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Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe
A true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust—one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape.
It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely.
Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world—and that each day that passes means more lives are lost.
Lives like Rudi’s schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta’s family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary is beginning to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Her chances of survival become slimmer by the day.
The clock is ticking. As Gerta inches closer to capture, Rudi and his friend Alfred Wetzler begin their crucial steps towards an impossible escape.
This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.
It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely.
Rudi has learned the terrible secret hidden behind the heavily guarded fences of concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe: the methodical mass killing of Jewish prisoners. As trains full of people arrive daily, Rudi knows that the murders won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world—and that each day that passes means more lives are lost.
Lives like Rudi’s schoolmate Gerta Sidonová. Gerta’s family fled from Slovakia to Hungary, where they live under assumed names to hide their Jewish identity. But Hungary is beginning to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Her chances of survival become slimmer by the day.
The clock is ticking. As Gerta inches closer to capture, Rudi and his friend Alfred Wetzler begin their crucial steps towards an impossible escape.
This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 29, 2023
74 people are currently reading
2045 people want to read
About the author
Steve Sheinkin
47 books692 followersFrom: http://stevesheinkin.com/about/
I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and my family lived in Mississippi and Colorado before moving back to New York and settling in the suburbs north of New York City. As a kid my favorite books were action stories and outdoor adventures: sea stories, searches for buried treasure, sharks eating people… that kind of thing. Probably my all-time favorite was a book called Mutiny on the Bounty, a novel based on the true story of a famous mutiny aboard a British ship in the late 1700s.
I went to Syracuse University and studied communications and international relations. The highlight of those years was a summer I spent in Central America, where I worked on a documentary on the streets of Nicaragua.
After college I moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for an environmental group called the National Audubon Society. Then, when my brother Ari graduated from college a few years later, we decided to move to Austin, Texas, and make movies together. We lived like paupers in a house with a hole in the floor where bugs crawled in. We wrote some screenplays, and in 1995 made our own feature film, a comedy called A More Perfect Union (filing pictured below), about four young guys who decide to secede from the Union and declare their rented house to be an independent nation. We were sure it was going to be a huge hit; actually we ended up deep in debt.
After that I moved to Brooklyn and decided to find some way to make a living as a writer. I wrote short stories, screenplays, and worked on a comic called The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey. In 2006, after literally hundreds of rejections, my first Rabbi Harvey graphic novel was finally published.
Meanwhile, I started working for an educational publishing company, just for the money. We’d hire people to write history textbooks, and they’d send in their writing, and it was my job to check facts and make little edits to clarify the text. Once in a while I was given the chance to write little pieces of textbooks, like one-page biographies or skills lessons. “Understanding Bar Graphs” was one of my early works. The editors noticed that my writing was pretty good. They started giving me less editing to do, and more writing. Gradually, I began writing chapters for textbooks, and that turned into my full-time job. All the while, I kept working on my own writing projects.
In 2008 I wrote my last textbook. I walked away, and shall never return. My first non-textbook history book was King George: What Was His Problem? – full of all the stories about the American Revolution that I was never allowed to put into textbooks. But looking back, I actually feel pretty lucky to have spent all those years writing textbooks. It forced me to write every day, which is great practice. And I collected hundreds of stories that I can’t wait to tell.
These days, I live with my wife, Rachel, and our two young kids in Saratoga Springs, New York. We’re right down the road from the Saratoga National Historical Park, the site of Benedict Arnold’s greatest – and last – victory in an American uniform. But that’s not why I moved here. Honestly.
I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and my family lived in Mississippi and Colorado before moving back to New York and settling in the suburbs north of New York City. As a kid my favorite books were action stories and outdoor adventures: sea stories, searches for buried treasure, sharks eating people… that kind of thing. Probably my all-time favorite was a book called Mutiny on the Bounty, a novel based on the true story of a famous mutiny aboard a British ship in the late 1700s.
I went to Syracuse University and studied communications and international relations. The highlight of those years was a summer I spent in Central America, where I worked on a documentary on the streets of Nicaragua.
After college I moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for an environmental group called the National Audubon Society. Then, when my brother Ari graduated from college a few years later, we decided to move to Austin, Texas, and make movies together. We lived like paupers in a house with a hole in the floor where bugs crawled in. We wrote some screenplays, and in 1995 made our own feature film, a comedy called A More Perfect Union (filing pictured below), about four young guys who decide to secede from the Union and declare their rented house to be an independent nation. We were sure it was going to be a huge hit; actually we ended up deep in debt.
After that I moved to Brooklyn and decided to find some way to make a living as a writer. I wrote short stories, screenplays, and worked on a comic called The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey. In 2006, after literally hundreds of rejections, my first Rabbi Harvey graphic novel was finally published.
Meanwhile, I started working for an educational publishing company, just for the money. We’d hire people to write history textbooks, and they’d send in their writing, and it was my job to check facts and make little edits to clarify the text. Once in a while I was given the chance to write little pieces of textbooks, like one-page biographies or skills lessons. “Understanding Bar Graphs” was one of my early works. The editors noticed that my writing was pretty good. They started giving me less editing to do, and more writing. Gradually, I began writing chapters for textbooks, and that turned into my full-time job. All the while, I kept working on my own writing projects.
