From the author of the multi-million copy bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes a new novel based on a riveting true story of love and resilience. Her beauty saved her — and condemned her. Cilka is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, where the commandant immediately notices how beautiful she is. Forcibly separated from the other women … Forcibly separated from the other women prisoners, Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly taken, equals survival.
When the war is over and the camp is liberated, freedom is not granted to Cilka: She is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to a Siberian prison camp. But did she really have a choice? And where do the lines of morality lie for Cilka, who was send to Auschwitz when she was still a child?
In Siberia, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, including the unwanted attention of the guards. But when she meets a kind female doctor, Cilka is taken under her wing and begins to tend to the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under brutal conditions.
Confronting death and terror daily, Cilka discovers a strength she never knew she had. And when she begins to tentatively form bonds and relationships in this harsh, new reality, Cilka finds that despite everything that has happened to her, there is room in her heart for love.
From child to woman, from woman to healer, Cilka’s journey illuminates the resilience of the human spirit—and the will we have to survive.
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As a member of Bookish First, I was able to redeem points for this ARC after reading the description of it and finding the premise interesting. A positive review was not required, and all thoughts are my own.
This is the “somewhat” sequel to the “Tattooist of Auschwitz”. This is Cecilia “Cilka” Klein’s story and journey. Cilka was introduced in “Tattooist of Auschwitz” as she was mentioned by Kale Sokolov who described her as “the bravest person I ever met”. Morris uses this book as a way to honor Cilka’s memory.
This is Cilka’s story and journey after Auschwitz-Birkeneau was liberated. As a warning, the triggers in this book include rape and abuse. There are some profane words used in this novel (“f” word; s#$t) – though they are sparsely used.
Cilka, at 16, was taken to Auschwitz-Birkeneau Concentration Camp (1942). The commandant noticed how beautiful she was and she was forcibly separated from the other women where she quickly learned that power equaled survival.
Her liberation from the camp is short lived.
Despite being raped and an unwilling participant, she is charged as a collaborator by the Soviets for sleeping with the enemy. Her sentence is yet another prison camp – this one is in Siberia. Instead of wanting her dead because she is Jewish, they want her for what free labor she can provide.
Cilka, like at Auschwitz-Birkeneau, finds herself in a higher position without trying or understanding as to why. She excels in her position at the hospital and uses it to . But, as she does, she finds a hidden strength. She also forms bonds and builds relationships with those around her. There, she and other women are also subjected to rape and torture.
Cilka, because of how well she learns, is assigned to the medical unit. There she works in surgery, pediatrics, and even goes on ambulance calls. Throughout all this, with the extras she is able to access, helps those in the other hut she’d been assigned to.
As with any Holocaust or World War II story – there is no happy ending. Only a “better outcome” type of story. Books like this serve to remind people what some will do merely to survive. They might not enjoy what they’re called upon
to do, but they have to do it or die.
This book has some “flashbacks” to Cilka’s time at Auschwitz-Birkeneau, some of which connects with “Tattooist of Auschwitz”.
In the author’s notes she points out the research she did on Cilka.
Yet, even prior to the book’s release, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the first book and this book as well. One such issue is Cilka’s “relationship” with a senior SS officer. The Auschwitz Memorial denies anything of the sort, while Morris tends to trust the people who were there and remembered it. But, memories aren’t always reliable though.
“Morris even goes as far to say the Memorial doesn’t “like it being portrayed that the Germans in any way raped or sexually assaulted Jewish girls”.
“And that’s incorrect and we have so much evidence, so many testimonies,” she said.” (Rowland, 2019 – “Tattooist of Auschwitz author feuds with museum over accuracy on eve of sequel”).
Just because something wasn’t documented doesn’t mean it didn’t happen either.
Another historical inaccuracy over this novel is Cilka’s own account of the rape at Auschwitz as told by a Slovakian writer, Peter Jusack, who was about the only one who interviewed her. (Harari, 2019 – “Bestselling author accused of betraying Holocaust survivor”). He claims Cilka wanted to put the concentration camp and gulag parts of her life past and wanted to take her secrets to the grave. Morris is even accused of breaching Cilka’s privacy in writing about the 10 years Cilka was in the gulag.
While well written and presented, it is hard to recommend this sequel to a book that even the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum claims is error-ridden. I will say this – the man at the end of the novel isn’t who Cilka really married.
