Dronfield speak to you and it goes straight to your heart. I have read countless books on WW11 but was really touched about the relationship between Gustav and Fritz. A truly moving story about the strength of humans and the love of family

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher, and author for a copy of this book.

Utterly heartbreaking to read. I have absolutely no comprehension on how they endured what they did, to keep their faith and still trust humanity.

Beautifully and vividly written, I highly recommend it. I'd give more than 5 stars if I could, just for the emotional toll it took on me.

"One wishes that it were not true, that it had never occurred, so terrible and painful are some of its events. But it all happened, within the memory of the still living."

Books such as this one stand as a permanent memory, a memorial of sorts, and the author perfectly captures that sentiment with this initial preface. Whilst the futures of many prisoners have been irrevocably sealed off, The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz details how despite the continual churning of that ever-destructive machine some individuals were able to oppose it. Fritz and his father Gustav are two such people who showed unwavering perseverance and enough cunning to survive more than one concentration camp, but more so than this had such devotion to one another that Fritz voluntarily walked into what he assumed must have been an inevitable death in order to be with his father.

With that said, it's likely unsurprising to say that Fritz and Gustav's familial bond was a large part of what made this book good. In fact, throughout the book they are challenged with separation and the need to get back to each other and we as the reader are desperate to know if they can and will reunite. Their relationship for me was less captivating however than the overall feeling Jeremy Dronfield manages to convey from the camps:

"It feels like a civilisation, albeit a civilisation carved out with bleeding fingers inside the fences of Hell".

He really wonderfully portrays the necessary camaraderie between some of those within the camps, but the concept of a form of civilisation being built within such a place is something I haven't come across often within historical fiction or non-fiction of this nature very often. It's most definitely the highlight of this novel.

Equally, his retelling of events based on journal entries from Gustav's diary, documented articles and interviews gives a very holistic view of this time. Often this kind of story will perfectly recount the events leading up to capture, the experience within a concentration camp and then end with rescue from the camp but very often give only sparse detail of the experiences of prisoners once they have been released from the camp. This book however considers that in quite some depth, with particular consideration for how those who had been within concentration camps might view those who hadn't, or those who had even the most minor part to play in the capture or destruction of the Jews and their livelihoods.

Whilst it feels distasteful to have anything negative to say about a story which sets out to do all of these things and to do them so well, for those who have read a great deal of accounts of this period this book will perhaps appear slightly drier than some of it's counterparts. The beginnings of this account are largely focused on the political involvement in the war and background building; both useful elements for those new to this period, but for the more familiar this will feel tedious to work through. I would have liked to have seen more about Gustav and Fritz prior to their experience, to build an understanding of their relationship and family dynamic before Auschwitz, to have a firmer understanding of their personalities.

Nevertheless Dronfield successfully captures the story of a formidable father and son determined not to separated, to whatever end.

"They took their past with them, understanding that the living must gather the memories of the dead and carry them into the safety of the future".

This is the harrowing true story of human survival and the atrocities of the concentration camps during World War II.
It is a book that will stay with me for a very long time.

This is a deeply moving harrowing story. I was near to tears many times. There is hope and love in the middle of all of the hate. People survived the camps and their story needs to be told. This book will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Wow so moving! This one will leave its mark on me for a while I have to admit.
It’s thought provoking and stirred even more emotions.
I’m kind of speechless.....

It seems totally wrong to say that I enjoyed this book, yet I cannot think of another way to describe it. This book follows the true story of one family of Viennese Jews as they are separated and sent to various countries during the horrendous years of World War 2. From the very beginning you are thrown headlong into the harrowing way one human can treat another human being. It seems impossible to believe that people were treated like this and I believe that it is something that we should never be allowed to forget. The book may read like a novel but it is based on the diary Gustav Kleinmann managed to keep throughout his years spent in several camps along with his son Fritz. It is hard to understand what these people faced and the huge numbers that died or were murdered is incomprehensible. I didn't want to put the book down and think it should be compulsory reading for everyone. Hopefully then, future generations will never forget the suffering faced by so many brave and resilient people.

Understandably, the subject matter is very harrowing to read but please don't let this put you off of reading this book, there are also moments of incredible humanity and caring. This is a book that will definitely stay with me for a long time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is the true story of Gustav and Fritz Kleinmann, a Jewish father and son, from Vienna who were sent to concentration camps in 1939 soon after the Nazis took over Austria. We also hear of the fate of the other family members. Tini, Gustav’s wife, and Herta, their fifteen year old daughter, were later captured and not heard from again. Edith, the eldest child aged 18, was able to escape to England and not long after Kurt, their youngest aged 8, was transported to USA where he was brought up by a kind and loving family.

