“It was very dangerous for him, and he knew it. But his love for me was stronger than fear.” – Ilse SteinThis novel is based on the inspiring and moving love story of Ilse Stein, a German Jew, and Willy Schultz, a Luftwaffe Captain in the Minsk ghetto, who risked his life to save the one he loved the most.When the last of the Jews’ rights are stripped in 1941, Ilse’s family is deported to a Minsk … rights are stripped in 1941, Ilse’s family is deported to a Minsk ghetto. Confined to a Sonderghetto and unable to speak the locals’ language, Ilse struggles to support the surviving members of her family. Befriended by a local underground member Rivka, Ilse partakes in small acts of resistance and sabotage to help her fellow Jews escape to the partisans.
A few months later, after losing almost his entire brigade of workers to one of the bloodiest massacres conducted by the SS, a local administrative officer Willy Schultz summons the survivors to form a new brigade. Ilse’s good looks immediately catch his eye, and he makes her a leader of the new unit and later, an office worker. Soon, an unlikely romance blossoms amid death and gore, moving a Nazi officer to go to great risks to protect not only Ilse but as many others as possible and allowing a Jewish girl to open her heart to the former enemy. Knowing that the ghetto would soon be liquidated, Willy Schultz swears to save Ilse, even if the cost would be his own life.
“We live together, or we die together,” – an ultimate oath of love in the most harrowing setting.
Dark, haunting, but full of hope, “No Woman’s Land” is a testament to the love that is stronger than fear and death itself.
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Ellie Midwood is a one-click read for me. Every book I’ve read of hers just gets better and better. No Woman’s land is no exception. If you like history and romance, this is the book/author for you.
I’ve been a fan of Ellie Midwood’s books for a few years now. Her dedication to the craft of writing and her ability to research and unearth interesting forgotten tales from World War 2, and present them as entertaining, educational fiction, is first rate.
No Woman’s Land: A Holocaust Novel is a must read.
Ilse Stein is a young teen with all the hopes and dreams of any other teenage girl when Hitler’s Germany begins its reign of terror, oppression’s increasing, the curfews growing stricter, the SA trashing shops and denouncing anyone who buys from Jews. Ilse’s family eventually moves to Frankfurt where she finds work in a factory with her older sister, Lily.
Then came the knock on the door. Men from the Reich Central Office for Jewish Resettlement orders them to pack and leave for Minsk in Byelorussia. Each member of the family are forced to sign a document for these men admitting to being an enemy of the German government and therefore relinquishing their rights to all the property and possessions they leave behind.
As stateless people, they board a train and two days later, her father falls ill and dies. “I traveled with his dead body for several hours. His head was still warm when they threw him out in the snow.”
Arriving in Minsk in November, 1941, the three girls lose their mother. “Rough, gloved hands were pulling us apart, separating families into mortified, shrieking entities… I lost the frail hand of my Mutti in the ashen air… I called for her in anguish but my voice was drowned in the ocean of others.” Ilse later learned her mother died in a gas van.
In the Minsk Ghetto, the German Jews are kept separate from the Russian Jews by wire.
Orders came down from Hitler’s headquarters that no skilled workers are “to be harmed, as they were essential for the war effort.”
The young girls then experience for the first time an execution as twenty-six Jews are lined up and shot for one who ran away.
I can’t emphasize enough how masterful the author’s storytelling is. The characters are real, with depth, strengths and weaknesses, courage and despair. The reader is right there in the middle of their misery, in the heat and in the cold, in the hunger and in the loss – and yet Ilse keeps discovering new ways to have hope, ways to keep her and her sisters alive.
Speaking Yiddish, the German Jews learn they can communicate with the Russian Jews on the other side of the wire. Slowly they make friends and learn the only way to survive this war is to steal, smuggle and trade.
Ilse becomes aware of various factions within the German military structure and how certain entities like the SS are not as protective of the skilled workers as those who must operate the factories.
After a mass execution of over 5000 skilled workers by the SS, the German Jews press forward to be chosen to fill the empty slots, noting “it was only women they wanted.”
Speaking up, Ilse is singled out, by Leutnant Willy Schultz. He places her in charge of his new brigade of workers.
Willy Schultz is an unhappily married, failed pilot, reassigned to run this fledgling office in Minsk. He is friendly, polite and enamored by Ilse but doesn’t take advantage of her. He does his best to help her and her sisters stay safe, providing Ilse with passes and rations, eventually bringing her to his government office to type official documents although she is no typist.
And then, as the horrors of the war and the behavior of the Gestapo press in on both of them, Willy decides he is in love with Ilse and wants to be with her no matter what. He even turns down a new promotion that would take him away from her.
And then comes the dreadful SS Aktionen on orders to liquidate all the Ghettos in occupied Eastern territories.
Willy Schultz risks everything, leading Ilse’s brigade of workers, and her sisters, down into the basement of a place where he believes they won’t be discovered.
