Cover Image: The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz

The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz

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Member Reviews

Thank you to Boukouture, Netgalley and the author for an advance copy. I was late to request this one and was expecting to be declined so felt truly humbled to have the request granted.

This novel has given me one of the worst book hangovers I have had in a while. The book moved me in such a way I felt desolate at the end. What was I going to do with the time that I had given to Mala and Edick and everyone I had met in the novel.

This novel is meticulously researched and beautifully written. I have read numerous novels set in Auschwitz but for me it was the first introduction to the Sauna, and Mexico, and to the Orchestra who the author features in another novel The Violinist of Auschwitz (which has not gone onto my TBR list). This is a harrowing read though which at times can be very difficult. Even though I know the background, I know what went on, it still makes quite distressing reading.

I never get bored of reading holocaust novels and the Girl (and boy) who Escaped Auschwitz didnโ€™t disappoint.

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This incredible novel sucked me in during the first few pages. I'm drawn to WW2 historical fiction and The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz was no exception - ESPECIALLY because it is based on the true story of Mala - a heroine for the ages.

I felt like I was there with them. It's a story of love, bravery, courage, and tenacity.

Ellie Midwood does a fabulous job of introducing reads into the lives of those at Auschwitz. Her words are poetic in the way they make you feel.

Thank you Ellie for bringing this story to light. There are so many untold stories from WW2 an these need to be released. Thank you for letting us in, and while it may be hard for us to comprehend the atrocity of mankind during this era, these stories need to be told as a reminder to the past - and to honour those who gave all fighting against inequality and oppression.

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Who would guess a love story would start in Auschwitz Camp? This camp is a death camp for not only Jewish people, but even Germans who are considered dissidents that donโ€™t conform to Hitlers Regime.
Mala and Edward do the impossible by finding love and deciding that they were not going to let this camp defeat them!
This book is truly amazing and the characters are strong and take you on a journey that make you turn page after page until you donโ€™t realize that you have been up half the night!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great fantabulous read!
I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

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I loved it! This was so beautifully written and captures all emotions felt by the two characters. The details are horrific and make you cringe but it is still something everyone needs to read. This is another story about how love is stronger than any sort of hate and how prisoners were the strongest and bravest of them all. I did like that Midwood included an SS soldier who was not all evil and felt compassion for the prisoners. This showed that not all the Nazis were monsters but they still turned a blind eye to all the atrocities that were happening right in from of them. Mala and Edek's stories were both amazing and the amount of strength and courange those two had was truly remarkable.Thank you to Ellie Midwood for sharing this with the world.

Thank you to Bookouture for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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๐Ÿ’ซ Book Review ๐Ÿ’ซ โฃ
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ ๐—ช๐ก๐จ ๐„๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ฉ๐ž๐ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐€๐ฎ๐ฌ๐œ๐ก๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ by Ellie Midwoodโฃ
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โ€œ...๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ดโ€. โฃ
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This line stuck out to me as soon as I read it. I read a lot of historical fiction so when a line sticks out, I remember to write it down. The idea that we need to build up instead of destroy is point that needs to be taken in 2021.โฃ
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๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ; ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ; ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ... ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ. โฃ
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โ€œFor four intolerably long years, the Naziโ€™s had tried to slaughter them in different manners- by starving them, beating them, harassing them, exposing them to extreme cold and heat, refusing them medical help and sanitary conditions, but they were still here...โ€โฃ
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My thoughts are jumbled but they normally are after books like these. I like to write down the emotions immediately so that I donโ€™t forget...โฃ
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Based on a true story, you meet Mala & Edek. Both trapped within Auschwitz/Birkenau but trying to maintain a level of humanness within the โ€œupper prisonerโ€ roles. While fine details may be fiction, these two people are not. I wept when they died but cheered that the author has actively searched out stories such as these to share. Pure and simple, I read them to remember. To give voice to people who were treated like animals and deserve my attention. โฃ
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๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ @๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ. โฃ

