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Blanca Miosi
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Waldek, The Boy who Defied the Nazis (Thriller) Kindle Edition

by Blanca Miosi (Author), Norma Beredjiklian (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 380 ratings
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A boy scout in the Polish resistance that passed through Auschwitz and Mauthausen. By restarting his life in America he is persecuted by the Mossad and coerced by the Nazis.
The most sold in the history of Amazon in Spanish.

Waldek, The Boy who Defied the Nazis (La Búsqueda in Spanish) chronicles the dramatic and heroic story of Waldek Grodek, who experienced first-hand and at a very young age the German occupation of his native Poland. Many decades later, while visiting the UN offices that granted compensation to the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, Waldek reflects on the events that started when he was made prisoner and taken to Auschwitz and Mauthausen and, in the years following his liberation, subjected him to the whims of European and Latin American totalitarian regimes, international espionage and the Mossad. Waldek Grodek is a memorable character whose unique perspective and amazing life story deserves to be told.
After more than 154 weeks, Waldek, The Boy who Defied the Nazis (La búsqueda) still occupies the top 10 ranking on Amazon Spanish language. A thriller that is well worth reading.
Another book by the same author in English language: THE MANUSCRIPT, The Secret. Recently published
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  1. Print length
    245 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    August 2, 2014
  5. File size
    735 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Waldek ´s narrative is intense, moving, honest...never pretending to impress the reader but nevertheless can leave you breathless... a masterful account of the facts." Heberto Gamero (Author)

"Waldek Grodek survived not only Auschwitz and Mauthausen but life itself and despite all his tribulations was able to banish hatred from his heart: My life was hard but I had to free myself from hatred or I would end up hating the whole world." Marlene Moleon (Editor, Eriginal Books)

"Blanca Miosi draws the different scenes with perfect technique, grabs the reader´s attention and introduces settings, characters and sequences with perfect equilibrium." Jose Luis Palma (Author)

"A beautiful and haunting book." Violeta Balián (Author)"If you don't read WALDEK, you'll still in shadows. Blanca Miosi an emergent writer rich in surprises." New York Times Books.

From the Author

Nacida en Lima (Perú) de padre japonés y madre peruana, Blanca Miosi ha estado viviendo durante las últimas tres décadas en Venezuela. Es la autora de Waldek, el niño que desafió a los nazis una novela basada en la vida de su esposo, un sobreviviente de los campos de Auschwitz y Mauthausen. Publicado por primera vez en su español original como La Búsqueda (Editorial Roca), la obra recibió el reconocimiento internacional y ganó el Premio Thriller 2007. En 2009, Miosi publicó El Legado (Editorial Viceversa), una saga familiar basada en Erik Hanussen, el notorio clarividente berlinés y asesor personal de Adolf Hitler.En 2011, y como autora independiente con Amazon.com, Blanca Miosi publicó La búsqueda , El Legado, Dimitri Galunov, El Manuscrito I. El Secreto, El manuscrito II, El coleccionista, Amanda y El gigoló. Sus novelas ocupan el primer puesto entre los títulos más vendidos de Amazon en español.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00I6M4YRE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Digital Services (August 2, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 2, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 735 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 245 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 380 ratings

About the author

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Blanca Miosi

Blanca Miosi

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Born in Lima (Perú) of a Japanese father and Peruvian mother, Blanca Miosi is the author of Waldek, the boy who confronted the Nazis a novel based on the life of her husband, a survivor of the Auschwitz and Mauthausen camps. First published in its original Spanish as La Búsqueda (Editorial Roca) the work received international acclaim and won the 2007 Thriller Award. In 2009, Miosi published El Legado (Editorial Viceversa), a family saga based on Erik Hanussen, the notorious Berlin clairvoyant and personal counsel to Adolf Hitler. In 2011, and as an independent author with Amazon.com, Blanca Miosi published La búsqueda, El Legado, Dimitri Galunov, El Manuscrito I. El Secreto; El Manuscrito II El coleccionista, Amanda, Manuscrito III El retorno, El rastreador and La lista. Her novels occupy first ranking positions among Amazon´s best sold titles in Spanish.

Blanca Miosi es hija de madre peruana y padre japonés. El cóndor de la pluma dorada, quedó finalista en el concurso Yo escribo. La búsqueda, publicada en 2008, Barcelona España, una novela basada en la vida de su esposo, prisionero superviviente del campo de concentración de Auschwitz, tuvo una gran acogida. Fue ganadora del Thriller Award 2007.

En 2009 publicó de la mano de Editorial Viceversa,Barcelona, España: El legado, una novela sobre una saga familiar basada en el personaje Erik Hanussen, considerado durante muchos años el mejor vidente de Berlín y consejero personal del Adolf Hitler. A la venta en España, Sudamérica y ahora en Amazon en formato Kindle. Ediciones B publicó El manuscrito, ahora una trilogía publicada a través del sello editorial Amazon Publishing.

LA BÚSQUEDA estuvo más de un año en el primer lugar del ranking de todas las categorías en Amazon, actualmente lleva siete años como una de las novelas más vendidas. Está traducida al inglés, francés y próximamente saldrá en chino.

