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

by Gwen Strauss (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 1,954 ratings

Editors' pick Best History

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"[A] narrative of unfathomable courage... Ms. Strauss does her readers—and her subjects—a worthy service by returning to this appalling history of the courage of women caught up in a time of rapacity and war." —Wall Street Journal

"Utterly gripping." —Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes

"A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women’s resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades." —Heather Morris, New York Times bestselling author of Cilka's Journey

The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.

The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, in transit, and at Ravensbrück. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.

Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.

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"Though the dangers the women face are significant, their unorthodox means of travel help contribute to an unexpected feeling of picaresque adventure, as the women lie and scavenge their way toward freedom... The women's bravery and ingenuity as they traverse an almost apocalyptic landscape makes for a thrilling narrative...Gripping." ―Shelf Awareness

"An incredible story about the power of friendship and the faith in humanity in one of the darkest times in history." ―Lee Woodruff

"[Strauss] gets her facts right... A breathless story of almost superhuman heroism and suffering with a (mostly) happy ending." ―Kirkus

"A paean to female bravery and life-saving friendship." ―iNews

"Intimate.. chilling... A moving testament to the power of friendship" ―Booklist

"The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women. Banding together in the hellscape of Ravensbruck, the nine resistance fighters turned prisoners make a desperate bid for escape in the chaos of the war's end, embarking across battle-ravaged Germany toward home. Gwen Strauss melds a poet's pen and a decade of research into a tale of friendship, courage, and indomitable will." ―Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network

"This haunting account provides yet more evidence not only of the power of female friendship but that the often unrecorded courage and resilience of ordinary women must be honoured and celebrated. It’s a most inspiring read...Utterly gripping." ―Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes

“I love this book. It delivers beauty, grace, horror, and suspense―an important work that also happens to be a hell of a read!” ―Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead

“Strauss, niece of one of the nine heroines and third-generation 'Witness of the Witnesses', answers questions and challenges with great finesse. In a writing of rare historical accuracy and deep empathy, a woman of today tells the stories of yesterday.” ―Agnès Triebel, Secretary General of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee

“With Gwen Strauss' book and the scope of her research, that whole unknown period came to me as a gift from heaven... The precision of the speech, the delicacy of the style, the joys and misfortunes brought tears that I was happy to shed.” ―Marc Spijker, Guigui’s son

“At this moment of worldwide chaos and despair, this is a book that reminds us about what is important, and about finding strength and purpose during the worst of times. Highly recommended.” ―Goldie Goldbloom, author of Paperbark Shoe and On Division.

"It’s high time we got our Band of Sisters, and there could be no better author to tell their story than the riveting and rigorous Strauss. Equal parts exhilarating, devastating, and inspiring." ―Lauren Sandler, author of This is All I Got

About the Author

GWEN STRAUSS' poems, short stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals including The New Republic, London Sunday Times, New England Review, and Kenyon Review and she has published a collection of poetry, Trail of Stones. She was born and spent her early years in Haiti. Strauss lives in Southern France, where she is the Director of the artist's residency program at the Dora Maar House.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08FZ8RJTD
Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press (May 4, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 4, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 27131 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 324 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #16,034 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #5 in Historical France Biographies
- #19 in World War II History (Kindle Store)
- #26 in History eBooks of Women

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4.6 1,954 ratings

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Gwen Strauss is an award-winning children’s book author and poet, whose titles include Trail of Stones, The Night Shimmy, Ruth and the Green Book, and The Hiding Game. Her forthcoming adult non-fiction book, The Nine will be released in May 2021. Her poetry, short stories and essays have appeared in numerous places including The New Republic, New England Review, Kenyon Review, London Sunday Times and Catapult. She lives in Southern France where she works as the Director of an artist residency and cultural program at the Dora Maar House.

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Dee

A page turner

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2024

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This is one of the best books I have ever read, from page one , the story of these 9 unbelievably brave women, will grab you by the heart. What they went through during the war, and after, once they are free, will stay with you . I have had the honor of reading their story, and will never forget their courage , and the power of female relationships, and how they sustain us through difficult times.

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2024

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I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who wants to insight a personal experience during World War II. These women were brave beyond comparison.

2 people found this helpful

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Sadiemonster

At times interesting, at times seemed a bit made-up

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024

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Overall an interesting read but not a 5 star book. The book bounced around a bit between time periods which seem to hurt its continuity. The book also includes a lot of very specific dialog and considering this was written many decades after the actual events I can only conclude that much of this dialog is simply made up.

One person found this helpful

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JAT

Very Relevant for Today

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023

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Well written. With what we are seeing in our world today, this stands as a warning of where we may be headed again if we do not review the past. I just wish these women had known the lord Jesus personally bas their Savior and Lord. They would have had the comfort of the Holy Spirit to help them through this perilous time and to heal them and their families in their futures. A "must read" so we do not repeat the past.

4 people found this helpful

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tealia7

Great writing about a horrible time in our history

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2023

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Great author, great writing.