I did find this book to be a faster read than the first one, finishing in the ARC in less than one (1) day. I wanted to give this one a much deserved 4-star rating, but I can’t. This isn’t an “enjoyable” read only because of the subject material, as well as knowing about the errors. The controversy surrounding it makes me feel as though I’m rewarding the author by giving it high marks.
Had it been a completely fictional account – it would’ve been four (4) stars. Having done my own research – it’s hard to give it two (2).
I am glad I received the ARC of this one and borrowed the first novel from the library.
4.5 stars rounded down. This is a book of historical fiction. Cilka Klein was a real life person who was taken by Germans in WWII to Auschwitz and then Birkenau concentration camps when she was only 16.
The author confirmed that Cilka was a real person, but many events in the book are her own interpretation of Cilka’s experiences.
The German camp commandant notices her beauty and takes for his personal sex slave in 1942. She survives because of this. The Soviet Army liberates the camp in 1945. They decide that she was a collaborator because she slept with the enemy. They sentence her to 15 years hard labor. She is sent to another concentration camp, Vorkuta, in the far north of the USSR. She is taken under the wing of the camp doctor, who recognizes her extraordinary abilities. Cilka trains to be a nurse and survives 10 years in Vorkuta before being released.
This is an inspiring story of courage and the will to survive in the face of terrible, life threatening conditions. I became invested in Cilka’s story and thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend it to fans of Lilac Girls.
Thank You St. Martin’s Press and Heather Morris for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
A strong and remarkable story, very well written and conducted in such a way that the reader is thrilled and feels everything Cilka suffers.
At various times, I have to stop reading to breathe and have strength to face what would come after.
A wonderful book that should be read by everyone to give real value to freedom.
Having borrowed “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” from the library I was looking forward to reading Heather Morris’ new book. The book is written as a stand-a-lone and it goes fully in describing Cilka who was introduced in the first book as part of a group of friends that supported each other in order to survive.
Cilka survived Auschwits-Birkenau for 3 years only to be branded by the Russians as a collaborator and spy. Her sentence is 15 years in Siberia.
It’s hard to image that somebody could survive this situation of imprisonment under extreme condition for all those years and still been able to make a go at a normal life afterwards.
This book was a bit of an education for me because I realized how little I knew about the conditions of the prisons and treatment of prisoners in Siberia.
I received the ARC of Cilka’s Journey from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my fair and honest review.
Oh my what a truly heartbreaking book, this is the second book in the series and my first book by Heather Morris. Many met Cilka Klein in the first book the Tattoist of Auschwitz, but I wasn’t one of those people. There she became the mistress of one of Commander’s at the camp, which helped to keep her alive if you could call that life alive. She did what she felt was what she needed to do, but others didnt see things in quite the same way. Most considered that she was colluding with the enemy, and for that action she would face more hardship after her release. Cilka was sentenced to a 15 year sentence is Siberea where once again she endured years of heartache, but this lady was a survivor. She found a way to help people and in her mind a way to redeem herself. This book does a wonderful job of opening our eyes to what people endured during this time frame, I only wish more people followed history and would learn from the mistakes of the past. I didn’t find it hard to follow the storyline having not read the first book, this book moved back and forward in a way that helped the reader to understand what had happened in the past. I would definitely recommend this book to others that enjoy reading about this time in history.
“She was the bravest person I ever met.” —Lale Sokolov on Cilka Klein, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I agree 100% with Lale. Cilka’s Journey isn’t easy to read because of all the evil and horrific acts of violence and torture. I can’t read a lot of books that are based on true stories set in the war because it just emotionally drains me completely. However, I think it is very important to read the stories of these brave and resilient people who have survived or have tried to. I have read The Tattooist of Auschwitz and enjoyed it, but I loved Cilka’s Journey. Cilka was brave and strong, but she had her moments that some things were just too much for her. Her past that came to haunt her in her dreams, and she also suffered from survivor guilt. In this book she did everything in her power to help the people she cared for and also for complete strangers. I was in complete awe of her and fell in love with her character.
The title of this book is perfect. This book is about Cilka and her journey to freedom and forgiving herself for everything that happened. There was so much more I would’ve loved to know about her, so I am sad that she wasn’t alive to tell the story herself. However, Heather Morris did an incredible job in bringing Cilka’s story to life and I am very happy that she decided to write it. This book was heartbreaking and I just couldn’t contain my tears. It also had very beautiful moments that brought a smile to my face, and I am happy that Cilka created her own family that loved her back. These type of stories need to be continued to be written down and passed along, because we should never forget what happened and do everything in our power to make sure it doesn’t ever happen again. I am a fan of Heather Morris’ writing and beautiful story-telling abilities, and I very much look forward to what she will write next.