Todas sus novelas están traducidas al francés.

http://blancamiosiysumundo.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @BlancaMiosi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1343407455

Pagina web: http://www.blancamiosi.com/

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
380 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jack Comer
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Story of Waldek
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2015
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Blanca Miosi is an outstanding writer. she writes a book that is hard to put down. And to write about another person's experiences and convey that person's emotions takes great skill. So I highly rate it. I have read over 200 books on the holocaust and this one ranks high. It is also rare to find such a excellently written book about an individual who was not a Jew yet suffered in Nazi concentration camps.
My comments on the book are: Waldek, the subject of the book has many experiences. It is almost hard to believe that such could happen to one person. But read Jack Eisner's book, "The Survivor," and you know it's possible. To me the problem Waldek has is he is no better than the Nazi's he used to hate. After all he collaborates with two of them who are SS members known to be especially cruel. He becomes like them. Why? After going and seeing what he saw, yet he would look the other way and form an alliance with them. This is despicable to me, but this makes the book interesting. The SS Nazi woman Helga said she followed orders for her survival. I don't agree with her choice. Did Waldek make an agreement for his survival? It's still a personal choice each one should be responsible for. Waldek to me was a person who always sought his one advantage. Being with many women over the years without being faithful to any of them including Blanca Miosi if it's true that she was with him for 30 years, which to me makes him a selfish man. No wonder he could compromise and enter an agreement with two ex-nazi SS officers. The real hero's of the book was the Mossad who did not give up in tracking these criminals. To say Waldek defied the Nazi's is to me an overstatement of his character. He got caught planning to defy them. All of this my opinion of course.
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Mom of Two
4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and great pace
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2014
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This is a very well written book. Waldek leaves much of the hatred her should naturally feel behind. He seems to have many instances of extremely bad luck and other instances of extremely good luck. By the end of the book, I was compelled not to believe the complete story line. Just not possible that someone could have that many experiences in one lifetime. I do not want to spoil the book for you by adding the details but I think many of the details were elaborated to make it seem even more outrageous. Other than the exaggeration it is well written and I loved that he was not a person who carried hatred with him.
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aklittlered
5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable story
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2015
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This is a well written story of the life's ups and downs for Waldek Grodek, a survivor of the Holocaust. But even more, his history gives us many things to contemplate. I was especially moved by his closing remarks. He left me feeling sad that he was unable to find the peace and happiness that he spent his whole life seeking. It left me thinking and contemplating about my life and how fortunate I have been to live where I have enjoyed many blessings and felt great love from my family and friends. Sometimes we just need to read about the hardships of others to realize how blessed we are. This is not a warm and fuzzy story with a fairytale ending. It is a story about how hard and disappointing life can be, but it is worth the read.
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Unbiased
3.0 out of 5 stars A chronicle of an unlikely survivor
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2015
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Waldek is a somewhat unique story that chronicles the experiences of a young Polish boy before, during and subsequent to World War II.. Waldek luckily survives the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau . He then goes on to live what in the end, is a successful life, although it is full of misadventures. To detail these misadventures would have a 'spoiler" effect, but suffice it to say it involves life under the Nazi's, under communism and eventually, life in post World War II South America.
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Ttile
5.0 out of 5 stars Not your regular WWII novel
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2014
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This boy defied the Nazis and makes the reader feel great about that and admire Waldek greatly. What I enjoyed also, very much in fact, is the larger picture that the author shares about all of Waldek's life. The adventures the "boy" has throughout his life are just amazing. His attitude and resiliency are inspiring. I can just imagine the delectable experience his grandchildren must have when he tells them his life story by the fireplace, one piece at a time, making them eager to hear the next chapter. I can just see them resisting going to bed :)

Thanks to the author for having her novel competently translated into English-- I would not have discovered Waldek otherwise on my Kindle, as live in Northern Africa.
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redhead
4.0 out of 5 stars This book dipped into almost every aspect of the NAZI ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2014
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This book dipped into almost every aspect of the NAZI impact on Germany and Germans. There were surprises at every turn, but they seemed to stretch credibility in order for Waldek to survive. It seems improbable that one individual could have the variety of experiences (described as "luck") in so many parts of the world; nevertheless, I kept turning the pages eager to see which historically significant event would find Waldek as a bit player.
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Marlene Moleon
5.0 out of 5 stars A heartbreaking and intense historical thriller
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2014
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I feel so happy that Blanca Miosi's first novel translated into English is “Waldek, the boy who defied the Nazis”, published in Spanish with the title La búsqueda (The Search).
I have read several Miosi's novels. She is a great storyteller, but this one is her MASTERPIECE.
The novel begins with the story of a Polish Catholic child, her husband in real life, which was in the Nazi concentration camps. Anyone could say: Another sad and devastating history of concentration camps! But no, in this novel the story begins just after that. How to survive? What gives meaning to life? It is the search for meaning what defines the story.
“Waldek” is a heartbreaking and intense historical thriller.
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josiep
5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable!
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2020
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Outstanding true story that rocks your heart, soul and mind. I've raved about this book to all my friends and family. I read the Spanish version but there an English one. It's written beautifully and the story is such that it captures your being. Don't hesitate to buy it.
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Top reviews from other countries