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Mala has a privileged position in the Nazi concentration camp but she dreams of freedom. Edek was one of the first inmates but knows the end is near. Together they fall in love and dare to dream of escape...
The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz is a devastatingly good historical fiction novel. I'll be honest: it isn't easy reading and I had to take a break every few chapters. The writing is clear yet emotive, pulling no punches. Difficult to read but impossible to put down.
The prologue gives a glimpse of the end of the story. I then made the mistake of googling the characters after the first chapter so I knew how the plot would end. This ramped up my anticipation but did remove all hope. Mala and Edek were real people, real victims of the Holocaust.
Set in the brutal environment of Auschwitz, the prisoner characters never lose their humanity despite the awful experiences. Yet, they are three dimensional characters, their foibles, doubts and nuances of personality are brought to life.
Mala and Edek are both inmates, surviving day to day amidst the horrors of death and violence. Their love story develops slowly, giving us time to enjoy their gentle passion in a place where love is scarce. The reality of their story makes the book even more tragic and adds a greater depth of poignancy to the unfolding plot.
The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz is a stunning novel that uses horrific historical detail to bring the Nazi extermination camp to life. I have previously reviewed the equally brilliantly terrible The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood.

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Courtesy of NetGalley I received the ARC of Ellie Midwood's novel The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz. This important and beautifully written narration, is based on the true story of Mala Zimetbaum and Edek Galinski, and their days in Auschwitz-Birkenau. I was emotionally drained reading every chapter. The most important mandate " to never forget" these atrocities is honored and fulfilled in this book.

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The prologue hooked me. I felt like the book was written beautifully. I loved all the details and characters. You connected instantly with the characters. The storyline was very easy to follow, and the prologue made me teary eyed. I can't wait to read more from this author!

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When I first requested this book I thought โ€œ Do I really want to read another book about Auschwitz and what those people went through.โ€ They are usually emotional reads and hard to take in. This novel was definitely emotional and hard to take in but I am so glad that I took the time to read it and learn about so many more of Auschwitz resistance who banded together to help one another get through the hell that was Auschwitz.

This story follows Mala, a young girl who upon entering the camp is assigned as a runner and translator for the S.S. There are several perks to this job, extra food, own quarters etc and Mala uses all those perks to not only help herself but to help those around them that need it most.

Edek is a political prisoner and a fighter for the underground Resistance. He has been in Auschwitz for a long time but has a plan to escape and is gathering resources, waiting for the right moment to escape.

When Edek meets Mala and she learns of his plan to escape she vows to help him. It is in helping him that they develop feeling for each other and the plan changes to include Mala in the escape.
A beautiful story of hope, courage and love in the darkest of places.

The author really brought the characters to life, like I was standing there with them. I was shocked at the end to discover that this book was based on true accounts and that so many characters in the book were actually real and lived out the experiences written in the book.
Wonderfully written and yet so heartbreaking to read. I look forward to reading more from Ellie Midwood.

Thank you to Bookouture for the advanced copy.

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This is my first Ellie Midwood book and it wonโ€™t be my last. Iโ€™ve read a lot of WWII, particularly Auschwitz, historical fiction and this is among my favourites. I really liked some of the characters and was pleased to find out that The Violinist of Auschwitz (Midwoodโ€™s previous book) is about one of the prisoners mentioned in this book and I canโ€™t wait to get to it. Without giving anything away, I was surprised at the ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the eARC of this book.

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One of my favourite genre is Historical Fiction, so reading about Auschwitz in this emotional read was totally such a poignant experience.
This made it a much more emotional read and in the end I cried but felt triumph at the same time. Triumph in the fact that even in the darkest places and times love and light can shine through the darkness.

We are following g the story of Mala, the first woman to escape Auschwitz and Edek, a veteran in the camp and underground fighter. Their escape plan was mastermind by Edek with the help from both a sympathetic SS soldier and other inmates in the camp. This reminded me of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Berlin Girl and other many stories I've read about people being trapped in this hatred killing machine place. This thing should not happen again, and that's why reading about it will only make us aware of the atrocity of a hitlerian dictatorship

Despite managing to create a beautiful story above love, hope and survival, Ellie does not attempt to gloss over the gritty and horrific details of life at a concentration camp. She says thereโ€™s โ€œno such notion of human rights in this death factoryโ€ and this definitely comes across in lots of the descriptions of starvation, beatings, and murders.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC if this book for my honest review

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I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and the author kept me engaged with the story. My heart broke (as it usually does when I read about Auschwitz) but I really enjoyed this book!

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Such a moving, haunting story that I finished in tears. Well written and I highly recommend. It was hard to put down. I still, after all Iโ€™ve read about WWII and the Holocaust, can not fathom what people went through in the camps. To survive was a miracle.

