Living with the Enemy: My Secret Life on the Run from the Nazis

by Freddie Knoller, John Landaw

Freddie Knoller was forced to abandon his family and flee Vienna as Nazi Brownshirts swept through his apartment building in November 1938. Little more than an ordinary Jewish schoolboy, his desperate journey took him, among many other places, to Paris, where he earned a living guiding the Nazis around the red light district, an occupation that provoked complex feelings of guilt, elation, and fortune. But his luck ran out, and Freddie was soon on the run again before he fell victim to a friend's betrayal that saw him transported straight to Auschwitz. He survived the horrors of the extermination camp, and has lived to tell his story.

Genres: Autobiography, History, World War II, Nonfiction, War

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Gem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of meeting Freddie when he came to my school to share his experience of the Holocaust. The book goes into so much detail about his remarkable life and as it is in his own words is full of the sadness and joy he has experienced. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone as it is written very informatively and you learn a lot about World War Two at a deeper level because it allows you to understand the impact it had on individuals. It is a story of his life, courage and a wonderful read

[Sam Romilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important and fascinating survival story. Gives a new perspective on the horrors of wars and the Nazis. Captures well the illogical plans, desires and strengths of a young boy thrown into an evil adult world. Very original descriptions of life in occupied Paris. The atrocities of concentration camps are hard to read but documented in careful detail and understandable masking of the emotions that lay behind the tormentors and victims.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jews and the Nazis dominate our history, the only question being for how long will this continue to be the case? Well, we can’t forget what happened, nor can we be allowed to, and I felt this book was written reluctantly and only to add to the body of evidence to say that the Holocaust did happen, and it happened to people like you and I. What’s more, it was inflicted by people like you and I too. Don’t think it can’t happen again. The initial stages of the book, where the young Jewish author worked in Paris as a sometime pimp, were interesting and colourful, reading like good fiction. But, when he is picked up by the Gestapo, the tone changes to an objective foreboding where you can almost feel the distancing in the writing from the events portrayed. The cattle trucks to Auswitch, the death march to Belsen, the horror of the camps – it has to be recorded, but it is an effort to read it, never mind live it and write it for posterity. Soon all the survivors will be gone, and we’ll only have accounts like this to rely on for remembrance.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chilling autobiography of the horrors of Nazism and the Holocaust written as a personal memoir.
Worth reading to get a personal perspective of how some of the major elements of WWII affected one man and his family.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very honest memoir, different as his personality/characteristic in Holocaust was survival instincts > important aspect of humans, but probably not as commonly expressed in Auschwitz survivor stories as most explain they tried to help as many others as they could.

[Iñigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story of pain, hope and optimism in times of despair, fear and uncertainty. This biography should be brought to the school as a reading to enrich and open students' minds.

[Cyblogs · Rating 3 out of 5]

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