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degrave's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
trudyd's review against another edition
5.0
This book took awhile to read. Not because of the writing, but because what was written. I am afraid we, as a society, are forgetting the atrocities that have occurred in this world's past. We need to read books like this, remember and then never forget. We need to learn from the past. We can't change it but we can make sure it never happens again.
This book is a necessary read, heart breaking and gut wrenching.
This book is a necessary read, heart breaking and gut wrenching.
hertzberg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
mnmeg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This was a very difficult read simply because of the content. I had to give myself breaks to allow the emotions that arose to be tended. I listened to this book and am grateful for this option so that I heard names pronounced correctly. I will never understand how we can treat people like this.
sjgrodsky's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a long time to read this book. After I read the first few chapters, it sat on my bedside table for some weeks. My courage had failed me. I didn’t want to read about the transport to Auschwitz or the horrors there.
Remarkably, a few of the characters managed to stay alive for the three years that Auschwitz was open. “We opened Auschwitz and we closed it,” said one. They were smart and tough and lucky. No one can say more than that. And no one can say which of the three characteristics was more critical.
There were a few stories that could have been explored in more detail. We heard several times of Wunst, the SS guard who was in love with Helena, the Jewish prisoner. Love? Did she love him or exploit a situation that allowed her to survive? We know she married someone else but did testify on his behalf. Surely there’s a complicated story there, but we don’t hear it.
There is also passing reference to a brothel, possibly run by a guard who was a prostitute in her pre-Auschwitz days. Who were the prostitutes? Who were the patrons? Who made money? The Nazi ideology was that Aryans did not mix with the verminous Jews. How widely was that belief violated?
No Holocaust tale has a happy ending. But one learns that some of the girls survived and married and had children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. It’s not a tale of happiness, but it is a testament to resilience.
Remarkably, a few of the characters managed to stay alive for the three years that Auschwitz was open. “We opened Auschwitz and we closed it,” said one. They were smart and tough and lucky. No one can say more than that. And no one can say which of the three characteristics was more critical.
There were a few stories that could have been explored in more detail. We heard several times of Wunst, the SS guard who was in love with Helena, the Jewish prisoner. Love? Did she love him or exploit a situation that allowed her to survive? We know she married someone else but did testify on his behalf. Surely there’s a complicated story there, but we don’t hear it.
There is also passing reference to a brothel, possibly run by a guard who was a prostitute in her pre-Auschwitz days. Who were the prostitutes? Who were the patrons? Who made money? The Nazi ideology was that Aryans did not mix with the verminous Jews. How widely was that belief violated?
No Holocaust tale has a happy ending. But one learns that some of the girls survived and married and had children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. It’s not a tale of happiness, but it is a testament to resilience.
pickwickthedodo's review against another edition
5.0
Truly harrowing, and hugely important. It's so good that we're getting more and more stories out into the world.
sarah_reading_party's review against another edition
4.0
999 by Heather Dune Macadam is a well written, well researched, and very comprehensive account of 999 (mostly) Slovakian women on the first transport to Auschwitz in 1942. It was heartbreaking and very hard to read at times, but I was impressed by the author's dedication to telling the story of these women during World War II. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced ebook copy. All opinions are my own.
seaglanz's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve ever read. It broke my heart countless times, while simultaneously made me feel the strength and heart of the women of the first transport.