A Murder in Auschwitz
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A Murder in Auschwitz
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Narrated by:
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David Monteath
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By:
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J.C. Stephenson
About this listen
An SS officer is found standing over the body of a comrade, a smoking pistol still in his hand, a murder in a place of murders. His pleas of innocence force a court martial and he knows that there is only one man in the camp capable of defending him; a Jewish prisoner called Manfred Meyer.
Manfred Meyer is forced to build a defence for him in his court martial. Drawing on his years of experience as a criminal lawyer in Berlin, Meyer must unravel the deceit and interpret the lies that infect the concentration camp and work to have him found not guilty.
Following Meyer and his family through their lives in Berlin, the Nazi rise to power and their inevitable arrest and incarceration in Auschwitz, Meyer will do almost anything to see his wife and children. Almost anything. Can his abilities as a lawyer interpret the facts of this seemingly impossible case? As a Jew, should he even defend an SS officer? And is he actually guilty of this crime?
But the officer must be found innocent if Meyer is to see his family again.
This story follows Manfred Meyer, from his beginnings as a lawyer in 1930s Berlin after being taken under the wing of the city's most capable defence lawyer in the most prestigious law firm in Germany, Bauer & Bauer. Meyer's confidence and experience build as his cases become more complex and more difficult to defend. His success is widespread and he, his wife Klara and their twin daughters live a comfortable life in the capital. But Germany is changing. The Nazi Party has come to power and Meyer's Jewish heritage has become a crime. Life becomes more and more difficult until even in spite of Meyer's connections he is forced to leave his position as Bauer & Bauer's pre-eminent lawyer. Then, one night, the inevitable knock at the door heralds the long train journey to the east and the death camps of Poland for Meyer, his wife and his children.
Split from his family on arrival, Meyer does what he can to survive in a place designed for death. He stays alive with help from the other inmates he has befriended, helping each other through the long days of hard labour, his only wish being that he could see his family again. A forlorn hope until circumstance throws a real chance his way.
©2013 John Craig Stephenson (P)2014 John Craig StephensonListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about A Murder in Auschwitz
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kes chapman
- 23-02-21
murder in Auschwitz
narration excellent. Believable story which gripped me. Mixed feelings about the ending . But enjoyed it immensely
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mary Carnegie
- 03-09-16
An unusual murder mystery.
I was probably first attracted to this because David Monteath's a narrator I've enjoyed hearing, but, having studied the Holocaust so often in the course of studies of French, German and Italian, not to mention philosophy, I was intrigued by the subject matter. Manfred Meyer is a respectable Berlin defence lawyer, devoted to his calling, who had a Jewish father - so he's not even Jewish, strictly speaking, since you're only Jewish through your mother, but eventually nothing can hold off the deportation day. He finds himself in Auschwitz, preparing a case for the defence of an old client, now an SS officer, of murder. The defendant is a nasty piece of knitting, personally, quite apart from war crimes.
Two timelines run in parallel; Auschwitz and Meyer's earlier life, in happier days, with the Nazi net gradually closing in. Other people's stories are woven in, broadening the picture.
This is a well written story, well performed - it is easier for a Scots tongue to pronounce German words! - with interesting characters. Whether it's a likely scenario is debatable,but war throws up surprising events. I enjoyed it very much.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Frank
- 27-08-21
A gripping story
I stumbled across this book while looking for books narrated by David Monteath. The narration in my opinion is very good - apart from the pronunciation of a lot of the German phrases. But that does not harm the story really.
I found the story great but I would not be in a position of deciding if all the facts are correct nor how the author had intended them to be delivered. But it is a chilling one. With the two story lines running parallel, one in the “present” and one in the characters’ past, it requires a bit of concentration to follow them but it’s not a difficult task. I recommend this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marie
- 28-10-16
Loved it
Fantastic story. Excellent writing. Good story, well told. Excellent characterisation. Interesting structure of 2 streams of the story running at the same time but handled well Superb narrator. Gutted that there's only 1 book by JC Stephenson to choose on audio. Now my next dilemma is how can I find anything as good as this. A real gem amongst some fine messes I've plodded through. Worth a credit.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer Taylor
- 20-10-16
Good story little slow
Good story although a bit slow at times but believable.
Not sure why the narrator gave German SS soldiers cockney accents!!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- P-J
- 03-05-19
Average
The story was engrossing enough, adequate I suppose, although certainly not particularly challenging. It was all fairly predictable in the majority of aspects, with no surprising twists to speak of. The detail regarding Auschwitz organisational aspects contained many irritating inaccuracies and the author completely fabricated information regarding SS disciplinary procedures (as the easiest example) which was beyond irritating. Not brilliant.
The narration was terrible. The reader had a good voice when reading the scene setting etc, but the voices he used when speaking the parts of the characters were beyond painful. The key characters were portrayed as weak, childlike, whinging and tiresome. Simply awful. He missed the entire intended tone set by the author, absolutely terrible in all respects. If he had just read the text in his normal voice, he would’ve been excellent. Whomever directed this needs a slap for completely misinterpreting the author’s intended tone. I cringed throughout.
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