Difficult emotionally to read but worth it
This was an overwhelming story to read, especially knowing it was based on real-life events.
Cilka was 16 years old and Jewish when she was taken with her mother and sister from their home in Czechoslovakia. They rode in packed cattle cars to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where she was separated from her family.
A high ranking German SS officer notices her beauty and separates her from the crowd and she is given a terrible choice – become his mistress or die. She chose to live. And the camp piles more unbearable choices on her.
When Soviet forces free the prisoners in the camp, she is questioned and it is decided she collaborated with the enemy, even though choices were made that weren’t hers. For this she is sentenced to 15 years in a Siberian gulag up by the Arctic Circle.
The story is about her strength, her courage, her willingness to help others and endure.
This was a gut wrenching story. I had to stop reading periodically because it distressed me so much.
It was skillfully written and the atrocities were well defined and impossible to ignore.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
An intense gripping story! I thought it was well written and almost hard to put down. I had to stop at times and take a break from the story. I just can’t imagine living through what she had to endure.
Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy
A heartbreaking, emotional and riveting book about the perseverance and bravery of Cilka Klein. She was released from Auschwitz only to be sent to a Siberian Gulag to serve time there for her involvement, unwillingly, with a Nazi commandant. An amazing story of a real-life, remarkable woman. Beautifully written. Cilka’s Journey is one that should not be missed.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
The author is a great storyteller, and the story was well written and one that really held my interest.
This is by the Author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz ,and it is written about what happened to one of the characters in that book. You do not need to read the first book to follow the story, but reading both will give you more of Cilka’s History, where, when she was only 16, she was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, in 1942.
In this story, Cilka’s Journey, she was charged as a collaborator, for sleeping with the enemy when the Russians liberated the camp, so they sent her to a prison in Siberia, where once again she was trapped but at the mercy of the Russians this time.
We read about the horrors of what it is like to have to live in this kind of situation. But Cilka is smart and finds herself able to better her life some while in that prison, finding some good friends and even the possibilities of a romance.
This story will have you wondering how people can treat others so horribly and how some of these people had such strength, to be able to get through their ordeals.
There are a lot of wonderful characters in this book, and it was nice to read a story based on a true character, and one who not only survived one camp but two.
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book.
OMG – what a phenomenal read!! Ms. Morris has a great gift for setting the scenes and making the characters realistic. The book is so finely crafted that I found myself TOTALLY immersed in this novel from the first page.
I won’t repeat the publisher’s book blurb – they did a fine job in describing the book. I will tell you instead, that I’ve read many novels based on the real events of WWII, and this ranks among the best.
Based on the life of a real person, Cecelia (Cilka) Klein, this is the sequel to The Tatooist of Auschwitz, and a continuation of Cilka’s story. This book stands strongly on its own, so don’t feel that you must read The Tatooist of Auschwitz first to enjoy this book.
No story about the WWII concentration camps or the Soviet gulags is light reading. One cannot escape the feelings of horror,disbelief and great sadness about what occurred in these places at that time in history. The inhumaneness of it all is appalling. That’s what makes books such as this so very important – that we truly see the horror, and take action to ensure it never happens again.
You will find Cilka’s story heart-breaking and horrifying. But you will also see many acts of kindness, mercy, sacrifice, forgiveness and selflessness. You will cry, you will be uplifted, you will be in awe of the human spirit and will to survive, you will be enlightened. One thing is certain, after reading this book, you will never be the same. It sinks into your soul and it stays there.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Jordan Hanley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
An excruciating , painful story but very well written. The atrocities unbelievable as all the WWII stories are. We cannot close are eyes to this and must always remember. Hopefully never to occur again!
I read a lot of WWII historical fiction. I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz last year. I thought it was good and let us see the story of Lale and his future wife Gita. The author, Heather Morris spent several years interviewing Lale. He told Morris about a young girl, Cilka’s who was a friend of Gita’s. I wanted to hear about Cilka’s story and was happy to be able to read an ARC of Cilka’s Journey.
I think Heather Morris created an amazing story about Cilka which I liked much more than her first book. How does a young girl of sixteen survive three years in Auschwitz to be told by the Russians that she was being sentenced to a Gulag in Siberia for fifteen years for aiding the Nazi’s.
