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A review by bandysbooks
Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I read the Tattooist of Auschwitz earlier this year and was impressed with it. Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres, so when I saw that Heather Morris was writing the story of one of the side characters, Cilka, I knew I had to read it. I'm glad I did.
Cilka's Journey was brutal, more brutal than The Tattooist of Auschwitz if you can believe it. While the Tattooist centers on love and keeping hope alive, Cilka's Journey is more about the absolute depths humans will go to to survive atrocities. It is not at all an easy read, particularly as a woman, but understanding this type of history is necessary.
Possible Spoiler for The Tattooist & Cilka's Journey
Cilka is the victim of extreme sexual abuse and repeated rapes. In Auschwitz, she uses her beauty and wits to form a relationship with two high-ranking Nazis in the camps. She is derided by other prisoners for sleeping with the enemy, but in reality her choice is to be passed around and raped by all of the guards or to allow one or two of them to think she has a special relationship with them....and only have to tolerate one person raping her in trade for her safety and occasional favors for friends. She survives Auschwitz, but then is accused by the Russians of being a whore for the Nazis. She is then transported to a Russian Gulag in Siberia where she is to be punished. Again, she is faced with the choice of being raped by many guards, likely in violent manners or to accept rape by a single guard if she can form a relationship with him. She chooses the later and tricks a guard into falling in love with her. In all of these instances, it is clearly horrific for her, but the choice is black and white....accept violent gang rapes by whatever guard wants to have her or form a relationship with a single evil person and tolerate rape by him to ensure protection for oneself and ones friends. In looking into the historical person named Cilka, there were prisoner accounts that were quite mixed. Many people hated her for what they perceive as the choices she made, but many more talked about how she used her power over the Nazis and Russian guards to get extra food, medicine, and favorable treatment for some of the other prisoners. No one can be judged for the decisions that they have to make in these extraordinarily horrific circumstances and though you may think you'd never willingly sleep with an enemy, victims of rape who protect themselves in this way should not be judged. What Cilka survived is remarkable.
After finishing this book, I felt so many emotions that I don't know if I can adequately survive them. I never considered that there could be a worse thing than surviving a Nazi concentration camp...but this story makes it clear that the end of the Nazis wasn't a neat and tidy end for all of their victims. As with most historical fiction, I learned a bit more about a subject that I thought I was fairly well-versed in.
All in all, this story is one of the hardest I've had to read, but it's also necessary. Sexual violence is unfortunately used over and over again as a tool of war. We must not keep silent about it. We must fight back against it and share these stories of brave, tough women who make it through.
Cilka's Journey was brutal, more brutal than The Tattooist of Auschwitz if you can believe it. While the Tattooist centers on love and keeping hope alive, Cilka's Journey is more about the absolute depths humans will go to to survive atrocities. It is not at all an easy read, particularly as a woman, but understanding this type of history is necessary.
Possible Spoiler for The Tattooist & Cilka's Journey
Cilka is the victim of extreme sexual abuse and repeated rapes. In Auschwitz, she uses her beauty and wits to form a relationship with two high-ranking Nazis in the camps. She is derided by other prisoners for sleeping with the enemy, but in reality her choice is to be passed around and raped by all of the guards or to allow one or two of them to think she has a special relationship with them....and only have to tolerate one person raping her in trade for her safety and occasional favors for friends. She survives Auschwitz, but then is accused by the Russians of being a whore for the Nazis. She is then transported to a Russian Gulag in Siberia where she is to be punished. Again, she is faced with the choice of being raped by many guards, likely in violent manners or to accept rape by a single guard if she can form a relationship with him. She chooses the later and tricks a guard into falling in love with her. In all of these instances, it is clearly horrific for her, but the choice is black and white....accept violent gang rapes by whatever guard wants to have her or form a relationship with a single evil person and tolerate rape by him to ensure protection for oneself and ones friends. In looking into the historical person named Cilka, there were prisoner accounts that were quite mixed. Many people hated her for what they perceive as the choices she made, but many more talked about how she used her power over the Nazis and Russian guards to get extra food, medicine, and favorable treatment for some of the other prisoners. No one can be judged for the decisions that they have to make in these extraordinarily horrific circumstances and though you may think you'd never willingly sleep with an enemy, victims of rape who protect themselves in this way should not be judged. What Cilka survived is remarkable.
After finishing this book, I felt so many emotions that I don't know if I can adequately survive them. I never considered that there could be a worse thing than surviving a Nazi concentration camp...but this story makes it clear that the end of the Nazis wasn't a neat and tidy end for all of their victims. As with most historical fiction, I learned a bit more about a subject that I thought I was fairly well-versed in.
All in all, this story is one of the hardest I've had to read, but it's also necessary. Sexual violence is unfortunately used over and over again as a tool of war. We must not keep silent about it. We must fight back against it and share these stories of brave, tough women who make it through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Racial slurs, Rape, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War
Extra Important: I've included every single trigger warning for sexual violence that is possible. Please, take them seriously. This book touches on a lot of horrific things, but is especially heavy on rape and sexual violence. If it is in anyway triggering for you, know that violent rape is actually portrayed on page.