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.

The Photographer of Mauthausen by Salva Rubio & illustrated by Pedro Columbo, is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco—or François—Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II.

This beautifully illustrated book talks about the harsh and truthful events that occurred during the World War II at Nazi concentrated camps. The pictures and illustrated speak true to the events and some of them do give you goosebumps.

Boix was assigned to the photography department at the camp and that's where his journey started about giving justice to the one's to who are dead. The brutality caused by the Nazi German, will make you think upon alot of your history and all of these were used to deceive people and used as a propaganda in order to make them work as slaves.

If you are looking to read any book related to World War II then I highly recommend you guys to check this out. The information is well researched and the photographs are truly commendable. They bring into light the true feelings and lives of people during those times.
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Thank You to NetGalley and Publisher for providing me an eArc in exchange of a honest opinion.

This was the very first graphic novel that I've ever read - and "The Photographer of Mauthausen" has set the bar extremely high!

This was a very powerful (and very accurate) story of surviving incredible odds; commitment; the power of photography; and the horrors of war. The novel was paced brilliantly - and the illustrations were both beautiful and haunting.

I can't recommend this one enough! Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this one!

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 ⭐

I will never tire of reading the accounts of Holocaust survivors. The Photographer of Mauthausen is a graphic novel, which is a medium I don't often read. I was skeptic going in - how can such an important story such as a Holocaust survivor be adequately portrayed in a cartoon? I've never had such misplaced doubts in a written piece of work.

The story is of Francisco Boix, a Spaniard Communist arrested in France and sent to the death camp in Germany. Prisoners weren't sent to this camp to work - they were sent here to die. Despite this (or perhaps BECAUSE of this, since he had nothing left to lose?), Boix risks everything, even the lives of his fellow prisoners, to expose the atrocities of the Nazis within the camp. He subjects himself to a 24/7 on-call basis witnessing the sick, depraved torture and murder the Nazis perform regularly. He takes part in an elaborate plan to smuggle the negatives of pictures capturing all this out of the camp. What's crazy is they smuggled over 20,000 negatives out - but only around 1,000 survived.

What I really liked about this one is the author doesn't just talk about what happened to Boix in the camp. He goes beyond that, to when Boix testified at the Nuremberg trials. I didn't know that many of the witnesses didn't get to tell their entire story. Boix had to fight to even be allowed to testify. Then he had to fight to be heard, by the people who were allegedly fighting for justice on his behalf. AND he couldn't even go back to Spain, because after the war, Stalin decided that any Communist who escaped the camps was a collaborator .... WHAT?! So many survivors survived the most depraved and inhumane conditions, only to be victimized again and again by the supposed good guys. I learned a couple new aspects of the war that I haven't read about so far so it's off to the history books to learn more.

And THAT is what I love about a good book - Rubio didn't just tell a story, he shared a life. He made me interested in learning more. Plus the graphics are hauntingly beautiful and I didn't think I'd ever be saying those words about a graphic novel.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dead Reckoning Publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review.

A well-written memoir that brings to life the horrors of a German concentration camp. Rubio's story is compellingly and unique among other Holocaust memoirs.

Publisher’s Blurb: This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. But there, he found himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who sent him to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp, where he spent the war among thousands of other Spaniards and other prisoners.

So often when we think of the Holocaust, we only think of the 6 million Jews who were executed. We forget, or some don’t even know of all the other victims of that atrocity. Catholics, Gypsy’s, Homosexuals, Christians, Communists, and Spaniards, to list just a few groups hated and murdered by the Nazis.
The Photographer of Mauthausen tells the story of Communist Spaniards sent to the prison that they were never supposed to leave alive. Like all prisoners, some gave up, some fought back, some found ways to survive that we may not approve of, but who are we to judge if we have never been in a situation even remotely like this.
Francisco Boix did what he needed to do, not just to survive but to get out proof of the horrific deeds perpetrated by the Nazis. I’m sure his choice was horrible for him, he had to not only witness the murder of countrymen and friends but record those horrors with his camera. He also had to help make propaganda pictures that made Mauthausen's life look happy and fulfilling.
Salba Rubio did a wonderful job telling this story. You could feel Boix’s anger at his fellow inmates when they didn’t want him to gather the proof for the world to see, you felt the fear he had, not just for himself but for his comrades. To be caught would be his death, but others would die as well as an example to all. You could see and feel his righteous anger when later, no one cared to hear his story or see the photos he made. But he never gave up and he showed them to anyone who would look and see what he and others went through.
The artwork of Columbo Pedro was a perfect accompaniment to the story, used as a vehicle to make you feel like you were there.
I had never heard the story of Francisco Boix before. That is a shame. His story, his life, should be better known. Now more than ever, as so few survivors are left, the stories must be told. To forget the past is to be doomed to repeat it. What happened in Germany during World War II must never be forgotten, nor the other counties assistance, and turning a blind eye to the massacre. (Looking at you Roosevelt…)
Highly recommended, with usual trigger warnings that go without saying. Murder, language, racism.
I received this book free from Dead Reckoning, and Netgalley for my honest, unbiased review.

