About

From the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Volunteer, the powerful true story of a Jewish lawyer who returned to Germany after World War II to prosecute war crimes, only to find himself pitted against a nation determined to bury the past.

At the end of the Nuremberg trial in 1946, some of the greatest war criminals in history were sentenced to death, but hundreds of thousands of Nazi murderers and collaborators remained at large. The Allies were ready to overlook their pasts as the Cold War began, and the horrors of the Holocaust were in danger of being forgotten.

In The Prosecutor, Jack Fairweather brings to life the remarkable story of Fritz Bauer, a gay, Jewish judge from Stuttgart who survived the Nazis and made it his mission to force his countrymen to confront their complicity in the genocide. In this deeply researched book, Fairweather draws on unpublished family papers, newly declassified German records, and exclusive interviews to immerse readers in the shadowy, unfamiliar world of postwar West Germany where those who implemented genocide run the country, the CIA is funding Hitler's former spy-ring in the east, and Nazi-era anti-gay laws are strictly enforced. But once Bauer landed on the trail of Adolf Eichmann, he wouldn't be intimidated. His journey took him deep into the dark heart of West Germany, where his fight for justice would set him against his own government and a network of former Nazis and spies bent on silencing him.

In a time when the history of the Holocaust is taken for granted, The Prosecutor reveals the courtroom battles that were fought to establish its legacy and the personal cost of speaking out. The result is a searing portrait of a nation emerging from the ruins of fascism and one man's courage in forcing his people––and the world––to face the truth.

Reviews

The Prosecutor is a tour-de-force of both historical research and absolutely terrific writing. It reads like the best sort of cloak-and-dagger novel. As a writer and journalist, I gauge books by how much I learn about my own craft, and this book was a kind of masterclass ”

– Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of WAR and THE PERFECT STORM

This meticulously researched biography brings to life one of the unsung heroes of the twentieth century…. Fairweather brilliantly evokes the dark, morally ambiguous atmosphere of postwar Germany and a man whose story contains the moral lessons we need today ”

– Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of GULAG: A HISTORY and AUTOCRACY, INC.

Deeply humane, finely wrought and so vital tale in this age of impunity, crackingly told ”

– Philippe Sands, award-winning and bestselling author of THE RATLINE and EAST WEST STREET

One of the great untold stories of the Holocaust― and Jack Fairweather is the perfect person to tell it ”

– Jonathan Freedland, bestselling author of THE ESCAPE ARTIST

Fairweather brilliantly captures the poignant and insightful story of one lonely, determined man's quest to bring Nazis to justice for the Holocaust. This is history not to be missed ”

– David E. Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of THE DEAD HAND and GIVE ME LIBERTY

Beautifully written and hugely evocative... a powerful literary memorial to Fritz Bauer, the German-Jewish lawyer whose tenacity forced a nation to confront its crimes ”

– Katja Hoyer, bestselling author of BEYOND THE WALL

This spellbinding account details the extraordinary life story of Fritz Bauer, a German Jewish prosecuter who devoted himself to the cause of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice in a postwar Germany that preferred to look the other way. By doing so, he changed history. This is a book of great importance. The Prosecutor is, quite simply, a stunning achievement ”

– Jon Lee Anderson, author of CHE GUEVARA: A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE

Jack Fairweather continues his stellar writing career with an important new book about a hitherto unacknowledged hero, Fritz Bauer. In a world where the loathsome bacillus of anti-Semitism is once again on the rise, this well-researched, well-written and hard-hitting book could not be more timely. Fairweather has unearthed a vast amount of new information about the darkest period in the history of Mankind ”

– Andrew Roberts, author of CHURCHILL: WALKING WITH DESTINY