A review by lizeindisney
Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz by Thomas Harding

5.0

I have read this book, in this month specifically, to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27th. I have a few more holocaust-related books on my shelf left to read, which I am hoping to get through before the month is through. Having visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp, one of three camps that Rudolf Höß worked in, I have seen first hand the conditions the prisoners suffered in, and now after reading this book, I know in much greater detail who oversaw it. This book is a wonderful example of a nephew wanting their family history remembered, for when I learnt about the Nazis at school, we were never taught about the determination of people such as Hanns Alexander, the author's uncle, in bringing these war criminals such as Höß to justice. Books such as this shed light on the wonderful human beings who simply wanted justice to be done. The book was indeed heartbreaking, as any account I have read of the Holocaust always is, but I admire Hanns for what he did. His family just barely escaped the Holocaust, with one family member sadly not getting away from it. But in finding Höß, he got justice for his people, those that were killed, tortured or otherwise affected. Thomas Harding must be incredibly proud of what his uncle achieved.