The One Man

Race Against Time

There have been so many books about the Holocaust, no aspect of the horrifying genocide of Jews by the Nazis remains uncovered. Still, more and more writes go back to that era, to tell more stories, which perhaps, is a good thing—it never lets us forget. And the times we are living, fraught with violence and hatred of the ‘other,’ we need constant reminders that communal madness has no race or colour.

The One Man by Andrew Gross is a well-researched book about the race between the Germans and the Allied Forces to create a nuclear device that would help end the war.  Meanwhile the progrom in Germany and other Nazi-occupied territories went on unchecked; the bits of information that leak of the concentration camps are too shocking to contemplate. The worst of these camps was Auschwitz,  where the worst atrocities were committed—torture, mass murder and unimaginable cruelty. It was also the most tightly guarded camp, still two men had managed to escape and brought with them stories of the camp, but also information and a rough map.

One of the men, separated from his family and pushed into these camps is Alfred Mendl, a physicist, who had done the work most crucial to develop an atomic bomb.  The Americans decide that if they have to beat Germany in the war, they have to get that formula. A Jewish American, Peter Strauss comes up with the audacious plan of smuggling in a man into Auschwitz and getting Mendl out. It seems impossible, but worth a try. But who would volunteer for a suicide mission?

Strauss finds an intense young man, an intelligence operative, Nathan Blum, who had managed to get out of Poland, leaving his parents and sister behind. When they are shot dead by the Nazis, Nathan lives with his grief and guilt, hoping to get out of his desk bound translation job and “do something more.” Being a Jew and a Pole, he is ideal for the job, and, quite aware of the risks, he agrees.

He manages to get into Auschwitz and does the impossible—locate Professor Mendl among the thousands of prisoners, in two days; but getting out is tough. The Germans are not fools, they intercept messages and figure out that somebody has infiltrated Auschwitz, what they cannot comprehend is why anyone would want to get into that hellhole?

Alternating between the preparation and training to send Nathan on that dangerous mission, and the unbearable life behind the electrified barbed wire fences of Auschwitz, Gross keeps the pace pulse-pounding, yet allows breathers to develop the characters and their relationships. In the midst of such evil, there is also goodness, love and compassion.

It is a book that moves and thrills in equal measure till it reaches its explosive climax.  It is quite literally unputdownable.

The One Man

By Andrew Gross

Publisher: PanMacmillan

Pages: 416