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By Chance Alone

A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz

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About this listen

An award-winning, internationally best-selling Holocaust memoir by Max Eisen, in the tradition of Elie Wiesel’s Night and Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz

In the spring of 1944 gendarmes forcibly removed Tibor “Max” Eisen and his family from their home, brought them to a brickyard, and eventually loaded them onto crowded cattle cars bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. At 15 years of age, Eisen survived the selection process and he was inducted into the camp as a slave laborer.

More than 70 years after the Nazi camps were liberated by the Allies, By Chance Alone details Eisen’s story of survival: the backbreaking slave labor in Auschwitz I, the infamous death march in January 1945, the painful aftermath of liberation, and Eisen’s journey of physical and psychological healing. Ultimately, the book offers a message of hope as the author finds his way to a new life.

©2016 Max Eisen (P)2019 Audible, Inc.
20th Century Jewish Heritage Judaism Military Modern Wars & Conflicts Survival War Holocaust Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Middle East
Max Eisen

About the Author

Max Eisen is a Hungarian Jew who was deported to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944. He is a passionate speaker and educator who volunteers at the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto. He currently resides in Toronto with his wife, Ivy.

Douglas E. Hughes

About the Narrator

Douglas E. Hughes has been an actor, playwright, and voice artist for the past 40 years. He spent 13 seasons at the Shaw Festival, another three at Stratford, and has worked in theatres across this country and in the U.S.

With his writing partner, Marcia Kash, Hughes has written five plays — all published by Samuel French, Inc. — which have had more than 200 productions in over a dozen countries around the world, and have been translated into eight languages. Hughes and Kash are currently at work on their sixth collaborative effort, a play called Deadline. Doug has also penned a yet-to-be-published novel of his own — a comedy-thriller entitled The Poor Player.

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This book was an excellent descriptive of the life Max lived as a Jew during the years the Nazis rose to power. It is a beautiful account of his family turning to a very difficult read of the time he spent suffering in the camps. I not only learned more about the plight of the Jews but felt this personal account was incredibly touching. Thank you!

Heartbreaking but very well written!

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Amazing story, bravely told and wonderfully narrated. A story that will linger in your mind.

Amazing story.

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A truly gripping and heartbreaking story. couldn't stop listening to his wrenching testimony. I highly recommend this book.

Gripping

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Wonderful storytelling that transports to you a different time and place. It is an amazing personal story with tragedy and triumph.

Beautiful storytelling

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It’s a different story that I was used to. Really enjoyable. But it took a while to catch on….. I’m familiar with the geography.

It broadened my scope of history

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