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Digital Audiobook
Miracle by Michael Calvin with Naftali Schiff

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Miracle

Publisher
Transworld
Publish Date
22 January 2026
Run Time
9 hours 24 minutes
Format
Audiobook

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

An unforgettable testament to hope and the bonds of brotherhood, Miracle reveals the untold story of the boys who escaped the gas chamber in Auschwitz, the only known Holocaust survivors to walk away from the jaws of the Nazi killing machine.

Early on the morning of October 9, 1944, seven-hundred boys, aged between 13 and 17, were taken out of Block 11 at Auschwitz. The night before, during a visit by Dr Josef Mengele, their identification cards had been stamped with a solitary German word – gestorben – 'died' in English. They were then marched by 25 bayonet-wielding SS men to Crematorium 5, stripped, and herded into a gas chamber.

This book is the story of a true-life miracle of the fifty-one boys who were pulled from that gas chamber – the only Holocaust survivors known to have escaped such a close brush with the Nazi killing machine – and given a second chance at life. A life, of course, that would be so horrifically snatched from those around them.

Based on the first-hand testimonies of six of the boys, six survivors whose stories are shared in this book for the very first time, Miracle interweaves the lives of the boys and the grander sweep of history in which they were held. The result is an unforgettable tale of hope, faith and fortitude in the face of one of the worst crimes against humanity.

© Michael Calvin 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

  • A dramatic, poignant and astonishing untold story of the Holocaust.

    Simon Sebag Montefiore

  • Extraordinary. One of the most haunting episodes of the war.

    Daily Mail

  • Miracle recounts the evidence, from the standpoint of historically grounded and sound research, of the remarkable story of a unique event - the reprieve of 51 Hungarian Jewish teenagers already naked and trapped inside the gas chambers.

    Professor Robert Jan van Pelt

  • Astonishing. A powerful book.

    Jewish News

See more reviews
  • The miracle of the 51 boys who survived the Auschwitz gas chamber.

    The Telegraph

  • The remarkable but harrowing true story of a group of 51 young Jewish boys who survived being sent into the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Very powerful. Extraordinary

    Times Radio

  • Deeply moving

    The Jewish Chronicle

User Reviews

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Details

Author
Michael Calvin with Naftali Schiff
Narrator
Laurence Dobiesz, Michael Calvin, Naftali Schiff
Duration
9 hours 24 minutes
Release Date
22 January 2026
ISBN
9781529971057
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Transworld
Genre
Interviews / discussions, True stories of heroism, endurance and survival, The Holocaust, Second World War

Synopsis

Brought to you by Penguin.An unforgettable testament to hope and the bonds of brotherhood, Miracle reveals the untold story of the boys who escaped the gas chamber in Auschwitz, the only known Holocaust survivors to walk away from the jaws of the Nazi killing machine.Early on the morning of October 9, 1944, seven-hundred boys, aged between 13 and 17, were taken out of Block 11 at Auschwitz. The night before, during a visit by Dr Josef Mengele, their identification cards had been stamped with a solitary German word – gestorben – 'died' in English. They were then marched by 25 bayonet-wielding SS men to Crematorium 5, stripped, and herded into a gas chamber.This book is the story of a true-life miracle of the fifty-one boys who were pulled from that gas chamber – the only Holocaust survivors known to have escaped such a close brush with the Nazi killing machine – and given a second chance at life. A life, of course, that would be so horrifically snatched from those around them.Based on the first-hand testimonies of six of the boys, six survivors whose stories are shared in this book for the very first time, Miracle interweaves the lives of the boys and the grander sweep of history in which they were held. The result is an unforgettable tale of hope, faith and fortitude in the face of one of the worst crimes against humanity.© Michael Calvin 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

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