Everyone that knows me or has read my reviews should know by this point that I am a WWII junkie. I love devouring books about that time frame, real or fiction. I love learning about that time and the incredible souls that fought against Hitler and his people and survived to tell the tale or just did something amazing that helps the resistance. Their stories should and need to be told. When I saw this book available for review, I knew I had to read it.

The Auschwitz Photographer is told like a fiction story, but the entire thing is real. It is the story of Wilhelm Brasse, a polish political prisoner held at Auschwitz Concentration Camp from 1940-1945. He as Aryan too, but refused to join the German’s, held true to his Polish lineage, and was a prison. Fortunately for him, he had a talent that kept him on the nicer end of things at Auschwitz, which isn’t saying much, but it helped keep him alive to one day return to his family and helped document things we never would have seen had he not. As a photographer, he was recruited to photograph prisons, SS crew, and more.

This story is phenomenal. It’s reads like a historical fiction story, but is true in every way. Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis did a phenomenal job of telling Brasse’s story. The details are so disgusting that you feel like you are in the story standing next to the prisoners wondering how people can be treated so terribly. I learned things that happened in Auschwitz that I didn’t know before, and honestly made me so sad. The writing is a well flowing story of strength and perseverance in the worse of times and with the worst of humanity breathing down your throat; a story of heartache and loneliness. It’s always strange reading a story that takes place in a concentration camp because you feel terrible hearing what people went through, but the writers of The Auschwitz Photographer had me cheering on the prisoners, smiling at the small moments of happiness they managed to find, and feeling my own chest ache when something terrible happened to them. I felt everything.

I’ve read some pretty phenomenal stories from this time, but never have I read a book quite like this one. It was so raw and real that you feel everything with them, but it reads as smoothly as a fiction novel someone made up. I’m not sure if that makes me incredibly sad or not, because someone lived this. Someone survived this. And yet I wished I was reading a fiction novel because I don’t want it to be true. I’m glad to have read Wilhelm Brasse’s story. I’m honored to know what he did. Everyone should read this. Everyone should know the atrocities that happened so as not to repeat history. Everyone should know this heroes story. One of the absolute best World War II stories I’ve ever picked up.

Book Review
The Auschwitz Photographer by Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review

This one tore my heart. I have always been fascinated by the past. I look to historical fiction books to shed light on past events, to share the personal experiences of those that lived through war, famine, the depression. To “hear” the voices of those we have lost, and learn.

This book….. this book gave me the words to read and the photos to visualize the horrors and atrocities from the Holocaust.
Was it a good book? Did I enjoy it?
I wont comment.
It was uncomfortable.
It will stay with me.
I am in awe of the bravery and courage of those that lived this experience. They deserve soo much more.

If you are looking to educate yourself, read it.
If you are looking to understand, read it.

The trigger warnings are too numerous to count. The appendices are worth your time.

Read.
Learn.
Know.
And may history never repeat itself.

My Recommendation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Auschwitz Photographer”
by Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis

Based on the True Story of Wilhelm Brasse—Prisoner 3444— The Auschwitz Photographer Whose Photos Yet Remind the World of the Holocaust

Trained as a photographer in his aunt and uncle's studio prior to WWII, Wilhelm Brasse of mixed Austrian and German descent, repeatedly refused to join Nazi forces and was ultimately sent to Auschwitz Concentration Camp as a prisoner in 1940 at the age of 23 until liberated in 1945 when Soviet forces invaded.

“The Auschwitz Photographer” by Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis is an extraordinarily well researched biography of Brasse’s life spent under SS domination during his incarceration.

Like all other prisoners—Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, dwarfs, and political enemies—Brasse initially experienced all of the harrowing existence that life at Auschwitz offered under Nazi rule: starvation rations, extreme temperatures, soldier brutality, strenuous labor, lack of sanitation and poor housing.

Brasse’s conditions improved significantly when the Camp Commandant decided that keeping a physical and photographic record of all prisoners was needed. Inmate photographers were enlisted for this purpose in the Auschwitz Identification Service, and Brasse was considered the best.

As the chief Auschwitz portraitist, Brasse and his team of inmate photographers recorded three poses of each new arrival: looking forward, profile and three-quarters turn. The photographers also had a warm studio in which to work and more food rations than other prisoners.

Brasse was also tapped by Reich Captain and Doctor Josef Mengele to document some of his experimental medical research. This unnerving job was to photograph skeletal young girls without their clothes; sets of twins; individuals with different color eyes; and dwarfs, among others. All of these pictures played havoc with Brasse’s mind and tormented him for the remainder of his life.