In order to survive Auschwitz, Cilka had to prostitute herself. In the Gulag, she was raped repeatedly. By chance when taking her friend Josie to the hospital, she meets a compassionate doctor who sees something in Cilka. Lenora has Cilka transferred to the hospital to work and trains her to be a nurse. Cilka carries food the patients can’t eat to share with the other women in her housing. Faced with some harrowing times, Cilka never loses her spirit of trying to help someone else and survive. This story will stick with me for a long time.
Thank you BookishFirst and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After reading the story of Gita & Lale in The Tattooist Of Auschwitz and reading a little about the character Cilka, I was eager to know more about her story. In fact, I do remember messaging Heather Morris to ask if there would be a book about Cilka, her reply was something along the lines of “never say never” and “it’s a possibility”. As soon as I found this book was available, I knew I absolutely had to read it. The Tattooist Of Auschwitz had stayed with me long, long after finishing reading it and yes we had an end for Gita & Lale, but I kept wondering but what about Cilka? I like the cover of this book and feel it really represents the book well.
The book is a mixture of “present” and “past. The present is based in the Siberian hard labour camp that the now 18 year old Cilka Klein is sent to. The past is in the form of flashbacks to her time in Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The book begins in the present at Auschwitz and the arrival of the Soviet Army. A soldier tries to explain to Cilka that she is free now, sadly that does not turn out to be the case for Cilka. Soon the Army is joined by counter intelligence officers who question all those that remain in the abandoned camp. As the retreating German Army are considered the enemy so is anyone who has helped or worked with them in any way. Cilka is accused of fraternising with the enemy. The “fraternisation” being that she slept with the German Officers. She is charged as a collaborator and sentenced to 13 years hard labour. Of course, Cilka tries to protest her innocence but it is to no avail, it seems someone has reported her and the Russians believe what they have been told. Cilka sets off on yet another long arduous train journey. As before Cilka and the other prisoners are all packed into rail carriages and given the bare minimum. Every time the train stops the heavy door is opened and the dead bodies are passed out and bread is thrown in, water is also given but there is never enough of either for everyone. The women quickly come to a decision and work out a system to share what they have, giving the youngest the first food and water. They then take turns receiving the bread and water. It is on this long sometimes horrific journey that Cilka meets Josie. Josie has dark brown eyes that remind Cilka of her best friend Gita. Josie is with her grandmother but does eventually speak to Cilka. When Josie’s grandmother becomes ill and dies it is Cilka that comforts the young Josie. Josie’s grandmother is by no means the first, nor the last one to die on the train journey. Once they arrive at the Siberian camp, Cilka sort of takes Josie under her wing. Attempting to guide her through the following degradations of being shaved, de-loused, given prison uniforms. They are placed in the same hut that accommodates 20 women. The woman in charge of them introduces herself as Antonina Karpovna and she wastes no time in laying out the rules and what she expects of them. Once again Cilka finds herself at the bottom of the prisoner hierarchy. It soon becomes apparent in the Siberian camp that some seem to think that Cilka had it easy in Auschwitz-Birkenau, that she had better clothes than everyone else, better food to eat and generally an easier time than everyone else.
Sadly one thing that the Siberian camp has in common with Auschwitz-Birkenau is that the women can be chosen by the male trustees as “wives”, “girlfriends” or basically picked out to have sex with. The women have no choice in the matter, so once again Cilka finds that her beauty attracts her attention she would rather not have. Having said that by being chosen as a “wife” neither Cilka nor Josie are touched by any other men. Still there are women who make snide remarks as if Cilka, Josie and the other chosen women are somehow enjoying being repeatedly raped!
It’s not long until Cilka is offered a job at the hospital, after it is noticed how quickly she reacted and treated her friend Josies burnt hand. At first Cilka does not wish to be “chosen” she doesn’t want the extra food or so- called perks that come with the job. Finally, she gives in and takes the job and manages to smuggle out some of her extra food to share with the women back at her hut.
The book tells of the back-breaking work even the women are expected to do, filling buckets with coal that the men from the neighbouring camp have mined and moving it. It is as if even the weather has it in for the prisoners with its bitter coldness, snow, rain and almost constant night time. Then in summer the continual light preventing them from sleeping. The book covers a lot the harshness, the degradation, hostility and indignities the prisoners had to suffer. It also re-tells the friendships the women make, how they band together to help each other when they can.