4 people found this helpful

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Jon

An amazing boy k about an amazing band of sisters

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2023

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I just wanted to say that I would buy that cookbook if for no other reason than respect.

3 people found this helpful

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Bebop Jim

Horrible Truths Revealed

Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2023

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Gwen Strauss brings us as close to the terrible experiences of 9 heroic women who survived Nazi atrocities via an unbelievable escape at the end of WW ll , as possible. Each woman’s story is told separately and then how they interact is examined.
Their experiences after the war are also mentioned.
Ms. Strauss spent 5 years on this project . It was worth it .

6 people found this helpful

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warren johnson

Very important WWII survivor story

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2021

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I have read a lot of WWII historical fiction with women heroes. But this is the first nonfiction I’ve read. The suffering the nine women endured not only during their time at the Nazi concentration camp, but as they made their way back to France is sometimes hard to read. Their escape from the camp toward the end of the war, although amazing, is not as heroic as the rest of their journey to freedom. In the aftermath of war camp survivors were doused with DDT and showered to avoid the spread of typhoid caused by lice. It was necessary but traumatic for them. I never realized all the work volunteers did to help survivors get back home - if their home and families had survived the war. The saddest part for me was the author’s description of how these young women lived the rest of their lives. Some successes, but most suffered with mental illnesses from the trauma that they endured and was passed on to their children. Most of them never talked about their experience. That is why this story is so important to share. We must never forget.
Note: This would make a great Netflix movie focusing only the women’s escape and journey home.

45 people found this helpful

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Denise I

9 amazing young women

Reviewed in Germany on June 11, 2022

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I have read many books about the first and second world wars and the Holocaust. This book rates as one of the best because it talks about personal experiences, absolute tenacity and the sisterhood of women tested under the worst circumstances. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Amazon Customer

A book of struggle, hope and stenegth told beautifully by the author.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2021

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THE NINE by Gwen Strauss.
It’s the astonishing story of survival, guile, wit and intelligence and the incredible courage, resilience and comradeship of the nine woman whose tale is told in this excellent book.
Gwen Strauss’s amazingly detailed and faithful piecing together of the journey has extra veracity as she is a family member of the lead figure in the story: Helene.
The nine women, rounded up by the Nazi’s for being members of the French and Dutch resistance, all end up in the same forced labour camp for women.
In the camps they are subjected to horrendous, de-humanising treatment, but of course it could have been worse if they were Jewish Sinti, gay or a gyspy. Despite the depravation within the camp all women pooled whatever resources they could scrape together to ensure every woman had a chance of surviving selection for the gas chambers.
Strauss details the sheer brutally, and desperation of the situation they faced in the camps then manages to release us from the horrors by superbly weaving in the individual stories of how they came to be rounded up.
There are plenty of beautiful moments distracting us from the gruesomeness of the situation: our heroine, Helene, had be-friended a kindly German who supervised the forced labour in the munitions shed. During an Allied Air raid, they took cover: “in the darkness he took out a photo of his son. His grief was palpable; the sadness made the wisp of a photograph fell as weighty as the panzer shells that passed through Helene’s hand”
It’s a beautifully evocative passage of prose that reads like poetry, repeated throughout the text by Strauss.
The unremitting horror of the situation they faced in the camps is almost forgotten as you root for these nine amazing women when they embark upon their escape as they are forced on to a death march as the allies close in on the Germany.
The trials and tribulations didn’t end with escape from the death march as they traversed and successfully conned jittery German troops at various check points. Strauss’ vivid writing allows us to feel the despair and hope experienced by these remarkable women as they escape to freedom. I was so caught up in the story, I almost cheered and had a tear in my eye when they encountered the American soldier.
How the hell did they survive? They survived because “they were the nine that didn’t want to die”.
Of course, after such an ordeal, their pain and suffering didn’t end with liberation. Strauss eloquently describes how the “transmission of trauma across the generations” went on to effect the children of the Nine and the various ways they processed what had happened to their relatives.
On the face of it an horrific subject told with compassion, humour and hope. I highly recommend this book. I can see it now as a movie. THE NINE: ESCAPE FROM RAVENSBRUCK

JASON SALKEY

17 people found this helpful

Toby

Interesting true story

Reviewed in Canada on April 26, 2022

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I enjoyed reading about these women. What they endured during the war and their life after WWII was provided too.

Elaine

Amazing Women Amazing courage

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2023

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I read an awful lot of books about WWII and this book is by far one of the best books I've read. These nine women showed absolute courage and strength in unbelievable circumstances. There were times when tears crept down my cheeks when reading about the obstacles, pain and most of all the incredible determination they dealt with. The friendship they maintained through it all right to the very end. Their determination to survive through hardship, hunger, their total love for each other. Their escape daring and frought with yet more danger, but they kept going and kept each other going. I feel I don't have the right words to say about these women and their story - apart from, I have nothing but admiration for you all, for what you went through and what you endured. I thank the author for an amazing account of your lives and endurance.

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