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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
Books like these are so hard to review, especially as based on a true story.
This has been on my TBR for far too long, Cilka is such an interesting woman, the horrors she faced at such a young age were heartbreaking. She is such an inspiring person and her bonds with the other women were heartwarming (not the right word at all) and the fact that they had each other to get through those awful times.
The authors writing is breathtaking, she gets across Cilka’s story respectfully.
This has been on my TBR for far too long, Cilka is such an interesting woman, the horrors she faced at such a young age were heartbreaking. She is such an inspiring person and her bonds with the other women were heartwarming (not the right word at all) and the fact that they had each other to get through those awful times.
The authors writing is breathtaking, she gets across Cilka’s story respectfully.
La primera vez que leí sobre Cilka, fue en "El Tatuador de Auschwitz", una joven judía que a los 16 años compartió experiencias en el campo de concentración de Auschwitz con el protagonista de "El Tatuador..." y al terminar de leerlo, conmovida hasta el tuétano, me quedé con las ganas de saber que había sido de Cilka.
En este libro te lo cuentan. Otra historia desgarradora de la Guerra, pero de lo que le sucedió después de la misma a una joven que tuvo la mala suerte de ser judía y hermosa en un campo donde no era "adecuada" esa combinación.
Cilka sobrevivió a la Guerra. Experiementó situaciones extremas para lograrlo. Perdió a su familia, sufrió maltratos y violaciones. Fue la elegida de un alto oficial nazi quien la sometió como su amante y por eso, logró sobrevivir.
Llegó la liberación para muchos, pero no para Cilka. El haber sido la "afortunada" amante de un nazi la convertía en cómplice a los ojos de los soviéticos y fue condenada a 15 años en Vorkutá, un gulag cerca a Siberia.
Una historia desgraciadamente real. Cilka existió y lo vivió. Una mujer de una fortaleza admirable que pasó por un encierro injusto y cruel, no una, sino dos veces y aún no se fue al lado oscuro.
Dura, conmovedora, emotiva que muestra más de la guerra y de la inhumanidad. Pero también muestra mucho de la fortaleza, de la amistad, de la solidaridad y del amor. Una lección de vida que te llega al alma y se te tatúa ahí.
Muy recomendable.
En este libro te lo cuentan. Otra historia desgarradora de la Guerra, pero de lo que le sucedió después de la misma a una joven que tuvo la mala suerte de ser judía y hermosa en un campo donde no era "adecuada" esa combinación.
Cilka sobrevivió a la Guerra. Experiementó situaciones extremas para lograrlo. Perdió a su familia, sufrió maltratos y violaciones. Fue la elegida de un alto oficial nazi quien la sometió como su amante y por eso, logró sobrevivir.
Llegó la liberación para muchos, pero no para Cilka. El haber sido la "afortunada" amante de un nazi la convertía en cómplice a los ojos de los soviéticos y fue condenada a 15 años en Vorkutá, un gulag cerca a Siberia.
Una historia desgraciadamente real. Cilka existió y lo vivió. Una mujer de una fortaleza admirable que pasó por un encierro injusto y cruel, no una, sino dos veces y aún no se fue al lado oscuro.
Dura, conmovedora, emotiva que muestra más de la guerra y de la inhumanidad. Pero también muestra mucho de la fortaleza, de la amistad, de la solidaridad y del amor. Una lección de vida que te llega al alma y se te tatúa ahí.
Muy recomendable.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved TTOA and had really high hopes for Cilka’s Journey. For the most part I did feel deep disparity and heartbreak for Cilka. She is an unbelievably strong, brave and selfish human being. But I found the writing style unbelievably plain and amateurish. Also, the ending of the book was extremely rushed and abrupt, which is a huge contrast to the after story of Gita and Lale in TTOA.
This book was so heartbreaking! I did enjoy it and I stuck with it because I wanted to see the main character win and survive, but oh my was this book challenging to get through. It was more devastating then I orginally thought. To think that with was based on a real woman who went through things like this (and other woman that don't have a book written about them) is unimaginable. Don't get me wrong I liked the story and it was good, but it was a tough read. If you are looking for a good cry, this is the book for you.