Naydeg
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding odissey!
Reviewed in Mexico on June 21, 2020
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Twists and turns, hope and deception, countless emotions enrich this lively journey. The testimony of a crucial-historic events witness told in the most catching style.
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Rich Morgan
3.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing read
Reviewed in Canada on October 21, 2015
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An interesting and sometimes remarkable account of an amazing life!
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OlgaNM
5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary life, an extraordinary novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2014
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Waldek by well-known (to the Spanish reading public) author Blanca Miosi is the chronicle (novelised) of a life. It is indeed a novel but based on a first-hand account by Waldek Grodek of his life. The volume I discuss is the translation of the author’s bestseller La búsqueda (The Search).
All lives are extraordinary but some (be by design, by good or bad luck or by fate) are more extraordinary than the great majority. This is one of them. Waldek was born in the wrong place at the wrong time (or maybe not, it depends on your point of view).
Being born in Poland and being a teenager at the time of Hitler’s invasion is not very lucky. His decision to be actively engaged in the resistance (however modest form it could take at such young age) could be seen as the first of many unwise (or at least detrimental to his own well-being) decisions he would take over his life. It lands him in a concentration camp (first Auschwitz and then Mauthausen). He manages to cope with his experience by focusing on survival at all costs and trying not to think too far back or ahead. This portion of the book is fascinating but hard to read, no matter how many books on the subject and personal accounts you have read before. Indeed it’s true that each person’s suffering is different to anybody else’s, and so are the defence mechanisms they use to survive.
I will not go into detail about all the adventures Waldek goes through in his life, but let me say he travels to South America, he sees success but also poverty, he is forced to live in circumstances not of his choosing more than once, but he survives.
One of the qualities of this book as that it succeeds in not turning the protagonist into a hero or a Saint. He remains a human being, who might not fully understand or like what he feels he has to do, who is not always consistent, and who loves and hates at times against his best interests and irrationally. He remains a complex and credible human being, even if not always a likeable one. Personally we might question some of his decisions, his expressed thoughts and ideas, and wonder how many of his sometimes surprising reactions and attachments might relate to his early traumatic experiences, although he never allows himself any excuses and pushes on.
Novels like this one that take place in recognisable historical times and situation, make us question what would we do. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we might not like the answers we get. Would we be more generous or less? Would we take more risks, or fewer? Would we be as naïve? Would be have pursued justice at all cost (even our own), or decided on forgiveness? Can we truly know?
This being a first-person narration it presents a very specific perspective on the events and we can’t but question how much the narrator tells us and how much he censures. I did feel that there were many things I didn’t know or heard about, and those will keep me thinking, and that’s something I appreciate in a book.
However accurate we might believe all the details are, the story is a page turner, and no matter what our personal feelings for the protagonist might be, we want to know what happens to him and try to solve his puzzle. Blanca Miosi writes fluidly, with enough detail to allow us to create a mental picture of the locations and people, and she is particularly skilled at making us hear Waldek as if he was sitting next to us telling us his story. I understand that the author tried at first to publish the story (of her now dead husband) as a personal account and was told by a publishing company that those did not sell very well and they would only be interested if it were a novel. Several years of hard work resulted in this book. The novel is not only Waldek’s journey through life, but also Blanca Miosi’s search for her literary voice, and it is a success in both accounts. If you dare to go on this journey with Waldek and the author, I’m sure you won’t regret it. See what you discover.
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Peter Swirsk
5.0 out of 5 stars Novelised account of the Holocaust through the eyes of a Polish Catholic survivor
Reviewed in Australia on February 26, 2014
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I read the Spanish version of this book nearly two years ago, and I still think about it often. I'm quite certain that it will stay with me forever. What I most liked about it was that it is based on a true story, that of the author's late husband. Blanca Miosi was advised by her editors to write it as a novel rather than a biography. As a result, this book contains elements of both genres: a real story told in the concise and straightforward style of Miosi's and an intriguing fast-paced bestseller. I admire her skill in stepping in Waldek's shoes and being able to tell the story in a way that makes us readers live it again. I love reading Holocaust accounts which speak of hope, forgiveness, understanding and surviving. This is one of those books. Waldek's life was worth telling not only because of what he went through, first as a Polish Catholic boy in concentration camps and later as a grown man in Peru, but because through his words and actions, as told by Blanca Miosi, we understand that nothing is black or white, or people are totally good or evil. More books like this need to be written so that we never forget the true heroes in Human History, for example, Germans like Schindler, the doctor who saved Waldek's leg, the firemen who lost their lives to save others at the World Trade Center, and those survivors of the Holocaust who managed to acknowledge the pain and forgive, as Waldek did.

If the English translation is as good as the original version, I strongly recommend this book.
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dpow
4.0 out of 5 stars needs tweeking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2014
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i thought the story lacked detail whilst in the concentration camps and also thought the writer gave Waldek too much good fortune
throughout the story. The events that came to him when going to America at the end of the book were beyond belief and would be better not including them.It was a story too far.
However i think it would make a great film with some tweeking here and there
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