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bookandbooksonly's review against another edition
4.0
The photographer of Mauthausen is a Historical Fiction/ Non-Fiction Graphic Novel based on true events. Actually the author himself have disclaimed that the dialogues between the characters are only guesswork so we can safely say it as retelling based on true events in the life of Francisco Boix.
Francisco was Spanish press photographer and belonged to communist party. During the onset of WW2 he fled to France. But unfortunately he was handed over to Germans as War Prisoners. All the war prisoners are usually sent to Mauthausen concentration camp.
It is called as "Bone Mill" by Germans because it is category 3 camp, meaning no prisoner to come out alive. Unlike extermination by gassing in Auschwitz, Mauthausen does it by slave labor and exhaustion.
The book starts when Francisco arrives at the camp. He soon join the secret communist party inside and gets a job in Identity Department as Photographer. When a SS documenting the death of Prisoners comes to know about Francisco's interest in photography, he takes him for his pet project.
As Francisco learns the nature of his new work, he realizes it will be their only chance to collect proofs of whats happening in these concentration camps and expose the Nazis to world. At first many people agrees and help him. But they eventually stop when the risk of getting caught becomes inevitable. So he must do the final act with a help of small boy whom he sworn to protect. It puts all the life of prisoner in danger.
It is must read graphic novel! The artwork is Dark, Gloomy and not joyful complementing the story it tells. I even verified all the major events mentioned in this book and found it to be true. I gained lot of knowledge from this read! There is also a movie in the same name of you are interested. It is an IMPORTANT read and I will rate it 4 ⭐
Francisco was Spanish press photographer and belonged to communist party. During the onset of WW2 he fled to France. But unfortunately he was handed over to Germans as War Prisoners. All the war prisoners are usually sent to Mauthausen concentration camp.
It is called as "Bone Mill" by Germans because it is category 3 camp, meaning no prisoner to come out alive. Unlike extermination by gassing in Auschwitz, Mauthausen does it by slave labor and exhaustion.
The book starts when Francisco arrives at the camp. He soon join the secret communist party inside and gets a job in Identity Department as Photographer. When a SS documenting the death of Prisoners comes to know about Francisco's interest in photography, he takes him for his pet project.
As Francisco learns the nature of his new work, he realizes it will be their only chance to collect proofs of whats happening in these concentration camps and expose the Nazis to world. At first many people agrees and help him. But they eventually stop when the risk of getting caught becomes inevitable. So he must do the final act with a help of small boy whom he sworn to protect. It puts all the life of prisoner in danger.
It is must read graphic novel! The artwork is Dark, Gloomy and not joyful complementing the story it tells. I even verified all the major events mentioned in this book and found it to be true. I gained lot of knowledge from this read! There is also a movie in the same name of you are interested. It is an IMPORTANT read and I will rate it 4 ⭐
themaddiehatter's review against another edition
4.0
"Things will change. One day or another, they'll understand. If not, history will repeat itself."
"The Photographer of Mauthausen" is based on the real-life experience of Francisco Boix, a Spanish photographer affiliated with the Spanish communist party. After fleeing Spain at the beginning of World War II to go to France, he finds himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who take him to the Mauthausen concentration camp. Unlike other Nazi concentration camps, Mauthausen was an "extermination through labor" camp, that imprisoned political prisoners and members of high social classes from countries subjugated by the Nazis. This set this book apart for me, as almost all other Nazi-related books I've read focused on the Jewish Holocaust, and not on the other categories of camp prisoners.
Soon after arriving at Mauthausen, Boix manages to be assigned to work as a photographer documenting the "accidental" deaths at the camp. Through this work he becomes more aware of the sadism of the Nazis and realizes he is in a position that allows him to expose this sadism to the world. Despite its short length, this graphic novel presents a lot of valuable information and tugs at its readers' emotions, as it does not hold back from describing the horrors that the prisoners lived through at the hands of the Nazis. The illustrations, with their bleak blueish-gray colors, pair very well with the narrative. This is definitely a worthwhile read for those with an affinity for history. Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this graphic novel in exchange for my honest review.
