Games, by Gerald Jacobs, (Penguin, £6.99 in UK)

This is the true story of Miklos Hammer, a Hungarian Jew who survived the Budapest ghetto, Birkenau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and…

This is the true story of Miklos Hammer, a Hungarian Jew who survived the Budapest ghetto, Birkenau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and finally Dachau, where he escaped death by adopting the identity of an Englishman he had met on a cattle truck. Based on a series of interviews with the 75 year old Hammer, Gerald Jacobs has written an account of his ordeals that is both graphic and understated. Having suffered the physical and psychological torture of the camps and the cattle trucks, Hammer's endurance was further tested by his internment in England with former SS officers, including Hitler's press chief, with whom, to the horror of fellow camp survivors, he engaged in dispassionate discussions of Nazi philosophy. A compelling document of one of this century's darkest hours.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter