The Nazis Knew My Name: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Courage in Auschwitz-Birkenau

Authors: Magda Hellinger, Maya Lee, David Brewster In March 1942, 25-year-old kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger and nearly a thousand other young women were some of the first Jews deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners in charge of the day-to-day accommodation blocks, they could deflect attention away from themselves. Magda was one such prisoner selected for leadership and put in charge of hundreds of women in the notorious Experimental Block 10. She found herself constantly walking a dangerously fine line: saving lives while risking execution and avoiding suspicion from the SS. Through her inner strength and shrewd survival instincts, she was able to rise above the horror and cruelty of the camps and build pivotal relationships with the women under her watch, and even some of Auschwitz’s most notorious Nazi senior officers. Paperback 336 pages