By Chance Alone
A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz
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Narrated by:
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Douglas E. Hughes
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Written by:
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Max Eisen
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.You may also enjoy...
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In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the 300 men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived - three Spaniards and an African slave.
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Well done
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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.
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.
What listeners say about By Chance Alone
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-07-12
Heartbreaking but very well written!
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!
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-11-15
Amazing story.
Amazing story, bravely told and wonderfully narrated. A story that will linger in your mind.
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-04-16
Gripping
A truly gripping and heartbreaking story. couldn't stop listening to his wrenching testimony. I highly recommend this book.
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-01-13
I will never complain about my life again!
Just when you think your life is hard....you need to listen to this book. Such a powerful story - what this young man had to endure is beyond comprehension. Heartbreaking but uplifting - to hear how one person can endure such hardship but yet survive and thrive. Worth a listen!
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- Anonymous User
- 2020-07-09
A very moving and educational memoir
This book should be part of mandatory curriculum in schools. It is a needed reminder of both the atrocities as well as the resilience and kindness humans are capable of. Well worth the read.
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-12-22
Beautiful storytelling
Wonderful storytelling that transports to you a different time and place. It is an amazing personal story with tragedy and triumph.
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- Anonymous User
- 2023-10-16
It broadened my scope of history
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.
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- Hackdaddy
- 2019-09-12
So educational/ disturbing
WOW. I have never read such a riveting first person account of the holocaust. Must read
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-09-10
What a Story
I havent heard a story from this point of view yet. I learned a lot, great book.
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- Anonymous User
- 2019-08-18
A cautionary story
This book is very familiar in so many ways if you're a reader of many books about the holocaust and the war years. The difference is in the afterward, so incredibly striking how easy this can and potentially IS happening again - think the camps for the children and adults being detained in the US from Mexico. Sleeping with no bedding, crowded in small spaces, I wish the American government would just read that and wake up and NOT LET WHAT IS HAPPENING happen!
Everyone needs to keep reading “books written by survivors” and not say “not another one sigh”. The only way to prevent history repeating itself is to be so cognizant of what happened in history and make sure it stays HISTORY!
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