In 2008 I wrote my last textbook. I walked away, and shall never return. My first non-textbook history book was King George: What Was His Problem? – full of all the stories about the American Revolution that I was never allowed to put into textbooks. But looking back, I actually feel pretty lucky to have spent all those years writing textbooks. It forced me to write every day, which is great practice. And I collected hundreds of stories that I can’t wait to tell.
These days, I live with my wife, Rachel, and our two young kids in Saratoga Springs, New York. We’re right down the road from the Saratoga National Historical Park, the site of Benedict Arnold’s greatest – and last – victory in an American uniform. But that’s not why I moved here. Honestly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 394 reviews
December 12, 2023
Nonfiction that reads (and looks, by the cover) like fiction. I'd recommend this to younger readers in the YA range, but also to anyone who feels like picking it up as well. You won't be able to put it down, even as you're crying due to what's being described.
It's written in a very accessible way, it's fast paced and the audiobook narrator is great, so I'd recommend you get that too. I think the ebook and/or physical copy should have photos in the back, due to my audio copy being a library one I missed out on that.
I know both Vrba and Wetzler wrote their own accounts of escape and I'm looking forward to reading them as well, and I'm pretty sure there's at least one more book on the side covering their story too. This is the only one that's geared towards MG/YA readers though, as far as I know.
All in all, I highly recommend this.
It's written in a very accessible way, it's fast paced and the audiobook narrator is great, so I'd recommend you get that too. I think the ebook and/or physical copy should have photos in the back, due to my audio copy being a library one I missed out on that.
I know both Vrba and Wetzler wrote their own accounts of escape and I'm looking forward to reading them as well, and I'm pretty sure there's at least one more book on the side covering their story too. This is the only one that's geared towards MG/YA readers though, as far as I know.
All in all, I highly recommend this.
October 10, 2023
Every time I read a book about the Holocaust, I learn more about the atrocities of the Nazis than I knew before, sadly. Although it is sickening to read about the millions of people they were responsible for murdering, the bravery of people like Rudi and Gerta is uplifting. They were determined to survive not just for their own sakes, but also to make sure that horrors of the Holocaust were known and not forgotten.
The author’s notes at the end about Holocaust denial were very informative. It seems like such a slap in the face to survivors like Rudi and Gerta, and to the millions who were eliminated, that there are people who choose to spread lies about the Holocaust being a “hoax”…
The author’s notes at the end about Holocaust denial were very informative. It seems like such a slap in the face to survivors like Rudi and Gerta, and to the millions who were eliminated, that there are people who choose to spread lies about the Holocaust being a “hoax”…
August 5, 2023
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Rudi Vrba was born in Czechoslovakia in 1924, and was friends with a girl named Gerta Sidnova. As Hitler was rising to power and invaded Poland in 1939, Rudi decides it's a good time to leave. Gerta's family also debates this, but stays a bit longer, before relocating to Hungary where she learned typing and shorthand. Rudi also makes it to Hungary, but is stopped, beaten, and jailed. He escapes several times, but never makes it very far. Eventually, he ends up in Auschwitz, and because he is young and still strong, is assigned to many different jobs. Early in the war, people thought that families really were being located, but as time passes, it became clear that this was not the case. Rudi sees this first hand at Auschwitz, and knows other young men whose job it is to bury or burn corpses. It's a horrible situation, and there are many descriptions of the different abuses perpetrated by the Nazis. Rudi was fairly lucky, but was determined to escape so that he could let the world know the reality behind the Nazi propaganda. He thought very carefully about how to escape, did his research, and realized that he and his friend Alfred Wetzler would have to hide outside the first set of perimeter gates at Auschwitz for about three days, and then escape past the second set. There were other men who tried this and failed, but Rudi succeeded. He managed to make it to Slovakia and contacted the Jewish council, where he and Alfred filed the Vrba–Wetzler Report, one of the first accounts of the atrocities being committed. After the war, Vrba married Gerta, with whom he had reconnected, and became a scientist.
Strengths: Sheinkin has done a lot of research; this read almost like a first hand account. Rudi's naive determination to escape but his fortunate ability to survive and escape again and again was an interesting progression of events I haven't seen as much in books about the Holocaust. It was contrasted nicely with Gerta's slightly more prosaic experience getting through the war. The details about the way that people were treated when they first got to the camp, the methods used for execution, and the secondary toll that this took on the people who had to work in positions surrounding this, are something I haven't seen expressed so clearly before. This is definitely a lot of information about what happened in the concentration camps, and about how the world really didn't know what exactly was going on for a while.
Weaknesses: This had many brutal moments, which makes it one that I would not hand it to sensitive 6th and 7th graders, but this allegiance to details, no matter how harrowing, makes it a great selection for 8th graders and high schoolers who have some background information and can handle it. Also, either I missed that Vrba was born Walter Rosenberg, or it wasn't mentioned as prominently in the book. I must have missed why he changed his name.
