Auschwitz #34207

The Joe Rubinstein Story

By: Nancy Sprowell Geise

Narrated by: Richard Rieman

Seventy years ago, Joe Rubinstein walked out of a Nazi concentration camp.

Until now, his story has been hidden from the world.

Shortly before dawn on a frigid morning in Radom, Poland, 21-year-old Joe answered a knock at the door of the cottage he shared with his widowed mother and siblings. German soldiers forced him onto a crowded open-air truck. Wearing only an undershirt and shorts, Joe was left on the truck with no protection from the cold. By the next morning, several around him would be dead. From there, things got worse for young Joe, much worse. Joe arrived at Auschwitz April 30, 1942, and until now, has never revealed what he did to stay alive.

Joe's story is a remarkable account of enduring several of the most notorious Nazi concentration camp and, it is a story of love and the ultimate triumph-the triumph of the human spirit. While the Nazis took everything else, they were unable to take Joe's love of life, his affection for others, and his unassailable joy. His is a story of unconquerable courage and discovering light in the darkest of places.

From the ashes of his past, Joe would find a way to rebuild his life. Barefooted when he was taken by the Nazis, he would become one of New York's' leading shoe designers - shoes sought after by First Ladies and movie stars alike.

Music: Written and performed by James McAndrew

©2015 Nancy Sprowell Geise (P)2016 Nancy Sprowell Geise

Profound

As a young girl, upon reading Anne Frank’s Diary, I was deeply troubled and left with a desire to learn more of this horrific history. Over many years, I studied and discovered many testimonies. It’s never painless, always seems to cost me something, but I face it to learn. This book is one of the most powerful in describing the experience and the awful cost, much worse than anything I can fathom, of what it was to be a witness and to have endured. The message is one of living to overcome evil, of pure convictions in this disturbing evil. I’m so grateful this book was written.

A Sacred and Terrible Privilege

This was a story that needed to be told and needed to be heard. But it is horrifying in its intimate, first-person history. We need to know this history, but it is definitely not bedtime listening.

Gut wrenching and sobering. A must listen

I finished this book in 2 days. I couldn't stop listening. It was written with such emotion that I found myself crying throughout the book. I would recommend every adult read/listen to "Auschwitz #34207" that we never forget what happen, we never forget what Joe went through, we never take life granted, and so history never repeats itself.

Breathtaking!

I've read MANY books about the Holocaust, but this book.... Omgoodness.... This book.... I just can't find words to describe the impact this book had on my heart!

The thing I'm most appreciative of, is how Mr Rubinstein NEVER blamed God and kept his faith throughout the most horrific ordeal imaginable!

We must never forget...

We must never let something like this ever happen again. A touching true story of Joe Rubinstein. Heart breaking and inspiring. Wonderful reading by the narrator.