The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany

I could not finish this book, after reading so many other books on the Holocaust --this was just a bridge too far. It puzzles me that so many camp prisoners were willing to work for the Nazi machinery which only prolonged the war, just to save themselves at the expense of those who would continue to die in the war. I hope I would have the courage to refuse such assignments, as did the brave Russian girls who refused to make ammunition that would kill their own countrymen. The description of cruelty inflicted by the guards made me stop reading. After a while, enough is enough. I imagine I would have taken off running, just to be shot in the back and end the misery.

This is such an interesting historical look at a band of 9 of the bravest, strong women I have read about who survived the horrors of being arrested for resistance against the Nazis and subsequently tortured and sent to the camps before making a break for it during the last death march and making it to freedom. I am glad I was able to know just from the title that they would all survive because there are harrowing times listed in this book. I am in awe about these women and am really glad I got the chance to read this book. Yes, it is fairly graphic at times, but that it to be expected when reading about the Nazis and their camps and exterminations of so many good people that they deemed not worthy to live. This was a well written and well researched book with the author going into much detail, not only about the run to freedom, but the lives of these nine women and how they grew up to be the women that were able to survive and go on living even after the horrors they experienced. I definitely recommend this book if you want to learn more about this time in history.