A young reader's edition of The Volunteer
- Jack Fairweather's Costa Book of the Year 2020.
An extraordinary, eye-opening account of the Holocaust.



Occupied Warsaw, Summer 1940: Witold Pilecki,
a Polish underground operative, accepted a mission
to uncover the fate of thousands interned at a new concentration
camp, report on Nazi crimes, raise a secret army and stage an
uprising. The name of the camp - Auschwitz.



Over the next two and half years, and under the cruellest of conditions,
Pilecki's underground sabotaged facilities, assassinated
Nazi officers and gathered evidence of terrifying abuse and mass
murder.


But as he pieced together the horrifying Nazi plans
to exterminate Europe's Jews, Pilecki realized he would have
to risk his men, his life and his family to warn the West before
all was lost. To do so meant attempting the impossible
– but first he would have to escape from
Auschwitz itself...





For children aged 12 and up.

Written from exclusive access to previously hidden diaries, family
and camp survivor accounts, and recently declassified files.


Critically acclaimed and award-winning journalist Jack Fairweather
brilliantly portrays the remarkable man who volunteered to
face the unknown.

This extraordinary and eye-opening account of the Holocaust invites
us all to bear witness.