They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen who scrawled “V” for victory on the walls of her lycée; the eldest, a … a farmer’s wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers.
Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie.
In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France.
A Train in Winter draws on interviews with these women and their families; German, French, and Polish archives; and documents held by World War II resistance organizations to uncover a dark chapter of history that offers an inspiring portrait of ordinary people, of bravery and survival — and of the remarkable, enduring power of female friendship.
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An exceptional book
Some parts have been giving me nightmares but I had to read to the end.
I feel we must read these books so history cannot repeat itself
Horrifying look at the dehumanization of people in Hitler’s Europe. Powerful.
This book is shocking & a must read for anyone interested in learning about the atrocities committed by the nazis.
Started slowly, but it brcame a page turner. So sad that humans can be so cruel
Excellent book. Compelling account of the experience of a group of women in the French resistance in World War 2. Unforgettable!
Loved this book
How did they let this tragedy happen? Did the world not learn anything from that
This is the factual story of 230 women in the French Resistance, their lives, their terror, their selflessness during and the German occupation of France, their captures, imprisonment and torture the in German slave and death camps of Auschwitz. and their bonds of friendship that helped so many make it through. Their indomitable spirits held them …