Status
Available
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Publication
Harper Paperbacks (2021), 320 pages
Description
History. Nonfiction. HTML: A New York Times bestseller The unforgettable story of two unsung heroes of World War II: sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper who joined the Dutch Resistance, helped save dozen of lives, were captured by the Nazis, and ultimately survived the Holocaust. Eight months after Germany's invasion of Poland, the Nazis roll into The Netherlands, expanding their reign of brutality to the Dutch. But by the Winter of 1943, resistance is growing. Among those fighting their brutal Nazi occupiers are two Jewish sisters, Janny and Lien Brilleslijper from Amsterdam. Risking arrest and death, the sisters help save others, sheltering them in a clandestine safehouse in the woods, they called "The High Nest." This secret refuge would become one of the most important Jewish safehouses in the country, serving as a hiding place and underground center for resistance partisans as well as artists condemned by Hitler. From The High Nest, an underground web of artists arises, giving hope and light to those living in terror in Holland as they begin to restore the dazzling pre-war life of Amsterdam and The Hague. When the house and its occupants are eventually betrayed, the most terrifying time of the sisters' lives begins. As Allied troops close in, the Brilleslijper family are rushed onto the last train to Auschwitz, along with Anne Frank and her family. The journey will bring Janny and Lien close to Anne and her older sister Margot. The days ahead will test the sisters beyond human imagination as they are stripped of everything but their courage, their resilience, and their love for each other. Based on meticulous research and unprecedented access to the Brilleslijpers' personal archives of memoirs and photos, Sisters of Auschwitz is a long-overdue homage to two young women's heroism and moral bravery�??and a reminder of the power each of us has to change the world.… (more)
Media reviews
Trouw Letter en Geest
Interview met Eberhard Redling
User reviews
LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
I learned new things about World War II and the Holocaust from this interesting book centered around two Jewish sisters. Janny and Lien are living in Amsterdam when war starts and as the Nazi persecution of Jewish people picks up, they and their families go into hiding, finding a remote country
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home where they hope to stay through the end of the war. But these sisters, their family, and their friends are not waiting for the war to end, they are active in the resistance and eventually several of their group are caught by Nazis. The sisters end up being transported to the infamous Auschwitz along with Anne Frank and her family. Overall, this book made for fascinating reading, but I have to note that the writing felt uneven at times, although this may be because the book is a translation. Show Less
LibraryThing member susan0316
I read a lot of WWII fiction and am always saddened at the persecution that the Nazis carried out. Reading this history book about two sisters, was even more difficult because the story was not based on real people - it was about real people. I was astounded at the actions of these two sisters -
In 1940 the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. As they begin to carry out their 'final solution', many people become part of the resistance groups. By the winter of 1943, resistance had grown. Two sisters, Janny and Lien Brilleslijper, work diligently to keep people safe despite the danger that it brought to them. They sheltered many people in a clandestine safe house in the woods, they called “The High Nest.” They were one of the main places for the resistance as well as hiding people who were escaping being taken to the camps. Eventually someone reported them to the Nazi hierarchy and the two sisters were caught and sent to several camps before they were put on the last train to Auschwitz. On the transport, they meet the Frank family who were just discovered in the attic hiding place. They became friends with Anne and Margot and tried to protect them after they arrived at Auschwitz. Their time in the camp was very difficult but through their courage and resilience, the Brilleslijper sisters survived.
The author did extensive research and used the sisters archives and photos. She also took many oral histories that added to her knowledge of this time in history and the lives of the two sisters. Be sure to read her notes at the end which explain where she got all of her information.
These brave sisters have been forgotten over the years and this book reminds the world of how brave and resilient they were and how they worked to make a difference in their lives and the lives of people that they saved.
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how many people they saved and what their life was like in Auschwitz. They were real heroes!In 1940 the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. As they begin to carry out their 'final solution', many people become part of the resistance groups. By the winter of 1943, resistance had grown. Two sisters, Janny and Lien Brilleslijper, work diligently to keep people safe despite the danger that it brought to them. They sheltered many people in a clandestine safe house in the woods, they called “The High Nest.” They were one of the main places for the resistance as well as hiding people who were escaping being taken to the camps. Eventually someone reported them to the Nazi hierarchy and the two sisters were caught and sent to several camps before they were put on the last train to Auschwitz. On the transport, they meet the Frank family who were just discovered in the attic hiding place. They became friends with Anne and Margot and tried to protect them after they arrived at Auschwitz. Their time in the camp was very difficult but through their courage and resilience, the Brilleslijper sisters survived.