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This was a tough read. I have been on a historical fiction kick lately and WWII seems to be my favorite period to read about even though itโ€™s so hard to imagine that these atrocities happened to real people. This book is a work of fiction, but is based on true accounts of heroes that worked to make sure that there would be people that lived through Auschwitz. Two such heroes were Mala and Edek. They formed an unlikely friendship that would blossom into so much more. Even though both were assigned camp positions that kept them relatively safe from SS soldier cruelty, they couldnโ€™t sit back and let people around them continue to suffer and die day after day. The form a plan to get out and tell the story of what was actually going on in the death camp. While I had hard time reading this book, it certainly wasnโ€™t because of of the writing. It was wonderfully written and the story is an important one that we should all hear and remember. I loved Mala...she was a strong woman that never quit. I highly recommend this book to my historical fiction loving friends!

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Mala is imprisoned at Auschwitz and has the job of being a camp runner. In her โ€˜privilegedโ€™ position she helps other inmates any way she can, on several occasions literally giving the clothes off her own back or risking her life to defend others. Mala falls in love with Edek who is also part of the camps resistance. It is so lovely to hear the love stories that blossomed during a living nightmare. This shows me that people can even find light in the darkest of times.

This story is truly inspirational. Mala and Edek both needed to have their stories told and I just couldnโ€™t put this one down. Ellie Midwood has done it again and tells the stories of Auschwitz in such a powerful, understanding way. I also loved that characters from โ€˜The Violinst of Auschwitzโ€™ were included and you could see the other side of their stories.

I once again wonโ€™t be leaving a star rating for this book but I urge everyone to read it. Ellie Midwood has clearly done a lot of research to tell this story as true to fact as possible. Itโ€™s harrowing and heart breaking yet also inspiring and thought provoking. Mala and Edek are unstoppable until the very end and I imagine it wouldโ€™ve been an honour to know either of them. So grateful to of read this alongside a friend to be able to discuss the injustice and the strength the characters showed.

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๐Ÿ’ซโ€Perhaps, if there were more men who did the right thing instead of doing the profitable thing, who chose compassion and selflessness over power and greed, there wouldnโ€™t be any camps in existence.โ€๐Ÿ’ซ

This book took me a little while to get into. I found it a bit slow at the start and I probably only started reading with emotion at the 50% mark. This is yet another novel which is set in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Majority of the characters and the situations are true stories which I feel always makes these books so hard to digest. These people are incredible survivors.

This novel follows Edek and Mala, lovers and warriors. They are in charge of an escape attempt of the Auschwitz camp in 1944. I wonโ€™t spoil anything but my gosh, itโ€™s a tear jerker.

I have read my fair share of books based during this time, and I always have the same undeniable guilt to be able to live a life of freedom. These strong women and men who woke up everyday grateful to be alive. I am a very lucky person. I will continue to read these stories, because itโ€™s us understanding those millions of peoples stories, who werenโ€™t able to tell their own.

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I am very familiar with a true story of 4 men who pretended to be SS guards in order to escape from Auschwitz. I was intrigued to read this account, based on a true story, of a woman escaping.

The opening describes how โ€œthe air was fresh with the promise freedomโ€ and โ€œMala chewed contentedly on a blade of sweet grass.โ€ I was surprised to read such statements at the beginning of the book, but quickly realised the escape had already taken place. I was completely gripped, straight away. Ellie Midwood then effectively uses timelines to explore and explain how the escape came about, and what happened as a result of it.

She also uses third person perspective, with separate focuses on Mala and Edek interchangeably throughout, to show the similarities and differences between their experience of Auschwitz, and their growing relationship.

Once again, Ellie creates beautiful, well developed characters. Mala is not just beautiful but also clever and determined. We are told: โ€œThe same steel that was in her pockets now shone in her eyes.โ€ Edek is a wonderfully selfless, compassionate man. I also liked the way she used the character of Herr Rottenfuhreh Lubusch to show that for some men, this was a military and patriotic duty that had gone out of hand, beyond their wildest dreams (or nightmares). Lubusch plays a key role in saving Edek from some sticky situations, showing himself to be an unexpectedly sympathetic and humane character. I also liked the fact that Ellie brought Frau Alma back into the story โ€“ reminding us of her importance and status of the camp, and bringing us in line with the previous book.

