The Girl Who Survived by Ellie Midwood.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 out of 5 stars).

The story follows protagonist Ilse Stein who is transported to a Minsk Gehtto, with both her older and younger sister. Along Ilse’s fight for survival in the concentration camp, she meets Wilhelm Schultz, a Luftwaffe captain, who she begins to work for, and eventually falls in love with, together; planning their escape from the evil hands of the SS guards and the German mission to defeat and kill all Jews.

The story began like many others of this genre does, however, I was captivated straight from the kindness of Schultz, who showed kindness, concern and protectiveness towards Ilse. I genuinely felt and tugged onto all hope that both Ilse and Schultz could escape not only the ghetto and it’s surroundings, but their already conceived positions in society and the world. As two people who could never be together.I loved both Ilse and Schultz’ relationship and character development throughout the story. And I loved Ilse and Lisa’s friendship just as much!

Although I would have liked a little of a longer ending/epilogue (as I was so made up with the baby reveal and their successful escape), I would have loved to have known a little more of what became of them both later on.

Overall, Ellie Midwood’s writing is compelling, emotional and authentic. This was a joy to read and one I will never forget. This deserves all of the stars.

Ellie Midwood has become one of my favorite authors in historical fiction genre!

“We live together, or we die together.”

Plot :- The Girl Who Survived is based on true events, about the lives of Ilse Stein, a German Jew and Wilhelm an SS administrative officer. Ilse's life turned upside down when she and her family were sent to Minsk ghetto. She becomes friends with Lisa, a Soviet Jew and starts working for Wilhem. She was supposed to hate him but in the end, a romantic relationship develops between the two and Ilse gets involved in supplying ammunition to the partisan groups.

Good Things:- As usual, Ellie's writing is mesmerizing and captivating and knows how to make the reader get into the story. I was so hooked into the writing that I couldn't even put the book down! As usual, any Holocaust stories that are based on true stories will make me emotional and this book was one of the emotional reads. The story is told from Ilse's point of view and her raw emotions, feelings seemed all too real. When one reads this book, it's like you couldn't believe that these things did happen in real life--the brutal things. The author must have done tremendous research on this story so kudos to the author! I have heard many stories about how the Nazis treated Russians with brutality so here also, we get a peek at how Soviets were treated. Some parts were heartbreaking to read.

I also liked the slow-budding romance between Ilse and Wilhelm. If you know the history behind the Nazis, the romance between Jews and Germans is forbidden so as a reader, I was worried that someone might find out about their relationship! The ending was so emotional but I wish I know what really happened to Ilse and Wilhelm in the end--the story ends in the year in 1943.

There is literally nothing I didn't like about this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Oh what a story again! Ellie Midwood has brought me to tears once again with her second book in the Women and the Holocaust series book # 2 "The Girl Who Survived". I read the first book, "The Girl in the Striped Dress" a few weeks ago and loved it. This one did not disappoint.
In keeping with the theme of prisoner falling in love with captor, we experience the love story of Ilse Stein and Willy Schultze. Ilse is a German-Jew, imprisoned in the Minsk ghetto after losing her parents to the Nazis. Ilse and her sisters are living in the ghetto when Willy's brigade is killed by the SS in a pogrom massacre of extraordinary levels. Willy, needing new workers picks a new brigade from the ghetto survivors, Ilse is one of those he chooses. Captured by her beauty he swiftly promotes her to a leading position and soon vows to keep her alive. "We live together, we die together" is his sentiment to Ilse and he means it literally. Over the course of their story Willy risks his own life several times to save not only Ilse from sure annihilation but several other jewish prisoners as well. Upon hearing of the total termination and liquidation of the ghetto being scheduled Willy knows it is time to act and devises a plan of escape, for not only Ilse and her sisters and friends, but for himself also. Willy no longer believes in the Reich and plans to defect with Ilse, an act that would for sure cost him his life if caught.
This book is so horrific in the things one human being is capable of inflicting upon another for no good reason other than being different. It is so heartbreaking to think that we can be reduced to such actions, and to wonder just how so many came to believe in their own superiority over someone else? To the point they felt it was their right to torture, beat, and kill an entire race of people? It just does not compute in my brain how this even took place, but it did. And we need to keep these memories alive, we need to read books like these, that not only tell of good, of survival, but also remind us how easily evil can creep into our everyday lives and take hold without one realizing what is happening. Through authors like Ellie Midwood, these stories will not be lost. The bad, along with the good will forever be written for future generations to read, learn from and hopefully not repeat the mistakes of the past.
An excellent book, a must read, make sure you have the box of tissues handy, you will need them. Another beautiful love story, showing that love does conquer all.
Thank you to Bookouture and Net Galley for the free ARC of this novel, I am giving my honest review in return.