Cilka’s beauty really ends up being a mixed blessing as it draws the attention of German Officers in Auschwitz-Birkenau and then the trustees in the Siberian camp. This means she is repeatedly raped, over and over again, whenever the men wish. Cilka is called a slut on more than one occasion. The whole reason she is in the Siberian camp is because the German Officers singled her out in Auschwitz-Birkenau, it wasn’t her choice. She would have been raped either way. Cilka tries to block the repeated rapes out, to go somewhere else in her head whilst it is happening. Cilka also tries to help Josie do the same when she is chosen, she explains if you fight it, you will end up with a beating too. In Cilka’s mind she is not giving the men anything, she certainly doesn’t feel love for them, even though one professes his love for her! Cilka is an extremely brave young women who is made old before her time. With her job she realises that she can use her elevated position to help others, she quickly learns how to help the patients she helps to care for as well as the women that live in the same hut as her.
As it was in Auschwitz-Birkenau Cilka witnesses, death from starvation, from mines collapsing with the prisoners still in them, working accidents, fighting injuries and more. Cilka also see’s new life being born when she works in the maternity ward of the camp hospital. When Cilka has the chance of a favour from the Commandant and his wife, she choses to use it for someone else securing an early release for her friend and the baby she has given birth to whilst in the camp.
I couldn’t believe that Cilka was sentenced to 13 years hard labour for the “crime” of being repeatedly raped in Auschwitz-Birkenau. A weaker minded or weaker bodied person would have either just given up and died or even committed suicide but not Cilka. Not only did Cilka stay strong in her mind, she tried her very best to help all those around her. I adored the way she looked back on the friendship between herself and Gita to draw strength from. The way a small smile during an accidental meeting gave her the encouragement to think there may well be a life for her after her sentence. Cilka survives despite everything the Germans and Russians could throw her way.
I finished reading this book which was very late, late/early hours of the morning as I got to a point, I couldn’t put the book down I had to know how Cilka’s story ended. My immediate thoughts were that Cilka Klien was a brave, brave woman that went through hell at Auschwitz, then Auschwitz-Birkenau and then after surviving that she was given 13 years hard labour at Siberia. An amazing story of what is known of her life.
What more can I say, Cilka’s beauty not only possibly saved her, it condemned her to being repeatedly raped. Having said that I suppose you would have to say that Cilka’s beauty also saved others around her. Cilka learnt early on in her experience that she couldn’t stop the men, so she blanked out her trauma and whatever perks, if any she received, she shared with those around her. She quite literally “turned the other cheek” on many, many occasions.
So, do I have any questions for the author, Heather Morris this time? Yes, please, please tell me there will be more survivor stories? Personally, I would love to know more about Josie and her family? I want to read about more survivors of the holocaust, their stories must be heard, must be told and remembered.
The research done for books such as these must be incredibly interesting, emotionally moving yet harrowing too. When I read a blurb, such as this one, that the book is based on real people like Cilka, Gita & Lale, or even a book with fictional characters based on the real events they seem somehow attract and draw my attention I feel I have to read them. These stories need to be read and handed down the generations so that they are never ever forgotten.
I do not think I have the words to truly express what an extraordinary book this is. I enjoyed THE TATOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ so, of course, wanted to know Cilka’s story. However, this book can easily be read without first reading THE TATOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ.
In THE TATOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ Cilka is a friend of Gita’s. Cilka’s beauty brought her to the attention of the Commandant at Birkenau who claimed her as his mistress, leading to repeated rapes and abuse . Cilka, only 16 years old when she entered the camp, had to do distasteful things in order to survive. After the liberation of the camps Cilka, now 19 years old, was tried and found guilty of collaborating with the enemy. She was sentenced to 15 years at the Vorkuta gulag in Siberia.
CILKA’S JOURNEY is the story of Cilka’s imprisonment at the gulag and the strength required of her to survive the harsh conditions there. I found myself constantly asking what choice she had. Obviously those who tried and sentenced survivors had no idea what these people were put through. It seemed so unfathomable that she would go from one prison to another with absolutely no control of what was done to her.
Fortunately Cilka makes an impression on Yelena, the female doctor at the gulag who gives Cilka a job in the hospital. Cilka’s life finally takes a positive turn. She comes to recognize the strength she has and even finds that she has room in her heart to love. When Lale (the tattooist at Auschwitz) was interviewed by Heather Morris he said that Cilka was the bravest person he had ever met. Her determination to survive, her bravery, and her compassion for others totally won my heart.
Morris’ superb writing made me feel the suffering, anger, and fear of the prisoners. I was totally enthralled and found it extremely difficult to put the book down. This is a story I will not forget.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and GalleyMatch for the advance copy. Opinions are my own.