Despite managing to create a beautiful story above love, hope and survival, Ellie does not attempt to gloss over the gritty and horrific details of life at a concentration camp. She says thereโ€™s โ€œno such notion of human rights in this death factoryโ€ and this definitely comes across in lots of the descriptions of starvation, beatings, and murders.

Overall, Ellie has delivered yet another heartbreakingly beautiful and well-researched story about love, risk, bravery and what it means to be human. She explores the importance of freedom and love, reminding us that both are key parts of human existence. I have absolutely adored this book, even though it made me ugly cry a number of times!!

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This was an incredible and heartbreaking true story. It took me a long time to read this book because of the heavy topic and I wanted to take my time as I felt privileged to be reading the true story of two incredible and brave people. The story is respectfully and beautifully written and an important story that everyone should read. It is something that will stay with me forever and is a story that needs to be kept alive.

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The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz is a work of fiction but is historically correct and true to fact. This made it a much more emotional read and in the end I cried but felt triumph at the same time. Triumph in the fact that even in the darkest places and times love and light can shine through the darkness.

Through great writing and a third person narrative Ellie Midwood told the story of Mala, the first woman to escape Auschwitz and Edek, a veteran in the camp and underground fighter. Their escape plan was mastermind by Edek with the help from both a sympathetic SS soldier and other inmates in the camp.

It is difficult to reconcile that this is based on fact highlighting the darkness that can overcome us as humans when we allow our differences to lead us.

I highly recommend this book. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey will love this book. It is beautifully written and shows the courage, love, bravery and light that is possible in the face of the worst tragedies.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC if this book for my honest review.

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In the latter months of last year I read a phenomenal book, The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood, and I knew as soon as I finished reading it that I couldnโ€™t wait to get my hands on another story by this brilliant author. Thankfully the wait wasnโ€™t too long and now the author returns to the same setting of Auschwitz during World War Two. The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz is another excellent, epic read that despite having read so many books read during this period previously I was still left in absolute horror, sadness and anger at what unfolded at the extermination camp. You think you have read everything there is to know about the camp or read every brutal description but then here is this talented author opening your eyes to so much you werenโ€™t aware of. There is a fear that you might have become hardened to some of the descriptions and images and they donโ€™t have the intended impact but in this story there were several scenes which literally made me stop, pause and gasp out loud so horrific were they.

So many years after the conclusion of the war what went on behind barbed wire still has the power to shock and awe. You really canโ€™t quite comprehend what so many people went through and whatโ€™s more it was all so needless and occurred on the whims of a mad man. The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz is another powerful, thought provoking read where you really donโ€™t know what the ending will be. Ellie Midwood has a way of having her readers become deeply invested in the incredible characters she writes about and you are with them every step of the way on their difficult journey. You want the best for them but given their circumstances you wonder is this possible to achieve?

This story is told from the perspective of two inmates, Mala and Edek. The chapters alternate between their viewpoints and over time the two connect and work for one cause and put a plan in motion for their ultimate freedom. The prologue is brief but tense and spine chilling and it lingers in your mind as you progress through the story for it raised many questions and I wasnโ€™t sure did I want to know the eventual outcome. We are then taken back to the summer of 1943 where we met Edek, a political prisoner and one of the first to arrive at Auschwitz. He is Polish and had been sentenced to hard labour as the Gestapo claimed he along with other members of the Polish intelligentsia were plotting against the Reich. He soon came to realise that the prisoners are viewed as vermin and the propaganda and front put on for the world and in particular for the Red Cross is just a mirage. For behind the gates of the camp such unspeakable, horrific and deadly atrocities occur on a daily basis that if the truth were told many would find it hard to believe that such things occurred.

Edek works in the camp locksmith making locks for Gestapo jails and he is a clever man who knows he needs to get out of the camp otherwise he cannot contemplate what eventual fate might befall him. The abuse of human rights and such torment and blood chilling experiences horrify him and impact severely on his mind. So called enemies of the Reich were to be exterminated through work, starvation or disease thatโ€™s if you were not sent to the gas chamber first. Edek knows he has to be cunning, inginuitive and clever in order to achieve his freedom and along with his friend Wieslew he creates a plan that if it is pulled off will see him walk out through the gates never to return again. This plan forms the basis of the book but it takes passion, determination, guts and lots of plotting and planning on so many peopleโ€™s parts in order to make the duos dream a reality. Thatโ€™s if everything goes to plan as posing as a guard and being discovered could have the most deadly consequences of all.