What I really think: This might be a good choice to offer students if they werre particularly interested in Wiesel's Night, which I know was studied for years at my school. I liked Rudi's determination to survive so that he could get out and tell the world. It also reminded me a bit of Rauch's Unlikely Warrior.
Rudi Vrba was born in Czechoslovakia in 1924, and was friends with a girl named Gerta Sidnova. As Hitler was rising to power and invaded Poland in 1939, Rudi decides it's a good time to leave. Gerta's family also debates this, but stays a bit longer, before relocating to Hungary where she learned typing and shorthand. Rudi also makes it to Hungary, but is stopped, beaten, and jailed. He escapes several times, but never makes it very far. Eventually, he ends up in Auschwitz, and because he is young and still strong, is assigned to many different jobs. Early in the war, people thought that families really were being located, but as time passes, it became clear that this was not the case. Rudi sees this first hand at Auschwitz, and knows other young men whose job it is to bury or burn corpses. It's a horrible situation, and there are many descriptions of the different abuses perpetrated by the Nazis. Rudi was fairly lucky, but was determined to escape so that he could let the world know the reality behind the Nazi propaganda. He thought very carefully about how to escape, did his research, and realized that he and his friend Alfred Wetzler would have to hide outside the first set of perimeter gates at Auschwitz for about three days, and then escape past the second set. There were other men who tried this and failed, but Rudi succeeded. He managed to make it to Slovakia and contacted the Jewish council, where he and Alfred filed the Vrba–Wetzler Report, one of the first accounts of the atrocities being committed. After the war, Vrba married Gerta, with whom he had reconnected, and became a scientist.
Strengths: Sheinkin has done a lot of research; this read almost like a first hand account. Rudi's naive determination to escape but his fortunate ability to survive and escape again and again was an interesting progression of events I haven't seen as much in books about the Holocaust. It was contrasted nicely with Gerta's slightly more prosaic experience getting through the war. The details about the way that people were treated when they first got to the camp, the methods used for execution, and the secondary toll that this took on the people who had to work in positions surrounding this, are something I haven't seen expressed so clearly before. This is definitely a lot of information about what happened in the concentration camps, and about how the world really didn't know what exactly was going on for a while.
Weaknesses: This had many brutal moments, which makes it one that I would not hand it to sensitive 6th and 7th graders, but this allegiance to details, no matter how harrowing, makes it a great selection for 8th graders and high schoolers who have some background information and can handle it. Also, either I missed that Vrba was born Walter Rosenberg, or it wasn't mentioned as prominently in the book. I must have missed why he changed his name.
What I really think: This might be a good choice to offer students if they werre particularly interested in Wiesel's Night, which I know was studied for years at my school. I liked Rudi's determination to survive so that he could get out and tell the world. It also reminded me a bit of Rauch's Unlikely Warrior.
August 19, 2024
The most remarkable thing about this book is how Sheinkin manages to always write nonfiction in a way that feels like fiction. While the subject matter wasn't my favorite (I feel a little over WWII fiction at the moment), this was still well written and taught a lot of things about Poland and Auschwitz.
October 5, 2023
This was riveting, and scalding, Sheinkin didn’t shy away from the hard stuff, but did manage to put it in a context assessable to young readers. I have come to the decision that this will be last concentration camp book I will read. I just don’t have the armor for them anymore.
February 22, 2025
4 Stars!
Impossible Escape is a young adult non-fiction book about Rudi Vrba who was a Holocaust survivor and escaped Auschwitz concentration camp. There are hundreds of non-fiction books out there about the Holocaust, but not very many are written this well for young readers.
The book mostly follows Rudi’s story line. He had many jobs assigned to him while at Auschwitz, and he was able to see the horrific things that were happening first hand. I know I’ve heard people ask, “How could people not know what was going on?” This book shows us the answer. It shows how the Nazis hid everything from the public. After two years at Auschwitz, Rudi was able to escape and get word out to the world on what was happening to the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz.
The other story line follows Gerta Sidnova who was Rudi’s close friend who’s family is hiding in Hungary. Greta becomes a member of the Hungarian Resistance and later marries Rudi after his escape. The alternating story lines allows the reader to see what was happening in different parts of Europe during 1942-1944.
It’s hard to believe how much I learned reading this short off a book. This non-fiction book reads like a fiction book and the writing is very easy to follow and it’s very well paced. I listened to the audio book (which was very good) in less than 2 days. I couldn’t stop listening.
The author’s note at the end that discussed how there are people out there that claim the Holocaust wasn’t real. This is mind boggling to me. I can’t even imagine having my family members experience these horrific things, but then have people around the world say that those things didn’t happen. It reminds me of the people who said the school shooting at Sandy Hook didn’t really happen. I’m all for freedom of speech, but this new era of conspiracy theories can be quite dangerous and very hurtful.
I would suggest this book to kids over the age of 12 due to violent content. Although this book is heavy, heartbreaking, and a very hard read, I think it does a good job getting younger readers to understand what was happening without a lot of graphic details. Don’t get me wrong…this book will stick with you. It’s probably the perfect amount of information (through a first hand account) for this age of reader.
