernünftigen Mann verrückt machen und einen Frommen dazu bringen, Gott zu verfluchen.”

Im Hinblick auf den immer mehr an Zuwachs gewinnenden Rechtsruck in Deutschland ein MUST-READ für einfach alle. Ich kann nicht beschreiben, wie wichtig es ist, sich immer und immer wieder den Holocaust vor Augen zu halten und sich dafür einzusetzen, dass sich die Geschichte nicht wiederholt.

In diesem Zuge der Reminder: BITTE geht am 23. Februar ALLE WÄHLEN! Wer nicht wählt, wählt indirekt rechts.

“Man hätte meinen sollen, dass es kaum noch Möglichkeiten gab, ihnen das Leben schwerer zu machen, aber die Nazis fanden immer noch einen Knüppel, mit dem sie zuschlagen konnten.”

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

*thank you to Netgalley, Jeremy Dronfield and Penguin UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


3 stars.

Auschwitz stories are all such powerfully emotional stories that are sure to leave an imprint on your heart. This was no exception but I did feel that I didn't quite feel as connected with this story as I have with other War and Auschwitz stories. I'm not sure why exactly so I'm unable to explain it. I felt it was quite well written and it is one I'm glad I had been given the chance to read but I don't think I would reread it.

[Sonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I have a deep love of history, I have a special interest in World War II. That is perhaps understandable given that my father served in the Pacific during the entire course of the war along with his two brothers and my mother’s four brothers. Unfortunately, surveys increasingly show that knowledge of the war is fading, including knowledge of the Holocaust. A survey by Pew Research found that fewer than half of Americans (45%) know that approximately 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. What’s more, a disturbingly large number of young Americans don't even know the basic, yet horrific, details of the Holocaust. Fewer than half of young Americans can name a single concentration camp, even Auschwitz. Even more disturbing, 11 percent of young Americans believe Jews caused the Holocaust.

Author Jeremy Dronfeld is a novelist, biographer, historian, and ghostwriter. In his book The Stone Crusher: Fight for Survival in Auschwitz, Dronfeld provides a carefully researched, deeply moving account of the Kleinmanns, a Jewish Viennese family hit hard by the Holocaust. While most of the book provides an account of the experiences of Gustav Kleinmann, an upholsterer, and his son Fritz, aged 16, Dronfeld also combines the stories of Gustav's wife, Tini, their eldest daughter Edith, teenage daughter Herta, and young son Kurt. In 1938, German troops marched into Austria to annex the nation for the Third Reich. Before they can find a way out of Vienna, Gustav and Fritz were arrested by the SS in 1939 and sent to Buchenwald in Germany, where a new concentration camp was being built. Most of the book is an account of their incredible story of survival over a six-year period in a series of concentration camps— Buchenwald, then Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Bergen-Belsen. Meanwhile, in Vienna, Tini fought to save her children, sending her eldest daughter Edith to England to work as a maid and sending youngest son Kurt to America with the help of a Jewish children's aid organization in New York. Unable to get her teenage daughter Herta out of Vienna, Tini and Herta were arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and sent to a death camp near Minsk. The two women were never seen again. Meanwhile, Gustav and Fritz were able to survive the awful harshness of the concentration camps because they possessed manual skills that the Nazis required in building the camps. Gustav was an upholsterer, and Fritz learned to lay bricks. But it was the bond between father and son that would ultimately keep them both alive. When the older Gustav was transferred to Auschwitz, Fritz insisted on going with him, even though he knew it probably meant certain death. His friends tried to dissuade him from going.

"If you want to keep living, you have to forget your father.”

Dronfeld provides the reader with a riveting and tense story of a father-son bond in a narrative that reads like a novel. The book is ultimately satisfying in ways that many traditional histories are not. In a day when surveys are showing many Americans know little about the Holocaust, this book will serve to educate many about Nazi brutality; more importantly, it will highlight the devotion of a father and son that is heartwarming.

[Sabine Koning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeetje, wat een verhaal... wat een grafische beschrijving van gebeurtenissen in de concentratiekampen vanuit de ogen van de Joodse gevangenen Gustav en zoon Fritz. Het kostte me even om dit boek uit te lezen. Vanwege de vele verwijzingen naar noten in het boek waardoor je af en toe het idee krijgt dat je een onderzoek leest, maar op de eerste plaats vanwege de nietsverhullende details die naar voren komen in het boek. Voor iemand die altijd in plaatjes denkt is dit een heftig boek. Ik heb meerdere boeken gelezen over de Tweede Wereldoorlog, geschreven vanuit het perspectief van een gevangene, maar ik geloof niet dat ik ooit eerder een boek las dat zoveel walging, ongeloof, medelijden en verdriet bij me op riep. Verplichte materie voor iedereen als je het mij vraagt, om deze afschuwelijke periode in de geschiedenis niet te vergeten.