I enjoyed this graphic novel!

It was brilliantly illustrated and you could really see the story coming to life. This man led a life of imprisonment and following orders while watching his friends die daily.

It has a sad ending after everything he went through he never found happiness.

This a a dramatic retelling of this man's life. It is emotional at times along with being down right disturbing.

Give it a read though.

I have read a good bit on WWII and the Holocaust, but I was not familiar with photographer Francisco Boix Campo. Upon being sent to Mauthausen concentration camp, he was given the role of photographing the prisoners who had died. He knew it was important to get copies of these pictures out to his party. This was a risky venture and along the way most of those people who were once willing to help, started to fear the risk and stopped helping. After the camp was liberated, Francisco went to get the pictures from the woman who had been keeping them for him. When he learned about the Nuremberg Trails he went there to testify about what it was like in Mauthausen concentration camp. The ending, which I will not go more into, was a bit sad. He had done so much and lost so much. I am giving this graphic novel, which had very detailed, yet sad, illustrations representing those who were in Mauthausen concentration camp a solid 4 star review.

A gorgeously drawn graphic novel with an interesting narrative, plot, and concepts. Definitely recommended for fans of this genre.

5 out of 5 - I'll tell you to read this without you asking.

The Photographer of Mauthausen was a story I had yet to learn about WWII history. I didn't know about the Spanish who had gone to fight with the French and were sent to concentration camps. Mauthausen was a work camp that no one was supposed to survive. Francisco Boix was one of the Spaniards who was sent to Mauthausen. In his previous life, he'd been a photographer. This allowed him to get a "job" at the camp working with one of the Nazi leaders who was attempting to turn death into an art form, taking photos of men who were killed during the time at Mauthausen.

Francisco uses his place within the camp to steal the photo negatives and works with others to find a way to smuggle them out to a woman in the village nearby. After he is liberated from the camp by the Americans, he is able to recover the negatives that were smuggled out. He attempts to publish them, but other photos have already been published from Auschwitz and Berkenau, so his photos weren't wanted or needed for publication.

He was able to utilize the photos to testify against some of the Nazis in the Nuremberg Trials, but he wasn't able to tell the full stories of what he had witnessed and endured.

You could see the research that had gone into the telling of this story. I also was impressed by the illustrations and coloring of this graphic novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dead Reckoning from the U.S. Naval Institute for this advanced copy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this graphic novel! Sadly, due to the font type I had a difficult time reading and therefore I did not finish the book. What I was able to complete was amazing! I definitely recommend this book. I am required to give a star rating, and this is based on the amount that I was able to read.

I hate reading about the Holocaust, I hate it hate it hate it.... but only because it makes me so angry! How could we do this to human beings? HOW???
This story tells a tale that is seldom heard. We all know about the Jews who were horribly treated and exterminated in camps, but we don't seem to get the full picture that THOUSANDS of other people of all ethnic backgrounds were also sent to death camps. This is the story of a camp that mostly housed Spanish prisoners of war, who were taken to the camps because they were communists, not fascists. The imagery is at times grotesque, as the author recreates actual photographs of the death these people saw. It is an uncomfortable read but worth reading anyway, because we need to know about these things - especially in the world we live in today.

I do enjoy this graphic novel for its artwork and the rarely discussed perspective. I would suggest this to some students who feel more connected to art and art history then military or economic to get there own interest represented. I also found the discussion of the line walked between "proper" history and writing to be wonderful. The Glossery is a helpful addition, but cold have been better adapted for audiences with little Holocaust education.

However, I would not use this text in class. While the issues discussed are, of course, important this did not have me connecting with the main perspective (Francisco Boix) as deeply as in other works available. Number the Stars for example.

