Without Pity

September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland. September 17: the Soviets join in the invasion. Warsaw falls. On a dazzling spring day in 1940, a wedding is underway in a small chapel in a quaint village in a pastoral countryside seemingly removed from the horrors of the occupation. Young lovers exchange wedding rings and take their eternal vows of love and support. Nazi police and SS troops surround the church and round up the wedding party. Many are killed fleeing. The newlyweds become separated. The bride escapes. The groom is captured and is carted off to Auschwitz concentration camp. Torn apart at the altar, will Helena and Stan see each other again?

Growing up in a communist country, a prevalently oblique environment, and working inside the system based on maintaining and perpetuating secrets, honed Jacek Kró l’s sensitivity for uncovering suppressed truths and spotting false narratives. He has since turned his focus to pursue little-known, forgotten, or hidden, yet defining events from the past and present, and turn them into novels of historical suspense.