Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Harper (2011), 384 pages
Description
In January 1943, the Gestapo hunted down 230 women of the French Resistance and sent them to Auschwitz. This is their story, told in full for the first time--a searing and unforgettable chronicle of terror, courage, defiance, survival, and the power of friendship to transcend evil that is an essential addition to the history of World War II.
User reviews
LibraryThing member labfs39
Wow, an extraordinary story indeed! During the German occupation of France, the French police rounded up women from all over the country who were believed to be involved with the Resistance. The women included a dentist, a midwife, chemists, office workers, innkeepers, cafe owners, farm wives,
The book begins with a look at how French resistance to the German occupation began and how women were involved from the very beginning. Because of their work in offices, many women were able to write, print, and distribute anti-Nazi leaflets. French women were able to hide resisters in their cafes, inns, and homes, as well as escort them across the demarcation line. Chemists made materials for bombs, others were able to make or procure medicines. Some even transported arms and participated in sabotage. And neither the French police nor the Gestapo suspected women of taking these sorts of risks, so for a while they operated in the open without being suspected.
But a meticulous and patient French policeman named Fernand David began a system of surveillance in the Paris region where every suspected member of the resistance, especially communists, were followed and notes were taken on their appearance, movements, and those of everyone with whom they spoke. Although it was a slow process, the day came when he had dossiers on everyone as well as their relationships. It began with the Phase Pican, in which 19 people were arrested, nine of them women. Later sweeps would bring in a hundred suspects at a time, all linked through networks. Whereas the men were tortured, executed, or held as hostages to be executed in retaliation for a German death (at rates as high as 100 Frenchmen for one German), the women were not, as a rule. tortured or executed, but imprisoned at Romainville.
It is while imprisoned that most of the women met for the first time, although a few already knew each other through their networks. Here they bonded and began to think of group survival as more important than individual survival. It was this group unity and friendship that sustained them in the camps. Their experiences were horrible, and few survived, but more would have died if it weren't for their group mentality. When the survivors returned, they spoke of missing the camaraderie that had sustained them for so long. Especially since the French population was not keen to listen to their stories. Most French, encouraged by De Gaulle, were ready to move on, rebuild, and to think of the French Resistance as a national movement that was heroic and liberated a proud country. These sad, sick, and bedraggled women were not what the country wanted for symbols of the Resistance, and the women's attempts to confront their betrayers, the collaborators, and those who joined the Resistance in the final hour, were thwarted. No one wanted to dwell on the collaboration, they wanted to look to the future, something many of the survivors found depressingly hard to do.
In addition to extensive research, the author interviewed six of the survivors and spoke with the families of many more, often being allowed to read diaries, letters, and see photographs. She tracked down the names, fates, and characteristics of all but a couple of the women. Although the book focuses more heavily on a few women, it is a collective narrative. I learned a great deal about the beginnings of the Resistance and the role women played. I was stunned by many of the things I learned in the book. But a couple of things stand out. First, the role French policeman played in the capture, torture, and execution of their own countrymen. I hadn't realized how large a role they played in collaboration with the Gestapo and other Nazi organizations. Second, I had been ignorant of this unique group of 230 women, the only ones to be deported to the camps from France. Finally, it's astonishing how the ties of friendship between these women allowed them to fight and survive at higher rates longer than other demographics in the camps. This camaraderie assisted by the strong ideology of the communists in the group is unique among my reading, at least, and is astonishingly inspiring.
I highly recommend this book.
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school girls, and an opera singer. They were interred together in the fort at Romainville, where they grew to know and protect one another. In January 1943, these 240 women were sent together on a train to Auschwitz/Birkenau, where their friendship and solidarity helped them survive. All but one were later transferred to Ravensbruck. An amazing 49 were liberated and lived to return home. The book begins with a look at how French resistance to the German occupation began and how women were involved from the very beginning. Because of their work in offices, many women were able to write, print, and distribute anti-Nazi leaflets. French women were able to hide resisters in their cafes, inns, and homes, as well as escort them across the demarcation line. Chemists made materials for bombs, others were able to make or procure medicines. Some even transported arms and participated in sabotage. And neither the French police nor the Gestapo suspected women of taking these sorts of risks, so for a while they operated in the open without being suspected.
But a meticulous and patient French policeman named Fernand David began a system of surveillance in the Paris region where every suspected member of the resistance, especially communists, were followed and notes were taken on their appearance, movements, and those of everyone with whom they spoke. Although it was a slow process, the day came when he had dossiers on everyone as well as their relationships. It began with the Phase Pican, in which 19 people were arrested, nine of them women. Later sweeps would bring in a hundred suspects at a time, all linked through networks. Whereas the men were tortured, executed, or held as hostages to be executed in retaliation for a German death (at rates as high as 100 Frenchmen for one German), the women were not, as a rule. tortured or executed, but imprisoned at Romainville.
It is while imprisoned that most of the women met for the first time, although a few already knew each other through their networks. Here they bonded and began to think of group survival as more important than individual survival. It was this group unity and friendship that sustained them in the camps. Their experiences were horrible, and few survived, but more would have died if it weren't for their group mentality. When the survivors returned, they spoke of missing the camaraderie that had sustained them for so long. Especially since the French population was not keen to listen to their stories. Most French, encouraged by De Gaulle, were ready to move on, rebuild, and to think of the French Resistance as a national movement that was heroic and liberated a proud country. These sad, sick, and bedraggled women were not what the country wanted for symbols of the Resistance, and the women's attempts to confront their betrayers, the collaborators, and those who joined the Resistance in the final hour, were thwarted. No one wanted to dwell on the collaboration, they wanted to look to the future, something many of the survivors found depressingly hard to do.
In addition to extensive research, the author interviewed six of the survivors and spoke with the families of many more, often being allowed to read diaries, letters, and see photographs. She tracked down the names, fates, and characteristics of all but a couple of the women. Although the book focuses more heavily on a few women, it is a collective narrative. I learned a great deal about the beginnings of the Resistance and the role women played. I was stunned by many of the things I learned in the book. But a couple of things stand out. First, the role French policeman played in the capture, torture, and execution of their own countrymen. I hadn't realized how large a role they played in collaboration with the Gestapo and other Nazi organizations. Second, I had been ignorant of this unique group of 230 women, the only ones to be deported to the camps from France. Finally, it's astonishing how the ties of friendship between these women allowed them to fight and survive at higher rates longer than other demographics in the camps. This camaraderie assisted by the strong ideology of the communists in the group is unique among my reading, at least, and is astonishingly inspiring.
