This is apparently based on a true story, the first female escapee from Auschwitz and an unlikely place for two people who fall in love. The book is set in Auschwitz and we follow Edek and Mala's story, each having their own chapters and it flipping between the two.

Through Edek we see the horrors in the camp, the utter disregard for human life and some of the worst atrocities. It is very hard hitting, hard to read and very emotional. Mala has things better than most prisoners there, she works in an office for the Nazi's, has clothes, food, warm, decent sleeping quarters and yet she risks everything to try and do what she can to save those she is able to and ease suffering to the others.

Edek and Mala work together to do what they can to help the resistance, their people and of course the more they see of each other a friendship begins. These kinds of books always knock you in the feels, fiction or non fiction, as they are often well researched so have an authentic voice. I went to Ann Franks house/museum in Amsterdam and reading this brought back that experience too. Your heart hurts and you are horrified to contemplate how people could do these murderous/vile/inhuman acts. Despite this being a relatively short book (under 300 pages) it manages to cover a lot of what happened there and the book has plenty for the reader to follow up reading once you finish the book. 4/5 for me this time, prepare yourself for anger, tears, horror and an emotive rollercoaster.

For some reason, a lot of us seem to be really attracted to books involving people from Auschwitz and how they survived. This is probably a good thing, rather than sensationalizing what happened. I really enjoy books coming from this time, and reading about people (fact or near fact) who survived perilous times. This book was no exception. Enjoyable, uplifting at times, and overall really good.

4/5 stars

The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood was an OMG read. This book was beautifully written and is based on true events and real people. It's a book you will need tissues and lots of them. I am so glad I had a chance to read it.
Stories about Auschwitz-Birkenau should never be stopped written about

"Nobody leaves Auschwitz alive."

"Mala, inmate 19880, at Auschwitz-Birkenau was the first woman to escape the camp She was an interpreter for the SS, she uses her position to save as many lives as she can, smuggling scraps of bread to those desperate with hunger.
Edward, inmate 531, is a camp veteran and a political prisoner. Though he looks like everyone else, with a shaved head and striped uniform, he’s a fighter in the underground Resistance. And he has an escape plan".
It is a heartbreaking love story with many moments of beauty in between.

A must read and I highly recommend this book! 5/5 star read! Just Amazing

Big Thank-you to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion

In Auschwitz, no one escapes. Until they do. Mala, a Jewish prisoner, stays alive at the camp, using her language skills to translate for the SS and prolong her life. Edward is a political prisoner and also a member of the underground resistance at the camp. Together, they make a promise to escape, or die trying.

Based on a true story of the first woman to escape Auschwitz, the book does an amazing job trying to tell Mala and Edward's story. Knowing the premise is true just adds to the heartbreak of the situation yet one holds out hope for a happy ending for Mala and Edward.. A definite read for fans of WW2 fiction.

This story is based off historical fact and real people who were prisoners in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The only thing I struggled with was the amount of time it took me to get into. The beginning was just too slow for me, although the build was essential for the plot. Descriptions throughout this book made you feel as though you were really there witnessing the horrors for yourself, and there was more than one time reading where I felt sick to my stomach.

The romance between Mala and Edek brought about a sense of hope and every time they met up with one another, butterflies swarmed my stomach. A third character who stood out to me was Mala's closest friend and accomplice, Zippy. I loved her fire and resilience; same goes for Mala who stopped at nothing to save as many prisoners as she could by assigning them to specific work forces and/or literally giving them the clothes off her back. By the end of the story, I was getting Les Mis vibes (you might pick up what I'm putting down when you read it).

Overall, this book was hauntingly beautiful, brought tears to my eyes, and made me wonder how so much of that torture was gotten away with. Ellie Midwood did a fantastic job telling the brave story of Mala and Edek and it is one that all should read. On that note, I think it would be a great literature circle book for high schoolers or book club pick for small groups.

I appreciate when an author has the bravery to tell it like it is and not sanitize events or people for the sake of “propriety” or correctness. This is one of the most brutally honest historical fiction books I have read in recent memory. From the attitudes of the Nazis who run the camp to the prisoners who have their own “caste” system within the camp, everything rang horribly realistic. The author did a good job of serving a reminder that it does nobody any good to paint entire groups of people with a wide brush. I appreciated how characters from the author’s other book (The Violinist of Auschwitz) made appearances here. However, be forewarned – the fate of the main character of that book is revealed in this one, so if you have an inclination, be sure to read The Violinist… first. For a detailed review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital ARC of the book.