This is an important story, and very well written for young readers!
Impossible Escape is a young adult non-fiction book about Rudi Vrba who was a Holocaust survivor and escaped Auschwitz concentration camp. There are hundreds of non-fiction books out there about the Holocaust, but not very many are written this well for young readers.
The book mostly follows Rudi’s story line. He had many jobs assigned to him while at Auschwitz, and he was able to see the horrific things that were happening first hand. I know I’ve heard people ask, “How could people not know what was going on?” This book shows us the answer. It shows how the Nazis hid everything from the public. After two years at Auschwitz, Rudi was able to escape and get word out to the world on what was happening to the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz.
The other story line follows Gerta Sidnova who was Rudi’s close friend who’s family is hiding in Hungary. Greta becomes a member of the Hungarian Resistance and later marries Rudi after his escape. The alternating story lines allows the reader to see what was happening in different parts of Europe during 1942-1944.
It’s hard to believe how much I learned reading this short off a book. This non-fiction book reads like a fiction book and the writing is very easy to follow and it’s very well paced. I listened to the audio book (which was very good) in less than 2 days. I couldn’t stop listening.
The author’s note at the end that discussed how there are people out there that claim the Holocaust wasn’t real. This is mind boggling to me. I can’t even imagine having my family members experience these horrific things, but then have people around the world say that those things didn’t happen. It reminds me of the people who said the school shooting at Sandy Hook didn’t really happen. I’m all for freedom of speech, but this new era of conspiracy theories can be quite dangerous and very hurtful.
I would suggest this book to kids over the age of 12 due to violent content. Although this book is heavy, heartbreaking, and a very hard read, I think it does a good job getting younger readers to understand what was happening without a lot of graphic details. Don’t get me wrong…this book will stick with you. It’s probably the perfect amount of information (through a first hand account) for this age of reader.
This is an important story, and very well written for young readers!
June 27, 2024
Listened to Impossible Escape, great narrator, excellent book. Sheinkin is a skilled writer, his non-fiction books read like fiction.
June 25, 2024
RFAL 24-25 Quick read. The truth is hard to read....amazing survival.
July 4, 2025
This might be my favorite of Steve Sheinken’s books. A grippingly told story of survival in and escape from Auschwitz, and life immediately before and after WWII in Slovakia and Hungary for several young teens and their families. I think this would make a great book for curriculum in Jr or Sr High School. There are several good maps, and a few photos.
After some online research I learned this is only the tip of the iceberg of Rudi Vrba’s story. He was shunned in Israel after WWII for speaking out about Jewish leaders who did not warn the Hungarian Jews to not cooperate, not get on the trains going to Auschwitz. Rudi wanted them to be told they were being sent to die immediately. This did not happen. There are two equally vocal sides on who is a hero and who is a collaborator in Jewish survivors. Rudi was against Kastner’s train, and spoke out against the Judenrat. For this his book and story and report on Auschwitz to the Jewish Council in 1944 were not published or included in Holocaust education in Israel for 50 years. Until an Israeli historian named Ruth Linn discovered him and took up his cause to the University of Haifa, where many had never heard of him. She got his book published in Hebrew.
After some online research I learned this is only the tip of the iceberg of Rudi Vrba’s story. He was shunned in Israel after WWII for speaking out about Jewish leaders who did not warn the Hungarian Jews to not cooperate, not get on the trains going to Auschwitz. Rudi wanted them to be told they were being sent to die immediately. This did not happen. There are two equally vocal sides on who is a hero and who is a collaborator in Jewish survivors. Rudi was against Kastner’s train, and spoke out against the Judenrat. For this his book and story and report on Auschwitz to the Jewish Council in 1944 were not published or included in Holocaust education in Israel for 50 years. Until an Israeli historian named Ruth Linn discovered him and took up his cause to the University of Haifa, where many had never heard of him. She got his book published in Hebrew.
July 26, 2023
Before I picked up this book if you'd told me I'd be unable to put down a book set in Auschwitz, I might be a bit skeptical. While I've seen documentaries and had good college history professors, I'm also wary of the "Holocaust fiction genre" because it just seems... weirdly romanticizing. :/
Fortunately, this book is not like that. For one, it is not fiction (I didn't notice that when selecting it) and doesn't pretend to be a novel, but manages to be just as compelling as one.
The book tells the true story of Rudi Vrba, a Slovakian Jewish teen who made an "impossible" escape from the concentration camp with fellow prisoner Alfred Wetzler in order to tell the world about the horrors there. Their report would be known as the Vrba-Wetzler Report.
The book's narrative is engaging and detailed and lets us walk in Rudi's footsteps, without overdramatization. The perspective shifts between Rudi, with his early escape attempts in Nazi-allied Slovakia, and his childhood friend Gerta whose family attempts to hide in neighboring Hungary. At times the book pulls back from this personal narrative to show the bigger picture of what was happening in Europe at the time.