I highly recommend this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
I'm starting off 2017 with a remarkable book about women who were active in the French Resistance during the German occupation of France in WWII. These women were arrested for varied acts of resistance against the German occupiers such as transporting Jews to the free zone, hiding people wanted by
After being arrested, the women were held in camps in France. In January of 1943, 230 French women, most labeled as political activists, were put on a train and sent to Birkenau in Auschwitz. Here they faced hardship and humiliation that is impossible to describe. Those that ended up surviving were mainly in their mid 20s or early 30s, healthy to start, and found strength through each other. Most of the survivors stressed that their womanly qualities of caring for each other and their organizational skills pulled them through the ordeal. They could not have survived alone. They pooled meager food, hid the sick and wounded, and supported each others spirits.
Upon returning home, they found a wounded France, dead family members, and the inability to talk about their experience to people who largely didn't want to hear about it. Only 49 of the 230 women survived and about a third of those died within a decade of their return. Many stayed in touch, finding that only around each other could they find some modicum of peace.
Besides the obvious horrors committed by those who had clear roles as torturers and sadists, Moorehead points out the gray areas. What about all the French people who denounced their fellow countrymen and women to the Germans? Or those who saw and did nothing? This permeated every level of French society and largely it was decided that what the country needed was to move on after convicting those who committed the worst crimes. But these politically active women came home to a France where they felt that the strongest and smartest men who should have been leading their country had been killed in the war and they were left with those who had no business being in power. Some stayed active in their Communist parties, some left for other countries, and some withdrew from life altogether. A particularly moving part of this book is the final pages, where Moorehead lists every single one of the 230 women: their names, where they were from, why they were initially arrested, if they had children, and where/when/how they died or survived.
This is a sad book, a moving book when describing the tight bonds that drew these women together, and a book that will make you question humanity.
Definitely recommended.
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the Germans, writing political pamphlets, secretly sending letters, printing fliers, denouncing German occupation, and, for some, simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of the politically active women were Communist. After being arrested, the women were held in camps in France. In January of 1943, 230 French women, most labeled as political activists, were put on a train and sent to Birkenau in Auschwitz. Here they faced hardship and humiliation that is impossible to describe. Those that ended up surviving were mainly in their mid 20s or early 30s, healthy to start, and found strength through each other. Most of the survivors stressed that their womanly qualities of caring for each other and their organizational skills pulled them through the ordeal. They could not have survived alone. They pooled meager food, hid the sick and wounded, and supported each others spirits.
Upon returning home, they found a wounded France, dead family members, and the inability to talk about their experience to people who largely didn't want to hear about it. Only 49 of the 230 women survived and about a third of those died within a decade of their return. Many stayed in touch, finding that only around each other could they find some modicum of peace.
Besides the obvious horrors committed by those who had clear roles as torturers and sadists, Moorehead points out the gray areas. What about all the French people who denounced their fellow countrymen and women to the Germans? Or those who saw and did nothing? This permeated every level of French society and largely it was decided that what the country needed was to move on after convicting those who committed the worst crimes. But these politically active women came home to a France where they felt that the strongest and smartest men who should have been leading their country had been killed in the war and they were left with those who had no business being in power. Some stayed active in their Communist parties, some left for other countries, and some withdrew from life altogether. A particularly moving part of this book is the final pages, where Moorehead lists every single one of the 230 women: their names, where they were from, why they were initially arrested, if they had children, and where/when/how they died or survived.
This is a sad book, a moving book when describing the tight bonds that drew these women together, and a book that will make you question humanity.
Definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member Davidgnp
Having just put down this book it's difficult for me to marshal my thoughts for a considered review simply because of the impact this harrowing account has had on me emotionally and psychologically. It has left me weeping for the unimaginable cruelty humans are capable of wreaking on their fellows,
My World War II reading has been patchy, and I'd read nothing in any detail about the occupation of France or the Resistance before opening Caroline Moorhead's book. I was astonished, in the first section, to learn of the degree of collaboration the Germans had from the French, especially the police and the petty authorities, not only in Vichy but across the country. Was it fear, or is evil so easily transferable, people so culpable and corruptible? Surely not just fear judging by the relish for violence and denunciation that comes through these early chapters.
And yet what risks the resisters were prepared to take in their struggle against the Nazis. Moorhead acknowledges that most of the women who became involved - whether as disseminators of resistance literature, 'passeurs' for the escapees, hiders of weapons or even directly as sabouteurs and guerrillas - were terrified; but they carried on through all their fears without reward. The majority were part of a family of resisters and many saw husbands, fathers, brothers deported or shot for their own acts of defiance, but they carried on regardless, even redoubling their own efforts as if to make up the loss. Inevitably they were caught themselves, or denounced by neighbours, and bundled onto the transports heading east to the concentration camps along with Jews, homosexuals, criminals, and some who had nothing to do with the Resistance at all, but who may have made the mistake of passing an opinion unfavourable to their occupiers, or been maliciously denounced by a jealous neighbour or business competitor.
If conditions in occupied France were dreadful, nothing could have prepared them (or us) for what they encountered in the camp at Auschwitz. Moorhead spares no detail in her descriptions of the filth, the crowding, the denial of life's basics, the unrelieved and pointless labour in the bedraggled cold, and above all the unending cruelty, inhuman violence and savage murder that led to a litter of disregarded corpses, the miasma of death and a growing swamp of mass graves. What makes the account heartbreakingly poignant as well as horrifying is that we follow named women among the 200-odd French contingent of 'Le Convoi des 31000' and watch many of them sink and die, others mutilated or brutally murdered, and steadily the band decreases.
What saves us from utter despair is exactly what saved some of the women - the individual selfless acts and the support network they provided for each other. Early on the indomitable members of the French group persuaded the others that 'everyone for themselves' could end only in the elimination of all. Instead they looked out for each other, often taking the same risks as they did in France, protecting and hiding the weaker members from the guards and saving them from execution or the gas chamber, sharing food, nursing them through the worst of their illnesses. With this combination of friendship, comfort and help, rather than through luck or miracle, some of the women survived - 42 of the original group.
The book has no fairytale ending. Most of the survivors came back to find that husbands and other family members had been shot or perished in their own camp travails. Many of the women had illnesses that dogged them for the rest of their lives, and several died early. Only seven were still alive when work started on the book in 2008, and only four on its completion. Some were given credit and honours by the post-war French government, but there was surprising indifference to their stories for the most part, and a general unwillingness to dwell on this dark chapter of human history. The majority of the women, who had lived only for the dream of returning home, reported a flatness and a continuing unhappiness after they did.
An appendix summarises not only what happened to the survivors after the war, but also records as far as possible how each of the women who did not make it met her end. It's a sad, sad catalogue, but a valuable record. Equally important, some of the women have written their own accounts and memoirs of their time in the camps and after. Caroline Moorhead has drawn on these extensively and acknowledges the fact along with a long list of helpers throughout her painstaking research.