I really enjoyed this story. The writing style was wonderful and I like the author. This book was so powerful and the story it tells is classic. I can see this author becoming popular on tik tok. this book radiates future classic vibes.

I read this book on a particularly grim day. New edicts from a tyrannical governor so I commiserated with the main characters in the book. I think that’s why I have been obsessed with Holocaust stories, fiction and real, for years. I think If they survived that then I can survive my trials. It’s hard to keep up hope, but reading this book gave me a much needed injection of hope. Hope that times will be better, that people;e rights will be respected, and that evil will lose. It did back then. Th3 story is realistic and easy to become engrossed in as all Midwood’s books have been. Lose yourself in her latest and tell yourself you will survive.

This newest book from Ellie Midwood is a wonderful read! Who would ever have thought a German Jew would fall in love with a Luftwaffe pilot. This story revolves around the main character being deported to Minsk and her daily life and falling in love with the Luftwaffe officer. There is a lot of his mentioned in this book, and did take place in an unfamiliar, to me, location but is a wonderful story. You will see how German officers changed their views of Jews and the war and root for the 2 main characters.

A work of fiction based on true events. Ellie Midwood wrote another heartbreaking novel based in a camp during the most horrific time in history. What happened to the Jewish people is so horrible. So demeaning. So unjust. How people can say it never happened. Or that they deserved it. It's beyond my comprehension. More than my brain can handle.

At the end of this book is: A NOTE ON HISTORY. This paragraph says a lot about this book. For anyone who does not understand how a historical fiction book can also be true. It's based on actual events. Based on real life people. On a true couple during the most horrendous time in their lives.
"Thank you so much for reading The Girl Who Survived. Even though it's a work of fiction, most of it is based on a true story. Ilse Stein and Willy Schultz(the names weren't changed) indeed met in Minsk in 1942 after Schultz's brigade was killed by the SS during the Purim massacre the day before that. Their meeting itself and the following development of their relationship are also true to fact. I tried to stick to reality as much as I could while working on this novel and used any information available concerning Ilse or Willy to paint as accurate of a portrait of both as I could. Ilse's family history, including their move from Nidda to Frankfurt and her further employment at the parachute factory and the eventual deportation, are based on fact, same as Willy's family history and the history of his employment and war service.
There is a lot more, but that sums up these two and whether they truly existed or not.

This is a very heartbreaking story as are all or most historical fiction that is based on actual events. Dealing with WW2 is a touch subject to read. It brings out so much emotion. At least for me. Where it says the Jewish children were moved to the back of the classroom made me take pause. Where have I heard something so similar? Maybe telling black people to move to the back of the bus? It's not the exact same but so so close it made my skin crawl. How can people have so much hatred in their hearts for someone just because they are different? How do you justify it? I will never understand it and I've tried for quite a few years. Being such a person has to be horrible. They can't possibly be happy with their lives.

This book is well written and well researched. It's told with such heart and meaning. It will have you holding your breath and crying so many tears. Trying to understand how this happened. Trying to grasp the concept of what makes the human heart turn so dark. So cruel. Can one man really start something so horrible. Or was it more. Was it a group that got behind this one tyrant and then the world had to come take him down. Or them down. Can it happen again? I am very much afraid it could at times. If we don't keep history alive and well. We as a group of human beings have to understand that this will not, must not, can not, ever happen again. Care for each other. No matter the color, religion, sexual preference. No matter where you was born. Just have some empathy. Care for each other.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #EllieMidwood, #Bookouture for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

5/5 stars and a high recommendation.

A completely heart wrenching and should destroying book that I couldnt put down and I have not been able to stop thinking about. I cried so much but I loved every page

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "The Girl Who Survived" in exchange for my honest review.

The story starts at the end in Minsk, Soviet Union, February 1943 with the promise "we live together or die together."

The story then continues in Frankfurt in May 1940 with the true story of Ilse Stein and her sisters Lily and Lore. Ilse sneaks into a theatre that she is no longer allowed into because she wants to feel "normal" again.

In November 1941, Ilse and her family are deported to Minsk. Vati dies on the train and Mutti makes Ilse promise that she will survive. In January 1942, Ilse meets Willy Schultz (an SS administrative officer) who gives her his gloves. He falls for Ilse and promises to help her to survive. He has her assigned to be his typist.

No matter what happens in the Ghetto Willy protects the Jews assigned to his detail. He makes plans to help them escape. The Partisans assist them in the forests. When they learn that there are no more Jews left in Minsk, Willy announces that "We shall be the Jewish people."

