[I won’t let you go alone. ] A son who volunteers to go to Auschwitz to follow his father who is being deported – A surprising and moving non-fiction book by the #1 author of “This Miss”, “To Fathers and Sons in Auschwitz,” released on September 27th.
Kawade Shobo Shinsha Press release: September 27, 2024 [I won’t let you go alone. ] A son who volunteers to go to Auschwitz to follow his father who is being deported – A surprising and moving non-fiction book by the #1 author of “This Miss”, “To Fathers and Sons in Auschwitz,” released on September 27th. A genius mystery writer who disappeared from the public stage for a long time is back as a non-fiction writer. This book, which has become an international bestseller, has been translated into vivid Japanese by Toshiya Echizen, a translator who has also worked on mystery works by the author. A miraculous true story!
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/12754/754/12754-754-006c05447d8fc377b45cfa2b306f5a27-1210×792.jpg April 1938. From left: Herta, Gustav, Kurt, Fritz, Tini, Edith. (From page 5 of this book) The original English version of this book was published in the UK in 2019 and in the US in 2020. It has become a global bestseller with over 5,000 reviews (4.7 stars) on both Amazon US and UK. ■Translation by Toshiya Echizen The translator, Toshiya Echizen, is one of Japan’s leading translators and has worked on many mystery works, including Queen’s “The Tragedy of Y” and Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code.” It was Mr. Echizen’s sole desire to translate this book, as he wanted to introduce it to Japanese readers. There are two major reasons why I wanted to introduce “To Fathers and Sons of Auschwitz” in Japan. One is that the life of the Jewish family that appears in this work, especially the father and eldest son, is unmistakably real, even though it is so eventful that it is hard to believe that it is real. What’s more, the scenery and people’s feelings at that time are depicted in the most vivid way. The other thing is that the person who wrote it was, surprisingly, Jeremy Dronfield (from “Translator’s Afterword”) To date, Mr. Echizen has produced two works by Dronfield, including “The Locust Farm,” which took first place in the overseas version of “This Mystery is Amazing!” in 2003, and “The Locust Farm,” which took first place overall in “IN★POCKET Best 10 Bunko Translated Mysteries.” I have translated the work. This is a rare book in which an author and translator who are active primarily in mystery works meet in a non-fiction work. ■From the main text (Partially omitted from pages 182-185) That night, Fritz couldn’t stay calm. I can’t get the image of my father among those sentenced to death out of my mind. I couldn’t bear the thought of saying goodbye forever. I suffered all night. (snip) In the morning, before roll call, I sought out Robert Siewert and begged him. “You have connections,” Fritz said. “There must be some of your friends working in the management office,” Siewert said with a nod. That’s right. “Please include me in the deportation to Auschwitz by any means necessary” Siewert was surprised. “What you are asking for is suicidal. I told you, you have no choice but to forget about your father,” he continued. “All those people will be gassed” However, Fritz was adamant. “No matter what happens, I want to be with my father. I can’t live without him.” Siewert tried to dissuade him, but Fritz did not budge. After roll call, Siewert went to speak to his second-in-command, SS Major Max Schobert. As the inmates began to gather for the morning’s march to the workshop, the call came. “Inmate number 7290 goes to the gate!” Fritz turned himself in to Schobert and was asked what was going on. There is no going back now. Fritz made up his mind and explained that he could not bear to be separated from his father, and formally requested that he be transported to Auschwitz with him. Schobert shrugged his shoulders. It doesn’t matter how many Jews are sent to the place of execution. My wish was granted. With just one word, Fritz did the extraordinary thing of leaving the position of the saved and joining the ranks of those sentenced to death. Then, with the guards, I walked back through the plaza and headed for Block 11. The door opened and I was pushed inside. The dormitory, which could only accommodate about 200 people, was packed with people. There were many people in striped prison uniforms, standing, sitting on a few chairs, crouching on the floor, or craning their necks out of the windows to see what was going on outside. . (snip) …And I found it. In the crowd, there was a familiar face, thin and wrinkled, with gentle, kind eyes. They ran to each other and embraced each other, sobbing with joy. (snip) When the train started running, a gloomy atmosphere filled the freight car containing Fritz and Gustav, along with many of their companions, including Stefan Heymann and Gustol Herzog. As the sunlight filtered through a crack in the wall, Gustav took out his diary so that no one could see it. I had heard about the transfer beforehand, so I made sure to hide it under my clothes before moving to the isolation block. This worn-out little notebook is my way of staying rational, recording my current life as it is, and I can’t let it go. However, with Fritz, I felt like I could face anything. “Everyone says this is a journey to death,” Gustav wrote. “But Fritzl and I don’t hang our heads down. Death only comes once, I tell myself.” ■Table of contents Foreword by Jeremy Dronfield Foreword by Kurt Kleinmann Prologue Part 1 Vienna Seven years ago… 1 “When Jewish blood falls from the knife…” 2 Traitor to the people Part 2 Buchenwald 3 Blood and Stone──Buchenwald Concentration Camp 4 Stone crusher 5 The path to life 6 Favorable decision 7 New World 8 Not worth living 9 Thousand kisses 10 Journey to Death Part 3 Auschwitz 11 A town called Oswiecim 12 Auschwitzmonowitz 13 The last moments of the Jewish Gustav Kleinman 14 Resistance and Informers: Death of Fritz Kleinman 15 Kindness of Strangers 16 Far away from home 17 Resistance and Betrayal Part 4 Survival 18 Death Train 19 Mauthausen 20 The Last Days 21 Long journey back home Epilogue Jewish blood Acknowledgments/Translator’s Afterword/Annotations/References, Sources ■Author introduction Jeremy Dronfield (Jeremy Dronfield) Born in 1965. British fiction and nonfiction writer. In 1997, his debut work The Locust Farm (Sogen Mystery Bunko, 2002/new edition, 2024) became a bestseller. Since then, he has published four works of fiction, including Resurrecting Salvador (Volumes 1 and 2 of Salvador’s Resurrection, Sogen Mystery Bunko, 2005), and after more than 10 years of silence, he has published many co-authored nonfiction works. This book is his first solo work of non-fiction. ■Translator introduction Toshiya Echizen (Echizen Toshiya) Translator. Born in 1961. His translated books include The Da Vinci Code, The Tragedy of Y, A Christmas Carol (KADOKAWA), The Mystery of the London Eye (Tokyo Sogensha), and The Encyclopedia of World Literature (Sanseido). He has written numerous books, including “Literary Translation Classroom” (Kenkyusha) and “Translation 100 Scenes” (Kadokawa Shinsho). He has also translated two works by Dronfield. ■Bibliographic information Book title: Fathers and sons at Auschwitz Author: Jeremy Dronfield Translator: Toshiya Echizen Specifications: 46 variant size/Normal size/448 pages First edition release date: September 27, 2024 Regular price: 3190 yen (2900 yen) ISBN: 978-4-309-22933-1
https://www.kawade.co.jp/np/isbn/9784309229331/ Publisher: Kawade Shobo Shinsha
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