Advance Comments on Emissary of the Doomed

Emissary of the Doomed grabs the reader from the early pages and makes compelling reading from beginning to end. The story is at once fascinating and horrifying, dramatic but remarkably little known to the public. It offers an important addition to our understanding of how the Nazi murderous campaign against the Jews unfolded, through revealing portraits of Nazis, collaborators, opportunists, and occasional good Samaritans on the one hand, and Jews forced to choose among a series of horrendous choices on the other.

—David I Kertzer, author of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara and The Popes Against the Jews.

… a riveting and intense work … a fine examination of one of the saddest episodes of the Holocaust.

—Booklist, American Library Association

Engrossing account of Joel Brand's desperate attempts to save the Hungarian Jews from Nazi extermination…. The whole sordid tale would not emerge fully until the postwar trials of Kasztner and Eichmann, and Florence does a fine, thorough job bringing the period to life.

—Kirkus Reviews

This is a deeply absorbing account, meticulously researched; a compelling, vivid portrait of Joel Brand and his urgency to make the world understand the enormity of the relentless campaign of the Nazis to eradicate the Jews of Hungary. The narrative unfolds with immmediacy and despite, of course, knowing the end of the story, I was thrust into the midst of these terrible events, and could not put this book down.

—Ronald S. Lauder, President, the World Jewish Congress

In the past decades, scholars have learned of the many strategies used to save Jews from the Nazi’s…. Ronald Florence provides another important example with his focus on the work of Joel Brand and the Jewish Rescue Committee in Hungary…. The beautifully written narrative and careful research behind Emissary of the Doomed make it critical research for all interested in those at the forefront, and behind the scenes, in modern history.

—Jeffrey Lesser, Director, Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, Emory University