Summary: The book jumps between 2 different time periods, but I am just going to start from Cilka's beginning and know that there are memories or time jumps. Cecilia Kline was sent to Auschwitz at 16 and made into a hut captain. The hut she is in charge of is where sick and old women go before they are sent to the gas chambers. Where Cilka is there she is expected to beat and harass the women. She does what she has to do in order to survive. She is also regularly visited by an Nazi general and forced to sleep with him. During her time in Auschwitz she witnesses her sisters death (from illness), her mothers death (she was sent to her hut and then sent to the gas chambers), and also was able to help a friend stay with her love. After being liberated she is taken to a Russian work camp, or a jail really, to work for nearly 15 years for her "war crimes". They thought she was working with the Nazi's during the Holocaust. In the Russian camp she finds friends and they all live together in hut 12. Her closest friend being Josie, a young 16 year old girl that has never seen the tragedies of war camps. The women are visited by male guards regularly again in this camp. One night Josie is burned by the other women and Cilka takes her to the hospital. She gets a job there as an assistant and does so well they train her to be a nurse. She uses this position to help her friends in hut 12, gets Joise a job, and makes friends with the hospital staff. A woman she lives with in hut 12, Hannah, recognizes her from her time in the nazi camp and threatens to tell the rest of the women that Cilka was a Nazi conspirators. She makes Cilka steal medications from the hosiptal to keep her secret. Cilka is worried the other women will judge her for being raped by the Nazi commanders so she agrees to steal the medications. Joise becomes pregnant with her rapist child (Joise does kinda fall in love with him at some point, but it is one sided and very much abuse). The woman and Cilka help her give birth and Joise is moved to a safe part of the camp. Cillka convinces doctors to move her. When the baby gets to be around 2 years old, the camp usually sends them away to an orphanage. Cilka had called in a favor to the Camp Commanders wife (Cilka had helped to save their daughters life twice) she sends Joise and her daughter to work as a house maid for her friend in Moscow. As time goes on, Boris the gaurd that visits Cilka tells her he is going to be transferred to another city. Cilka is at first happy to hear this, she has been interested in getting to know another prisoner, Alexander. But she heres that other men are waiting for Boris to be sent away and want to rape her. She asked to be moved to the nurses housing and is safe from the other men in the prison. A strike breaks out in the camp and Alexander ends up in the hospital, this give Cilka time to get to know him and they fall in love. As the years go on, the prison is getting shut down and over run. Cilka and Alexander are allowed to leave (with the help from the staff) they fake their deaths and board the train to Moscow and live the remander of their lives there. They don't end up having any children but they are happy and very much in love. Cilka remains friends with the tattoo artist from Auschwitz and his wife.
Favorite Part: I know this is corny, but I am so so happy Cilka and Alexander got a happy ending! They got to live happily ever after after enduring so much suffering! I am also so happy she got out of hut 12 before all those men could abuse her!
Least Favorite Part: It was really hard to hear about all the sexual assult these women had to live through. And to have these mens babies and have them taken away when they are 2! Just to have to do it all over again. Heartbreaking. I also cried like a baby when Cilk was working at the death camp and her mother was sent to her hut! She had to load her mother on that truck and it was just horrible to read. To think people went through this is insane...
Favorite Character: Cilka. Hands down. She was just an amazing woman. So selfless and brave.
Least Favorite Character: Hannah. To know what Cilka lived through in that Nazi camp and then try to use it against her in the Russia prison it crazy. And Cilka eventually tells the women in hut 12 and they all are fine with her past. They didn't even judge her for it. Hannah ends up dying in a prison battle, Cilka still helps her in the end.
Overall Thoughts: This story was so brutal, I mean just devastating. I normally really like Holocaust books, both historical fiction and nonfiction, but this was tough. I wanted to know so badly how it ended but I struggled ot pick it up. The characters were brace and encouraging. These women lived through such terrible things. And to think this is based on a real womans experiences is mindblowing. If you want to have a good cry, read this book.