“The order of the executive action was given to the heads of the Einsatzgruppen by Reichsfuhrer Himmler himself… All women, children, the sick, and the elderly are subjects for immediate execution.”
For four days they sleep in the cellar.
After the liquidation is complete, Willy and Ilse bring the brigade back out in the light and tell them to go back to work as if nothing happened. When the SS pokes its nose back into his business, Willy talks his way out of it but the brigade is sent into the ghetto to clean up the mess and the bodies of their friends and families who weren’t hidden and protected. “We lined them all up along the road regardless – the stiff and the bloated, the young and the elderly, the men and the women, until the streets were full of them.”
Pressure from above and beside Willy, urge him to quit protecting these Jews and this girl. People are taking an interest in his behavior and he could lose his life.
Willy can’t take it anymore. Ilse has trusted him with names, with activities of partisans in the camp and in the woods. He helps the Jews collect the proper documentation and information to make their escape – an escape he plans to make with them.
The most amazing part of ‘No Woman’s Land’ is the fact that most of it is based on a true story. Ilse Stein and Willy Schultz were real people who met in Minsk in 1942 after his “brigade was killed by the SS during the Purim massacre.”
This is an amazing tale of courage and love in the face of evil and death. I highly recommend this book. You won’t forget it once you’ve read it. It is powerful historical fiction that literally bleeds off the page and becomes a part of you. 5 stars.
All their stories need to be told in this way.
I love how this author researches individual stories and then brings them to life, showing them as people, not statistics. I also appreciate how at the end she clarifies how much of the story and characters are real and provides details for further research.
Ilse was a normal girl with all the dreams and hopes of any teenager. Only she is a German Jew sent to the Minsk ghetto. Willy Schultz is a rubbish SS pilot given admin duties at the ghetto to keep him out of the skies. They fall in love. What could be simpler than that in normal times? Only these aren’t normal times and love means risking your life.
Great story of courage and fortitude.
“I didn’t want romance. I only wanted a normal life.”
I don’t think I could give this story enough praise!
Rich with historical accuracy and vivid emotions, this is a love story for the ages. With beautiful writing, Miss Midwood is able to create an atmosphere in her story that is both tragic and compelling. The characters are very real which makes the story even harder to put down.
Set in the era of World War II, the main character of this story is sent to live in a Minsk Ghetto. Life is hard and death seems to be around every corner. What she doesn’t expect though is despite all the darkness there is still love and hope waiting to be experienced.
***** The Kind of Bravery Not Always Talked About
Meticulously based on real facts, events, and characters, this fast became one of my favorites among Midwood’s novels. Starting out in 1943 and the spoken words, “We live together or we die together,” we get just a hint of a couple’s devotion, but don’t know who they are, how they came together, or what that powerful statement means. Instantly, I wanted to find out more.
Three years earlier, in 1940, we learn of Ilse Stein, a Jewish girl, living with her family in the little German town of Nidda, where they had always enjoyed the quiet life. But by 1940, that was no longer possible. Curfews and people she’d known her whole life, now propagandized into not only distrusting her family, but also hating all Jews as well was horrifying enough. But when the advent of Kristallnacht came and her father’s grocery store was raided and destroyed, they all moved away, to where “the war was in progress yet Frankfurt appeared to be entirely oblivious to it.”
Yet that fact proved false. In Midwood’s highly descriptive style, we witness the chilling step-by-step ‘legal’ withdrawal of her people’s rights by the Nazi government, and how Ilse and what’s left of her family are forced to live in mortal fear every hour of every day in a ghetto in Minsk. Yet life does come with surprises. For it is in this ghetto that she makes friends with Liza, a Communist Partisan, and begins to work for a Luftwaffe captain in charge of operations, Willy Schultz.
What I’ve always appreciated about this author is the fact that her characters are always multi-dimensional––not simply good or bad. Willy Schultz is a perfect example of that. He is a loyal German pilot, but first and foremost, he is a human being. He refuses to be brutal to the people living there under him, especially Ilse. And as their relationship blossoms, in spite of the horror surrounding them, in spite of the danger he himself faces for being with her, there is one constant in their lives together. No matter what, Willy will love, cherish, and try to protect her. And for that reason, I truly cheered for them both––with tears in my eyes. Bravo, Ms Midwood!
No Woman’s Land is Midwood’s best novel to date – I’ve said that before but I mean it: the writing is gorgeous, the story is atmospheric, and the characters feel so real, like I could reach out and touch them … and as usual, Midwood’s story has that “it-factor” that just sucks you right into the story from page one …
This is the ultimate love story, and it comes with the heaviest price and the highest stakes.
“We live together, or we die together…” Oh, be still my heart! This was an emotional story to follow, but I loved every minute of it.
Midwood presents a story rich in history and accuracy, but at the same time, it’s so full of life and never boring … I loved Illse and I admired her strength. Willy was your ultimate protector and I fell in love with him, just as she did …
You don’t want to miss this genre-bending, romantic, thrilling tale based on true historical events! Midwood weaved this story together masterfully! Highly recommend it.