Most of the book takes place inside concentration camps, so I don't think I need to elaborate on the content warnings needed. However, the author presents these things frankly without delving into graphic details or gore, making it appropriate for younger audiences.
I also appreciate that Sheinkin brings the story into our present culture with Rudi's reasoning for why he chose to testify at a Holocaust-denier's trial many years later - that big lies should always be countered with truth - and the author's subtle suggestion that big lies still exist around us. "If a proof was needed that the mentality and danger of the Holocaust are still with us, it's right there," Rudi Vrba spoke of later genocides like Cambodia and Rwanda.
Impossible Escape tells an exciting true story relying heavily on Vrba's own interviews and talks. It is an engaging history lesson as well as an important warning of a danger still with us.
Fortunately, this book is not like that. For one, it is not fiction (I didn't notice that when selecting it) and doesn't pretend to be a novel, but manages to be just as compelling as one.
The book tells the true story of Rudi Vrba, a Slovakian Jewish teen who made an "impossible" escape from the concentration camp with fellow prisoner Alfred Wetzler in order to tell the world about the horrors there. Their report would be known as the Vrba-Wetzler Report.
The book's narrative is engaging and detailed and lets us walk in Rudi's footsteps, without overdramatization. The perspective shifts between Rudi, with his early escape attempts in Nazi-allied Slovakia, and his childhood friend Gerta whose family attempts to hide in neighboring Hungary. At times the book pulls back from this personal narrative to show the bigger picture of what was happening in Europe at the time.
Most of the book takes place inside concentration camps, so I don't think I need to elaborate on the content warnings needed. However, the author presents these things frankly without delving into graphic details or gore, making it appropriate for younger audiences.
I also appreciate that Sheinkin brings the story into our present culture with Rudi's reasoning for why he chose to testify at a Holocaust-denier's trial many years later - that big lies should always be countered with truth - and the author's subtle suggestion that big lies still exist around us. "If a proof was needed that the mentality and danger of the Holocaust are still with us, it's right there," Rudi Vrba spoke of later genocides like Cambodia and Rwanda.
Impossible Escape tells an exciting true story relying heavily on Vrba's own interviews and talks. It is an engaging history lesson as well as an important warning of a danger still with us.
June 10, 2024
A NorthStar YA Award nominee for 24|25.
Wow! This book was so good. It is the story of Rudi Vrba. A young Jewish man who was sent to Auschwitz during World War II. His story is one of unspeakable terror and sadness. Sheinkin writes about this heartbreaking history with such grace. I found this book to be remarkable.
Wow! This book was so good. It is the story of Rudi Vrba. A young Jewish man who was sent to Auschwitz during World War II. His story is one of unspeakable terror and sadness. Sheinkin writes about this heartbreaking history with such grace. I found this book to be remarkable.
August 20, 2024
Outstanding YA nonfiction about a young Slovakian who escapes from Auschwitz and ends up being one of the first people to provide an eye witness account of the Nazi death camps. Just fantastic. Give this to all teenagers.
September 15, 2023
I really love the way Sheinkin tells a story. He makes the people come alive. I'm so glad he wrote a book about Rudolf Vrba. This was such a wonderful read.
November 22, 2023
Readable, detailed account of a Jewish teen who both experienced and witnessed horrific brutality and survived. Nonfiction.
December 3, 2023
I should not be surprised with how terrific this book is. Nor when it ends up as one of my top picks of the year.
December 21, 2024
This book is superb! I read it in essentially one sitting, absolutely glued to my seat. It was not pleasant reading. It was nightmarish reading. Actually, I started it last night, read the prologue (3 pages), and stopped. I sensed, any more, and I’d have nightmares. When I got a chance today, I sat down and read the rest at one sitting.
Rudi at first wanted nothing more than survival from slavery and torture at Auschwitz. But he realized, maybe he could get the word out and save people before they got to Auschwitz and similar concentration camps. He knew most would die once at the camps. He and a friend planned carefully and made it with incomprehensible and incredible physical and mental effort. That became the prelude to his life’s effort: being a whistleblower and testifying that the hellish torments and mass murders of the Nazis had indeed happened. He succeeded in his initial goal: it is his information documented in the Vrba-Wetzler Report that eventually led to around 200,000 Hungarian Jews not being deported as the Hungarian leader realized he better give in to the side that was winning and stopped cooperating with the Nazis. He tried his best at his other goal, at the trial of a Holocaust denier, Zündel who was found guilty of spreading lies. He actively spoke at schools to students as well as other activities. He wrote a book titled “I Cannot Forgive”, first published in Britain in 1963, that included his exchanges with historians and documents as well as his personal experience. Sheinkin interviewed the daughter of Rudi’s wife (from her second marriage) as well as other people who knew Rudi and Gerta. Her experience was nearly as incredible as his. And she had him beat on the number of incredible escapes.
I highly recommend this book. One person can make an incredible difference! This won the 2024 Sidney Taylor Book Award for Young Adults. Shamefully, it didn’t win other ALA awards, although it won other awards.