They also gave him courage to disobey a direct order from the Identity Service commander on the day the Russian Army arrived near the camp. Told to destroy all prisoner photos and negatives, Brasse instead placed them where they could be easily found.

Brasse’s photos are believed to be some of those that helped convict Nazi henchmen at the Nuremberg Trials. He is also credited with helping establish the Auschwitz Holocaust Memorial Museum to force the world to remember one of the most horrendous acts ever committed on mankind.

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The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs
REVIEWER: J. Hunt
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Auschwitz Photographer”
by Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis
Genre: History | Non-Fiction | Biography
Publication Date: 6 September 2021
Publisher: Sourcebooks & in Great Britain by Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld Publishers.

With Sincerest Appreciation to NetGalley, Authors Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis, and Sourcebooks / Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, for Providing this Advance Reader’s Copy for Review.

translated, nonfiction, WW2, biography, survival, Jews, prisoners-of-war, real-horror, never-again, bravery, historical-places-events, historical-research, history, survivor's guilt*****

Photographing the deeds of evil as a means of staying alive.
This one man with notable photographical skills was German and Polish and made to photograph the murdered before they were gassed. The narrative is presented in prose as if it was fiction. But it is not. It is a documentation of real horror, just as the photos documented who was murdered at Auschwitz and when. There was even an officer with a fondness for pictures of tattoos who ordered photos of them. One particularly beautiful was on a man's back and the photographer was shown the skin tacked out for tanning as the officer was having it made into a book cover. Well, that's just one example of the horrors, and that doesn't include the things done to political prisoners and others. There are a few pictures and the documentation at the end.
Translated from the Italian by Jennifer Higgins.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook from Sourcebooks via NetGalley. Thank you.
Never again.

After reading this gripping and haunting true WWII story I am crushed, horrified, angered, dismayed, disgusted and heart sick. Capturing my thoughts concisely is difficult as they are scattered and reeling. The degradation and pervasive evil human beings are capable of is unspeakable...and millions experienced the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau. When Polish photographer Wilhelm Brasse was deported to the camp in 1939 for refusing to side with Germany, he suffered impossible conditions. People went there to die and die horribly just for not fitting extreme ideals. Brasse's technical skills took him to the Identification Service area of the camp where he was told in no uncertain terms he would face the same fate if he did not cooperate fully by taking and developing perfect photographs. He was offered freedom for becoming one of "them".

As Brasse was so meticulous and trustworthy, he was responsible for photographing thousands of prisoners, including labels staying who they were and why they were there. Some prisoners were brand new and had no idea what their fate was but most were nearly lifeless. Brasse was also skilled in retouching so began taking personal and confidential photographs of Nazi guards. Soon Josef Mengele arrived and ordered Brasse to photograph heinous experiments. He was deeply sickened by his duties but treated his "clients" with care and dignity, affording them one precious moment of humanity. His goal was to do good each day. This book is about extreme torment in every way possible, beyond comprehension. But we also see tender moments. Not all guards were killers. We see behind the scenes into the darkest minds and of those with a modicum of gentleness.

So many stories will stick with me for life including those of tattooed prisoners, treatment of Russians (the lowest of the low), reprisal killings, slaughter of innocents and the heroism of the man of cloth. Block 26 is firmly etched on my brain. The excruciating photos at the end are gut churning but so very important. What Brasse did to help the Resistance is remarkable. I cannot fathom enduring one day of the agonies he witnessed. He was (is!) a true hero. Knowing what he knew must have caused him to die a thousand deaths each day. His words and deeds reached my soul. The authors ought to be commended.

Please, please take the time to read this book. Details are graphic and grisly but the story is crucial. I am grateful it has been told.

My sincere thank you to SOURCEBOOKS and NeteGalley for the privilege and honour of reading the awful yet remarkable story of Mr. Brasse. If only it were required reading.

This is the story of Wilhelm Brasse who was a Polish prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940-1945.  He managed to survive the ordeal by becoming important to the Germanys as a photographer.  He was responsible for taking ID photos of the prisoners  as they came in, as well as portraits for the officers to send home to their families.  Later on he was required to make photo documentation of the medical experiments that took place at Auschwitz.  It was a very interesting story that I had not read about before.  Some stories need to be told even if they are difficult to hear.  If you are  a fan of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, this is a book for you.

