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Brought to you by Penguin

One of the last great untold stories of the Holocaust The Survivor is an astonishing account of one mans unbreakable spirit unshakeable faith and extraordinary courage in the face of evil

At only sixteen years old Josef Lewkowicz became a number prisoner 85314 Following the Nazi invasion of Poland he and his father were separated from their family and herded to the KrakwPlaszw concentration camp Forced to carry out hard labour in brutal conditions and to live under the constant threat of extreme violence and sudden death before the war was over Josef would witness the unique horrors of six of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps including Auschwitz Mauthausen and Ebensee

From salt mines to forced marches summary executions to Amstetten where prisoners were used as human shields in Allied bombing Josef lived under the spectre of death for many years When he was liberated from Ebensee at the end of the war conditions were amongst the worst witnessed by allied forces

With his freedom Josef returned home to find that he was the only one left alive in an extended family of 150 Compelled by the need to do something to avenge that loss he joined the Jewish police while still in a displaced persons camp and was recruited as an intelligence officer for the US Army who gave him a team to search for Nazis in hiding

Whilst rounding up SS leaders he played a critical role in identifying and bringing to justice his greatest tormentor the Butcher of Plaszow Amon Gth played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindlers List He then committed his life to helping the orphaned children of the Holocaust rebuild their lives

The Survivor is Josefs extraordinary testimony

2023 Josef Lewkowicz amp Michael Calvin P2023 Penguin Audio