Rukopis z Březinky – dos Santos José Rodrigues (2022)

In the novel Manuscript from Březinka, which directly follows the bestseller The Magician from Auschwitz, the author takes us to the heart of hell known as Auschwitz-Březinka, where the dramatic story of the famous Prague Jewish magician Herbert Levin, his wife Gerda, and their son Peter, as well as the Portuguese soldier Francisco Latina, continues and culminates. It is in the death camp that the fates of all the protagonists intersect. While they all strive to survive and devise a plan to escape certain death, a prisoner uprising is brewing in the camp, which will significantly influence the course of events... The novel Manuscript from Březinka is based on a true story and offers a faithful, realistic portrayal of the time and environment in which its plot is set. The author relied on historically verifiable facts and real personalities while writing; the depicted events and characters thus have their counterparts in reality – whether it is the Jewish illusionist Herbert Levin, known by the stage name 'The Great Nivelli', who emigrated to Czechoslovakia in the 1930s and was deported with his family to Terezin in 1941 and later to Auschwitz, or the members of the SS who operated in Auschwitz, starting with camp commander Rudolf Höss, crematorium commander Otto Moll, and the chief overseer of the women's...