Wilhelm Brasse spent an astonishing five years in the Auschwitz concentration camp as a photographer in the identification office. His history of recollections are the basis of this book, although they are not direct survivor interviews, but a BBC interview and also a book he himself wrote. The sourcing of this is rather thin, and I have automatically removed a star for that reason.

That said, Brasse was arrested after refusing to fight for the German army after the invasion and capture of Polish. Although born in Poland to a Polish mother, his ancestry on his father's side was German. For his refusal, he was arrested, imprisoned, and ultimately sent to Auschwitz. At first selected for hard labor, he was pulled from that work to head the new identification office, so the Nazis could keep track of the many Jews and others sent there to be exterminated.

The timeline in this narrative details how Brasse kept his head down and rarely looked out a window while at work- the better to survive what a part of him knew might very well be his eventual death in the camp.

After many chapters given over to the photographs of people arriving via train, the Nazis decided that cataloguing Jews and undesirables was a waste, since so many were killed straightaway. Brasse's job then shifts more into portraiture: SS soldiers and officers getting their portraits made to send to their parents, for instance, and when the Birkenau barracks were constructed, the women bound for those instead of the crematoria that run nonstop.

There is a brief suggestion of an almost romance between Brasse and a Polish interpreter for the German kapo in charge of bringing female subjects for Brasse to photograph, but this eventually goes nowhere - how could it be otherwise, the way prisoners were kept to a rigid schedule.

Brasse and his office lived in better quarters and had steady, indoor work during brutal winters. They even managed to barter their services with the kitchens to keep themselves well fed.

When a large group of Russian POWs are brought the the camp, they are dutifully photographed for identification purposes, and like all the others, Brasse pushes their fate out of his mind as well as he can until someone tells him the Nazis are doing nothing to them: not selecting them for work or not, not feeding them, not anything. They are simply starved to death. Brasse happens to pass the area where they are being held and describes them as ghosts, thin, with their bones protruding as though they will break the skin, and with blank, dead eyes. He claims to have strayed near the fence where a Russian was standing, and reached through the wire to touch the Russian's hand. The Russian soldier tells him that he is not a communist, then falls over, dead. This seems to be an iffy portion, as it is backed up by nothing other than Brasse saying it happened. We do know that Brasse was given an amount of freedom most other prisoners were not - his skills as a photographer saving his life, after all - but would he have been allowed to be anywhere near the Russians, as he was simply walking between one place and another through the camp?

Eventually, his boss calls him to what is a small viewing room, to show him a film. In it, the Russian prisoners are taken to a building that has been boarded up, and marched inside. The Nazis then throw canister of what are presumed to be Zyklon B into the building and close and seal the door. His boss has set up a camera inside the building, and has filmed the chaos of the people within trying to find an exit, only to find none. Throughout the book, Brasse claims that his boss speaks to him about declaring that he is German, and that it could be arranged for him to visit his family in Poland before he is sent to his assignment. He claims his boss attempts yet again to sway him, after viewing this film.

Later, Brasse becomes the photographer of choice for the doctors performing medical experiments, like forced sterilization of young women, and the various experiments performed by Josef Mengele himself, who wanted images of twins and dwarfs, along with another doctor who was fascinated by the prisoners with eyes that were different colors from one another.

There is a section describing the images and plates struck of counterfeit currencies, although this is very late and not very useful to the Nazis in the end.

As we know, the war was moving inevitably toward Germany. Toward the end, Brasse's boss drives away to escape the advancing Russian army, and orders Brasse to destroy all of the negatives, photos, and especially the film of the Russian soldiers who were murdered there. As Brasse and his colleagues attempt to do so, these items will not burn. They concoct a story about how they tried, and even throw the tiny office into disarray, as if they had feverishly tried to follow the order, but Brasse stops them, and settles himself in to inform his boss of same, knowing it could mean a bullet in the head. However, his boss does not return, nor do any of the other SS men who escaped west toward Germany and away from the Russians.

After a few days, the camp is emptied and all the prisoners are forced to march out of Auschwitz. Brasse winds up in Mauthausen, and is eventually liberated. At 27 years old, he is finally a free man again.

After some time with his family, he sets out for another town in Poland to try to find the woman he'd met in Auschwitz, and of whom he had taken a portrait- the only thing he took with him when the prisoners were marched out. He does find her,but is disappointed when he finds her somewhat distant. He presents her with the photo, which she tears apart and allows to fall on the floor. She told him she didn't like herself when she was there, and who could blame her? He leaves, dejected, and recalls his uncle saying something basically that meant women couldn't be pleased, which I thought was a really shitty thing to include, regardless of whether or not it was true.