I have not read the first-hand accounts of the survivors, but I'm sure that this powerful account is faithful to their memories, and stands as a hugely important testament in its own right. The final message I will take from this fine book is an optimistic one - that even in the midst of hideous cruelty there is to be found compassion, kindness and courage.
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and my heart full for the extraordinary sacrifices and selfless kind acts that others have been prepared to make in the face of such barbarity even while victims themselves, imprisoned in a man-made hell.My World War II reading has been patchy, and I'd read nothing in any detail about the occupation of France or the Resistance before opening Caroline Moorhead's book. I was astonished, in the first section, to learn of the degree of collaboration the Germans had from the French, especially the police and the petty authorities, not only in Vichy but across the country. Was it fear, or is evil so easily transferable, people so culpable and corruptible? Surely not just fear judging by the relish for violence and denunciation that comes through these early chapters.
And yet what risks the resisters were prepared to take in their struggle against the Nazis. Moorhead acknowledges that most of the women who became involved - whether as disseminators of resistance literature, 'passeurs' for the escapees, hiders of weapons or even directly as sabouteurs and guerrillas - were terrified; but they carried on through all their fears without reward. The majority were part of a family of resisters and many saw husbands, fathers, brothers deported or shot for their own acts of defiance, but they carried on regardless, even redoubling their own efforts as if to make up the loss. Inevitably they were caught themselves, or denounced by neighbours, and bundled onto the transports heading east to the concentration camps along with Jews, homosexuals, criminals, and some who had nothing to do with the Resistance at all, but who may have made the mistake of passing an opinion unfavourable to their occupiers, or been maliciously denounced by a jealous neighbour or business competitor.
If conditions in occupied France were dreadful, nothing could have prepared them (or us) for what they encountered in the camp at Auschwitz. Moorhead spares no detail in her descriptions of the filth, the crowding, the denial of life's basics, the unrelieved and pointless labour in the bedraggled cold, and above all the unending cruelty, inhuman violence and savage murder that led to a litter of disregarded corpses, the miasma of death and a growing swamp of mass graves. What makes the account heartbreakingly poignant as well as horrifying is that we follow named women among the 200-odd French contingent of 'Le Convoi des 31000' and watch many of them sink and die, others mutilated or brutally murdered, and steadily the band decreases.
What saves us from utter despair is exactly what saved some of the women - the individual selfless acts and the support network they provided for each other. Early on the indomitable members of the French group persuaded the others that 'everyone for themselves' could end only in the elimination of all. Instead they looked out for each other, often taking the same risks as they did in France, protecting and hiding the weaker members from the guards and saving them from execution or the gas chamber, sharing food, nursing them through the worst of their illnesses. With this combination of friendship, comfort and help, rather than through luck or miracle, some of the women survived - 42 of the original group.
The book has no fairytale ending. Most of the survivors came back to find that husbands and other family members had been shot or perished in their own camp travails. Many of the women had illnesses that dogged them for the rest of their lives, and several died early. Only seven were still alive when work started on the book in 2008, and only four on its completion. Some were given credit and honours by the post-war French government, but there was surprising indifference to their stories for the most part, and a general unwillingness to dwell on this dark chapter of human history. The majority of the women, who had lived only for the dream of returning home, reported a flatness and a continuing unhappiness after they did.
An appendix summarises not only what happened to the survivors after the war, but also records as far as possible how each of the women who did not make it met her end. It's a sad, sad catalogue, but a valuable record. Equally important, some of the women have written their own accounts and memoirs of their time in the camps and after. Caroline Moorhead has drawn on these extensively and acknowledges the fact along with a long list of helpers throughout her painstaking research.
I have not read the first-hand accounts of the survivors, but I'm sure that this powerful account is faithful to their memories, and stands as a hugely important testament in its own right. The final message I will take from this fine book is an optimistic one - that even in the midst of hideous cruelty there is to be found compassion, kindness and courage.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Heduanna
The writing, I'm afraid, is costing this a star: it was very hard to keep track of the cast of dozens, it's frequently unclear which of the several "Charlotte's" or "Germaine's" is being referred to. At one point, she interrupted the narration of 1944 to go back to 1943, but it wasn't clear why,
But the story is compelling. And I appreciated Moorehead's decision to spend so much time on the re-integration period: so many stories of WWII leave off at liberation, as if being free suddenly made everything all right. Overall, I would still recommend it.
Beyond that, I only just finished reading it, and I suspect it will be awhile before of the thoughts it provoked have settled.
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and it wasn't clear when she was going back to 1944. So it did feel like a bit of a confused mess.But the story is compelling. And I appreciated Moorehead's decision to spend so much time on the re-integration period: so many stories of WWII leave off at liberation, as if being free suddenly made everything all right. Overall, I would still recommend it.
Beyond that, I only just finished reading it, and I suspect it will be awhile before of the thoughts it provoked have settled.
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LibraryThing member Ken-Me-Old-Mate
A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France Not for the faint hearted this one.
Personally anything to do with the extermination camps deeply disturbs me. This one extends that to the actions of a populace i.e. the French. The roundup of the
Personally anything to do with the extermination camps deeply disturbs me. This one extends that to the actions of a populace i.e. the French. The roundup of the
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Jews was initiated by the Vichy government and manages by the French themselves. The Germans were impressed with French efficiency and brutality in this inhuman undertaking. When the Germans asked the French to deliver thousands of Jews, the French used cattle cars. The Germans had never thought of that themselves. Bah!This story centres on the thousands of women and girls who did the leg work for the French Resistance. Delivering pamphlets, posters, supplies and weapons from one resistance cell to another. Knowing fully the consequences if caught, they just carried on regardless. Using that innate efficiency that women can bring to any task they were lubrication that kept the resistance machine going.This story takes a while to get going but eventually centres on a group of women who are "disappeared". The process the Germans used to destroy the morale of other resistance members, having previously found out that executing them turned them into heroes. This consisted of simply moving them away without notifying anyone of their eventual destination or even the fact that they were gone.These women had no idea where they were headed when they boarded a series of cattle trucks one night. Their destination was Auschwitz.A harrowing story of heroism, bravery, imagination, courage and determination against all odds. By turns heartbreaking, moving and disgusting. The horrors of day to day existence in those places which to this day we can only imagine the half of it. Descriptions that will turn your stomach and your heart.The book itself is reasonably well written. The first chunk is just a series of names and dates and incidents. In reality this is building the context in which everything coalesces to the main grist. In the end I really liked it but could remember how I nearly put it down several times at the beginning. (Later: see the 1 star reviews for more on that)A nice intro into some of the history of WW2 especially the French part and their collaboration with the Nazis. Interesting to read yet again how widely the Jews were hated well before WW2 itself. Amen, may they all rest in peace.Well worth the effort. Show Less
LibraryThing member hadden
Story of a number of women arrested during the German occupation of France, and sent to concentration camps. Some survived- most didn't.
