This is the 2nd book by Heather Morris in which we are drawn into the setting of these concentration camps, the trains that transported the prisoners, and the aftermath that the prisoners endured in trying to survive.
This book revolves around Cilka a young woman who was sent to Aushwitz-Birkenau and became a 'sex slave' of the Commandant.
The Russians eventually liberated the camp charging her with sleeping with the enemy while forcing her to be sent to a labor camp in Siberia.
The premise of it all was to show how these woman were mistreated, how they were abused for working purposes, and how difficult and trying the times were.
Times when a bucket was used as a toilet, when rotted food was served cold, when frigid temps killed many who weren't as prepared using rags to cover themselves, when stench of dead and deplorable conditions created a mindset that was unconscionable.
Cilka's intellect and desire to survive at all costs is what propelled her to become a nurse. She later fell in love and from what we learn lived an enjoyable life after her release.
The excitement she and others shared upon being released was traumatic and even though this was based on a real woman named Cilka the remaining characters and story was fictionally based.
How could anyone overcome such horrific mistreatment at the Gulag and Birkenau and these madmen in uniform?
My heart goes out to them as I've read several books on this topic and each one tears at the heart and soul and longs to correct the wrongs placed upon them.
How hostile a world to have lived....
I read this book literally in one day within minutes of picking it up from one library and waiting for my child to exit school while waiting at another library. So roughly 2 hrs total to read but well worth it.
A must read!
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