An afterword tell us that Brasse eventually married, had children and grandchildren of his own, and died peacefully, surrounded by family. Interestingly, he could not bear to become a photographer again for a living, after having taken and developed between 40 and 50 thousand photos in Auschwitz-Birkenau, so went into a different line of work. I can't say I could blame him for that.

There is also an afterword by the authors, indicating their sources, as I noted in the opening. The third item on their source list is Night, by Elie Wiesel, which I thought an odd inclusion.

At the end, there are also photos, although there are notes that indicate not all of these photos may have been taken by Brasse.

Overall, it is a challenging read because of the nature of the work Brasse and his colleagues did and the often arbitrary treatment of the prisoners in the camp. Squeamish readers may wish to skip the parts describing the work of the crematoria crews and the experiments carried out by Mengele and others.

Is it a good oral history from a survivor? It is well written, in a straight timeline, and the horrors witnessed by Brasse and other survivors is all too shamefully real, as we well know. The very small sourcing pool, though, should be held for more scrutiny. I would recommend it with these caveats

Three out of five stars.

Thanks to SourceBooks and NetGalley for the reading copy.

Brasse estimated he took between 40,-50,000 photographs at Auschwitz from 1940-1945. Trained as a photographer, he landed the assignment after an assortment of other jobs, incarcerated as a political prisoner. It’s a sobering, gripping read. Brasse survived by being obedient and subordinate while masking his true feelings. Without his pictures, the horrors committed there would not have been visual to the outside world. He did document the heinous medical experiments conducted but those photographs were not included in the book. Id recommend a stiff drink before, during, and after reading this book.

This book went into great detail explaining why Auschwitz needed a photographer, of both laborers whom the Nazis worked and starved to death, and those poor humans who were twins or had other physical anomalies such as dwarfism, and were experimented on. You can feel the main photographer's pain as he is forced to take abhorent pictures documenting Mengele's twisted medical experiments, or cannot even comfort a prisoner when they are abused in the studio by those over them. The photographer tried to do his best at the work, in order to protect those working with him in the studio, and while he wasn't himself a Jew, but a political prisoner, he still had the most tremendous empathy for everyone held at Auschwitz. Unbelieveably he spent 5 years imprisoned, but lived to tell the tale, and never again took pictures for a living. This book really was terrific, and I started and finished it in one day, as I just could not put it down.

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley, but opinions written here are entirely my own.

Wilhelm Brasse survived in Auschwitz for five years. That, in and of itself, is a miracle. The fact that he had German blood on his father's side and refused to give in to fighting alongside the Germans, which would have granted him leave of Auschwitz, is nothing short of amazing.

I'm no historical researcher, so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the writers' work. However, I can acknowledge that they did their due diligence in an integral way that helped bring Brasse's story to life. Without their work, which was informed by a BBC documentary that may even be forgotten, they help keep Wilhelm Brasse's legacy alive

Written from Brasse's perspective, he tends to perceive himself as a coward, collaborating with the Schutzstaffel, or "SS", in order to gain favors and assure that he and his team will be able to eat. But he is no coward. In fact, he often risked his own neck while hoping to save more than just himself. When he made decisions with risk, he made sure that he alone would answer to the higher-ups. And the miraculous thing is that it seems he never had to. As the photographer who witnessed atrocious experiments, he curried favor and he only hoped that favor would help him to see freedom again. Despite that horrific photos, he left Auschwitz with his humanity and compassion intact.

While not a novel, it does read like one; I was gripped and enthralled. The photos were disturbing but they tell the truth in a way that no living person can today. I'm grateful for Wilhelm Brasse's courage and bravery; he's helped to keep the truth alive.

Thanks to Netgalley & Sourcebooks for my advanced reader's copy. Opinions are strictly my own.

. The Auschwitz Photographer is a stunning piece of artwork that you cannot put down. Grim backdrops and the horror of the fact this this was all real gives you shivers and takes the reader on a journey that we should all be thankful for not having to experience in real time. Books like this change your soul.

Gut wrenching, emotional AF, well written and I could not put this down. I love reading the untold stories of events that have happened. Oh the horrors and cruelty in this book!!! Wilhelm Brasse was lucky, and being Jewish himself, his photography skills are the one thing that saved him from the Nazis. I am glad he got the courage to join the Resistance to save other Jews and himself.

