**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** 'A riveting compelling mesmerizing journey. Josef Lewkowicz
is a hero in every sense of the word. The Survivor both terrifies us and inspires us. It's a
must read.' Tova Friedman author of The Daughter of Auschwitz . One of the last great
untold stories of the Holocaust The Survivor is an astonishing account of one man's
unbreakable spirit unshakeable faith and extraordinary courage in the face of evil. At only
sixteen years old Josef Lewkowicz became a number prisoner 85314. Following the Nazi invasion
of Poland he and his father were separated from their family and herded to the Kraków-Plaszów
concentration camp. Forced to carry out hard labour in brutal conditions and to live under the
constant threat of extreme violence and sudden death before the war was over Josef would
witness the unique horrors of six of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps including
Auschwitz Mauthausen and Ebensee. From salt mines to forced marches summary executions to
Amstetten where prisoners were used as human shields in Allied bombing Josef lived under the
spectre of death for many years. When he was liberated from Ebensee at the end of the war
conditions were amongst the worst witnessed by allied forces. With his freedom Josef returned
home to find that he was the only one left alive in an extended family of 150. Compelled by the
need to do something to avenge that loss he joined the Jewish police while still in a
displaced persons' camp and was recruited as an intelligence officer for the US Army who gave
him a team to search for Nazis in hiding. Whilst rounding up SS leaders he played a critical
role in identifying and bringing to justice his greatest tormentor the Butcher of Plaszow
Amon Göth played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List. He then committed his life to helping
the orphaned children of the Holocaust rebuild their lives. The Survivor is Josef's
extraordinary testimony.