It is a heartbreaking and often harrowing story as we learn of the persecution of the Jews in Vienna from 1938 onwards as Nazi support increased. Even people that the family had regarded as friends and neighbours suddenly turned against them and reported them to the Nazis. They were set on in the streets and made to do awful things as the crowd jeered at them, often including many they'd known as friends previously.

Most of the book is focused on Gustav and Fritz who amazingly survived years in concentration camps including Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Sometimes we hear of how Edith and Kurt were doing in England and USA. They were all finally reunited after the war but found themselves very different people after their many different traumatic experiences during the war years so things like religion and politics had to be excluded from conversations.

I found this book very hard to read but it is very well researched and written. I was only able to keep reading because I knew that Gustav and Fritz did survive their awful ordeals. I would have like to know more about all their lives after the Second World War. Amazingly both Gustav and Fritz lived until they were in their mid eighties,.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for a review copy. This is an unbiased review of the author's work and style. If you want plot lines and spoilers please see the publishers blurb and other reviewers' reports.
Not one for the faint of heart - a very disturbing account of man's inhumanity to man. I have - in one way or another read a lot about the Second World War - mostly form the known academics who publish in this field. But, apart from the anonymous diary of a German Woman, discovered and published by Antony Beevor, I have never felt the pain or emotional turmoil that I felt when reading this amazing account.
Every voting adult, everyone interested in the history of the 20th century should read this clear, unsentimental chronicle of the horrors of the Nazi's Concentration & Death camps.
In these politically troubled times it does no harm to read about the effects of extreme political movements and the consequence they can have in the way a populous can be corrupted by their perverse philosophies.
Definitely not the easiest of reads but a tale that needed to be told.

This is one of those books that will stay with you forever. I learnt things about the holocaust from this book that I didn’t know before- the sheer depravity of the Nazis knew no bounds. Based on the true story of a father and son moving through the concentration camps together for the duration of the war, this is a moving, horrific story, but ultimately a story about family, friendship and love in all its forms. The resilience of Gustav and Fritz and their resolve to make it through the hell they were in is inspiring. I don’t hold on to many books after I’ve read them, preferring to pass them on to friends, family or to a local book swap table, but this is one I will hold on to forever.

At once an enthralling and emotionally devastating true story of the love and courage of a father and son’s determination to survive the horrors of the Holocaust. An historically important reminder of the injustices and terrors inflicted on a nation of people.

This is the harrowing story of the life of a Gustav and his son Fritz and life in the camps in 1939 . They get there courage and survival instinct by the care and love they have for each other. A truly inspired read.
Everyone should read this.
#TheBoyWhoFollowedHisFatherIntoAuschwitz #NetGalley

when you are at school and learning about this in a lesson you cannot imagine the degrading life period. this book is a massive insight and really felt like it took me there. i felt so many emotions while reading it.
it is a true eye opener, i think our children could learn a lot more from this book on this period then just reading a few materials or watching a couple of films. this is in depth and haunting

Who ever survived the war (WW2), did well for a Jew from Germany or Austria it was a miracle as it was from other countries but they endured for longer, this is the story of the Kleinmann family. Gustav the father was a upholster by trade and had his own company his wife was Tini they had 2 boys the eldest Fritz who was taken away with his Dad, and what follows is their story and some of what happened to the others members of their family.
If this was a work of fiction it would not be imaginable but the heart wrenching truth is it is a true story of human cruelty that just does away with any acceptable reasoning. The strength of this father and son and what i can only describe as the hand of GOD in seeing them through this time will take your breath away. Many may say where was God but that is a whole other story but as it is if there is a God ( and I'm firmly convinced there is) there is also evil and that is what drove this situation and well there are no words.
If those Germans fighting for their Country if Faith of their Government knew what was going on out could all have been so different. However there were hundreds of not more that worked in the camps that did know and worse still carried out forward how is the question that is hard to say but this is meant to be a review so i must leave my personnel views aside but I'm not sure you will be able to even after just chapter one.
This is a story that that must be told and never forgotten and this book is as powerful as any i have read that explains why it must be told to generations to come not to just honour the dead but stand up for the courageous and see how evil man can be when no one stand up to help destroy the work of the evil. And the Nazis are lead by the evil and it ran through so many many others. It has too be said that not all Germans of that era were Nazis as many would and still are sickened by the truth. It's also a reminder of how dangerous it is when extremists come to power no matter what their leanings are left out right.
But this is a book that needs to be read and read by us and many generations to come. What else can i say but please yes get this book it well effect you and that's not a bad thing as its needed to so we can move forward as individuals, gross and as nations. Love changes everything and the love in the Kleinmann family will show you how it works in the most moving and well you know the rest of not read this book its out a whole lot more powerfully than i can convey.