[Vanessa Loockx]

‘Iedereen zegt dat het een reis naar de dood is,’ schreef hij, ‘maar Fritzl en ik laten ons hoofd niet hangen. Ik houd mezelf voor dat een mens maar één keer kan sterven.’

Ik had over dit boek gelezen op een fb pagina v een uitgeverij.

Het moedige verhaal van Gustav en Fritz kan je gewoon niet bevatten.
Wat mensen moesten ondergaan van gruwelheden in de oorlog ...
Je kan dat gewoon niet geloven dat de mensheid zo wreed was ...
Maar de hoop en kracht van deze 2 mensen ... daar kunnen we nog van leren ...

Ik heb dit boek geen sterren gegeven ... ik vind dit heel moeilijk bij autobiografische boeken vooral als dit over Joden gaat en ze al een ster moesten dragen ...

[Kirsti Ferguson (MrsFegFiction) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was different to anything i have ever read.
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It follows the lives of the Kleinmann family through what is one of the worst times in our history. I was particularly drawn to the book because i have some Jewish family background and i wanted to try to understand more about this time period. The book explores so many different emotions; it's a story of struggle, determination and a family's bond, but it is also one of pain, trauma and devastation. I love how the writer seamlessly inserts quotations into the body of the story, it is so well done that you forget that he is writing someone else's life and not his own. The amount of work, time and research that must have gone into this book is awe inspiring, and i'm grateful to the author for creating it.
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I think this is a really important read for everyone.
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Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for an ARC of this book. @netgalley @penguinbooks
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m really sad to give a book about such an interesting and horrible topic a bad rating. Even though the story was good, the book is hard to read. Not the language itself, but how it’s written, it’s not a page turner and more like an encyclopaedia. I loved the idea of bibliography at the end, but after the second chapter I gave up, sometimes it was interesting reading and explanations, but most of them where referencing to other books or articles.

[Julie Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a true story about the atrocities that took place during the Second World War.
Gustav and his family live in Austria but soon the Nazis have taken over and are taking everything away from those that are Jewish.
Gustav and his son Fritz are soon sent to work at Buchenwald concentration camp.
Father and son are put to work and their lives will never be the same again. They try and stick together but as they both have different skills, it isn’t always possible.
We also find out what happened to the rest of their family and the difficult decisions they faced.
When Gustav is to be transferred to Auschwitz, Fritz is determined to go with him even though he has heard that no one comes out alive.
Life at Auschwitz is again very difficult but somehow they both get through it. There is a great bond between the two of them and a great determination as they face their fate together.

[catherine ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like there was a lot that could have been explored here and a lot that I could have loved — WWII is one of my favorite time periods to learn about —but ultimately this book was hard to connect with.

The story itself is incredible and the second half even more so, but I think my main issue with the book was that I went into it expecting a fictionalized account of what happened from the main characters' perspectives. Instead, it read a lot like a mix between a history textbook with some anecdotes from the main characters, and this sort of detached writing style made the reading experience seem more academic than emotional (which isn't an issue if that's what you wanted to read.)

[Stefan Mitev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Историята на баща и син, които заедно оцеляват в няколко концлагера по време на Втората световна война - първоначално Бухенвалд, след това Аушвиц и накрая Маутхаузен.

Оцеляването не е въпрос на късмет или на божия намеса, а на милостта на околните. В лагерите на смъртта дори малка рана, която те прави неработоспособен, е равностойна на смърт чрез разстрел, смъртоносна инжекция или газова камера. Спасението е станало възможно само чрез комбинация от жертвоготовни приятели, дребни схеми за набавяне на жизненоважни продукти и огромната корупция в тромавата администрация.

Подобно на много други книги за Аушвиц, водещата тема е надеждата за по-добър живот. Дори когато смяташ, че няма изход и всичко е загубено, неочаквано се открива неподозирана възможност за спасение. Ако смятате, че днешните ви проблеми са сериозни, прочетете книгата, в която юношата Фриц се опитва да спаси не само себе си, но и баща си. Противно на всички очаквания и статистики двамата дочакват края на войната и разказват забележителната си история.