Rudi at first wanted nothing more than survival from slavery and torture at Auschwitz. But he realized, maybe he could get the word out and save people before they got to Auschwitz and similar concentration camps. He knew most would die once at the camps. He and a friend planned carefully and made it with incomprehensible and incredible physical and mental effort. That became the prelude to his life’s effort: being a whistleblower and testifying that the hellish torments and mass murders of the Nazis had indeed happened. He succeeded in his initial goal: it is his information documented in the Vrba-Wetzler Report that eventually led to around 200,000 Hungarian Jews not being deported as the Hungarian leader realized he better give in to the side that was winning and stopped cooperating with the Nazis. He tried his best at his other goal, at the trial of a Holocaust denier, Zündel who was found guilty of spreading lies. He actively spoke at schools to students as well as other activities. He wrote a book titled “I Cannot Forgive”, first published in Britain in 1963, that included his exchanges with historians and documents as well as his personal experience. Sheinkin interviewed the daughter of Rudi’s wife (from her second marriage) as well as other people who knew Rudi and Gerta. Her experience was nearly as incredible as his. And she had him beat on the number of incredible escapes.
I highly recommend this book. One person can make an incredible difference! This won the 2024 Sidney Taylor Book Award for Young Adults. Shamefully, it didn’t win other ALA awards, although it won other awards.
December 10, 2023
Heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, and so hard yet *important* to read.
March 6, 2024
This is one of the best novels I have read in quite some time. It is a true account of the first two Jews to escape the concentration camps during the Holocaust. One of the most impactful pieces of the book, was when Rudi made it clear that the world didn’t know that the Nazis were killing the Jews. At first, they only thought the Jews were in captivity as prisoners of war. Rudi himself being young, and strong, was recruited by the Nazis as a “prisoner worker”, and Rudi thought he was guarding Jewish prisoners. He gives an account of the day he was told to go in to the “prison“ that he was guarding and take jewelry, glasses, clothes from the Jews. He understand why they would give him such an assignment until he walked in and realized it was a gas chamber, and everyone was dead. Rudi said “ I realized, in that moment that I was not guarding prisoners but instead, I was guarding the murderous atrocities the Nazis were committing, from the entire entire world.”
I cannot say more about this book, if you were teacher, there are actually online study guides to go along with it. The author is a former history textbook writer who now writes historical novels like this. I was blown away and can’t wait to see what other books he has written. This book was awarded the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Young Adults).
(This book it is actually young adult book, and is appropriate for high school ages as well possibly older MS)
I cannot say more about this book, if you were teacher, there are actually online study guides to go along with it. The author is a former history textbook writer who now writes historical novels like this. I was blown away and can’t wait to see what other books he has written. This book was awarded the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Young Adults).
(This book it is actually young adult book, and is appropriate for high school ages as well possibly older MS)
February 23, 2025
This was fantastic--I have strongly recommended books by Sheinkin to students in my children's literature course and will continue to do so. I appreciated the two stories that came together in the book and the robust historical details and foundation added to the strength of the entire reading experience.
I have a nonfiction work for adults that is about Rudy that I haven't read yet, but plan to: The Escape Artist!
Highly recommend this one!
I have a nonfiction work for adults that is about Rudy that I haven't read yet, but plan to: The Escape Artist!
Highly recommend this one!
October 27, 2024
The incredible account of a teenage boy, Rudi Vrba who escaped from Auschwitz and was the first person to bring an account of what was happening to the world. It gets a little preachy at the end about how we shouldn't spread misinformation, and how there are Holocaust deniers and it also brings in talk about free speech it all felt forced and was very obvious what they wanted young adults to think. The story also attempts to put the broader time line of the war into the story and at times it's quite boring when we leave our protagonist and have a history lesson.
I really appreciated the amount of research that went into this with quotes from first hand accounts as well as an author who went to Poland and retraced the steps of Rudi Vrba and his incredible escape.
I really appreciated the amount of research that went into this with quotes from first hand accounts as well as an author who went to Poland and retraced the steps of Rudi Vrba and his incredible escape.
October 15, 2024
This is a book I was asked to pilot for our Literature of War class. I am a big fan of narrative history, and was captured by this book from the very first page. We can never cease educating ourselves on the Holocaust and all of its victims, perpetrators, and survivors.
Rudi Vrba and Alfred Wexler survived two years of brutal beatings and starvation in Nazi concentration camps. They managed to escape captivity and certain death by breaking out of Auschwitz and hiking more than 100 km. They recognized the importance of their testimony, and helped to save at least 200,000 people from extermination. They went on to fight with the Resistance and earn medals of valor once they were free.
These are the role models we should hold up. These are the stories we should be telling our children and our grandchildren. Rudi and Alfred should be as well-known and celebrated as Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. We should all be so courageous.
Rudi Vrba and Alfred Wexler survived two years of brutal beatings and starvation in Nazi concentration camps. They managed to escape captivity and certain death by breaking out of Auschwitz and hiking more than 100 km. They recognized the importance of their testimony, and helped to save at least 200,000 people from extermination. They went on to fight with the Resistance and earn medals of valor once they were free.