Ilse fell in love with a German soldier that she was supposed to loath. She'd been sent to the Ghetto simply because she existed. She did not believe she would survive the summer and then she met Willy, who promised that she would survive even if it would cost him everything.

This book was hard to put down and the characters are equally hard to forget. The only part that would have made the book better would have been a bit more about what happened to Ilse and Willy after they made their escape.

Willie and Ilse

A Nazi concentration camp is an unlikely place for two people to find love, however , more unlikely is the love between a Nazi officer and a Jewish girl. This is the story of Willie and Ilse. Willie is a reluctant Nazi in that he does not believe in the murdering of the Jewish people and abhors the SS in their terror tactics. He falls in love with Ilse and protects her, her two sisters Lilly and Lori and his 200 Jewish women workers under his command from being slaughtered by the SS.

Their love story, survival and escape is contained in this book. Lizzie a communist and soviet Jew is one of the main characters with the partisan group smuggling out prisoners 5 at a time to join the partisan's in the forest.

The book is very well written, the characters are human and believable good and bad. The situation is sad and tragic but it is a story that needs to be told and remembered. My heart hurt at times....and a few tears fell especially when reading about the children and the pit. Even with such horrible events taking place there are so many good human qualities that the good mixes with the bad and one does know that humanity still existed.

This book needs to be read I would highly recommend it.

I really enjoy books of this genre, so I was excited to have the chance to read it. The book is based on a true story. As with other books, it's an emotional read, but it wasn't quite was I expected. There was some overdetailing, which created some lulls in the pace.

THE GIRL WHO SURVIVED is another excellent WW11 novel by ELLIE MIDWOOD. It is based on the true story of Ilse Stein’s experiences in the Minsk ghetto and her relationship with Willy Schultz of the Luftwaffe who should really have been her enemy.
The author describes the horror of the conditions in the ghetto, the inhumane treatment of the Jews and the courage of those working with the underground. In spite of the narcissistic and malicious attitude of most of the Nazi guards, there are some like Willy and his friend Otto who treat the prisoners with respect, which brings some hope into an otherwise hopeless situation. It is a story about sacrificial love, bravery and the desire to survive when survival seems impossible.
I like to see Ilse’s love for her sisters and her friendship with the resourceful Russian jewess, Liza Gutkovitch.
The story is well told and the raw emotions of the characters well described.
It is a great read.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bookouture. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

I was given an ARC of this story and I thought it was a powerful and disturbing read.

Its power came from the first-person narrative of a young woman seeing her family torn apart, her status reduced to nothing just because she was a Jew.

Disturbing is the right word due to the actions perpetrated by those whose arrogance made them think they were above anyone except Aryans. Under the guise of National Socialism, with Adolf Hitler at the head, some Germans decided that torture and annihilation of the Jews (and others supposedly beneath them) was acceptable. This book shows the despicable actions of the Nazis and the existence within one of the ghettos for the Jews, Russians and Polish. It also demonstrates the strength and determination of those incarcerated.

The Nazis delighted in cruelty, death and torture and those prisoners were in fear every day - was this the day of their death? The Nazis slaughtered at will. It showed the Nazis as cowards and bullies.

The book shows just how low a human can go - absolutely disgusting and this history should never be forgotten.

In addition, this story is about the romance between Ilse and a member of the Luftwaffe (German airforce). This was done well if only to show that not all Germans were bad (only the Nazis). In fact, Ilse was German and yet being a Jew made her worthless and stateless.

Overall, it was a great story, however, it made me ashamed to be human. And looking at the world now, it appears that no lessons have been learned, the hate continues.

A worthy read.

I was very under whelmed by this - felt it was extremely slow and drawn out - felt like a chore to read it - despite so many great ratings it wasn’t for me I apologise but Net Galley granted this book In return for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Author for this readers ebook copy in return for an honest review!

The Girl Who Survived by Ellie was a very emotional, gripping story!
And one I had such a hard time putting down!
The Characters here were amazing!. Wonderful, smart and strong
The book is very well written, the characters are human and believable good and bad. The situation is sad and tragic but it is a story that needs to be told and remembered!
Overall this is one book that shouldn't be missed!
Another 5 star read!

Thanks again NetGalley, Publisher and Author for the chance to read and review this amazing book!
I'll post to my Social media platforms closer to pub date!

Another amazing historical novel by Ellie Midwood. I love that most of this author's novels are based on true stories. Anyway, what I liked about this novel is that it is pretty focused on the romantic relationship between Ilse and Willi without neglecting the background in which the story develops (e.g., the details of the war, the horrible conditions the Jews were subjected to in the ghetto, etc.). My only small complaint is that I would have liked to read more about Ilse's relationship with her sisters. Nevertheless, the plot and characters were very well researched and written, and I loved the ending.

