The volunteer : one man, an underground army, and the secret mission to destroy Auschwitz
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 461-486) and index.

Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: assume a fake identity, intentionally get captured and sent to the new camp at Auschwitz, and then report back to the underground on what had happened to his compatriots there. He was also to execute an attack from inside, where the Germans would least expect it. Over the next two and half years Pilecki forged an underground army within Auschwitz that sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazi informants and officers, and gathered evidence of shocking abuse and mass murder. As the camp became the epicenter of 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: an escape from Auschwitz itself. -- adapted from jacket