LibraryThing member brainella
The idea and history behind this book is very interesting. The woman written about in this book truly believed in their cause and purpose, and many managed to survive a horrific situation. However, I wish the author would have focused on a smaller group of women to illustrate her point. The volume
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of women written about was hard to follow. I couldn't remember who was who and why they did what they did. There were so many people to keep track of I found myself wishing for a program. Show Less
LibraryThing member lalbro
Part two of this book is why you would read this tale. It is there that you witness the strength of relationships and the horrors of Holocaust and what happens after liberation. Part one is intended to serve as the foundation for the relationships that form the central focus of the second part, but
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because there are 230 women on the Le convoi de 31,000, it is sometimes difficult to keep any narrative thread through this section of the book. In fact, there were times when it just felt like a list. Having said that, I am glad that I pushed through to the second part, because I found myself unable to put it down at that point. I am not a historian, and so not qualified to comment on questions of accuracy, but the author compellingly draws the terror, disbelief, and tenacity that the women experienced. Definitely worth a read. Show Less
LibraryThing member MelissaPrange
A Train in Winter tells the fascinating story of the French resistance during World War II. The author, Caroline Moorland, focuses her book on the women of the French resistance. These women might not wield guns or plant bombs, but they do house refugees in their hotels, print papers in their
Reading the introduction and book jacket, I expected something entirely different from A Train in Winter. I expected the author to focus more on the personal experiences of the women in the resistance and less on the overarching, historical events. Unfortunately, there are a minimum of fifty women mentioned in A Train in Winter, making it impossible for the reader to connect with any of the women. I would have much preferred Moorland to focus on several women rather than including everyone. The book would have been much better if she had alternated between chapters with background information and chapters with selections from her interviews. As it was, I couldn’t keep anyone straight and felt no connection to the women or their stories. The book lacked a sense of purpose and strength because of this excess of information. It became merely a dry, history book about an interesting topic, instead of the celebration of women and the friendships that kept them alive.
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basements, and hand out flyers in the streets. These women chose to risk their lives rather than run to safety or simply endure. The women are grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and children, and all are drawn into the fight for different reasons. Some women fight for their children’s futures. Others fight for those who are being oppressed. Others still fight because they wish to continue the work of their arrested husbands, brothers, and fathers. A Train in Winter follows these women as they endure arrests at the hands of both the French and Nazis, torture and starvation in the death camps, and watching as all those they hold dear die around them.Reading the introduction and book jacket, I expected something entirely different from A Train in Winter. I expected the author to focus more on the personal experiences of the women in the resistance and less on the overarching, historical events. Unfortunately, there are a minimum of fifty women mentioned in A Train in Winter, making it impossible for the reader to connect with any of the women. I would have much preferred Moorland to focus on several women rather than including everyone. The book would have been much better if she had alternated between chapters with background information and chapters with selections from her interviews. As it was, I couldn’t keep anyone straight and felt no connection to the women or their stories. The book lacked a sense of purpose and strength because of this excess of information. It became merely a dry, history book about an interesting topic, instead of the celebration of women and the friendships that kept them alive.
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LibraryThing member BookishDame
I found this book a mixed bag. While I wanted to like the story of the women and their work as resistance patriots for France, I was torn because of their motivation of Communism. I'm not a follower and don't subscribe to the articles or beliefs of communism and it sqelched the story for me,
All in all, I can't recommend it to anyone except those who enjoy a historical perspective of the French Resistance from a communist perspective.
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personally. In additon, I found the story somewhat bogged down in minute and repetitve detail. It did not flow to the point of making it a "readable" story. I found it more a text book type book.All in all, I can't recommend it to anyone except those who enjoy a historical perspective of the French Resistance from a communist perspective.
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LibraryThing member sageness
Very conflicted on how many stars to give as there are some structural problems early on and some less than stellar writing toward the end; however, the stories of these women are the heart of the book and Moorehead does them justice, I think.
This was a chilling, horrifying read, and it made me
This was a chilling, horrifying read, and it made me
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despair for the way I was taught history back in the 80s. I should probably say that this helped contextualize and humanize the political policies described in a dry-as-dust history of the pre-war period I've been reading. It also helped greatly to dispel the false image of the French Resistance as all male, rifle-wielding, beret-sporting Maquis. Show Less
LibraryThing member DaptoLibrary
This book was probably not the best choice for this time of year, considering the content, but there were those of us who found an amazing read within its pages, regardless.
The abuse and degradation these resistance fighters experienced in Birkenau is not easy to take in, and we are all aware of
Our conversation extended beyond the women and their plight into the general politics of WW II, Hitler’s strategies and the overall effects of war. The attempted annihilation of the Jewish population took us to a very broad and edifying discussion of multiculturalism, racism and the tenuous condition of the human spirit after extreme suffering. Heavy stuff? Not really. Everyone felt more informed after reading this book and it always feels better to speak about what you have discovered, coming to terms with information that ordinarily would be unacceptable.
In the end, Moorehead summed up the book well with survivor Charlotte and her quote - ‘Looking at me, one would think that I’m alive … I’m not alive. I died in Auschwitz, but no one knows it.’
The abuse and degradation these resistance fighters experienced in Birkenau is not easy to take in, and we are all aware of
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the horrors committed during Hitler’s rein, but the story of these women’s strength and endurance under such extreme conditions and cruelty cannot help but impart a real sense of wonder and respect. The bond created by these women attests to the power of human fortitude when pushed to the limits. Was this what helped keep some of them alive? No doubt, although we did comment that some succumbed very early on, before a real connection was formed. Did this make a difference? Unanswerable questions to be sure.Our conversation extended beyond the women and their plight into the general politics of WW II, Hitler’s strategies and the overall effects of war. The attempted annihilation of the Jewish population took us to a very broad and edifying discussion of multiculturalism, racism and the tenuous condition of the human spirit after extreme suffering. Heavy stuff? Not really. Everyone felt more informed after reading this book and it always feels better to speak about what you have discovered, coming to terms with information that ordinarily would be unacceptable.
In the end, Moorehead summed up the book well with survivor Charlotte and her quote - ‘Looking at me, one would think that I’m alive … I’m not alive. I died in Auschwitz, but no one knows it.’
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LibraryThing member NeedMoreShelves
This was a hard book to read, but it should be - the Holocaust was an atrocity millions did not survive, and reading about it should never be easy. But I believe we owe the survivors the dignity and honor of telling their stories, in whatever way they feel those stories should be told. That is why
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I continue to read books like this, that are not easy, that make me feel shock and sadness. Because the survivors deserve to be heard, and those who did not survive deserve to be remembered. Show Less
LibraryThing member HolocaustMuseum
This is the incredible story of 230 women of the French resistance who were rounded up from all parts of France in early part of 1942 and sent to Romainville/ Frontstalag 22, Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Ravensbruck. Most of them met for the first time on the train "Le Convoi des 310000. They bonded
* ("Night and Fog, beyond the frontier...totally isolated from the outside world.")
