Last Stop Auschwitz

My Story of Survival

By: Eddy de Wind, David Colmer

Narrated by: Boris Hiestand

Brought to you by Penguin.

With an afterword by John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Eddy de Wind, a Dutch doctor and psychiatrist, was shipped to Auschwitz with his wife, Friedel, whom he had met and married at the Westerbork labour camp in the Netherlands. At Auschwitz, they made it through the brutal selection process and were put to work. Each day, each hour became a battle for survival.

For Eddy, this meant negotiating with the volatile guards in the medical barracks. For Friedel, it meant avoiding the Nazis’ barbaric medical experiments. As the end of the war approached and the Russian Army drew closer, the last Nazis fled, taking many prisoners with them, including Friedel. Eddy hid under a pile of old clothes and stayed behind. Finding a notebook and pencil, he began to write with furious energy about his experiences.

Last Stop Auschwitz is an extraordinary account of life as a prisoner, a near real-time record of the daily struggle to survive but also of the flickering moments of joy Eddy and Friedel found in each other - passing notes through the fence, sometimes stealing a brief embrace. Documenting the best and the worst of humanity, it is a unique and timeless story that reminds us of what we as humans are capable of, but that there is hope, even in hell. Thought to be the only complete book written within Auschwitz itself, it will linger with you long after the final minute.

©2020 Eddy de Wind (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"How much I learned from this brave man... The ultimate Holocaust testimony." (Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey)

"Powerful and moving." (Wendy Holden, author of Born Survivors)

So well-written and haunting

I don't say this often, but this is a must-read. Offers important insight and is also so incredibly well-written. I don't think I've ever saved so many bookmarks in one book.