There were also some instances where vocabulary that would trip up my students was left out of the Glossery or not explained until the end of the work. What was a Level 3? We don't find out until the end.

Lately, the concept that Francisco is allowed to live after the...issue...he had with the SS and that the SS would leave voluntarily and without retaliation? That needed to be fleshed out much more. I have never come across something of that nature.

This graphic novel is the tale of Francisco Boix, a Spanish photographer captures by Nazis in France and sent to Mauthausen. The novel explores what might have happened during his time in the concentration camp and how he came to smuggle out the negatives of photographs depicting the horrible deaths of his fellow prisoners.

The novel is very well done. The story is compelling and the illustrations style and muted colors set the tone perfectly. As a photographer myself and as someone who is interested in WWII history, I appreciate this look at a lesser talked about event/place. I’ve read about the photographers who arrived at the camps and documented the aftermath, but reading about someone who was forced to help document the atrocity of the camp as these events were happening was eye opening.

Very engaging and thought provoking. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Salva Rubio & Pedro Columbo, and the publisher for the opportunity to review.

I received this book free from Netgalley for an honest review.

I knew this would be a messed up book when I went in. It was. I really enjoyed the artwork. I liked the dark colours. The story itself was sad and terrifying. But try and remember there’s always a hero even if in the end they don’t get exactly what they were after. I would recommend this read.

Stories based on the lives of survivors of concentation camps during WWII are aplenty, but the team of Salva Rubio Pedro J. Colombo and Aintzane Landa, deliver a compelling, page turning story about about a man trying to survive, not just for his sake, but to expose with evidence the atrocities committed during war time.

The other aspect that kept my interest is the fact of how this is not a story focused on the jews at this camps, but was centered around the spaniard prisoners behind bars for their communist ideas. This gives us another perspective on the many people that suffered during this period of time.

WWII is a time we may don't want to remember, but as a character say in the story, only the ones who lived can grasp the way to feel and how it changed them. This is tragedy that is must read, at least for the memory of those who risk everything for it to see the light.

This is a goodread.


Thanks to Salva Rubio; Drawn, Pedro J. Colombo, Aintzane Landa, Naval Institute Press, and Netgalley for the advance copy for an honest review.

Salva Rubio's "The Photographer of Mauthausen" is a graphic novel based on a real-life story of a Spanish photographer Francisco Boix and his life in a Nazi concentration camp of Mauthausen. The story follows Boix's and his allies' attempt to smuggle out photo negatives to expose the horrors the prisoners have lived through in the camps, risking their lives in the process.

The novel was interesting and written from a perspective unlike I had ever seen before. It was fascinating to read from a point of view of a Spanish person and see the discrimination they faced during and after Mauthausen. I felt like the novel also benefitted from being told from a point of view of an actual person as it brought depth into the story. I didn't, however, find myself getting attached to the main character up until the half-way point. I wished the main character and his surroundings would have been more established in the beginning.

When it comes to the illustrations, Pedro Columbo's drawing style made the story accessible and easy to grasp despite the heavy topic it deals with. I personally found the drawing style to be a bit too unmemorable, but the illustrations were completely fine in general. The story overall benefits from being told through a graphic novel as I feel like it might attract more of a younger audience to pick up this book.

A graphic novel accounting of the wartime life of Francisco Boix, who was imprisoned at the Mauthausen concentration camp. Boix became the "photographic assistant" of an SS Officer at the camp and in doing so, managed to smuggle 20,000 negatives documenting both the atrocities and the visits of officers who would later claim to "know nothing." His photographs and testimony at the Nuremburg and Dachau trials would go on to be used as evidence to convict dozens. This graphic novel documents both his and those whose assistance he required to successfully get the negatives out bravery.

First, I want to thank both NetGalley and Dead Reckoning for giving me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very powerful story and it felt very appropriate to have been made into a visual story since photographs are such a crucial part of the narrative. Most of the holocaust narratives I have read in books or seen in movies over the years have mostly featured Jews or those who were trying to help them. In history class we learned that there were those who didn't have any connection to Judaism or Jews who got sent to concentration camps, but this is the first story I have read that didn't focus on those groups. In this case, Spaniards. And more specifically, mostly those who fled Spain when Franco came to power.

This graphic novel mostly focuses on one man: Francisco Boix and how he hopes to use photographs to fight the Nazis. The artwork is gorgeous. The color palate sets the mood and feel of the story perfectly. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to know about this part of history.