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and helped each other physically, emotionally and spiritually to get through the days of "*Nacht und Nebel" that followed. Only 49 women would survive and most of them carried physical, and emotional scars for the rest of their lives. A few were able to testify at the war crimes trials that followed WW II.* ("Night and Fog, beyond the frontier...totally isolated from the outside world.")
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LibraryThing member nyiper
A very tough book to read and even begin to try and absorb. I kept expressing my feelings aloud as I read and I had to put the book down every now and then to just stop the flood of pictures the author provided. I was so appreciative of the last chapter---an end that was no end at all, just a
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continuing background nightmare for anyone who survived. And of course, the horror of the fact that no only did no one really want to listen but that there were sceptics....as in the trial...'how can you look so healthy one year later if what you describe is true?" About midway I almost didn't want to continue reading but I felt that I had to. Man's inhumanity to man. Show Less
LibraryThing member lamour
I found this to be a very difficult book to read; in fact, at one point I had to put it aside and read something a bit lighter. The first section of the book introduces us to some of the women we are to follow along on this adventure. The second section introduces us to the work of men & women who
How the women are discovered or snitched on is explained and then we follow them to French prisons where they are tortured and abused. Eventually they are shipped by train to Auschwitz in Poland where the real terror begins. Stripped, hair cut off, dressed in flimsy striped dresses and then put in drafty, barren buildings, they witness the abuse and death of their new home. Soon they are working the cold with few clothes and little food plagued by lice, fleas and disease. Soon they are watching their friends die but they come up with plans to help one another survive. Only a few made it through the ordeal. Moorehead interviewed a few of the survivors.
At the back of the book, she lists all the French women who were transported to Auschwitz and what eventually happened to them.
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resisted the German occupiers of France. Moorehead also covers the complicity of the Vichy Government including their part in rounding up French Jews and shipping them to concentration camps.How the women are discovered or snitched on is explained and then we follow them to French prisons where they are tortured and abused. Eventually they are shipped by train to Auschwitz in Poland where the real terror begins. Stripped, hair cut off, dressed in flimsy striped dresses and then put in drafty, barren buildings, they witness the abuse and death of their new home. Soon they are working the cold with few clothes and little food plagued by lice, fleas and disease. Soon they are watching their friends die but they come up with plans to help one another survive. Only a few made it through the ordeal. Moorehead interviewed a few of the survivors.
At the back of the book, she lists all the French women who were transported to Auschwitz and what eventually happened to them.
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LibraryThing member foof2you
I give this book 2 1/2 stars, but between pages 151-293 I'd give it 4 stars, the problem is getting there.
Too many characters to keep track of, too many individual stories get in the way of the flow of the story. I would have focused on a few of the main characters and let them drive the story.
The story got interesting right before they left for the concentration camps. What happened before the pages mentioned above was very tedious and hard to get through, in some cases boring. In some places there is not enough information but a name and crime committed and not much else.
It was an interesting story, but I feel it should have been handled differently.
Too many characters to keep track of, too many individual stories get in the way of the flow of the story. I would have focused on a few of the main characters and let them drive the story.
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The other tact would have been to make a bunch of short stories that could have worked in many characters.The story got interesting right before they left for the concentration camps. What happened before the pages mentioned above was very tedious and hard to get through, in some cases boring. In some places there is not enough information but a name and crime committed and not much else.
It was an interesting story, but I feel it should have been handled differently.
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LibraryThing member SalemAthenaeum
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
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member pmarshall
“A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France”, is a well researched and documented account of the beginnings of the resistance movement in Paris in 1940. In particular it tells of the role of women in the resistance. It follows them through
Caroline Moorhead’s work follows the women through their entire ordeal and return to ‘normal‘ life in France. She puts faces on the women, shows their personalities and how as a group of disparate women and as individuals, they support each other, carry each other through unbelievable situations and enable forty-nine to survive. I highly recommend this book.
A “New York Times” Notable Book.
A “Toronto Star” Best Book.
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the streets of Paris as they printed and distributed subversive newspapers, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The French Police arrested school girls, grandmothers, teachers, housewives, chemists in 1942 and incarcerated them in prisons in Paris. In January, 1943, the 230 French women were sent by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Forty-nine women returned in 1945. Caroline Moorhead’s work follows the women through their entire ordeal and return to ‘normal‘ life in France. She puts faces on the women, shows their personalities and how as a group of disparate women and as individuals, they support each other, carry each other through unbelievable situations and enable forty-nine to survive. I highly recommend this book.
A “New York Times” Notable Book.
A “Toronto Star” Best Book.
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LibraryThing member A_Reader_of_Fictions
Obviously, I don't read too much nonfiction these days, still not recovered from the glut of required readings for my history major and also unable to resist the page-turning allure of fiction. Still, there are a few subjects that can tempt me into some scholarly reading, one of which is World War
Very few history books read as smoothly as fiction, or as quickly. Moorehead's reads like history, and not like a story, but her prose is still beautiful and much less dry than most of the history texts I've encountered. Her phrasing also reads as delightfully un-American, very suited to the French women she's describing. I intended to just sit down and read this the way I do my fiction books, but ended up reading it in fits and starts, because it just went down better in small gulps, giving me time to mull things over, rather than frustrate myself by trying to read speedily.
Although the focus of this on the surface is a train, the train that took 230 female members of the resistance in France to Auschwitz, about half of the book focuses on how they got caught. Moorehead met with many of the still-living survivors as part of her research, and she obviously knew more about these women and the ones they were close to then some of the others. She doesn't tell the stories of all 230, of course, but she gives a nice picture of life in Occupied France, and the various roles women played in the resistance. This was an area I knew little of, so I was thrilled to expand my knowledge.
Sent to the Auschwitz, these women endure all the hardships there, most of which are probably quite familiar, as the horror of the Holocaust is already well-known. Moorehead's central thesis is that the reason so many of them (49/230) managed to survive was because of the kinship between these women. The friendships they developed and the way they supported one another in the camp greatly heightened their odds of survival.
These French women did their best to keep their minds active, reciting snippets of remembered poems and holding classes. They shared their food voluntarily, giving the largest portions to those most in need. At the freezing roll calls, they propped up those who could not stand. They secreted women who would otherwise be taken to the gas chambers away. They made each other Christmas presents from odds and ends they managed to steal. In short, the camps were still hell, but they were just slightly better with friends, serving as evidence that not all humankind is so evil and incapable of feeling.
