Book Club Guide

The Volunteer

by Jack Fairweather · 2019 · Biography & Memoir

Key themes

A man who chose to enter Auschwitz — intelligence gathering from inside the camp
Resistance organised under impossible conditions
A story largely unknown — and what it took to bring it to light

About this book

Witold Pilecki, a Polish resistance officer, volunteered to be captured and sent to Auschwitz in 1940 specifically to gather intelligence and build a resistance network from inside the camp. Fairweather's Costa Book of the Year-winning biography tells one of the most extraordinary and least-known stories of WWII resistance — a man who chose to enter the camp the rest of the world was trying to escape.

Published in 2019, The Volunteer won the Costa Book of the Year — the overall prize across all categories. Fairweather drew on Polish archives that had only recently become accessible, including documents suppressed under communist rule that obscured Pilecki's story for decades.

Discussion questions

Witold Pilecki volunteered to be captured specifically to be sent to Auschwitz and build intelligence networks. How does Fairweather develop this almost incomprehensible decision — what does it take for someone to choose this?
The book is based on extensive archival research, including documents that were suppressed for decades under Poland's postwar communist government. How does Fairweather handle this — what was lost, and what has been recovered?
Pilecki's resistance network operated under conditions of extreme surveillance and violence. How does Fairweather convey the practical mechanics of resistance — how did it actually work, day to day?
Pilecki's story has a tragic postwar element — he was executed by Poland's communist government in 1948, his wartime heroism erased from official history for decades. How does Fairweather handle this final chapter?
The Volunteer won the Costa Book of the Year. What does it do that earns this recognition — and what does it add to the historical record of WWII resistance, particularly stories that were suppressed by postwar political circumstances?