Highly recommended memoir/biography about a person in the Holocaust. Not easy reading because of the time/place/event but a necessary read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Luca Crippa and Sourcebooks Nonfiction for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 9/7/21

What can i say that hasnt been said already?

I have read many many Holocaust stories but nothing like this one. This was a hard read. Very detailed then many of the other memoirs, historical fictions based from 1939-1945. The atrocities that the jews,poles,aryans and anyone who werent Germans had faced is unfathomable and it serves as a reminder of the horrible things men and women will do.

This is an Emotional, powerful read that I highly recommend

There were several times when I considered not finishing this book. Not because it was uninteresting or that it wasn’t well written. It was just the opposite! It is definitely well written and extremely informative. However the subject matter is shocking and incredibly sad. The horror, inhumanity, cruelty, and perversion that existed in the Auschwitz concentration camp was so hard to read about. I was left in tears many times. However, I’m glad I continued reading.

Now that the survivors and witnesses to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi regime during World War II are passing away, it is important for future generations to see and hear the truth of what happened.

Because of his excellent skills in photography and photographic methods, as well as his fluency in German, Polish political prisoner Wilhelm Brasse was assigned to the Political Department Identification Service at Auschwitz concentration camp. He became the photographer of Auschwitz. From 1941 to 1945, he photographed and developed an estimated 40,000 - 50,000 photographs of the incoming prisoners, Nazi officers, medical experiments, and activities inside the camp. The Nazi officers who supervised Brasse and his coworkers originally intended to have photographic documentation of their work to show to party leaders.

Some of the photos are included at the conclusion of the book. Many of these photographs are now included in exhibits at both the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and also at the Yad Vashem Photo Archive in Jerusalem.

Wilhelm Brasse often felt that he would succumb to madness because of what he witnessed. But he wanted his legacy of photos to be seen by the outside world. He wanted the world to see and remember the people who lost their lives. Authors Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis have brought Wilhelm Brasse and his story to life. Historians and readers interested in the Holocaust would learn a lot from this unforgettable book.

Thank you to the authors, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this book.

I was lucky enough to be granted an arc of this title via NetGalley. I found this book absolutely unbelievable. It’s perfect for people who enjoyed the tattooist of auschiwtz, Cilka’s journey and a mans search for meaning (I am that person, I couldn’t put those books down). I found this book to be extremely well written which is why I just couldn’t put it down. The photos were absolutely horrendous to look at. Overall I really enjoyed the story of the photographer of auschwitz.

Very early in The Auchwitz Photographer we learn that "99 times out of 100, the prisoners didn't return for a 2nd sitting. They were murdered before they had a chance." Words that literally made me catch my breath were on almost every page.of this excruciating difficult but important book. The brief selection of Wilhelm Brasse's camp photographs are horrifying and will not be easily forgotten by simply closing the book.

I don't know what it is but non fiction books about WWII and the Holocaust don't make cry as bad as fiction they do still effect me and make me emotional. But because they stick to the facts they are easier to process. This one introduced me to part of Holocaust history I knew nothing about, which shows there are still things about WWII and the Holocaust that we all need to learn.

The Auschwitz Photographer tells the story of Wilhelm Brasse; who endures five years worth of harrowing experiences, while living in the most gruesome concentration camp. The book explains how many of his photographs came to be and offers a perspective, I feel like isn’t often given. It tells a story that deserves to be told of both Brasse and his photography subjects. It’s very sobering to think that these things actually happened and how negatively so many people were affected. I think the authors did a great job of showing the details of what happened in the camp, While also showing that even in the darkest parts of Auschwitz, there small silver linings with times of compassion and moments of love. I also like that while show this, it didn’t take away from the seriousness or underplay the main events of the book.

Book Review for The Auschwitz Photographer
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

No punches are pulled with this book. The atrocities that the Nazis saw fit to rain down on prisoners as though they were subhuman, the fear and misery of those given “coveted” jobs in camps, the desperation in bartering things so easily taken for granted. All of it. This was a depressing read that serves as a reminder of the horrible things men and women will do in the name of their party or cult or leader. That said, this is also a very necessary read because it reminds us just how people will act in the face of such certain torture and death. The resistance, the attempts to find some dignity, and the strength of some human spirits all gave a sliver of hope here. To know that this is all based on true events is even more sobering and cannot be forgotten. This book serves as an illustration of how easily Germans were led to think that they’re superior in camps where they aren’t always the experts, as well as how prisoners learned the art of deceit at the hands of their jailers.