One of my favorite things about A Train in Winter, I must admit at the risk of sounding childish, were the pictures. Okay, okay, hear me out. Many history texts include photos of the important figures, but they're often sectioned off into the middle so the photos can be glossy, which is nice, except that, by the time you get to that section you don't remember who most of them are. Moorehead located many pictures of the women, including ones taken in some of the camps. Seeing the change in the women once incarcerated is astonishing. Even more horrifying is the picture of some of the Auschwitz guards, presumably on some holiday, smiling and looking like any young, healthy folks out for a good time in the 40s, not like abusive killers.
Moorhead touches on so much, and I find reviewing history books a bit difficult. I thought her book quite well done, and would recommend it to those interested in studying the Holocaust or the French Resistance, whether for fun or for school.
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II. For whatever reason, I have always been drawn to everything about both WWI and WWII. As such, when I had the opportunity to review this, I jumped at it.Very few history books read as smoothly as fiction, or as quickly. Moorehead's reads like history, and not like a story, but her prose is still beautiful and much less dry than most of the history texts I've encountered. Her phrasing also reads as delightfully un-American, very suited to the French women she's describing. I intended to just sit down and read this the way I do my fiction books, but ended up reading it in fits and starts, because it just went down better in small gulps, giving me time to mull things over, rather than frustrate myself by trying to read speedily.
Although the focus of this on the surface is a train, the train that took 230 female members of the resistance in France to Auschwitz, about half of the book focuses on how they got caught. Moorehead met with many of the still-living survivors as part of her research, and she obviously knew more about these women and the ones they were close to then some of the others. She doesn't tell the stories of all 230, of course, but she gives a nice picture of life in Occupied France, and the various roles women played in the resistance. This was an area I knew little of, so I was thrilled to expand my knowledge.
Sent to the Auschwitz, these women endure all the hardships there, most of which are probably quite familiar, as the horror of the Holocaust is already well-known. Moorehead's central thesis is that the reason so many of them (49/230) managed to survive was because of the kinship between these women. The friendships they developed and the way they supported one another in the camp greatly heightened their odds of survival.
These French women did their best to keep their minds active, reciting snippets of remembered poems and holding classes. They shared their food voluntarily, giving the largest portions to those most in need. At the freezing roll calls, they propped up those who could not stand. They secreted women who would otherwise be taken to the gas chambers away. They made each other Christmas presents from odds and ends they managed to steal. In short, the camps were still hell, but they were just slightly better with friends, serving as evidence that not all humankind is so evil and incapable of feeling.
One of my favorite things about A Train in Winter, I must admit at the risk of sounding childish, were the pictures. Okay, okay, hear me out. Many history texts include photos of the important figures, but they're often sectioned off into the middle so the photos can be glossy, which is nice, except that, by the time you get to that section you don't remember who most of them are. Moorehead located many pictures of the women, including ones taken in some of the camps. Seeing the change in the women once incarcerated is astonishing. Even more horrifying is the picture of some of the Auschwitz guards, presumably on some holiday, smiling and looking like any young, healthy folks out for a good time in the 40s, not like abusive killers.
Moorhead touches on so much, and I find reviewing history books a bit difficult. I thought her book quite well done, and would recommend it to those interested in studying the Holocaust or the French Resistance, whether for fun or for school.
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LibraryThing member pinkcrayon99
"When we tell people...who will believe us?"
I have never read or witnessed such solidarity, friendship, and sisterhood that crossed all socio-economic, religious, and political lines like those described in A Train in Winter. These women were in the very belly of hell on earth. What began as
"Maybe we didn't pray enough?"
Pockets of resistance were forming all over France as a response to the German occupation. Intellectuals, political activists, and regular citizens all were making their mark in the Resistance movement. Women, men, and teenagers were fighting for a common goal which was to bring about a "rebirth of a pure and free France." German occupiers were determined to breakup and infiltrate the resistance networks.
"Some days,...I think I have reached the limits of horror."
As the war wore on many of the resisters were sent to prison and released and others were executed or tortured to death. On August 1, 1942, 230 Resistance women began a journey that they would never forget. After brief stays at two prisons these women found their final destinations in concentration camps such as Birkenau and Auschwitz. What keep them alive were the friendships they formed while in those prisons. None of these women were over 44.
Moorehead gave so much background and minor details about these women (and men) until I became so invested in their lives and had to keep reading. There were moments that I had to reflect on the fact that these were real people who had to endure suffering that my mind could not even comprehend. It was to point where one women said that, "The grotesque had become normal." When freedom came all were somewhat numb and soon found they would never really be free again.
Among the women there were two that I paid close attention to: Danielle Casanova and Adelaide Hautvale. Adelaide seen and had to assist with human experimentation at the hand of some of the infamous Nazi doctors. Her reports were devastating. Danielle Casanova was a young dentist and a true fighter.
There were two non-human characters that were ever present, hunger and The Marseillaise. The hunger was persistent. The description of the hunger that these women and men had to endure jumped off the pages. Just when you thought these women and men were broken there would be a breakout into the singing of The Marseillaise. It was their motivational song that marked each journey.
A Train in Winter is packed full of details and at times read like a textbook. There were so many names until they became overwhelming early on. By the end, I was saying, "I don't know how they made it." Moorehead wrote about these women with a certain dignity that they all deserved. What was even more remarkable to me more so than their friendship was how the Arts always seemed to bring up their spirits. Many times putting on plays and playing music seemed to even calm the Nazi beasts all around them. I am so happy that Moorehead told these women's stories and may their names always rang throughout history. They should never be forgotten.
Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher. The views and opinions shared are my own.
I have never read or witnessed such solidarity, friendship, and sisterhood that crossed all socio-economic, religious, and political lines like those described in A Train in Winter. These women were in the very belly of hell on earth. What began as
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resistance quickly transitioned into surviving against the worst of odds."Maybe we didn't pray enough?"
Pockets of resistance were forming all over France as a response to the German occupation. Intellectuals, political activists, and regular citizens all were making their mark in the Resistance movement. Women, men, and teenagers were fighting for a common goal which was to bring about a "rebirth of a pure and free France." German occupiers were determined to breakup and infiltrate the resistance networks.
"Some days,...I think I have reached the limits of horror."
As the war wore on many of the resisters were sent to prison and released and others were executed or tortured to death. On August 1, 1942, 230 Resistance women began a journey that they would never forget. After brief stays at two prisons these women found their final destinations in concentration camps such as Birkenau and Auschwitz. What keep them alive were the friendships they formed while in those prisons. None of these women were over 44.
Moorehead gave so much background and minor details about these women (and men) until I became so invested in their lives and had to keep reading. There were moments that I had to reflect on the fact that these were real people who had to endure suffering that my mind could not even comprehend. It was to point where one women said that, "The grotesque had become normal." When freedom came all were somewhat numb and soon found they would never really be free again.
