Book Review: The Fighter of Auschwitz

The true story of Dutch boxer Leen Sanders who went from fighting the best in Europe to using his boxing skills to help others survive in Auschwitz.

The sheer scale and scope of the impact of World War 2 on the lives of those it touched will never be fully known or understood. There will be stories that will never be told, while some will sit waiting to be discovered. These stories have within them the power to remind modern audiences of both the depths and heights that humanity can reach.

In The Fighter of Auschwitz, Dutch sports journalist Erik Brouwer brings to life the little known story of Leen Sanders, one of the most talented Dutch boxers of his time, who, following the German conquest of the Netherlands, was rounded up along with thousands of other Dutch Jews and sent with his family to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

At Auschwitz, Sanders would use his boxing skills not only to survive but to help save others around him, often at significant personal risk to his own life.

At just over 300 pages, The Fighter of Auschwitz moves briskly, with crisp prose that allows the story to speak for itself. The emotional impact of what Sanders experienced at Auschwitz is heightened by the fact that Brouwer will sum up an event or tragedy in a single sentence without any unnecessary literary filler.

However, the book is not simply a catalogue of the trauma Sanders and his fellow prisoners went through during the war. Brouwer's experience in the sports journalism sports field is put to good use throughout the book, making it a must-read for historians of ' The Sweet Science'. Brouwer sheds light on the sport of boxing before the age of television when local hall shows across Europe and North Africa attracted sizable and highly knowledgeable crowds.

The writing places the reader in the centre of the action and successfully hooks us in, establishing the world Sanders inhabited before everything was stripped away.

The book naturally takes a darker turn when the focus shifts to Sanders' time in Auschwitz. However, boxing remains front and centre, though the consequences go far beyond the sporting realm during his time at the camp.

Sanders had fought in Germany before the outbreak of the war, and upon his arrival was recognised by an SS officer who happened to have been a sports journalist in his past life.

The camp officers had seen that sports, including boxing, provided their inmates with a diversion, reducing the chances of riots and offering the guards entertainment during their downtime on Sundays.

As a boxer and trainer, Sanders soon earned a coveted place in the camp kitchen and used his position to provide food, clothes and support to his fellow prisoners. During his time at the camp, he became somewhat of a father figure for his Dutch compatriots, with his physical and mental strength helping lift those around him.

The Fighter of Auschwitz is not the first time that the subject of Auschwitz's boxers has been told. In 2021, The Survivor was released, which is a biopic of Harry Haft, a Polish Jew who went to face the great Rocky Marciano, while the Polish film 'The Champion' covered the life of Warsaw boxer Tadeusz "Teddy" Pietrzykowski.

Both films are well worth a look at, but what makes The Fighter of Auschwitz stand out is how Brouwer establishes Sanders' place in the European boxing scene, which is a fascinating and informative read.

By the end of the book, the reader has followed Sanders from his upbringing in Rotterdam through his bouts around Europe to his imprisonment in concentration camps and his survival during the infamous death marches as the war drew to a close. It is a harrowing journey but also a testament to how, even in the darkest situations, there are those among us whose spirits simply refuse to falter.

Brouwer has produced a book with a beating heart, making the events it describes appear close enough to touch, despite taking place over 80 years ago, as well as reminding us that to be a champion in the ring is one thing, but to be a champion inside as well as the outside is entirely different.

The Fighter of Auschwitz can now be purchased at all book retailers and is also available at your local library.