The Auschwitz Goalkeeper

The Auschwitz Goalkeeper is a prisoner of war’s true story. It is the story of a man who endured the horrors of the most notorious death camp of them all, before being brutally forced to march across Europe as the SS retreated ahead of the advancing Russians. This is no sanitised, boys’-own adventure. Indeed, it is a book which gives the lie to the self-glorifying claims of some of Ron Jones’ fellow British POWs at Auschwitz: “I have chosen to speak out 70 years after the event because others have profited from telling inflated tales of personal heroism that I know are without foundation, thereby cheapening the conduct of honest, less fanciful prisoners.” It was this sense of outrage that prompted a 96-year-old man to set the record straight, once and for all: “It is my intention to tell it straight, exactly as it was. The fact that British POWs ended up in Auschwitz needs no embroidery and receives none here… It was a truly terrible time, and I witnessed things I wouldn’t wish my worst enemy to see. No exaggerations, no lies. As they say in court, this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Ron Jones

Author Biography

Ron Jones, who has passed away since this book was first published in hardback, was from Newport in Wales. He was in a reserved occupation, as an engineer, at the start of the war, and only called up to join the Army due to an administrative error. Captured by the Germans in north Africa, he was a POW in Italy before ending up in Auschwitz. Joe Lovejoy has been a journalist for over 40 years, the last 30 with national newspapers in England. He was the chief football writer for the Sunday Times for 15 years and before that for The Independent. He is now semi-retired, but continues to freelance, mainly for The Guardian.