One young man who fought his way through Auschwitz and came out alive

Moshe Wisniak grew up malnourished and fatherless outside Warsaw at a time when Jews and Poles lived in poverty and violence. When Moshe's brothers emigrate to Paris in the 1930s, it means a new life for the whole family, who follow soon after. A decent job, a lovely young wife, and a hobby as an amateur boxer vastly improve Moshe's prospects until the day he is rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. There he is tortured, starved, and most shockingly, asked to entertain Nazi soldiers by boxing against dying prisoners.

Moshe wants to survive without killing his comrades, but how? Based on the memoir of his family friend, Jean-Jacques Greif has taken the facts and turned them into a gripping novel about life and death in Auschwitz.
Reviews
"Greif based the novel on the experiences of his father's friend-not just a witness, but a Jewish hero…It's a spirit that will resonate with readers."-Kirkus Reviews
"[The] present-tense narrative vividly describes the atrocities as well as the importance of courage, friendship, and, especially, luck in the fight for survival."-Booklist
"This is not your average juvenile Holocaust novel. For one thing, the main character is an adult; for another, there is absolutely no distance between the character's experience and the reader's--and the present-tense, first-person, unvarnished narrative results in a sometimes unbearable immediacy. …In a clear intelligent voice, Greif presents Moshe's feelings, observations, and experiences as, through a combination of strength, "health, willpower and alertness, [and] luck, lots of luck", he survives the Auschwitz system for almost three years. Some images may prove impossible to erase from memory. …Throughout, Greif emphasized Moshe's humanity--the friendships he manages to maintain; his determination not only to survive but to survive on his own terms--in the face of unspeakable horrors."-Horn Book
"Though this is an adult-focused story, the heroism of Moshe