The Heroine of Auschwitz" by Mark DeMeza is a powerful and emotional novel that explores the human spirit's capacity for resilience and hope in the face of unimaginable suffering. The story follows a young woman's journey through the horrors of Auschwitz, where she finds strength in her faith and humanity amidst the darkness. With its vivid descriptions and poignant storytelling, this book sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of history, making it a compelling read for those interested in historical fiction and stories of survival. It's a testament to the human capacity for courage and kindness

My heart is breaking. My stomach is turning. I closed The Heroine of Auschwitz with a heavy-heart, saddened by what so many went through in World War Two. The author created a world that will remain in my thoughts. He made the story feel so real. I knew it would be a tragic story. I didn't know all the story would entail.

The Heroine of Auschwitz is the second book of Rachael Kisch's story. It begins with Rachael and her brother travel to Auschwitz in horrid conditions. It was thought things would be better when they climbed out of the cattle car.

How wrong they all were. Open this book and enjoy your freedom, thank those that sacrificed for your freedom, as Rachael andher fellow prisoners try to survive. Hurry and line up, only to wait for hours. Weakness was not acceptable and easly removed by the soldiers. The reader witnesses the goings-on within the concentration camp.

Rachael and brother were saved only to suffer later. She thought the would remain together. She through wrong. Rachael ended up working within the Kanada. She witnessed the lies, the thievery, bribery and more on a daily basis and so does the reader.

Through the author's words experience the horrors of Auschwitz and the treatment of prisoners. Witness the abuse administered by the SS and Kapo. By the time I closed the book I was in awe of those that were able to walk out the gates. Now to wait for book three to see what is in Rachael's future. Read the words of Mark DeMeza and remember. With every WW2 book we read, with every WW2 movie we watch we are reminded of the past. We must always remember and never repeat.

This book is a must read for everyone wanting to know about the horrors in Auschwitz Birkenau camps Most of this story I already knew and read about before and it still is heartbreaking every time. Would definitely recommend.

Could not out this book down what a story! Well told and descriptive and the storyline is heatbreaking, but gripping.
Always heartbreaking to read story's of this description but gives you such an insight as to the horrors and the lives these people had to endure and how they did what ever they could to survive.
Amazing book ten out of ten

Very strong and poignant story based on real experiences at Auschwitz. Sympathetic and sensitive telling of the next chapter in Rachael Kisch's story. I avidly await the final book.

A very good fictionalised account of the conditions and experiences within Auschwitz Birkenau. The characters are very well captured and their experiences in the Sonderkommando and Kanada are detailed and interesting. This is such a terrible chapter in our history and books like these are important in ensuring people remain aware of what happened.

I absolutely love reading about Auschwitz, this books encompasses everything. I loved it. I was extremely moving. 5 stars.

This is a very intense, disturbing look at events at Auschwitz. A heartbreaking story that can bring tears to your eyes. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

A hard, cold look at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration camp, and a heart-breaking lost love. While the story is good and well written, there are thousands of books, fiction and nonfiction, about Auschwitz and Birkenau. While Auschwitz was important, there were other concentration camps with stories as equally heartbreaking.

This book was very moving.
I didnt know at the time it was a second book in a series but i will go back and read it.
It tells the story of Rachael and Hannes from when they arrived at Auschwitz and how they got separated. It was an amazing book the story bought tears to my eyes.

I love historical fiction, especially fiction that is set during and around the holocaust or its aftermath, and, I think this is possibly up there with one of the best I have read. It was thought provoking, evocative and left me feeling utterly bereft at times.
There were things in this book that I wasn't aware of, and, that isn't spoken about much in other fiction books around this topic and so I really loved the author for that.
If you love books that are full of rich imagery and striking descriptions then this author and this book is for you. I would highly recommend

4 1/2 stars
Set in Auschwitz this is a heartbreaking story of the lives of Rachael and Ludwig and their experiences. This book has a dual pov which I found very interesting snd gave an insight into the different jobs the women and men had to do in the camps. This was a fascinating and also hard read at times, the author goes into detail to describe the hard conditions, the horrors they endured and many more heartbreaking moments. I felt that I learnt a lot from this book. I also found the historical note at the end super interesting to read, lots of the SS in this book were based on real people.
Having read many other books set in Auschwitz I found to be one of the best and also unique thst I’ve read. I would definitely recommend this book.
The only reason that I didn’t give it 5 stars was that it ended in a cliffhanger, I assume there will be another book though, which I would definitely read.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions expressed are my own.