Once Edek had his plan in his mind there was no stopping him and what struck me is that these people were living in the depths of hell with torture, beatings and death lurking around every corner on the whim of a guard but yet these people had hope courage and resilience. I really donโ€™t know where they got the tenacity from to do what they did especially given how weak they must have been from lack of proper nutritional food and from being made to do back breaking work and living in such dirty and in humane conditions. Reading through the story the author opened my eyes to a whole new world. The camp was like a little country in itself with lots of sections of society and those that knew the right people, made the right contacts and came to understand the underground network at work then they were the people who stood the best chance of making it out alive. I became totally fascinated and engrossed by Edekโ€™s plan and story which was only enhanced the more that Mala began to feature.

Mala was a remarkable character who time and time again did everything in her power to improve the inmates situations. She was so selfless in a dog eatdog world where some people only looked out for themselves. Instead she used her position as camp runner to great affect. She is an interpreter and secretary for Mandl, the womenโ€™s camp leader, and therefore privy to certain things and boy does she use this to her advantage. Zippy is a secretary too and she had featured in the previous book along with Frau Alma. I loved to see this crossover of characters and events between the two books. It really helped bring the two books together that whilst Alma had her orchestra there was so much else going on at the same time especially with Mala. Mala has sworn that one day she will get back the freedom so unjustly taken from her. The one lock of shorn hair that she managed to keep is a reminder of her freedom lost and the promise that she will regain it.

Mala was a brilliantly written character. She never sat back and took it easy even though she had some form of privilege working as the secretary and camp runner. She was so open minded and knew every little trick in the book that could benefit someone in the camp. She was always so alert and on the ball and as she finds herself working for the resistance within the camp as a reader your admiration really grows for her. There was so much swapping of goods and information. Little bargaining tools that would mean nothing to us in the wider world where we have our freedom but behind the gates of hell something so simple such as a nail could mean the difference between life and death. Mala draws strength from her hatred of what she is going through and what she has witnessed. The unnecessary suffering that ensues on a daily basis and the nonchalant manner in which the camp leaders and guards deal with death and murder. She sets goals and works tirelessly to achieve them. She wants to outwit the SS in their own lair and there is no stronger, more capable woman that can do this.

When she encounters Edek and learns of his ambitious plan to flee and that he will need a pass, she does everything in her power to make this dream a reality. I donโ€™t think she bargained on developing feelings for this man but this is what happens and a powerful love story ensues. She feels a kinship with him because he is a dreamer, they both feel that surrendering and submitting is not an option. Human decency which both Edek and Mala have in spades cannot be purchased and having this trait and drawing strength from each other and making each other laugh amidst the dark moments of which there were many will hopefully see the plan come to fruition. Edek makes her see that the impossible can become a reality and that maybe there is light on the other side of the wire should she chose to join him? He gave her hope in the hell of the camp and without him Mala comes to realise that life itself will lose all meaning.

The pace of the story was fantastic and I was rapidly turning the pages as quickly as I could. Ellie Midwood makes you feel as if you too are there in the camp alongside Mala and Edek. At times, there were scenes I found very hard to read in particular the work of the sonderkommando - those men who worked in the crematorium. It was just barbaric and deeply upsetting to read about and the means in which inmates got their water well that turned my stomach. Towards the end as the plans for the Hungarian Jews become apparent well my stomach was churning at what I was reading. When you think the lowest depths have been reached you are shocked to read much lower depths can be plunged. Yet all those images and scenes needed to be in this story and I am glad the author did not spare them it gives a deeper understanding of what went on and a deep appreciation for the sacrifices so many people made at the time in order to win the war.

Millions of inmates died needlessly. Such hatred, systematic slaughter and mass extermination were inhumane and one wonders can Mala and Edek survive on their intellect and see their plan become a success. To discover the outcome, read this amazing book that will have a profound and long lasting impact on you.Ellie Midwood has now certainly cemented herself as one of my favourite authors and itโ€™s been a long time since I have been so excited about discovering a new author. Long may she publish books of this astounding calibre.

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