The Volunteer The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz

“I have listened to many confessions of my friends before their death. They all reacted in the same unexpected manner: they regretted they hadn’t given enough to other people, of their hearts, of the truth . . . the only thing that remained after them on Earth, the only thing that was positive and had a lasting value, was what they could give of themselves to others.” -Pilecki In my head, I've read plenty about the Holocaust. But when I really think about it, it's mostly been tangential among all my other WWII reading. I read Anne Frank's diary in school, of course. And Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning is a classic as well. But beyond that, I can't think of much I've read that centers on the Holocaust. There are numerous great books about it, including a lot of first-person memoirs, but to be honest, I think I've been reluctant to read them for the sheer fact that I assume they'll just be too sad. So ends my confession. And how wrong I was. The Volunteer centers on Auschwitz — the central piece of the Nazis' extermination program. The hero of the story is Witold Pilecki. As a member of the Polish resistance, he had some idea of what happened there, but not much. To their mind, it was sort of a POW labor camp. (And at the start, at least, that's really what it was.) So Polecki, astonishingly, volunteered to be captured and sent there as a way to learn more information and start a resistance movement from within. He of course had no idea how horrific it really would be. There's so much I could write about this book . . . the premise alone — a man offering himself up to the brutality of Auschwitz — should catch your attention, as it did mine. Beyond that, it's a fascinating and of course disturbing history of Auschwitz, a look at why the Allied nations didn't take action sooner (Polecki begged them to bomb the place, even if he it meant his own death, just so the horror would end), and how humanity can rise up out of the literal ashes to perform courageous deeds that are beyond comprehension. That's in fact the benefit of reading about the Holocaust. Yes, it's an episode in our history that shows the horror of what humanity is capable of. But, it also shows our species' gutsiness, fortitude, bravery, and capacity to love. And that's the important part. The Volunteer is a great book that deserves more attention than it's getting.