These are the role models we should hold up. These are the stories we should be telling our children and our grandchildren. Rudi and Alfred should be as well-known and celebrated as Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. We should all be so courageous.
October 24, 2024
I've never heard of the Vrba–Wetzler report before, so this was an interesting read to start my journey. I previously read Sheinkin's book called Fallout and I really enjoyed it. But, I don't think writing biographies like books is Sheinkin's strong suit. It didn't feel like it flowed well. I also felt like the book was dominated by Rudi's story, which I felt defeated the purpose of the book being about Rudi and Gerta. Lastly, I didn't even realize the significance/of who Rudi and Gerta were until I looked them up. I feel like for this book to be effective, you should have known who they were before you got too deep into the story.
November 30, 2023
May be the best book I read all year. Read out loud on a road trip and we were all captivated by this true story. The middle section is so hard to read (the atrocities of Aushwetiz) but also so necessary and still felt the author handled it well for a middle grade readers. But I probably wouldn’t read to anyone younger than 12.
Truly impossible escape. Miraculous. Had me in tears several times.
As always Sheinkin knocks it out of the park. My favorite of his so far.
Truly impossible escape. Miraculous. Had me in tears several times.
As always Sheinkin knocks it out of the park. My favorite of his so far.
October 9, 2023
I imagine, and hope, many have read other books about the terrible acts done by Hitler and his Nazis leading up to and during World War II. Sheinkin's book includes background and explanations throughout the books, but directly focuses on the story of one young man. Readers first meet Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba leaving home to prevent being caught by the police rounding up young Jewish men. That early line from his mother, who knew she might never see her son again, stayed with me throughout the book: "Take care of yourself. . . And don't forget to change your socks." He was seventeen. Though not quite as much time is spent, a parallel story of Rudi's friend, Gerta, is also told. She managed to stay hidden with her mother by escaping into Hungary after her father was taken away. Hers is an intriguing story to see how smart she was to keep safe, challenges faced, even as a young teen.
Among several other settings, Rudi spent most of the war in Auschwitz. There is more detail about the various work that prisoners did and the horrible things they endured and saw happen, the constant cruelty and evil, on the trains, in the camp, out in fields for work. The detail is there, Rudi's strength is there, small acts of kindness and wisdom from others help, too. He and a friend, Alfred (Fred) Wetzler start plans for escape, and that focus, their journey to survive "out" in order to bear witness to the truth of what is happening, what has been happening, keeps them going. It is an important part of this history, of a young man whose will to survive and tell the truth saved thousands of lives.
Among several other settings, Rudi spent most of the war in Auschwitz. There is more detail about the various work that prisoners did and the horrible things they endured and saw happen, the constant cruelty and evil, on the trains, in the camp, out in fields for work. The detail is there, Rudi's strength is there, small acts of kindness and wisdom from others help, too. He and a friend, Alfred (Fred) Wetzler start plans for escape, and that focus, their journey to survive "out" in order to bear witness to the truth of what is happening, what has been happening, keeps them going. It is an important part of this history, of a young man whose will to survive and tell the truth saved thousands of lives.
March 14, 2025
"If it was possible yesterday, it's possible again, unless we are vigilant."
This book reads like fiction but really happened less than 100 years ago. It was honestly quite terrifying to read in today's political climate, especially the parts about the Holocaust beginning with normal, everyday people believing Hitler's big lies and turning into extremists.
I hadn't heard of Rudolf Vrba before reading this book, but I won't soon forget his story or his heroism. His and Fred's escape from Auschwitz and trek across Nazi-occupied country to tell the world what was happening in the camps saved thousands of lives. I was deeply impacted reading about what they went through to try to get the truth out.
After reading about what they went through to let the world know how people were being mass murdered, it was especially devastating to read in the latter chapters of the book about Holocaust deniers. Once again, Rudy's heroism shined, as he took the stand to relieve his memories of his year and a half in Auschwitz in front of Holocaust deniers.
This is a powerful story, and if you have the stomach to read a Holocaust book, I recommend it as an audiobook.
"That's the enemy, Rudy taught, the mentality of the Holocaust. This includes the conspiracy theory spread by people like Ernst Zundel, the invention of fake history to feed a hateful vision of the world. It includes the sick reasoning Auschwitz commandant Rudolph Höss used to explain his crimes. The twisted logic that allows one group of people to look on another group as fundamentally different, inferior, less worthy of rights. That's why it's so important, Rudy said, that nobody gets away with racial hatred and lies."
This book reads like fiction but really happened less than 100 years ago. It was honestly quite terrifying to read in today's political climate, especially the parts about the Holocaust beginning with normal, everyday people believing Hitler's big lies and turning into extremists.
I hadn't heard of Rudolf Vrba before reading this book, but I won't soon forget his story or his heroism. His and Fred's escape from Auschwitz and trek across Nazi-occupied country to tell the world what was happening in the camps saved thousands of lives. I was deeply impacted reading about what they went through to try to get the truth out.
After reading about what they went through to let the world know how people were being mass murdered, it was especially devastating to read in the latter chapters of the book about Holocaust deniers. Once again, Rudy's heroism shined, as he took the stand to relieve his memories of his year and a half in Auschwitz in front of Holocaust deniers.