Amidst the cries of terror and agony heard across the concentration camps in Europe during World War II, a story of love and devotion between two prisoners arises, serving as a beacon of hope for those who witness it. When Mala, a young Jewish woman, and Edek, a young Polish man, cross paths in Auschwitz-Birkenau, sparks fly and an attachment deeper than fear is born. Surrounded by sadistic captors bent on their death-by-torture, these two, along with a handful of their friends, hatch a plan to escape and bring justice to the doorstep of the camp. However, as circumstances worsen, others harbor similar hopes and act on them sooner, putting the Nazis on high alert to potential escape attempts. Will Mala, Edek, and their friends live to escape and see justice served? Or will the evil ideology of Hitler and his Nazis take the lives of the beloved heroes? Grab a copy of The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz to find out!

As with any book about the Holocaust, this one is a kick in the gut and an eye-opener about the human condition. What sets this book apart from other Holocaust books I’ve read in the past is its approach. Instead of constant darkness and gloom, the characters in this book make a conscious effort to bring light and laughter to one of the worst situations in human history. As a reader, you grow to know, understand, and cheer for each of the characters in their quest to escape from the most infamous death machine of the 20th century, Auschwitz.

Another interesting touch that sets this book apart is that it is told partially from the perspective of a non-Jewish prisoner. If you ask anyone what they know about the Holocaust, likely the first thing they would tell you is that it was a part of World War II in which the Nazis killed millions of Jews. However, while that is certainly true, it is not the complete truth. Most people either forget or simply never learned that there were non-Jewish people tortured and killed in the concentration camps, as well. Ellie Midwood, the book’s author, does a great job at showing that, while not subtracting from or minimizing the horrific plight of the Jewish victims at the hands of the Nazi regime. To up her game even further, Midwood manages to elicit sympathy for one or two of the Nazi officers, showing her readers that some of those tasked with the dirty work of the Holocaust were not supportive of the Nazi mission, nor did they wish to play any part in killing their fellow human beings. I found this layer of perspective to be evidence of Midwood’s mastery of the art of weaving words and moving hearts.

Ultimately, it is beneficial to read about the Holocaust, in general, as it typically serves as a reminder of (and subsequent cautionary tale against) what can happen when humans give into their worst impulses and vanity. But, apart from firsthand survivor accounts, you are not likely to find more powerful, authoritative, and engaging presentations of these harrowing stories outside of Ellie Midwood’s work. This is not her first book about the Holocaust and I would wager it won’t be her last. If, like me, you prefer to learn about history through historical fiction, then I wholeheartedly recommend diving into this book and others by her!

What a book such an emotional and is based on true events it just makes you wonder how the prisoners went through the war surviving this horrendous ordeal.

Mala & Edek find love in the prison at Auschwitz and decide they want to escape as they think if they stay then they will no doubt be killed with all the others.

The spirit in the prison is amazing how the conditions they live in how can they survive. A lot of the prisoners help the others so that they will live.

Mala & Edek were the heroes and the way they carried themselves at the end was magnificent and the camp were all united.

Read this book it certainly opens your eyes to what happened.

As one can imagine, The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz, is an extremely emotional book. Based on true events, it is a window into the horrific circumstances inside the concentration camp during WWII.

This book centers around Edward (Edek) and Mala and their plan to escape the camp. Both of the ‘prisoners’ are among the select few who have been chosen for better jobs than the most. Mala does administrative work in an actual office. Edek, who devises a plan of escape, learns she is a great connection of resources. Soon after, a love story starts to enfold as Edek and Mala feelings grow for each other.

This book is definitely difficult to read at times. The author gives us a glimpse from Edek and Mala’s point of views of the camp’s conditions. And even though many WWII stories inside the camp are fiction, this one is not. One thing that draws me to Ellie Midwood’s books is the amount extensive research she does. At the end of the book, she lays out all of the facts, her resources, and all of the work gone into preparing for the book.

If the reader can get past the grueling details, this book is a must read for the hope the love can prevail even in the darkest of circumstances.

I read The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz over the course of a day as I found the story very engaging.