"The Photographer of Mauthausen" is based on the real-life experience of Francisco Boix, a Spanish photographer affiliated with the Spanish communist party. After fleeing Spain at the beginning of World War II to go to France, he finds himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who take him to the Mauthausen concentration camp. Unlike other Nazi concentration camps, Mauthausen was an "extermination through labor" camp, that imprisoned political prisoners and members of high social classes from countries subjugated by the Nazis. This set this book apart for me, as almost all other Nazi-related books I've read focused on the Jewish Holocaust, and not on the other categories of camp prisoners.
Soon after arriving at Mauthausen, Boix manages to be assigned to work as a photographer documenting the "accidental" deaths at the camp. Through this work he becomes more aware of the sadism of the Nazis and realizes he is in a position that allows him to expose this sadism to the world. Despite its short length, this graphic novel presents a lot of valuable information and tugs at its readers' emotions, as it does not hold back from describing the horrors that the prisoners lived through at the hands of the Nazis. The illustrations, with their bleak blueish-gray colors, pair very well with the narrative. This is definitely a worthwhile read for those with an affinity for history. Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this graphic novel in exchange for my honest review.
happentobeshort's review against another edition
3.0
As Jews, forgetting about the horrors of WW2, of the Holocaust, is near impossible. But we also tend to forget that despite taking up the majority of the death toll, we were not the only victims. This book touches on one such group of people from Franco's Spain.
It's a good biographical account and the art lends to the gravity of the story and the real, horrible history of it all.
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress.com/
It's a good biographical account and the art lends to the gravity of the story and the real, horrible history of it all.
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress.com/
marsenault13's review against another edition
5.0
This graphic novel was fascinating. I loved the art work, it was very evocative of the emotions in the story. I had heard of the story of Mauthausen, but not the specifics. This story makes me want to watch the documentary about it, to find out more details.
I feel it is important for us to continue to learn about the Holocaust, and a GN is a fantastic way to get the tales out, especially one so well written and illustrated as this.
much thanks for the opportunity to read this.
I feel it is important for us to continue to learn about the Holocaust, and a GN is a fantastic way to get the tales out, especially one so well written and illustrated as this.
much thanks for the opportunity to read this.
bobbiesdustypages's review against another edition
4.0
I received an e-copy of The Photographer of Mauthausen from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really didn't know what to expect from this graphic novel when I downloaded it but I am so glad that I did, this was not a story that I had ever heard about and seeing that it is a true story to one of the most talked-about events in history is mindblowing to me.
The Photographer of Mauthausen follows the true story of a Spanish man who was imprisoned in a nazi concentration camp during World War 2, that's the thing that always gets to me is that history leaves out just how many people that were non-Jewish were also sent to the camps. Francisco Boix is the name of the man that the story follows and he is tasked with photographing what was going on in the camps and while doing this he starts to hide away some of the pictures that are later used to convict nazi members.
This was a very heavy topic and like anything to do with the nazi and the concentration camps it was hard to read about but this is such a different perspective then any I had seen before and I am so glad that I read it.
Thank you so much for letting me review a copy.
I really didn't know what to expect from this graphic novel when I downloaded it but I am so glad that I did, this was not a story that I had ever heard about and seeing that it is a true story to one of the most talked-about events in history is mindblowing to me.
The Photographer of Mauthausen follows the true story of a Spanish man who was imprisoned in a nazi concentration camp during World War 2, that's the thing that always gets to me is that history leaves out just how many people that were non-Jewish were also sent to the camps. Francisco Boix is the name of the man that the story follows and he is tasked with photographing what was going on in the camps and while doing this he starts to hide away some of the pictures that are later used to convict nazi members.
This was a very heavy topic and like anything to do with the nazi and the concentration camps it was hard to read about but this is such a different perspective then any I had seen before and I am so glad that I read it.
Thank you so much for letting me review a copy.
varunob's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.25
We know of a place called Auschwitz, one of the six camps created by the Nazis purely for the purpose of extermination. Dachau outside Munich was the first mass internment camp. You see, the Nazis were the perfect definition of “method to madness”. There were various types of camps and sub-camps, filled largely based on the fate that awaited their occupants.
