What do you think?
Rate this book
Silent Rebels:
"The spring of 1943 was a desperate season for the Jews of Brussels. The resistance movement had successfully bombed the SS headquarters that January, but anti-Jewish laws were tightening, and a camp had been set up in the nearby town of Mechelen (dubbed the "ante-chamber of death") to transport Belgian Jews to Auschwitz. The time had come for action." "One day in April, resistance fighter Youra Livchitz, a young doctor, discovered the departure date of the next transport train. With only one weekend in which to organize a raid, Youra recruited two school friends, Jean Franklemon and Robert Maistriau, to pull off one of the most daring rescues of the entire war. Equipped with only three pairs of pliers, a hurricane lamp covered in red paper, and a single pistol, the men ambushed the train, which was transporting 1,618 Jews to Auschwitz." "These three lone men freed 17 men and women before the German guards opened fire. Miraculously, by the time the convoy had reached the German border another 225 prisoners had managed to escape unharmed and found shelter with the locals. In a testament to the solidarity of the Belgians, none of the escapees were betrayed. Yet the three young rescuers shared a different fate, ending for them in concentration camps and, for one, death." Marion Schreiber's gripping book about the only Nazi death train in World War II to be ambushed draws on private documents, photographs, archive material, and police reports, as well as original research, including interviews with the surviving escapees. Like Schindler's List, The Twentieth Train creates a vivid, moving portrait of heroism under impossible circumstances.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2001
9 people are currently reading
628 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 11, 2013
A great book that has been translated from the German original which in places may seem a bit cluncky but that will be due in part to the translation.
This book is written about event in Belgium during the events leading up to, including and the aftermath of the 20th transport of Jews to Auschwitz.
Where 3 young brave men stopped the transportation of the train and enabled 250 Jews to escape the death train. It also tells of how they were ratted out and by who to their deaths at the hands of the Gestapo.
It also lists all those people transported from Belgium at the back of the book. Some may complain that the book does not grab you. It is not intended too, this is the record of a little known event that needs better publicity. We must also remember we have a duty not to forget all those that perished. But this book shows that even in the depths of darkness the light can still get through, and where that light is then there is hope.
This book is written about event in Belgium during the events leading up to, including and the aftermath of the 20th transport of Jews to Auschwitz.
Where 3 young brave men stopped the transportation of the train and enabled 250 Jews to escape the death train. It also tells of how they were ratted out and by who to their deaths at the hands of the Gestapo.
It also lists all those people transported from Belgium at the back of the book. Some may complain that the book does not grab you. It is not intended too, this is the record of a little known event that needs better publicity. We must also remember we have a duty not to forget all those that perished. But this book shows that even in the depths of darkness the light can still get through, and where that light is then there is hope.
June 1, 2016
Good read. Not what I expected. I thought it was going to be more about the ambush of the train. That part of the book only took up about 10 pages. The vast majority of the book was the bio info around all the people involved. Prisoners germans and Rescuers. I found the bios quite engrossing. They were short as is the book but the author did a nice job drawing me in and making me care.
February 24, 2019
Excellent Book
I loved this book. I have never heard anything of the Belgium resistance to Nazi occupation and deportation. I am so glad this book was written. This book tells of the unsung heroes of a small country that played it's part against evil and discrimination. Everyone today should be read this book.
I loved this book. I have never heard anything of the Belgium resistance to Nazi occupation and deportation. I am so glad this book was written. This book tells of the unsung heroes of a small country that played it's part against evil and discrimination. Everyone today should be read this book.
May 22, 2018
I loved this book.
It is incredibly well researched and uncovers a little known act of heroic resistance.
The story of Youra Livchitz, Robert Maistriau, Jean Franklemon and others is truly inspiring.
The horror of how a swathe of modern, middle class professional people in a cosmopolitan European city could be herded up like cattle, imprisoned, starved and then taken on overcrowded trains to death camps is almost unimaginable.
I was lucky enough to travel to Brussels while reading this and saw the hideous SS offices and the statue celebrating the raid on this HQ by RAF pilot Jean de Selys Longchamps in 1943. I also visited the prison in Mechelen and the museum attached to it.
Marion Schreiber writes a compelling account of the attack on the Twentieth Train and the horrors of life under Nazi rule in Belgium. File under 'Books that would be great to see as a movie'.
It is incredibly well researched and uncovers a little known act of heroic resistance.
The story of Youra Livchitz, Robert Maistriau, Jean Franklemon and others is truly inspiring.