Gustav Kleinmann

I found this book hard to put down once I'd started it although it was painful to read the shocking descriptions of brutality meted out to the prisoners. The love between father and son shone brightly even in such a terrible environment. I think everyone should read this so we don't forget what these poor people endured.

This is not the type of book that I would usually read - I must have been feeling brave when I requested it. It's a harrowing, true story of a father and son who are sent to a concentration camp in 1939 and are survive all the way through the war. It is told honestly, caringly and brutally.

A wonderful book that gave me nightmares.

Fascinating read, excellent writing on a difficult subject. Very intriguing, great for those interested in WWII topics. An enjoyable read and highly recommended.

I have always been interested in books on the Holocaust and as soon as I read the blurb for this one I was desperate to read it.

This is another book though that I am going to be in the minority with. Yes it is a harrowing tale but for me it lacked depth and emotion. I didn't feel any of the horrors that were happening to people or the atrocities that were going on in the camp. It was all to much matter of fact rather than really getting into Gustav and Fritz's minds.

There is certainly a lot of description and background of what things were like during the war and the camps and the author really does go into detail and it is really interesting. It's really hard to not be overly positive about a book when the story is true and I know the people whose story is being told will have been to hell and back. I am always grateful to them for telling their story. For me though the authors writing style just didn't pull on my emotions. Like I say, am no doubt I will be in the minority and would still urge people to read as anyone that went through what Gustav and Fritz did, deserve to be heard.

A superbly moving book, excellent writing on what is often a very difficult and uneasy subject. Engaging and encompassing. Perfect for fans of WWII, and the likes of The Boy In Striped Pyjamas.

A very tragic subject but dealt with with taste and an enjoyable read.

a wee bit about the book

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz is the true story of father and son, Gustav and Fritz Kleinmann.

Residents of Vienna, the Jewish Kleinmann family resided in the Jewish district of Leopoldstadt in the year preceding World War 2.

In 1938, the family – Gustav, Tini, Edith, Fritz, Herta, and Kurt – found themselves increasingly subject to persecution as Nazi supporters became more empowered.

In 1939 Gustav and his older son Fritz were herded on to trains and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Through thorough research and interviews, as well as a little green notepad that Gustav managed to write in and keep, Jeremy Dronfield tells the incredible and harrowing tale of not only these two men, but the rest of the Kleinmann family too.

my thoughts

One cannot use the word ‘enjoyed’ for a book of this nature, but I did find it engaging, eye-opening, and wholly memorable.

It is clear that a huge amount of research has gone into the creation of this book. Through the Kleinmanns’ story, the reader becomes more acquainted with the lives of Jewish people in Vienna at that time – and what became of many during WW2.

Gustav and Fritz were detained in numerous concentration camps during these years. Their close relationship kept them strong and determined to survive. When Gustav was set to be sent from Buchenwald to Auschwitz, with Fritz to be left behind (as the title implies), Fritz gets himself into Auschwitz so that he can remain with his father.

A book on this subject is never going to be easy-reading. Dronfield shares the facts and, rightfully, doesn’t shy away from detail.

While the subject matter is harrowing, often graphic, and upsetting, Jeremy Dronfield writes in a way that makes you keep reading.

The writing itself is easy-to-read while the content is not. I think that’s a rare skill. Dronfield shares the truth of the concentration camps – graphic and upsetting – and yet you want to keep reading. Part of this, for me, was Gustav and Fritz; I really cared about them and wanted to read their stories.

In reading about Gustav and Fritz, we also get the stories of others that they encountered along the way – from the SS men who made their lives Hell, to the fellow prisoners and others who helped them to survive. The stories of strangers coming together to help one another are striking and heart rending.

I spent much of this book with tears in my eyes. I couldn’t put the book down as I yearned to learn the fates of the members of the Kleinmann family, and those they met along the way.

My only slight issue was that I found it quite hard to keep track of all the names in this book. However, the author does a good job of reminding us most of the time.

I found this a heart-breaking yet hugely engaging read. There is so much detail in this book, I learned a great deal.

The stories of Gustav and Fritz are going to stay with me. These stories need to be heard, and writers such as Dronfield clearly take much care in the research and crafting of the book.

I’d say this book is less ‘just’ story and more a story with historical fact and details. I can’t tell you how much I learned, or how much I hoped and felt for Gustav, Fritz, and their fellow prisoners.

An eye-opening, educational, and emotional read.

I definitely recommend.