THE SABOTEUR OF AUSCHWITZ

The moving chronicle of a British Pow’s imprisonment in Auschwitz

“British soldiers filled pipes with stones and loosened nuts after equipment had been inspected”

Author Colin rushton Publisher Summersdale Publishers Price £8.99 Released Out now

When soldier Arthur Dodd returned to England following VE Day on 8 May 1945, he was carrying a heavy burden that extended beyond the hardships of serving in World War II. The 25-year-old driver-mechanic had been imprisoned for two years in Auschwitz, where he witnessed on a daily basis the savage beatings and mass killings of Jewish men, women and children at the hands of their Nazi captors. This book is a new edition of Arthur’s account written with author Colin Rushton, which was first published in 1998.

Arthur had been captured in North Africa in 1943 and was sent to Auschwitz along with some other British soldiers. In a clear breach of the Geneva Convention, the men were forced to work at the IG Farben factory

at the camp. But they took every opportunity they could to sabotage its operations, filling pipes with stones and loosening nuts after equipment had been inspected. This was dangerous work given that the SS guards could react with unpredictable brutality.

The Saboteur Of Auschwitz is a bleak document of the appalling suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. It also highlights the experiences of the British soldiers imprisoned at Auschwitz. Thanks to Arthur’s courage in telling his story, the late veteran – who died in

2011 – has shed light on what he and his comrades went through in the camp he described in his book as

‘hell on earth’.