Judy Rakowsky recounts her thirty-year search for her long-lost relative, Hena, the only survivor of a family that was killed one night in Poland near the end of WWII. Investigative journalist Rakowsky has the perfect skills to follow her older cousin, Sam, a Holocaust survivor, on this journey. Rakowsky candidly expresses her frustration with waiting for translations, Sam's occasional dismissals of her inquiries, and false leads--all of which led to endless attempts to find Hena. While unsuccessful at the intended task, Rakowsky uncovers and trumpets a truth denied in Poland: that many Jews were murdered not by Nazis, but by Polish resistance fighters. Her voice is vehement when revealing that surprising truth and the stigmas that continue.
Pub Date: July 11, 2023
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781696612098
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Emily Sutton-Smith narrates a story of Auschwitz and the Nazi regime throughout Europe in a low, wistful tone without an accent. The novel features Rachael, a Jewish woman imprisoned in Auschwitz who finds a diamond ring in the mud, and Samual, a Jewish man living and working in Prague who is in love with a woman named Hanna. Sutton-Smith's slow-paced delivery portrays Rachael's ebbing strength and feelings of hopelessness, which contrast with the hopeful feelings of lovesick Samual, who attempts to hide his past from everyone, including himself. Sutton-Smith's attempts at Hebrew and Yiddish are barely recognizable, and she uses German accents sparingly. This poignant story, both imagined and based on the historical accounts of survivors, grows increasingly depressing as life leaches out of characters who are in the iron grip of the Nazi regime.
Pub Date: June 24, 2025
Duration: 12 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781632999986
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Leighton Pugh's calm British demeanor provides an effective vehicle for this scathing critique of the Nazi character. In these two dozen brief biographies of Hitler and his circle, Pugh strips bare the venality and pretentiousness that characterized so many of the dictator's underlings: Goebbels and Goering, Himmler and Hess and Heydrich, and don't forget Albert Speer and Leni Riefenstahl. The portraits are unsparing, the indictments backed by compelling evidence. The opening biography of Hitler is largely familiar but provides a foundation and context for the individual portraits that follow, which by necessity parallel the same timeline. For those who don't know the history well, this audiobook proves an excellent vehicle for understanding the Nazi movement and the individuals who shaped it.
Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593864654
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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