Sim Kessel, a French Jew and ex-boxer, spent nearly three years imprisoned in labor and death camps like Auschwtiz and Mautausen, was put to work as a slave in the dreaded mines of Jaworzno, was sent to the gas chamber, and was hanged for attempting to escape Auschwitz. While he was being hung, the rope miraculously broke, so he was condemned to be shot. Kessel then assumed the identity of another inmate and survived as a fugitive for the remaining months of the war.

Originally published: New York : Stein & Day, 1972.