I received the ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press. I wanted to fully appreciate the story, so I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz before I began this book. I would recommend that for others also. While Cilka’s Journey can be read independently, I think the reader would gain much knowledge and background if read after The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
This book is based on true events, but the writer has taken the facts and created a fiction story. I think Heather Morris did an amazing job of creating this emotional journey. Honestly this book is totally out of my comfort zone. I try to keep my reading choices light, but when this book came across my path, I felt compelled to read it. I am glad that I did.
This is a powerfully emotional story of how so much strength is needed to survive, how cruel people can be, that friendships can carried you through the worse situations that joy can be found in the simplest things when you have nothing. The story was heartbreaking but also uplifting, since Cilka persevered.
I want to thank St. Martin’s press for giving me a nudge to read this book (and also The Tattooist of Auschwitz). My review is my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC of this book.
Cilka’s Journey is told in the present, of her time in the Gulag, to the past of her time in Birkenau. After being set free at the end of WW2, poor Cilka is sent to the Gulag for 15 years as punishment for perceived crimes of colluding with the Nazis. She did what she needed to, to survive her time in Birkenau, as anyone would have done and it certainly didn’t warrant being sent to hell on earth for 15 years.
Yet Cilka found a way to survive, she made herself useful and spent so much time helping others. When she had a chance to free herself, she often gave that opportunity to others. She had lost so many people she felt cursed, I imagine that being quite an unnecessary weight around her shoulders. This happened to her at such a young age, she hadn’t even had time to grow up before being sent to Auschwitz.
Her journey is one that we can learn from as it was obvious she suffered from bouts of depression and how she found the strength to not only keep going but doing so in service of others, speaks to her strength. I requested to read this from St. Martin’s because I especially enjoy reading WW2 Historical Fiction, and it never does get easier to read. I hope that everyone will see the benefit in reading such a story, she was an absolute inspiration.
WOW! Heather Morris has written a second novel to follow “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”, called “Cilka’s Journey”. Cilka is one of the characters in the first book, and Heather Morris, the author writes about Cilka as the main character in “Cilka’s Journey”. The novel can be read as a stand-alone. The Genres for this Novel are Historical Fiction and Fiction. The time period for this novel is World War Two and After. Please be aware that this is a powerful, heartbreaking, emotional, devastating, and traumatic story during evil times. There are many Kleenex moments. The author describes her characters as good and evil. Cilka is described as complex and complicated, strong, courageous, kind, and does many things to survive.
At sixteen years of age, Cilka is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. The Commander in charge of the camp notices Cilka and sets her aside. Cilka does what she has to do in order to survive. Some of the things, she is forced to do, seem to deeply affect her, long after she is released.
When the Russians come to free the camp, Cilka is taken as a prisoner for “sleeping” and aiding the enemy. This time she is sent to a Siberian Prison Camp. This is what makes this story so unique. Not only is Cilka a Jewish girl that was in a Concentration camp, she now is a prisoner in a Russian prison camp for many years.
Cilka fears danger and death every day. The conditions are deplorable. A young physician notices a caring side of Cilka and tries to help her. Will Cilka ever be free? Will she ever be able to forgive? Will Cilka ever be able to find the ability to love? I would highly recommend this vividly descriptive well-written story.
Cecilia Klein “Cilka” was 16 years old when she was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she spent 3 years. One of the officers picked her for his “wife” and she was given a protected status. She was in charge of a building that housed the sick/dying women who were going to the gas chamber very soon. After the liberation, she was charged with collaboration for sleeping with the enemy and sentenced to 15 years in a Siberian prison. This is the story of Cilka’s life in the Siberian prison with flashbacks to when she was in Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is truly a heart-wrenching story of survival, first in the concentrations camps and then trying to survive in horrible conditions in the Siberian prison. This is an extension of The Tattooist of Auschwitz but this book is fine as a stand alone. I loved this book and I would give it more than 5 stars if I could. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this fantastic book that is a real page-turner in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of World War II Historical fiction.
This is Cilka Klein’s story. An incredible account of one woman’s journey through the depths of hell and survival. After surviving in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp for 3 years and seeing and experiencing the most horrific events the camp is liberated and Cilka is freed to only be sentenced to fifteen years in a Siberian gulag for collaborating with the Nazis. This is a gut wrenching, heart breaking story of survival. Being called brave is an understatement. Based on true events during this time I can only imagine the strength and will to survive to defy the hate that so many succumbed too.