Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In the closing weeks of WWII, three Jewish women who had concealed their pregnancies in a fight for survival under the Nazis brought their babies into an uncertain future, an act of remarkable bravery and defiance. Those babies, now grown, note in their introduction to this incredible book that they are destined to become some of the last survivors of the Holocaust. That they survived at all is a miracle, but their story and that of their mothers is filled with many chance moments that, had they gone differently, would have eradicated them from the world in a moment. With remarkable detail gleaned from a wealth of research, journalist and author Holden relates the three women's unforgettable journey from their imprisonment in ghettos to their arrival at Auschwitz, where the feared Dr. Josef Mengele inspected each woman to find out who was pregnant, through their forced labor at munitions factories and the final hellish transport to the Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen. Seeing the war through their eyes reveals not only the unimaginable cruelties that humans are capable of inflicting, but also the kindness and courage with which some of us are able to rise to meet adversity. Though these women's suffering was intense, their story reverberates with the power of hope, and, like their babies, will live on. An astonishing and deeply moving work.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Holden (coauthor, Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany) deftly weaves together the stories of three women-Priska, Rachel, and Anka-whose children were born in Nazi concentration camps during the last chaotic weeks of World War II. The author's analysis of each woman's experiences prior to 1939, the fate of their extended families under Nazi occupation, and the circumstances of their children's birth provide valuable insight into the stark choices faced by Jews during the Holocaust. The children, Eva, Mark, and Hana-among the -youngest survivors of the Shoah-finally met at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of liberation. Holden's use of the imagery of doctor Mengele inspecting the women during their arrival at Auschwitz makes for dramatic reading but is problematic. Mengele did not inspect all arrivals, and few knew who he was when they arrived, causing the reader to suspect that the story is a postwar construct. While Holden is strong on the personal details of the women's lives, and the fate of their family members, the wider historical context is sometimes thin. VERDICT Despite minor problems, this book is recommended for a wide audience and all libraries.-Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The incredible true story of three Jewish women who survived the Holocaust. Priska, Rachel, and Anka were married Jewish women in their early 20s when the Nazis took control of Europe. Like millions of other Jews, they were forced to give up their normal lives, all of their belongings, and their homes. Shuttled into ghettos and then off to one of the most notorious camps, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, they suffered through the Nazis' increasing atrocities. But these three women all held a secret: they were pregnant. They were moved from Auschwitz and ended up in Mauthausen, another notorious death camp. With facing the most horrible conditions imaginable, all three gave birth right before the Allies accepted Germany's surrender. In this meticulously detailed account, Holden (Haatchi Little B: The Inspiring True Story of One Boy and His Dog, 2014, etc.) compiles an enormous amount of information from interviews, letters, historical records, and personal visits to the sites where this story unfolded. The graphic history places readers in the moment and provides a sense of the enduring power of love that Priska, Rachel, and Anka had for their unborn children and for the husbands they so desperately hoped to see after the war. Even though it occurred more than 70 years ago, the story's truth is so chillingly portrayed that it seems as if it could have happened recently. These three women and their infants survived in the face of death, and, Holden writes, "their babies went on to have babies of their own and create a second and then a third generation, all of whom continue to live their lives in defiance of Hitler's plan to erase them from history and from memory." An engrossing, intense, and highly descriptive narrative chronicling the ghastly conditions three pregnant women suffered through at the hands of the Nazis. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