Among the women there were two that I paid close attention to: Danielle Casanova and Adelaide Hautvale. Adelaide seen and had to assist with human experimentation at the hand of some of the infamous Nazi doctors. Her reports were devastating. Danielle Casanova was a young dentist and a true fighter.
There were two non-human characters that were ever present, hunger and The Marseillaise. The hunger was persistent. The description of the hunger that these women and men had to endure jumped off the pages. Just when you thought these women and men were broken there would be a breakout into the singing of The Marseillaise. It was their motivational song that marked each journey.
A Train in Winter is packed full of details and at times read like a textbook. There were so many names until they became overwhelming early on. By the end, I was saying, "I don't know how they made it." Moorehead wrote about these women with a certain dignity that they all deserved. What was even more remarkable to me more so than their friendship was how the Arts always seemed to bring up their spirits. Many times putting on plays and playing music seemed to even calm the Nazi beasts all around them. I am so happy that Moorehead told these women's stories and may their names always rang throughout history. They should never be forgotten.
Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher. The views and opinions shared are my own.
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LibraryThing member JanaRose1
During 1942, women of the French Resistance were rounded up in a variety of police stings. This is the story of the 230 women who were sent from France to Nazi concentration camps. I do wish that this book was written as a story rather than a recitation of facts. This greatly slowed the story down
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and took away from the stories of these women. The book was very heartbreaking at times, and a story format would have greatly enhanced this. Overall, a decent book. Show Less
LibraryThing member amongstories
In January 1943 two hundred and thirty women who had bravely fought as a part of the French Resistance were sent to Auschwitz. These were women who spanned many occupations and age groups, who fought for many different reasons. Yet, they all had one thing in common… They wanted to free their
The book starts out a bit slow, but Moorehead does a great job of setting the stage for the reader and introducing many of the players involved. Regardless of the opening, the book really starts to set its hooks into you after the first few chapters. It is nearly impossible to set the book down once you start to read about what these women sacrificed for their cause, the fear they overcame in order to do what they felt was necessary.
Moorehead does not shy away from the cruel or the heartbreaking. Having met with a few of the survivors still alive, the families of survivors who have since passed, and much research into the topic, she paints a brutally honest picture of the events surrounding the capture and subsequent encampment of these women. What they had to undergo is not something that’s easy to digest, but then the story wouldn’t mean nearly as much without being so true to what she learned about their experiences.
If the stories from the survivors didn’t make the book real enough, the pictures included in the book certainly serve to make the story that much more real and unforgettable. You are able to put faces to names and picture the torturous conditions all the more clearly. When you learn that only forty-nine of the two hundred and thirty women are able to make it out of the camps alive it really hits home.
A Train in Winter is not a book you are going to read and forget about, it is a book that is going to stay with you and make you realize just what we are capable of even in the worst possible conditions. This is the story of women who were stronger than most people will ever have to be and who supported each other in an attempt to survive the cruelest conditions a person could find themselves in. In one sentence, this is a book that everyone should read.
** I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a part of TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
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country from German rule. A Train in Winter is the story that illustrates just what these women endured.The book starts out a bit slow, but Moorehead does a great job of setting the stage for the reader and introducing many of the players involved. Regardless of the opening, the book really starts to set its hooks into you after the first few chapters. It is nearly impossible to set the book down once you start to read about what these women sacrificed for their cause, the fear they overcame in order to do what they felt was necessary.
Moorehead does not shy away from the cruel or the heartbreaking. Having met with a few of the survivors still alive, the families of survivors who have since passed, and much research into the topic, she paints a brutally honest picture of the events surrounding the capture and subsequent encampment of these women. What they had to undergo is not something that’s easy to digest, but then the story wouldn’t mean nearly as much without being so true to what she learned about their experiences.
If the stories from the survivors didn’t make the book real enough, the pictures included in the book certainly serve to make the story that much more real and unforgettable. You are able to put faces to names and picture the torturous conditions all the more clearly. When you learn that only forty-nine of the two hundred and thirty women are able to make it out of the camps alive it really hits home.
A Train in Winter is not a book you are going to read and forget about, it is a book that is going to stay with you and make you realize just what we are capable of even in the worst possible conditions. This is the story of women who were stronger than most people will ever have to be and who supported each other in an attempt to survive the cruelest conditions a person could find themselves in. In one sentence, this is a book that everyone should read.
** I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a part of TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member Lisa2013
I think I’d have enjoyed reading this book no matter what but I was particularly happy to read it with my reading buddy Diane, and glad that she wanted to read slowly through the book; it made the reading experiencing really fun, if I can use that word, and absorbing and thinking about the
I’ve read extensively about the Holocaust, but I learned so much from this book. I knew little of the treatment of French women Communists and other Nazi resistors. I’m fascinated with this history. I must admit as I read about what befell these women in various places at various times, I found myself thinking about the Jews, and the times, places, events, ways they were being murdered on a parallel timeline with the events in this book.
I was riveted to the account from the start, though the list of names was long and, as I predicted, I sometimes lost track of details about particular people. I resisted taking notes though, and that’s where my buddy came in handy, sometimes interjecting information such as: these two women had been friends before the war and providing the page number. I did enjoy that but was too lazy to try to remember all the details. Even without them, I feel as though I got to know these women, and particularly their friendship, which was a character itself. It’s really a book about the friendship among the group of women, how they were a unit of sorts. While I often forget connections and pre-war activities, I remained engrossed in the book and felt I got more than the gist.
I was thrilled with the two maps and all the photographs. I wised for even more. Those included really enhanced the reading experience for me.
I found myself wanting to know each of the women’s fates and my reading buddy Diane alerted me to one page in the back of the book that listed surviving women who were still alive and were interviewed or their family members interviewed for the book, and that’s when I found the complete list: those women, in alphabetical order the women who survived and then in alphabetical order the women who did not survive. I wanted to find out and to bear witness, so I pretty much stopped reading the book proper and, even though I knew I’d forget specifics and have to refer back to names as I read about them in the book, I read the lists. It was highly disturbing, even reading the fates of the survivors left me feeling extremely sad. Real life horror show! I knew how what the Nazis did have affected more than that one generation but it was powerful to see it spelled out in simple list form. It was hard to avoid using profanity when trying to absorb the facts. I’m really glad that the fates, with a bit of detail, of all the women were revealed.
Even though I wasn’t willing to create it, in addition to the lists of women at the end, I wouldn’t have minded lists at the beginning, showing why the women were arrested, who knew who before capture, etc.
