Hanns and Rudolf

The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz

By: Thomas Harding

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

The untold story of the man who brought a mastermind of the final solution to justice

May 1945: In the aftermath of the Second World War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. One of the lead investigators is Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a German Jew who is now serving in the British Army. Rudolf Höss is his most elusive target. As kommandant of Auschwitz, Höss not only oversaw the murder of more than one million men, women, and children, he was the man who perfected Hitler's program of mass extermination. Höss is on the run across a continent in ruins, the one man whose testimony can ensure justice at Nuremberg.

Hanns and Rudolf reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss' capture, an encounter with repercussions that echo to this day. Moving from the Middle Eastern campaigns of the First World War to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, it tells the story of two German men - one Jewish, one Catholic - whose lives diverged and intersected in an astonishing way.

©2013 Cackler Harding Ltd. (P)2013 Blackstone Audiobooks

unbelievable history

this is an unbelievable account of how Hoss became the killer of Aushwitz. Things i never new.

Very well done

An incredible story well told. As you wait for the separate stories to cross, the interest grows and the tension builds.

Hans and Rudolf

Truly a very well written account of the capture of the Commandant of Auschwitz. I was mesmerized. The book is also well narratted.

So Well Done

The side-by-side format, telling the story from the point of view of both main characters, worked extremely well. Seeing the rise of the Third Reich from the perspective of both a German officer and a German Jew opened the doors to the truth of the insidious growth of poisonous so-called nationalism and its catastrophic consequences. The narration was perfect. The narrator is clearly fluent in both English and German and this added to the listening experience. I strongly recommend this book.

The real story

I enjoyed listening to Thomas Harding read this story. It was well timed, not too fast or slow. Because it was a true story, it was especially emotional for me to listen to. It’s still hard to believe that people could (and can still!) be so horrible to their fellow man with so little compassion and care.

I Read This Marvelous Book...

directly on the heels of Jack El-Hai's The Nazi And The Psychiatrist, and they are the perfect pair of books, and I highly recommend that they be read together. Not only do both books deal with a particular Nazi war criminal and his interaction with another man on the other side of the war effort, but both books do something that not many history narratives dare: that is, to view these participants in the early twentieth century's most turbulent drama not as heroes or villians, as stereotypes, but rather as very complex human beings, with characteristics like all of us, and like each other...and thus we realize that, placed in another time in history, we might have been very different people indeed. Hanns and Rudolf is the proper title for this book, as we see beyond the familiar stamp of the last names most history books have already emblazoned with their over-simplified judgments--into men, into minds more familiar than is sometimes comfortable--and, in the process, a little more into ourselves. I highly recommend both books for their literary, psychological and historical value! Take the time to read them correctly, and you will well get your money's worth in these two great works on personal drama in the WWII theatre.

Powerful story

I have long studied WWII and the Holocaust. I love finding a different perspective or story. The personal details of the lives of both men and their families are stunning in their normality as well as horrific, especially in the juxtaposition of the German Jew who escapes and the commandant of Auschwitz. I highly recommend this book.

A must-read for any modern citizen

Not only is Thomas Harding an excellent journalist, but he is an impeccable storyteller. While diligently tracing the threads of history down narrow passageways, he manages to find that perfect balance of writerly touch and scholarly truth. The result is a masterful narrative worthy of every literary accolade.

Very well written, so fascinating and horrifying

Such a good read for anyone who has read world war 2 books. I love the point of view and especially the end where the descendants of both sides meet together at auschwitz. It took so much restraint to hold back my tears.