The author did extensive research and used the sisters archives and photos. She also took many oral histories that added to her knowledge of this time in history and the lives of the two sisters. Be sure to read her notes at the end which explain where she got all of her information.
These brave sisters have been forgotten over the years and this book reminds the world of how brave and resilient they were and how they worked to make a difference in their lives and the lives of people that they saved.
Show Less
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
This is the true story of the Brilleslijper sisters whose indomitable spirit and courage carried them through the years leading up to World War II, and beyond. Both were deeply involved with the Dutch resistance effort. As the situation in The Netherlands became more and more dangerous for Jews
The author of this book bought the home called The High Nest, in 2012, with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. As she learned of the home’s history and the families that lived there, she knew she had to investigate to find out more. That began a labor of love and years of extensive research. Using documents and oral interviews, she pieced together one of the most completely definitive descriptions of Hitler’s diabolical plans.
She follows the path of the sisters and many of those who were involved in their resistance effort, and later on, their effort to survive. The details presented are expansive and often difficult to take in because of the diabolical nature of Hitler’s plans. No matter how much one has read about The Holocaust, this book will inform them of even more of the Nazi’s barbarism. I believe evil truly existed at that time, as friend and neighbor turned in Jews to what they knew would be uncertain death or hardship for their own personal gain. They simply viewed the Jews as less than human or undeserving. Perhaps they were motivated by greed and jealousy, for even after the war’s end, many were still cruel to the few that survived and returned. This is not to imply that all of the Dutch were evil or complicit, but it is to imply that protestations of ignorance are untrue and the sound of silence against Hitler was deafening.
As the Jews were marched to cattle cars, there were witnesses. As they were transferred from place to place, and marched through the street, frail and beaten , often near death, they turned away and pretended not to notice what was right in front of their eyes. To deny knowledge was simply to lie about it. It went on for years in plain sight.
The sisters and their husbands created hiding spaces in The High Nest home. They had failsafe warning systems, which they rehearsed, to keep all of them safe from the clutches of the Germans. Unfortunately, as my mother used to say, man plans, G-d laughs. Eventually, they were betrayed and captured. While they were free, ignoring their own safety, they offered safety to those in danger, They arranged to have false documents made to enable others to escape, and they were also couriers for those same documents. Their experiences before, during, and after the war are so well documented in this book, that it becomes a definitive study of the fear and horror of the Holocaust, from the torture, to the roll calls, to the gas chambers and the crematoria, nothing is left out. The living conditions are described fully and the humiliation and suffering are palpable on every page so that sometimes one has to pause and take a breath. One has to go on, though, because this is not fantasy, it is real and we cannot forget.
Forced to dig their own graves, forced to stand naked in front of leering men, forced to take showers in what were really gas chambers, forced to live in lice ridden, overcrowded substandard conditions, forced to starve and witness the brutality of others as they were tortured and laughed at, forced to work until they collapsed in all sorts of deplorable conditions, they often lost hope because no one was coming to their rescue, though they were innocent of crimes. They had been sacrificed.
This is a detailed account of what took place during Hitler’s rise to power, and thank G-d, his fall from grace. The author has a gift of putting words on the page that bring the reader right to the places she writes about, from the ghetto, to The High Nest, to Auschwitz, to freedom. Unfortunately, many of these places are not places any of us would want to be, and reading about it is hard, but necessary. The women knew Dr. Mengele, they were there when Anne Frank and her sister died. They lived through the most inhumane time of our history.
The narrator of this book is extraordinary. The subject is really difficult and the events are very brutal, yet she never interjected her own emotions into the reading, rather, with just the right amount of expression, she told their story. It was almost a clinical, scientific explanation of tragic events from which there was no escape.
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with the Nazi presence, they knew they had to move out of Amsterdam. They found a home called The High Nest, in a remote area. They hoped to live there safely, unnoticed, until the war ended. The author of this book bought the home called The High Nest, in 2012, with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. As she learned of the home’s history and the families that lived there, she knew she had to investigate to find out more. That began a labor of love and years of extensive research. Using documents and oral interviews, she pieced together one of the most completely definitive descriptions of Hitler’s diabolical plans.
She follows the path of the sisters and many of those who were involved in their resistance effort, and later on, their effort to survive. The details presented are expansive and often difficult to take in because of the diabolical nature of Hitler’s plans. No matter how much one has read about The Holocaust, this book will inform them of even more of the Nazi’s barbarism. I believe evil truly existed at that time, as friend and neighbor turned in Jews to what they knew would be uncertain death or hardship for their own personal gain. They simply viewed the Jews as less than human or undeserving. Perhaps they were motivated by greed and jealousy, for even after the war’s end, many were still cruel to the few that survived and returned. This is not to imply that all of the Dutch were evil or complicit, but it is to imply that protestations of ignorance are untrue and the sound of silence against Hitler was deafening.