Score: 5/5
Summary: The book jumps between 2 different time periods, but I am just going to start from Cilka's beginning and know that there are memories or time jumps. Cecilia Kline was sent to Auschwitz at 16 and made into a hut captain. The hut she is in charge of is where sick and old women go before they are sent to the gas chambers. Where Cilka is there she is expected to beat and harass the women. She does what she has to do in order to survive. She is also regularly visited by an Nazi general and forced to sleep with him. During her time in Auschwitz she witnesses her sisters death (from illness), her mothers death (she was sent to her hut and then sent to the gas chambers), and also was able to help a friend stay with her love. After being liberated she is taken to a Russian work camp, or a jail really, to work for nearly 15 years for her "war crimes". They thought she was working with the Nazi's during the Holocaust. In the Russian camp she finds friends and they all live together in hut 12. Her closest friend being Josie, a young 16 year old girl that has never seen the tragedies of war camps. The women are visited by male guards regularly again in this camp. One night Josie is burned by the other women and Cilka takes her to the hospital. She gets a job there as an assistant and does so well they train her to be a nurse. She uses this position to help her friends in hut 12, gets Joise a job, and makes friends with the hospital staff. A woman she lives with in hut 12, Hannah, recognizes her from her time in the nazi camp and threatens to tell the rest of the women that Cilka was a Nazi conspirators. She makes Cilka steal medications from the hosiptal to keep her secret. Cilka is worried the other women will judge her for being raped by the Nazi commanders so she agrees to steal the medications. Joise becomes pregnant with her rapist child (Joise does kinda fall in love with him at some point, but it is one sided and very much abuse). The woman and Cilka help her give birth and Joise is moved to a safe part of the camp. Cillka convinces doctors to move her. When the baby gets to be around 2 years old, the camp usually sends them away to an orphanage. Cilka had called in a favor to the Camp Commanders wife (Cilka had helped to save their daughters life twice) she sends Joise and her daughter to work as a house maid for her friend in Moscow. As time goes on, Boris the gaurd that visits Cilka tells her he is going to be transferred to another city. Cilka is at first happy to hear this, she has been interested in getting to know another prisoner, Alexander. But she heres that other men are waiting for Boris to be sent away and want to rape her. She asked to be moved to the nurses housing and is safe from the other men in the prison. A strike breaks out in the camp and Alexander ends up in the hospital, this give Cilka time to get to know him and they fall in love. As the years go on, the prison is getting shut down and over run. Cilka and Alexander are allowed to leave (with the help from the staff) they fake their deaths and board the train to Moscow and live the remander of their lives there. They don't end up having any children but they are happy and very much in love. Cilka remains friends with the tattoo artist from Auschwitz and his wife.
Favorite Part: I know this is corny, but I am so so happy Cilka and Alexander got a happy ending! They got to live happily ever after after enduring so much suffering! I am also so happy she got out of hut 12 before all those men could abuse her!
Least Favorite Part: It was really hard to hear about all the sexual assult these women had to live through. And to have these mens babies and have them taken away when they are 2! Just to have to do it all over again. Heartbreaking. I also cried like a baby when Cilk was working at the death camp and her mother was sent to her hut! She had to load her mother on that truck and it was just horrible to read. To think people went through this is insane...
Favorite Character: Cilka. Hands down. She was just an amazing woman. So selfless and brave.
Least Favorite Character: Hannah. To know what Cilka lived through in that Nazi camp and then try to use it against her in the Russia prison it crazy. And Cilka eventually tells the women in hut 12 and they all are fine with her past. They didn't even judge her for it. Hannah ends up dying in a prison battle, Cilka still helps her in the end.
Overall Thoughts: This story was so brutal, I mean just devastating. I normally really like Holocaust books, both historical fiction and nonfiction, but this was tough. I wanted to know so badly how it ended but I struggled ot pick it up. The characters were brace and encouraging. These women lived through such terrible things. And to think this is based on a real womans experiences is mindblowing. If you want to have a good cry, read this book.
Score: 5/5
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spin off from The Tatooist of Auschwitz and, in a similar vein, surprisingly heart-warming.
Do knihy jsem se pustila hned po doposlouchání Tatéra z Osvětimi, ale musela jsem si ji nakonec dávkovat. Ten příběh je prostě hrozný. Celou dobu mi bylo Cilky a jejích spoluvězeňkyn líto. Co musely zažívat ... Některé flashbaky z Březinky byly podobné jako v Tatérovi. Aby ne, když je autorce vyprávěl sám tatér Lale.
rozhodně knihu doporučuji k přečtení, ale je to teda síla.
rozhodně knihu doporučuji k přečtení, ale je to teda síla.
This story follows one of the side characters in the famous Tattooist of Auschwitz by the same author. It shines the light on a far less studied and discussed topic of the reality of life for those rescued from the Nazis but subjected to soviet rule. It is an important work giving a partially fictional illustration of the horrors faced by some in the soviet gulags that were arguably as bad as those Hitler's Nazi party created but without the final solution.
Heather Morris writes beautifully and does not stray away from the uncomfortable aspects of her stories. She does not show her protagonists as perfect which I feel is an authentic and necessary thing for works covering this topic.
I look forward to her other works
Heather Morris writes beautifully and does not stray away from the uncomfortable aspects of her stories. She does not show her protagonists as perfect which I feel is an authentic and necessary thing for works covering this topic.
I look forward to her other works