The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood
Publication Date: March 9, 2021
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Description from NetGalley...
“We must die standing up for something.”
“And what are we standing up for?”
“The most important thing there is. Freedom.”

Millions of people walked through Auschwitz’s gates, but she was the first woman who escaped. This powerful novel tells the inspiring true story of Mala Zimetbaum, whose heroism will never be forgotten, and whose fate altered the course of history…Nobody leaves Auschwitz alive.

Mala, inmate 19880, understood that the moment she stepped off the cattle train into the depths of hell. As an interpreter for the SS, she uses her position to save as many lives as she can, smuggling scraps of bread to those desperate with hunger.

Edward, inmate 531, is a camp veteran and a political prisoner. Though he looks like everyone else, with a shaved head and striped uniform, he’s a fighter in the underground Resistance. And he has an escape plan.

They are locked up for no other sin than simply existing. But when they meet, the dark shadow of Auschwitz is lit by a glimmer of hope. Edward makes Mala believe in the impossible. That despite being surrounded by electric wire, machine guns topping endless watchtowers and searchlights roaming the ground, they will leave this death camp. A promise is made––they will escape together or they will die together. What follows is one of the greatest love stories in history…
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Thank you to @NetGalley @bookouture for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
As the story of Mala and Edward goes, it was touching. It’s always amazing to read about people who survived the impossible. As the book itself, the writing felt shaky at times and it took me awhile to get into because it was quite slow.

Having always been drawn to stories about the Holocaust I was very keen to read this and it did not disappoint. The tale and Mala and Edek is a novel based on a true story of Edek Galinski and Mala Zimetbaum who met and fell in love at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mala's story on its own is inspirational. She was a "runner" and was held in high regard by the prisoners and some of the guards for her life saving efforts and hard work even knowing she could be killed on a whim. When she met Edek and fell in love, they plotted their escape. Given the title I was expecting a "and they escaped and lived happily ever after" tale but I came to realise that physical escape and emotional escape are two different things in light of this story. Right up until the end, this one held my full attention and I loved Midwood's writing, I could really visualise everything. Anything to do with the Holocaust is gut wrenching but the end of this novel was so terribly inspirational and devastatingly sad. This book was amazing and I am now going to read all of Midwood's other novels.

Oh my goodness, this true story about Mala and Edek, two brave and beautiful souls who helped so many and instilled hope and bravery among their fellow prisoners in Auschwitz, is one that will stay with you. I’m not sure how to explain the way this book made me feel, it’s, just, incredible!
This beautiful, heartbreaking book is so poignant and raw, I read it with a heavy heart but also found myself smiling through my tears. I have read many historical fictions based on the Holocaust and I have quite a few favourites. This is now one of them!
The writing is exquisite, and the storyline gut-wrenchingly real and absolutely horrific as it details the realistic and barbaric ways the SS conducted themselves and treated the prisoners of Auschwitz. I was saddened, shaking my head in shock and even though I know so much about the concentration camps, I still can’t get my head around the fact this it is true and all of this really happened in our human history.
I highly recommend this incredible, realistic and beautiful read for all historical fiction lovers, it is one not to be missed.

I am left speechless as I try to put into words the impact this book had on my heart. I cannot simply say it was a wonderful story, as the story itself was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and devastating. The horrors of Auschwitz portrayed through The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz were often more than I could handle. The love story entwined throughout made me believe in hope and the prospect of better things. Through these horrors, Midwood brings us a meticulously written must read story.

Sadly this book wasn’t for me, I have to admit I don’t read historical fiction like this much and I kind of feel there are enough true life stories to be told, I don’t think fiction is the way to go, yes I’m aware this is based on a true story, but I’d rather read an account, biography, not a fictionalised version. I’m sure plenty will appreciate this, just not one for me

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is a book concerning several characters who are prisoners in a German concentration camp, during WWII. I love history and especially that of WWII, but this was a bit of a tougher read than I had anticipated. It has an interesting take on what life, in the camps, was like....what was required to try and survive, and the desire to escape was always in one's mind, It may have been in the mind, but the determination had to be silent and in the heart! We have the girl, Mala Zimmerman, who has managed to gain the trust of her German captors. This relationship will help her do what may seem impossible, but she is tough. She helps and falls for another captor named Edward. You will follow Mala and Edward as they plan their escape. This is not a book you will read in one sitting.....it was too draining for me to do that, but you will put it down, get a respite and pick it back up again. It is not a light novel where you can't wait to turn the page, but it does make want to find the resolution. Take the time to read this novel and I hope you find value in it.

rating- 1/5 stars
Do I recommend?- sadly, no. This book bored me for the longest time and I had no motivation to read it.