Mauthausen in Upper Austria was a camp where extermination through labour was the preferred method of murder. Unlike other camps, it was also home largely to the intelligentsia.
Among the prisoners at Mauthausen was an engineer called Simon Wiesenthal, who would make a name for himself hunting down Nazis in the post-War world. A lesser-known prisoner was the Spaniard Francesc Boix, a Communist who had been forced to flee his homeland after Franco’s victory and had taken refuge in France, which soon fell into German hands. It is Boix’s story that the comic The Photographer of Mauthausen seeks to tell.
Boix was a photographer during the Spanish Civil War and at Mauthausen, he was put to work developing photographs of the camp and the events taking place inside it for the Nazis. Boix would, in his time at the lab in Mauthausen, be a pivotal part of the smuggling out of three thousand negatives detailing the horrors of the camp.
The comic is well-written, in particular the second scene where the reader accompanies Boix to the camp, and covers all parts of Boix’s life at and just after Mauthausen in a manner that is compelling, while still doing justice and being respectful of the fact that it is, at the end of the day, about a person’s life in a concentration camp. What I didn’t like was the opening, nor the attempt of writer Salva Rubio to draw us emotionally closer to Boix through his desire to reunite with his sister. It felt clumsy. The narrative also doesn’t really give you a sense of time (Boix was imprisoned for four years) apart from just drop dates here and there.
Much of the flow of the comic is thanks to illustrator Pedro J. Colombo and colourist Aintzaine Landa, whose panels are to be marvelled at. The format is naturally dependent on their skill, and they shine through. Colombo is especially terrific in his recreation of Mauthausen and his depiction of faces, though I do wonder why he didn’t take greater care to portray the fatigue of the camps over a period of time. Landa’s distinct palettes in depicting the world of the camp and that which is outside it also stand out. Cold greys and murky browns fill page upon page, and the sudden appearance of a bright green or a pleasant yellow is as much a stylistic choice as one of appreciating just what the camps were.
The Photographer of Mauthausen stumbles along the way but does a fair job in telling the story of Francesc Boix. The greater win here is how it succeeds in making part of the Holocaust accessible without trying to alter history.
I was able to view a copy of the book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Dead Reckoning in exchange for a review.
carolinalopes's review against another edition
5.0
This graphic novel tells the story of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who was sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp and found himself the confidant of an SS officer who was photographing thousands of prisoner deaths. He sees this as an opportunity to prove the horrific Nazi war crimes by stealing the negatives of these photos and exposing them to the World, at the risk of his own life and that of every other prisoner in the camp.
The depths of human strength and resilience never cease to amaze me. These things should never have happened and the majority of us will never truly understand them, but it is precisely by continuing to share these stories that we can stay alert to the horrors and perversity that people can impose on others, and prevent them from happening.
I breezed through this book and adored the art style as well. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The depths of human strength and resilience never cease to amaze me. These things should never have happened and the majority of us will never truly understand them, but it is precisely by continuing to share these stories that we can stay alert to the horrors and perversity that people can impose on others, and prevent them from happening.
I breezed through this book and adored the art style as well. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
clwojick's review against another edition
4.0
A heartbreaking, yet educational graphic novel about the Spaniards in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. One brave Spaniard set out on a mission to photograph the Nazi's and find a way to get those pictures out into the world. This GN did not shy away from discussing the gruesome acts of the Nazi's and what the prisoners dealt with on a day to day basis. The illustrations were stunning, and the dark and gritty imaged tied the story together. I feel like this would be a great addition to high school library shelves.
I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
kleonard's review against another edition
5.0
This is an outstanding graphic novel about the power of testimony and the forms that testimony can take. Crafted with detail and attention and compellingly written, this book is an important contribution to literature about resistance and organization in WWII concentration camps, as well as an illustration on the need for historical accuracy, evidence, and documentation. This should not only be very well-received among regular graphic novel readers, but also those interested in WWII, the history of photography and journalism, and current activism. There's some swearing and of course images of the atrocities of Mauthausen, but I'd recommend this nonetheless for readers ages 12 and up. I'd love to see it taught in schools and chosen by book clubs for meaningful discussion.
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