The Stone Crusher: The True Story of a Father and Son’s Fight for Survival in Auschwitz

The horrors of the Holocaust are effectively conveyed on a human scale in this gripping account of the experiences of Gustav Kleinmann and his son Fritz, from the German takeover of Austria in 1938 through their incredible survival of imprisonment in a series of concentration camps. Dronfield, a novelist and historian, has supplemented Gustav’s diary of life in the camps and Fritz’s memoir with other primary sources to craft an account accessible even to those with no knowledge of the relevant history. Following the imposition of Nazi proscriptions on Austrian Jews, the Kleinmanns scramble to sustain themselves while looking for a path to safety, hindered by the outside world’s general reluctance to offer refuge. Before they can find a way out of Vienna, both Gustav and Fritz, aged 14, are arrested and sent to Buchenwald. Their experiences alternate with those of their other family members— two of whom build new lives in the U.S. and England, and two of whom die. While some readers may find Dronfield’s attempt to conclude on a positive note (“In the end the Kleinmann family not only survived, but prospered”) forced, this account personalizes an atrocity, the depravity of which is difficult to come to grips with. [em]Agent: Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary Agency Ltd. (July) [/em]