Kasztner's Train

“[Anna Porter] vividly brings to life those frenetic months in Budapest before the Nazi collapse. Although she shows Kasztner with all his weaknesses and flaws—egotistical, vain, ambitious and unfaithful to his wife—she concludes that he was indeed heroic in risking his own life daily and saving thousands of Jews. Yad Vashem, releasing the results of its study of Kasztner's voluminous documents, notes and correspondence, recently came to the same conclusion. There was no man in the history of the Holocaust who saved more Jews and was subjected to more injustice than Kasztner, said Yad Vashem chairman Joseph Lapid, himself a survivor from Hungary, in July 2007, releasing the conclusions of Yad Vashem's research on Kasztner's papers. This is an opportunity to do justice to a man who was misrepresented and was a victim of a vicious attack that led to his death, he added, calling Kasztner one of the great heroes of the Holocaust.”—Adam Fuerstenberg, The Forward

“A tale of rescue as remarkable as Wallenberg or Schindler.  Kudos to Anna Porter for recovering such an important piece of forgotten history, with, at its heart, a colorful and irresistible hero—and an ending that will break your heart.”—Kati Marton, author of The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World

“The remarkable achievement of Kasztner’s Train is to bring to life a tale of breathtaking chutzpah, the gravest personal risk, dark intrigue, human frailty, and devastating clashes of personality. Animated by her understanding of the Hungarian context, Anna Porter relays her story with, as was said of the Jewish revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, impeccable moral taste.” —Michael R. Marrus, professor emeritus of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto

“Glowing chronicle of an unheralded, Schindler-esque figure who saved Hungarian-Jewish lives during World War II. As the German army marched on Budapest in 1944, the fate of the city's Jewish population lay in the hands of bold, immeasurably brave Rezso Kasztner. Hungarian-born Canadian citizen Porter gives an unashamedly laudatory account of Kasztner's actions, though she also extensively covers the controversy that dogged him until his final days. The book's central subject is the monumental task Kasztner assumed during the war as he battled with the German authorities to free as many Hungarian-born Jewish citizens as possible. His dealings with SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann are retold in meticulous detail. Porter effectively conjures dark, smoky offices hosting intense negotiations and the palpable, yet always carefully hidden terror felt by Kasztner as he battled with one of Hitler's most overbearing, deeply unpleasant henchmen. The author frequently departs from Kasztner's tale to recite events happening elsewhere in Europe, offering disquieting details of the conditions in Auschwitz that would be the probable fate of the Jewish citizens he failed to save. Kasztner's achievements were twofold. He got 1,684 Jews onto a train out of Hungary, at a considerable price to the wealthy passengers on board, although Porter points out that the exact amount of money given to the Germans is unknown. Kasztner also kept 20,000 exiled Hungarian Jews alive in Austria, again by forking over a considerable sum. With a hint of exasperation, Porter concludes by examining Kasztner's tribulations in Israel after the war, when he was charged with colluding with the Nazis and failing to warn the majority of Budapest's Jewish population of what awaited them in the camps. Kasztner's assassination shortly after the trial was, for the author, a deeply inglorious end for a man she regards as a hero. A compelling narrative that does great justice to Kasztner's memory.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The unknown hero of the title is Rezso Kasztner, a member of the Jewish Rescue Committee in Hungary during World War II. He was able to negotiate a deal with the Nazis, which resulted in Kasztner’s Train—a train that transported 1,684 Hungarian Jews out of Nazi-controlled Hungary to safety in Switzerland in July 1944. The wealthy Jews of Budapest paid an average of $1,500 for each family member; the poor paid nothing. Kasztner also was able to save 20,000 Hungarian Jews by having them sent to an Austrian labor camp instead of extermination camps. Kasztner moved to Israel after the war, and in 1954 he was accused of being a Nazi collaborator. Kasztner claimed that his dealing with the Nazi officials, including Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Eichmann, were necessary to save lives. In 1957, he was assassinated by right-wing activists in Tel Aviv. Porter interviewed 75 people and had access to diaries, notes, taped interviews, memoirs, and courtroom testimonies; her book, with three maps and a 16-page black-and-white insert, offers the most complete, fully documented account of this Holocaust story.”—Booklist