This is a powerful story, and if you have the stomach to read a Holocaust book, I recommend it as an audiobook.
"That's the enemy, Rudy taught, the mentality of the Holocaust. This includes the conspiracy theory spread by people like Ernst Zundel, the invention of fake history to feed a hateful vision of the world. It includes the sick reasoning Auschwitz commandant Rudolph Höss used to explain his crimes. The twisted logic that allows one group of people to look on another group as fundamentally different, inferior, less worthy of rights. That's why it's so important, Rudy said, that nobody gets away with racial hatred and lies."
November 26, 2023
Steve Sheinkin just writes excellent narrative nonfiction and this is no exception. I didn't know Rudi Vrba's story at all before this, and it's compellingly told. Very hard to read, due to the subject matter, but a necessary story to be told.
Holocaust stories are incredibly difficult to read, and there is so much horror in them--everyone involved in the camps is such a monster and it wouldn't have been possible without the complicity of so many. That's true here. I did also appreciate the stories that Sheinkin told about all of the people who helped, at great risk to themselves. It is good to remember that so much of the Holocaust shows humanity at its absolute worst, and there also were people who did help and save lives, even in very small ways. It helps to not feel quite as much nihilism and despair.
This is a really excellent book about someone whose story should be more widely known. I highly recommend it.
Holocaust stories are incredibly difficult to read, and there is so much horror in them--everyone involved in the camps is such a monster and it wouldn't have been possible without the complicity of so many. That's true here. I did also appreciate the stories that Sheinkin told about all of the people who helped, at great risk to themselves. It is good to remember that so much of the Holocaust shows humanity at its absolute worst, and there also were people who did help and save lives, even in very small ways. It helps to not feel quite as much nihilism and despair.
This is a really excellent book about someone whose story should be more widely known. I highly recommend it.
May 14, 2024
“Every Jewish person in Europe who’d survived this far into World War II had a story to tell.”
An incredible YA nonfiction story that read like fiction, with a ridiculously long list of sources at the end. I loved it. Lately I have shied away from WWII books because they’re just too heavy for me, but this one didn’t have that usual weight, making it perfect for its intended audience but accessible to adults, too. And even without the weight, I could not put it down. I decided I could do what I wanted this Mother’s Day, so I read it in one day! What a ride. I had no idea anyone had escaped from Auschwitz (and it turns out 196 people successfully did it - I am amazed!), and knowing the outcome did not ruin the story at all. What an incredible journey and an incredible outcome. This story is unforgettable.
An incredible YA nonfiction story that read like fiction, with a ridiculously long list of sources at the end. I loved it. Lately I have shied away from WWII books because they’re just too heavy for me, but this one didn’t have that usual weight, making it perfect for its intended audience but accessible to adults, too. And even without the weight, I could not put it down. I decided I could do what I wanted this Mother’s Day, so I read it in one day! What a ride. I had no idea anyone had escaped from Auschwitz (and it turns out 196 people successfully did it - I am amazed!), and knowing the outcome did not ruin the story at all. What an incredible journey and an incredible outcome. This story is unforgettable.
July 31, 2024
I've read other books by this author, who consistently writes so well for youth. This was no different. I was surprised at the detail he went into in describing the lives of Rudi and the other prisoners at Auschwitz, some I had never read or heard before. Although I knew the outcome, I was still filled with suspense as I read this account. I would hesitate to recommend this to anyone younger than an emotionally mature middle schooler due to the graphic content. But its a great story of true heroism, of a very relatable teenager who not only wanted to escape for his own benefit, but so the world would learn what was happening and the killing could be stopped.
November 15, 2024
This novel tells us the incredible journey of strength and bravery of two Slovakian Jewish teens, who not only survived the Holocaust but fought back against the Nazis. Steve Sheinken exceptional writing detailing Rudolf Vrba escape from Auschwitz is a page turner. Paralleling Rudi's story we learned about Gerta Sidonova, how she and her family hid with relatives in Hungary and got faked last names trying to avoid captivity. Gerta later on joined the Hungary resistance. The Imposible Escape is a true story of survival and heroism.
June 15, 2025
2025-26 High School Battle of the Books selection
I think everyone should read a book that discusses the horrors of the Holocaust, and they should do so right now. I very much fear that many have forgotten that history, or worse, believe the deniers, the ones who claim it never happened, who think a certain leader was "brilliant", etc. We should always, ALWAYS remember events such as this. If we don't, we're doomed to repeat them, something that Rudi Vrba himself says near the end of the book.
"If it was possible yesterday, it's possible again...unless we are vigilant."
I think everyone should read a book that discusses the horrors of the Holocaust, and they should do so right now. I very much fear that many have forgotten that history, or worse, believe the deniers, the ones who claim it never happened, who think a certain leader was "brilliant", etc. We should always, ALWAYS remember events such as this. If we don't, we're doomed to repeat them, something that Rudi Vrba himself says near the end of the book.
"If it was possible yesterday, it's possible again...unless we are vigilant."
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