The horror of how a swathe of modern, middle class professional people in a cosmopolitan European city could be herded up like cattle, imprisoned, starved and then taken on overcrowded trains to death camps is almost unimaginable.
I was lucky enough to travel to Brussels while reading this and saw the hideous SS offices and the statue celebrating the raid on this HQ by RAF pilot Jean de Selys Longchamps in 1943. I also visited the prison in Mechelen and the museum attached to it.
Marion Schreiber writes a compelling account of the attack on the Twentieth Train and the horrors of life under Nazi rule in Belgium. File under 'Books that would be great to see as a movie'.
April 19, 2015
Wish I could give it a 3 rating. It took way too long to get to the story about the Twentieth Train episode. Way, way too much information in the first 150 pages. Enough said I guess.
February 7, 2025
Inmitten von Tod und Ungerechtigkeiten zumindest ein paar kleine Happy Ends.
Man hat Belgien irgendwie insgesamt nicht so auf dem Schirm, aber vor allem nicht, was den 2. Weltkrieg angeht. (Oder bin das nur ich?) 60% der jüdischen Bevölkerung in Belgien wurde nicht deportiert, weil ihr geholfen wurde. Und selbst diejenigen, die deportiert wurden, konnten teilweise fliehen, wegen halsbrecherischen Aktionen wie dem Überfall auf den 20. Deportationszug nach Auschwitz. Irgendwie gibt mir das Hoffnung, dass die Menschheit doch nicht komplett am Arsch ist.
Man hat Belgien irgendwie insgesamt nicht so auf dem Schirm, aber vor allem nicht, was den 2. Weltkrieg angeht. (Oder bin das nur ich?) 60% der jüdischen Bevölkerung in Belgien wurde nicht deportiert, weil ihr geholfen wurde. Und selbst diejenigen, die deportiert wurden, konnten teilweise fliehen, wegen halsbrecherischen Aktionen wie dem Überfall auf den 20. Deportationszug nach Auschwitz. Irgendwie gibt mir das Hoffnung, dass die Menschheit doch nicht komplett am Arsch ist.
February 27, 2009
Fascinating and enthralling.
September 6, 2011
Incredible non-fiction that reads like a novel, I sobbed at the end. Belgium is one amazing country <3
June 17, 2013
Great book. Never heard of the event. Belgium should be proud. They should make a movie out of this instead of all the repeats and sequels they are doing now. A must read.
July 4, 2016
Excellent description of reprisal against Nazi Germany by Dutch Jews
October 30, 2018
I never really knew about the Belgian resistance until I read this book.
June 2, 2019
It was a great read, sad but informative.
October 30, 2020
A book that definitely needs more attention. Good to read about a country that tried to stand up against the Nazis and save all human beings, not just their own citizens.
Read
October 9, 2021I have not read the book, and cannot order it from my local shop. That said, I was present at a special reworked opera created by the British composer Howard Moody « PUSH Revisited » on Sunday 3 October 2021 in Rijmenam, Belgium about a young boy who was pushed from that train by his mother saving his life. That boy Simon Gronowski is still alive, and was present with the composer at this amazing and unforgettable event. Wonderful voices and music. A must see when and if you can! Simon says his life has been made up of miracles and « I chose to live in the present and in the future, for optimism, joy and friendship. » We should take time to celebrate Simon’s life and, amongst others, the lives of the three young Belgians who died for their courage in stopping that train.
June 5, 2024
This heroic story is a gripping true account of a WWII audacious plan to free Jewish prisoners from a train bound to Auschwitz. Having never heard of this remarkable partisan effort I was very intrigued.
The book is well researched and written. It seemed to lean into a scholarly, well documented style. Much of the first two-thirds of the book was background and a thorough description of the situation in Brussels and the major characters.
The pay off of the actual account of the ambush of the “death train” was well written and paced. I experienced great awe at the bravery and determination of the three resistance fighters who stopped a train successfully freeing some of the occupants.
This is for a reader who go wishes a deep dive into WW II.
The book is well researched and written. It seemed to lean into a scholarly, well documented style. Much of the first two-thirds of the book was background and a thorough description of the situation in Brussels and the major characters.
The pay off of the actual account of the ambush of the “death train” was well written and paced. I experienced great awe at the bravery and determination of the three resistance fighters who stopped a train successfully freeing some of the occupants.
This is for a reader who go wishes a deep dive into WW II.