I know in some cases it wasn’t possible to tell more of certain women because of the lack of information and for those women I’m grateful their existence was noted, but for those women who had a lot known about them, I longed for more detailed information about their pre-war and post-war lives. However; the entity of them as a group, of the friendship as the main character was powerful. The juxtaposition of how different people and groups dealt with Nazi occupation was told effectively and I find the subject fascinating.
I was amazed at how brave most of these women were. Because they were not Jewish (known Jews) almost all could have avoided concentration camps, and once they were imprisoned I was so impressed with the big, unexpected, all kinds of kindnesses, often at their own peril and/or deprivation, and often even at risk of saving their own lives. Talk about true friendship!
Whenever reading about the Nazis I always admired the resistors but this time around I kept wondering if mothers of young children really should have been so boldly participating. I am in awe of what they did but a part of me wanted anyone who could stay safe (and hopefully still do some good) to do so.
These French women went through a lot of the almost unimaginable suffering that the targeted groups (Jews, Gypsies, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, homosexual, etc.) did. I’m still glad that at the end, when summing up, the Jews were mentioned and the reader saw how they fared re return rate, and re France’s collaboration and the prevalent anti-Semitism, re overall how they fared worse, and given how these women fared, that was very, very badly. I respect this account even more for all it tried to cover.
I felt so sad to read the fates of the women, not only those who didn’t survive, but also those who did survive. I kept wondering what if they’d had modern day post traumatic stress treatments in 1945 whether some could have greatly benefited, even though I have no illusions that they would be anything other than horribly damaged in many ways. So horrifying what humans can do to others!
I really enjoyed this book but I was left profoundly sad, and also profoundly impressed, and very angry about what happened to these women. I think it’s an important story and I’m very glad that it’s now down on paper. I might have given it 5 stars had I gotten to know at least some of the women better than I did.
These sorts of accounts always have me soul searching about just how brave I’d be, just how altruistic I’d be, just how ethically I’d behave given similar dire circumstances.
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information more interesting. I’ve read extensively about the Holocaust, but I learned so much from this book. I knew little of the treatment of French women Communists and other Nazi resistors. I’m fascinated with this history. I must admit as I read about what befell these women in various places at various times, I found myself thinking about the Jews, and the times, places, events, ways they were being murdered on a parallel timeline with the events in this book.
I was riveted to the account from the start, though the list of names was long and, as I predicted, I sometimes lost track of details about particular people. I resisted taking notes though, and that’s where my buddy came in handy, sometimes interjecting information such as: these two women had been friends before the war and providing the page number. I did enjoy that but was too lazy to try to remember all the details. Even without them, I feel as though I got to know these women, and particularly their friendship, which was a character itself. It’s really a book about the friendship among the group of women, how they were a unit of sorts. While I often forget connections and pre-war activities, I remained engrossed in the book and felt I got more than the gist.
I was thrilled with the two maps and all the photographs. I wised for even more. Those included really enhanced the reading experience for me.
I found myself wanting to know each of the women’s fates and my reading buddy Diane alerted me to one page in the back of the book that listed surviving women who were still alive and were interviewed or their family members interviewed for the book, and that’s when I found the complete list: those women, in alphabetical order the women who survived and then in alphabetical order the women who did not survive. I wanted to find out and to bear witness, so I pretty much stopped reading the book proper and, even though I knew I’d forget specifics and have to refer back to names as I read about them in the book, I read the lists. It was highly disturbing, even reading the fates of the survivors left me feeling extremely sad. Real life horror show! I knew how what the Nazis did have affected more than that one generation but it was powerful to see it spelled out in simple list form. It was hard to avoid using profanity when trying to absorb the facts. I’m really glad that the fates, with a bit of detail, of all the women were revealed.
Even though I wasn’t willing to create it, in addition to the lists of women at the end, I wouldn’t have minded lists at the beginning, showing why the women were arrested, who knew who before capture, etc.
I know in some cases it wasn’t possible to tell more of certain women because of the lack of information and for those women I’m grateful their existence was noted, but for those women who had a lot known about them, I longed for more detailed information about their pre-war and post-war lives. However; the entity of them as a group, of the friendship as the main character was powerful. The juxtaposition of how different people and groups dealt with Nazi occupation was told effectively and I find the subject fascinating.
I was amazed at how brave most of these women were. Because they were not Jewish (known Jews) almost all could have avoided concentration camps, and once they were imprisoned I was so impressed with the big, unexpected, all kinds of kindnesses, often at their own peril and/or deprivation, and often even at risk of saving their own lives. Talk about true friendship!
Whenever reading about the Nazis I always admired the resistors but this time around I kept wondering if mothers of young children really should have been so boldly participating. I am in awe of what they did but a part of me wanted anyone who could stay safe (and hopefully still do some good) to do so.
These French women went through a lot of the almost unimaginable suffering that the targeted groups (Jews, Gypsies, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, homosexual, etc.) did. I’m still glad that at the end, when summing up, the Jews were mentioned and the reader saw how they fared re return rate, and re France’s collaboration and the prevalent anti-Semitism, re overall how they fared worse, and given how these women fared, that was very, very badly. I respect this account even more for all it tried to cover.
I felt so sad to read the fates of the women, not only those who didn’t survive, but also those who did survive. I kept wondering what if they’d had modern day post traumatic stress treatments in 1945 whether some could have greatly benefited, even though I have no illusions that they would be anything other than horribly damaged in many ways. So horrifying what humans can do to others!
I really enjoyed this book but I was left profoundly sad, and also profoundly impressed, and very angry about what happened to these women. I think it’s an important story and I’m very glad that it’s now down on paper. I might have given it 5 stars had I gotten to know at least some of the women better than I did.
These sorts of accounts always have me soul searching about just how brave I’d be, just how altruistic I’d be, just how ethically I’d behave given similar dire circumstances.
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LibraryThing member TerriBooks
This is not an easy book to read. We know before we even begin that there are few happy endings. I've read a lot about the conditions in the Nazi labor camps and extermination camps, but the true story of these women brings it clearly and closely to life. This is an account of a couple hundred
I didn't rate this higher because the book starts so slowly. I know that the explanations of who each woman is, and what she was doing that led to her arrest, is important to their stories. But it's not the main point of the book, and I think it was too long.
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women arrested for their involvement in the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation. After being jailed in France, later in the war they were moved to Eastern Europe, with the intention of leaving their fate unknown to their families, friends, and associates. Their experiences have been well-researched and are vividly recounted -- so vividly, in fact, that it his hard to read. Only a handful of these women survived.I didn't rate this higher because the book starts so slowly. I know that the explanations of who each woman is, and what she was doing that led to her arrest, is important to their stories. But it's not the main point of the book, and I think it was too long.
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Awards
Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Shortlist — Nonfiction — 2012)
Orwell Prize (Longlist — 2012)
Language
Original language
English