The Prosecutor: One Man's Battle to Bring Nazis to Justice

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD • The “gripping” (The New York Times) 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—from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Volunteer.

“Compulsively readable . . . with liberal democracies once more imperiled and indifference to the Holocaust stupefyingly widespread, The Prosecutor could hardly be more timely.”—Financial Times

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 In this deeply researched book, Fairweather draws on unpublished family papers, newly declassified German records, and exclusive interviews to immerse readers in the shadowy, unfamiliar world of postwar West Germany where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.

About the Author :
Jack Fairweather is the author of the Costa Book Award-winner The Volunteer, a #1 bestseller in the UK that’s been hailed as a modern classic and compared to Schindler’s List. He served as a correspondent for The Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph, where he was the paper’s Baghdad and Persian Gulf bureau chief.

Review :
“Haunting . . . [A] gripping and well-researched biography.”—The New York Times

“Fairweather tells this story with impressive clarity and pace. . . A compulsively readable account . . . with liberal democracies once more imperiled and indifference to the Holocaust stupefyingly widespread, The Prosecutor could hardly be more timely.”—The Financial Times

“Not all superheroes wear capes. Some, as Jack Fairweather’s superb biography of the German prosecutor and judge Fritz Bauer shows, wear lawyer’s robes instead. . . . A magnificent book about a magnificent man.”—The Telegraph

“Disturbing insights into a bygone era. . . . Stirring revelations of an unsung hero of postwar Germany.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Despite the number of Holocaust-related titles that now appear in the book trade, there is usually one that becomes a beacon, or flagship for the genre. The Prosecutor could very well be seen as that in the years to come. . . . Jack Fairweather has achieved something quite remarkable.”—The Critic

“Jack Fairweather brilliantly captures the poignant and insightful story of one lonely, determined man’s quest to bring Nazis to justice for the Holocaust. Fritz Bauer sought to bend the arc of history, a noble pursuit of great inspiration and agony. This is history not to be missed.”—David E. Hoffman, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Dead Hand and Give Me Liberty

“This meticulously researched and well written 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–winner and bestselling author of Autocracy, Inc.

“The Prosecutor is a tour de force of both historical research and absolutely terrific writing. Fairweather’s topic—the criminal prosecution of war criminals—is of the utmost importance, and the book itself reads like the best sort of cloak-and-dagger novel.”—Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of War, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and A Death in Belmont

“Jack Fairweather, a brilliant researcher and compelling writer, tells the remarkable and inspiring story of German jurist Fritz Bauer. . . . A triumphant story.”—Mark Bowden, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Black Hawk Down

“A rich, compelling and deeply researched account of a little-known lawyer who fought long and hard to expose the criminals who underpinned Hitler’s monstrous regime. Another page-turner from Jack Fairweather.”―Giles Milton, bestselling author of The Stalin Affair

“Breathtaking scholarship delivered with a compelling flair for storytelling.”―Robert Jan van Pelt, award-winning writer and leading Holocaust expert

“The Prosecutor is, quite simply, a stunning achievement.”—Jon Lee Anderson, bestselling author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life