-review-
Honestly, I can't even name a single "positive thing" about this book. It bored me and I kept on telling myself that it was going to get better, and it was going to be a great book. But no, I was wrong it got worse and worse to the point where it took me months to finish it. (I usually finish a book within 1-7 days). The plot was just SO BORING. I think the issue with historical fiction is you can't add too many facts but it can't be full of fiction either. This book leaned towards the factual repetitive side where it was just such a bore. If I didn't feel compelled to write this review, I would have totally ditched this book. Long story short, don't wast your time on this book.

The Girl Who Escaped from Auswitx is my second book by Ellie Midwood she really has become a favorite author for me her last novel The Violinist of Auschwitz was amazing and this new story didn't disappoint.

The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz is the story of Mala Zimetbaum a very special Inmate that even some of the SS officers respect and gave her preferences. she was kind to her fellow Inmates and helped them in any way she could help them, with stuff that can put her in danger but at the same time this is what keeps her alive, helping others as much as she can.

Edward was a political prisoner, he also had certain "priorities or advantage" from other inmates making it a little bit more easy for him to move around and same as Mala help others, he had a great plan to escape with his best friend, he just has to move the right pieces to be able to finally go free, even if that meant getting the help of an SS officer or someone that can betray your trust.

The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz tells us the story of Mala and Edward how they met, how they fell in love, and how they got ready with the necessary things to finally be able to escape the hell they been living for so long.

No one escapes from Auschwitz, nothing is set in stone.

This book was different from The Violinist of Auschwitz, the Violinist had more romantic touches and more sensible parts where we get to learn and meet the sensibility of Alma, as for Mala, she was more of a warrior, a fighter ready to help and attack whenever was necessary, This mook was more focused on how the prisoners live, what they had to do to survive, there was love, and other things that made this book great but the main topic was how they live and what they were trying to do and help to be able to finally escaped...

Overall it was a good read, I cried so much with the story and the evilness of the SS, and the Gestapo.
I really can't understand how someone can have that amount of evilness in his mind to be able to do the atrocities they did, without any remorse.. especially to children.

another amazing book by Ellie!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This book is heartbreaking and uplifting all at once; this author has an ability to take actual people from history and write eloquent and captivating words and thoughts for them. This book is based on a true story, Mala Zimetbaum and Edward Galinski actually existed and fell in love and were brave and selfless heroes during WWII, this is their story. WWII was so full of Atrocities and horrors that we sometimes forget that in the midst of all that, people fell in love, people tried to do what in their heart was right no matter the cost to themselves.

Mala Zimetbaum was raised to be strong and self reliant by her father, she was learned and ended up with a position as a runner during the war due to her knowledge of languages. Mala used her position to help as many people as she could, sometimes at great cost to herself. It was this position as helper to others that led Edward (Edek) Galinski to her to ask a favour in return for goods. Edek had a plan to escape with his friend, Wieslaw Kielar, and required Mala’s assistance. As he met with her more and more often, it didn’t take long for Edek to realize that if Mala wouldn’t escape with him, he would stay with her. Would they be able to implement their escape plan successfully or would it be thwarted by the vile nazi regime. The characters are rich and memorable, this story will stay with you long after you read the book; both because of the author’s masterful telling of the tale and the fact that this is based on a true story. This author has also written a book called The Violinist of Auschwitz, based on the true story of Alma Rose, who is also noted in this book.

I love the historical facts that were noted in the book and the suggestions to read more survivors tales. After reading this book I googled both Mala Zimetbaum and Edward Galinski, as well as many others from the book and was pleased to see actual pictures of them and read more about them and their inspiring lives. In a world where there was untold horrors and atrocities against humanity; there was also hope, kindness and above all, never ending love.

Such a heart wrenching story based on a true story. I was really looking forward to reading this as this is a subject that interests me a lot. Ellie Midwood has written an excellent ww2 novel.

Marla is the first woman to escape Auschwitz and Edward who planned the escape are true heroes, I still can not imagine how such young adults managed to survive such horrible times.

Brilliant read and would thoroughly recommend to others