Title: A Train in Winter - A second look from another reviewer.
Author: Caroline Moorhead
Review: This was an extraordinary book, well written and very thought provoking. This is the true tale of the “extraordinary story of women, friendship and resistance in occupied France.” Many books have been written over the years about the resistants’ movement in France and other Nazi occupied countries, this one is different as it taken from the perspective and living testimony of the women that endured it. These were “teachers, students, chemist, writers and housewives…They distributed anti Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety and transported weapons. The youngest was a schoolgirl of sixteen who scrawled ‘V’ for victory on the walls of bedroom, to the oldest, a farmer’s wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from all across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers.”
This is a book that is well worth
reading and opens your eyes to the fact that not just Jews were tortured and
died in the camps but also Jevohah Witnesses, homosexuals, resisters, Gypsies,
communists and the “mentally damaged, from all the occupied countries, anyone
that the Nazis thought were a threat to their view of an Aryan race. Although many more Jews perished in the camps
then other groups, this book talks about all of the others that history just
sort of buried.
After the war was over and the
camps were liberated, what was left of these extraordinary women came home to
try and put back together their lives.
What they found were that people, not even their own families, wanted to
hear about their experiences, they were too horrible to believe. One of the women Marie-Claude
Vaillant-Courturier gave evidence at Nuremberg at the war crimes trials, and
was told that what she was saying couldn’t possibly be true as she had lived through
it and looked so well. At this time she
had been home in France for more than a year.
The people of their own country and of other countries, even though the
evidence was right in front of them, could not believe that any group of
people, at war or not, could have been so cruel and therefore dismissed what
these women were saying.
Well I could go on but you need to
read the book to learn the stories first hand from the women who lived
them. Of the 230 women taken from France
to Poland and Germany 42 came back alive.
The stories of what happened in their lives after they returned, were
for the most part, tragic. So many of
them were widows whose husbands were shot by the Nazi’s or whose husbands ended
up in the camps also, most never to return home again. These women left little children in the care
of grandparents and foster care providers who wanted nothing to do with them
when they returned home. One young girl
was dragged away to prison from her apartment and her 6 week old left at the flat
with no one knowing he was there all alone.
Each of those stories are in this book!
I give this book a 10, I have read
quite a few books about the Holocaust but this one was taken from a different
perspective and shone new light on the subject, this is a must read for all
history buffs and anyone who wants to know the truth of those tragic days.
I recommend this book to everyone
but especially those interested in the role of women in WW II.
Thanks go to Eileen for this
review.
Taken from the flyleaf of the book:
These women came to know each other
in terms that not even the closest of mother’s and daughters could. As each was caught and punished by the Nazis
and collaborators’ they were sent to different prisons and eventually ended up
in places called Birkenau, Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. These extraordinary women were able to stay
together for three years of captivity, their shared experiences caused a bond
of friendship that would last until the end of their lives.
Publisher: Published November 8th 2011 by Harper (first published January 1st 2011)
ISBN: 9780061650703
Copyright:
2011
Pages: 384
Pages: 384
Quick Review:
5 out of 5 stars
Where I Obtained the Book: My daughter loved it, from her.
Where I Obtained the Book: My daughter loved it, from her.
Synopsis: They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen who scrawled "V" for victory on the walls of her lycée; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers.
Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down
230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from
home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their
common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and
class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and
camaraderie.
In January 1943, they were sent to
their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France.
A Train in Winter draws on
interviews with these women and their families; German, French, and Polish
archives; and documents held by World War II resistance organizations to
uncover a dark chapter of history that offers an inspiring portrait of ordinary
people, of bravery and survival—and of the remarkable, enduring power of female
friendship.
Other Reviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment