To uncover the fate of the thousands being interned at a mysterious Nazi facility named Auschwitz, Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: intentionally get himself sent to the camp and report back his findings. Once inside Pilecki forged an underground army that sabotaged facilities, assassinated Nazis, and amassed evidence revealing the horrifying truth of Germany's plans to exterminate Europe's Jews. But to warn the West before all was lost, he would then have to attempt the impossible: escape from Auschwitz.
COSTA BOOK AWARD WINNER: BOOK OF THE YEAR
"Superbly written and breathtakingly researched, The Volunteer smuggles us into Auschwitz and shows us—as if watching a movie—the story of a Polish agent who infiltrated the infamous camp, organized a rebellion, and then snuck back out. . . . Fairweather has dug up a story of incalculable value and delivered it to us in the most compelling prose I have read in a long time." —Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm and Tribe