The Heroine of Auschwitz by Mark DeMeza is written in third-person POV. It takes place in the time period of November 1943 to January 1945.

This is a continuation from Mark's previous book The Thirteenth Child. While some things may be fictional in their events for the flow of the story, this is an amalgamation of true events that occurred and need to be remembered to ensure that we never again carry out the genocide and harm of WWII Nazism.

It is a bit off-putting to end a book about the Holocaust with "I hope you enjoyed it!"

The Heroine of Auschwitz is Book 2 of the Rachael Kisch trilogy. Of the hundreds of WWII Historical Fiction novels I have read, this has to be one of the most moving and heart crushing I have ever experienced. No horrendous detail is omitted from the intensity of the cattle cars which transported innocent unsuspecting people to the hell of Auschwitz to the in-depth descriptions of processing prisoners to torture to starvation to murder to disposing of bodies, dead and alive. Everything at this camp was designed for maximum emotional, mental and physical pain. Degradation, humiliation and cruelty clung to the prisoners every moment of every day and night. What they suffered is incomprehensible to me. But author Mark DeMeza writes so powerfully and profoundly I had to take frequent breathers as my emotions took over. I became incredibly invested and cared deeply about the prisoners. I am in tears and revulsion as I type this, reflecting on their bravery and perseverance and the capacity of fellow humans to practice pure evil. Historical information includes Poland's annexation, the conversion of the base to Auschwitz, finding buried scrolls, murder statistics, photographing evidence, and the real-life tormentors such as Irma Grese, Josef Mengele, Rudolf Höss and Otto Moll who gave their all to ensure immense suffering.

Dutch Jews Rachael and her brother Hannes were forced to travel in a cattle car to Auschwitz. After being searched, shaved and tattooed, they were separated and Rachael was chosen to work in Kanada processing and recording gold from jewelry and teeth, flesh still attached. She was promoted to the head of administration of Kanada and used her position to help other prisoners at great personal risk. She met Ludwig Albin from north of the camp who was forced to be part of the Sonderkommando group or SK. His job was the most unbearable imaginable and decompressing was next to impossible. Conditions were grim and dire, walking skeletons untangling human hair and packing it into bales, juxtaposed with the orchestra playing and guards enjoying food. One driving force to keep themselves alive was to locate family, including Rachael's brother. Layer upon layer of sorrow rained upon the prisoners.

I appreciate the author adding the hierarchy of prisoners and the roles of captors in a glossary for further information. If only I could articulate how deeply this impacted me. This is a powerful, powerful book and ought to be required reading for everyone.

This was an amazing book telling you what happened to the prisoners in 1943 going to Auschwitz.
A train carrying many Dutch was going to Auschwitz carrying among other Rachel and her brother
They did not know where they were going or what was going to,happen to,them there conditions on the train was terrible and they thought it would get better when they reached their destination.
Buf that was not to be. Conditions were hell.
Rachel and her brother were separated, Rachel was determined to survive and find her brother again.
While in the camp Rachel met Ludwig a polish farmer,and they struck up a friendship
.its difficult to explain this book but for the people in these camps it was the most horrific experience, and how some survived to tell the story of what happened to them must be what nightmares are made of.

What an amazing story - once I started to read it I couldn't put it down - in fact I read it in one evening which lasted until 3am. Most of the time I had a tear in my eye or a lump in my throat as I read more about the awful things they experienced.

I hope to have the opportunity to read more of Mark's books. Thank you for the advance copy, all the view expressed are mine and are given freely..