October 5, 2021
I loved this book, which I read years ago, and which made such an imprint on my heart and mind, like “The Diary of Anne Frank” and” The Hiding Place”, this riveting book, beautifully researched and related by Marion Schreiber. Is the all too unknown story of intrigue and quiet heroism in the giant face of the evil that was the holocaust and its deportations. I hope it stays in print, and that they make an audiobook of it.. and perhaps theatrical and cinematic iterations too. It’s that important.
January 13, 2024
This book was hard to understand at first. Then I realized the author was talking about the three resistors that pulled off an impossible rescue. There is a lot of information about the brutal treatment of the Jews in Belgium. I think that Hitler and his minions were the most sedistic of Satan's followers. The gates of hell were poured out upon the earth, in the guise of Hitler and all of the Gestapo and all the evil plans of his staff. This is a very hard book to read because it really happened and we need to remember and we pray that this never happens again.
January 27, 2023
This is a story I hadn’t heard previously. I did not know that much of the Belgian population resisted the Nazis. Marion Schreiber draws rich profiles of the characters, both resistance fighters and nazis. For those who think the Jews did not fight back, think again. This is another example of the bravery and selflessness of the Jews who fought for freedom and their Belgian neighbors who hid them and cared for their children.
July 10, 2025
L´honneur des Belges - Widerstandskämpfer, die einen Transport nach Auschwitz überfallen und Menschen die Gelegenheit zur Flucht geben - und die Geschichte vieler Belgier, die ihre Mitbürger mutig unterstützt haben. Chapeau.
July 27, 2021
Excellent subject. Less one star for dry studious account.
January 11, 2025
An excellent work. This should be on every schools reading list.
December 21, 2025
Very difficult reading -- sad & upsetting stories about the treatment of the people by the nazis
April 29, 2023
Ik had het boek eerder al tot twee keer toe na een bladzijde of vijftig aan de kant gelegd en heb me er dan de derde keer toch toe kunnen bewegen om verder te lezen. De veelvoud aan persoonsbeschrijvingen maakten me het aanvankelijk lastig om in het verhaal te komen, maar eens rond de helft, kon ik het boek niet meer wegleggen. Het feit dat ik intussen ook naar Breendonk en Dossin geweest was en uiteindelijk zelfs naar Auschwitz ben gegaan, maakte dat het verslag van de treinoverval en de verhalen van de mensen die daarbij betrokken waren mij op dat ogenblik niet meer losliet.
April 23, 2015
This is a story worth telling, but this particular account lacks any kind of forward thrust, or focus. This is due to its ongoing insistence on getting bogged down in a swamp of petty details, digressions, blind alleys, and bunny trails. To put it another way, I want to know how the guy who rescued the prisoners on the Nazi train rescued the prisoners on the Nazi train; I don't really need to know what classes he took in art school! I also don't need to know whether his family knew Madame Blavatsky. Just saying.
November 30, 2021
An important piece of history from my own country during the Second World War that I felt I had to read and educate myself on. This is not a book you read for fun, not a speedy compelling novel. On multiple occasions I had to stop and reread entire parts just to make sure I didn't gloss over the horror of the facts.
Although the first 3rd of Schreiber's writing is quite a scramble of information on countless important figures, I would recommend this book to anyone willing to learn more about the history of Belgium during the holocaust. These are facts and people best not forgotten.
Although the first 3rd of Schreiber's writing is quite a scramble of information on countless important figures, I would recommend this book to anyone willing to learn more about the history of Belgium during the holocaust. These are facts and people best not forgotten.
July 14, 2016
It gets off to a slow start, especially with a clunky translation from German to English. However, after a few dry, expositional chapters, it quickly becomes an engrossing read, with moving personal anecdotes from survivors. Overall, it's a poignant look at the Holocaust in Belgium and a rare rescue effort that saved lives.
February 14, 2016
Interesting, I likes reading about it. I've never read anything in detail about the ambush of the train so I liked reading about it. It might have taken a bit too long to get to the actual train ambush, but it was still good.
January 9, 2017
This book was not a great read but I think it is more of a document. At the end of the book is a list of names compiled by the Nazis at Mechelen and there are 40 pages of names of people who were forced to ride this 20th train to Auschwitz.For the majority of them it would be their last journey.
May 4, 2008
presently reading...no one wants to hear
the true story....
the true story....
March 3, 2009
I love the subject, but it is very long and drawn-out. There are so many characters that it is hard to remember each one and get to know them. By the end, I was glad I read it though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews