Rezso Kasztner: The Daring Rescue of Hungarian Jews: A Survivor's Account

'A remarkable book... LÖb has painstakingly re-examined the evidence, recreated the dramatic story of negotiation and rescue and paid warm tribute to Kasztner and his father for their courage and resourcefulness in terrible times,' Times Higher Education Supplement On 9 July 1944, two months after his eleventh birthday, the gates of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp closed behind Ladislaus LÖb. Five months later, with the Second World War still raging, he crossed the border into Switzerland, cold and hungry, but alive and safe. He was not alone, but part of 1,670 Jewish men, women and children from Hungary who has been rescued from the Nazis as a result of a deal made by a man called Rezso Kasztner a Hungarian Jew with Adolf Eichmann, the chief architect of the Holocaust. Twelve years later Kasztner was murdered by an extremist Jewish gang in his adopted home of Israel. To this day Kasztner remains a highly controversial figure, regarded by some as a traitor and by many others as a hero. Accused of betraying the bulk of Hungarian Jewry by hand-picking only those who were politically and personally dear to him, or those who could aid him financially after the war, Kasztner was accused by the judge in his post-war trial of selling 'his soul to Satan'. Dealing with Satan tells his story and also the story of a child who lived to grow up after the Holocaust thanks to that man. A compelling combination of history and memoir, Dealing with Satan traces Kasztner's negotiations with the SS and describes in detail the lives of the author and his fellow inmates at Bergen Belsen. LÖb's first-hand account offers extraordinary insights into one of the least known and most surprising episodes of the 'war against Jews'. It is also an examination of one individual's unique achievement and a consideration of the profound moral issues raised by his dealings with some of the most evil men ever known. 'Graphic and elegantly written... LÖb's story is, at times, heartbreaking...even though, Kasztner saved more Jewish lives during World War II than any other Jew, the history books have not wholly acknowledged this triumph.' Sunday Business PostLob, Ladislaus is the author of 'Rezso Kasztner: The Daring Rescue of Hungarian Jews: A Survivor's Account', published 2009 under ISBN 9781845950088 and ISBN 1845950089.