As the Jews were marched to cattle cars, there were witnesses. As they were transferred from place to place, and marched through the street, frail and beaten , often near death, they turned away and pretended not to notice what was right in front of their eyes. To deny knowledge was simply to lie about it. It went on for years in plain sight.
The sisters and their husbands created hiding spaces in The High Nest home. They had failsafe warning systems, which they rehearsed, to keep all of them safe from the clutches of the Germans. Unfortunately, as my mother used to say, man plans, G-d laughs. Eventually, they were betrayed and captured. While they were free, ignoring their own safety, they offered safety to those in danger, They arranged to have false documents made to enable others to escape, and they were also couriers for those same documents. Their experiences before, during, and after the war are so well documented in this book, that it becomes a definitive study of the fear and horror of the Holocaust, from the torture, to the roll calls, to the gas chambers and the crematoria, nothing is left out. The living conditions are described fully and the humiliation and suffering are palpable on every page so that sometimes one has to pause and take a breath. One has to go on, though, because this is not fantasy, it is real and we cannot forget.
Forced to dig their own graves, forced to stand naked in front of leering men, forced to take showers in what were really gas chambers, forced to live in lice ridden, overcrowded substandard conditions, forced to starve and witness the brutality of others as they were tortured and laughed at, forced to work until they collapsed in all sorts of deplorable conditions, they often lost hope because no one was coming to their rescue, though they were innocent of crimes. They had been sacrificed.
This is a detailed account of what took place during Hitler’s rise to power, and thank G-d, his fall from grace. The author has a gift of putting words on the page that bring the reader right to the places she writes about, from the ghetto, to The High Nest, to Auschwitz, to freedom. Unfortunately, many of these places are not places any of us would want to be, and reading about it is hard, but necessary. The women knew Dr. Mengele, they were there when Anne Frank and her sister died. They lived through the most inhumane time of our history.
The narrator of this book is extraordinary. The subject is really difficult and the events are very brutal, yet she never interjected her own emotions into the reading, rather, with just the right amount of expression, she told their story. It was almost a clinical, scientific explanation of tragic events from which there was no escape.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Bookish59
Janny and Lien Brilleslijper reside in Amsterdam, and thrive by living vibrantly and creatively. They and their families love being part of a few artistic communities, and get to meet many talented people. When the nazis invade, no one knows what to expect but they are forced to learn quickly.
These two incredibly brave and smart Jewish sisters help fellow Jews in The Netherlands during WWII with assistance from their family and large number of friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. They work with a network of resisters to create fake ID's, find safe hiding places, and buy food and medicine for many Jews being hunted down. Their beloved younger brother Jaap a brilliant tinkerer/inventor creates a bicycle radio so they can keep up with news about the war and the approach of the allies.
When they themselves needed to flee Amsterdam, they were extremely fortunate to find, at the 11th hour, the beautiful and large High Nest home in the forest where they manage to keep their family together, and hide many others while continuing their resistance work. Jaap builds hide-a-way areas within the house in case strangers arrive. To manage the fear and anxiety the family hold picnics, and worked on small entertaining productions.
The Sisters from Auschwitz introduces us to the incredibly strong, resourceful and loving Brilleslijper family, their unclouded moral compass guiding the extraordinary efforts they expended on helping friends and acquaintances during the Holocaust, despite the utmost risks.
Excellent, beautiful and moving read.
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These two incredibly brave and smart Jewish sisters help fellow Jews in The Netherlands during WWII with assistance from their family and large number of friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. They work with a network of resisters to create fake ID's, find safe hiding places, and buy food and medicine for many Jews being hunted down. Their beloved younger brother Jaap a brilliant tinkerer/inventor creates a bicycle radio so they can keep up with news about the war and the approach of the allies.
When they themselves needed to flee Amsterdam, they were extremely fortunate to find, at the 11th hour, the beautiful and large High Nest home in the forest where they manage to keep their family together, and hide many others while continuing their resistance work. Jaap builds hide-a-way areas within the house in case strangers arrive. To manage the fear and anxiety the family hold picnics, and worked on small entertaining productions.
The Sisters from Auschwitz introduces us to the incredibly strong, resourceful and loving Brilleslijper family, their unclouded moral compass guiding the extraordinary efforts they expended on helping friends and acquaintances during the Holocaust, despite the utmost risks.
Excellent, beautiful and moving read.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
320 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0063097621 / 9780063097629