I would highly recommend this inspiring story about heroes and true love to anyone who loves historical fiction books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture, I had the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"No human being is better than any other."

Once again, Midwood's writing creates a beautiful story, in a place of such tragedy. The writing style used ensures constant engagement, as well as providing such visceral descriptions on the ghetto- it is clearly very well researched. Although it deviates slightly from the reality of these true stories, by doing so Midwood creates a story of hope, within one of desolation, and for that I am grateful.
My only issue when reading this was the occasional complicated descriptions of the war itself and the battles taking place, but this confusion did add to the atmosphere and realism of the novel, ultimately.
Overall, this is a read a well recommend, and Midwood's ability to write about such tragedies has not yet ceased to amaze me.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this eARC!)

The Girl Who Survived by Ellie Midwood.

A story based on a true story. It tells the story of eighteen year old Ilse who has been sent via a cattle truck to a Minsk ghetto.
She meets SS administrative officer Wilhem , and they fall in love . Not the greatest time and place to do so , at a cost to both .
This is a emotional and powerful story of how they manage to keep their love a secret when on the face of it they are enemies.
A brilliant heartbreaking story.

Each of Ellie Midwood’s historical fiction novels feature the holocaust, yet somehow she manages to make each one unique and continues to educate readers about such a dark time in history. Ellie, who has been studying WW2 since she was 15 years old, has the ability to make history come alive and make it feel personal for each reader. Her stories bring the harsh reality of life in a concentration camp into focus, highlighting the brave people who do what they can to survive another day. Each is historically accurate, rich in detail, and only slight embellishments are made on actual fact. It’s obvious that she carefully listened and absorbed her grandfather's war stories. Volunteering at 17, he became a Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front and was among the troops that took Berlin and Reichstag. Each time a new book is released, it’s as though Midwood is sowing another seed, ensuring that history doesn’t repeat itself. She wants us to know about the courage, resilience, and self-sacrifice of her characters, real people, so that their example inspires readers to be better people, to stand up for what’s right, to give a voice to the ones who’ve been silenced, and to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves.

MIdwood’s story tells of a Luftwaffe officer, Captain Willy Schultz, who met his love, Ilse in the Minsk ghetto in 1942, which led to him changing sides and becoming a saboteur of the ghetto, saving many from inevitable death. Like the other concentration camps, the Minsk ghetto was hell on earth. Eighteen year old Ilse and her German Jewish family were transported to the Minsk ghetto in 1941. The ghetto, created after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, was one of the largest in Belorussian SSR. Within the ghetto, the Sonderghetto, a ghetto within a ghetto, was set up to keep the ‘Hamburg Jews’ separate from the local (Russian) Jews. Communicating through Yiddish, the Germans can communicate with the Russians and a bond is forged in an effort to survive. In defiance and partly as a method of escape, Ilse joins others in sneaking out, piece by piece, items from the munitions factory.

Midwood’s riveting account deals with the devastating destiny of the Jews, the inhumanity of the SS, and the blatant courage and determination of the partisan movement involving actual people from within the confines of the barbed wire and fencing. Ellie brings such a passion for the subject and a plethora of knowledge to the table when she pours her heart and soul into each novel. She pours life into her characters, real people, and brings to life the horrors of capture under the German regime.

In a place where love is least expected, it blossoms, and Midwood masterfully includes us in Ilse and Willy’s story. Part of a trio of women in the holocaust, ‘The Girl In The Striped Dress’ and ‘The Girl Who Survived’ beg to be added to historical fiction lovers reading lists.

Publishes September 7, 2021.

I was gifted this advance copy by Ellie MIdwood, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I have really enjoyed Ellie Midwoods books - I don't know why she is not more well-known in the WWII fiction genre, but she should be. She writes a very emotionally powerful story about a girl living in horrible circumstances - a ghetto in Minsk (capital of Belarus). I didn't know until half-way into this story, that it is based on a true story - which made this book all the more interesting and heart-wrenching. Because it is so very real. What do you do when you fall in love with the enemy? When you no longer see him as a uniform that is occupying your country, and see him as a human being? It happens, and it happened probably many times during different wars. This book is about the courage of a young girl and her ability to fight back, her ability to love openly, and to never give up. I couldn't put this book down, I had to see how it ended, and warning, you will need kleenex.
But read this book. Especially if you couldn't get enough of "the Tattooist of Auschwitz".