Five huge stars!!
What a fascinating and emotionally charged book. The fact that it’s based on a true story makes it even more inspirational. From the very beginning, I felt I was inside the head of Ilsa, feeling all her emotions, doubts, and fears. Knowing how horrendously Jews (and others) were treated by the Germans during the holocaust, I was never sure what tragedy would strike Ilsa and her family next. This story takes you into the heart of the work camps in Belarus (something I’ve read very little about prior to this). For me, it added a new dimensions to the atrocities committed by the Third Reich and its henchmen. I highly recommend it if you want to have an emotional and educational journey.
This story and all others like it jerked at my heart strings. It tells of the horror that was put upon the Jews and of a Jewish girl whos homeland is decimated and her people murdered. But it also tells of the bravery of a few who fought back. The main goal for them was freedom rather than death. An educational story of a dark time in history. A must read. Thanks Ellie.
Beautifully Written Story of an Awful Time. The book just sucks one into the characters and their story and makes it difficult to put down. The under lying love story is just the cherry on top. As far as a story of hardship and survival … this one is for the record books. Just fascinating!
No Woman’s Land is a well researched novel that reveals the reality of many Germans in WWII. Ellie Midwood’s story reveals that the core of who people are remain within them regardless of the situation they are forced into. This story is about human emotions and values that rise above war.
No Woman’s Land provides a perspective not often written about – Germans who are not Nazis.
What an emotional ride!
I couldn’t put this book down – Ellie has done it again! I always expect that Ellie’s stories will take place around one of her other stories, but each one is so different, it’s beautiful!
Another corner of the war, and the character are all different and all inspiring. And to read the notes at the end, to find out that these characters existed, those are my favorite parts of her books!
Definitely a must read!
My mom was a child in the Minsk Getto. She survived the last pogrom, even when all her family was killed and drop off in Yama (bearing place of Getto). She reached Zorins camp and thanks to this people she survived and even moved to USA in 1979 . She was always shearing her memories about the German’s Jews who arrived in the getto and was so different from the local Jews. I think the author did a lot of research to provide the truth about that terrible time. My mother passed recently and reading this book made me even more aware what she lived trough. I never expected any good ending and I was happy about it. We have to be positive and believe in good.
We should never forget!!
A good look into an awful period of history
Well written and compelling, truth-telling in its best form. A young Jewish woman and a German officer struggle to survive – and to save others – during the Holocaust. Celebrate the human spirit!
I haven’t read any WWII love stories and was looking forward to reading this one which had so many wonderful reviews. Excellently-written with strong and life-like characters, I was not disappointed! I felt like I was really there experiencing the fear, heartache, and day-to-day survival of living in a Jewish ghetto. I loved the characters of Ilse and Willy. They shared a beautiful, romantic, and heart pounding love. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
No Woman’s Land is one of the few books that have left me reeling for days. Talk about having a book hangover!
I have read historical fiction books primarily around the World War II setting since I was in the third grade so to say the least, I’ve read a LOT of WWII books. There are so many perspectives of that time period to explore. The bravery, internal struggle and historical accuracy are what I find keep me reading more about WWII and are also telling signs of an outstanding book… all things I would attribute to No Woman’s Land.
This book, for me, was on the level of reading Night by Elie Wiesel. Reading this book catapulted me to being in the camp with Ilse. You could feel the unspoken thoughts between herself and Willy before it was even really recognized as if you were watching two of your friends fall in love in real life. You held your breath when there were orders to downsize the camp or people stuck their necks out to improve the lives of others.
I smiled, I sighed of relief, I held my breath, I cried. This book gave me all the feels and chills. Hands down, a five star must-read of 2019.
Thank you to HFVBT and Ellie Midwood for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this amazing book!
No Woman’s Land: A Holocaust Novel is Ellie Midwood’s newest release. It is a fabulous read. Miss Midwood’s talent shines through in this one. It tells the powerful story of the tragedies many suffered from the Nazis during World War II. It is, also, a gripping story of hope and survival.
No Woman’s Land: A Holocaust Novel is most definitely a must read and I highly recommend it. I am giving it a well deserved five plus stars. I hope to read more by this author in the future. She has earned herself a new fan.
I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
There is historical fiction, and then there’s Ellie Midwood. No Woman’s Land is a superb novel that brings the Minsk Ghetto to life in all of its harsh cruelty with a sense of hope and grace. Reading a story of the dour conditions of the Holocaust can be difficult on a reader, but Ms. Midwood has crafted a powerful story of the meaning of loyalty, friendship, and love in the bitterest of conditions.
One can’t help but cheer on ghetto occupants Ilse , Rivka, and Liza as they navigate the treacherous dog eat dog world of the ghetto while still holding on to the ultimate thing that keeps them alive: love. Although these three women, and others in the ghetto, come from diverging backgrounds, they form a solidarity as they keep each other together and the hope for freedom alive. Through this narrative, they discover the only thing that keeps one alive is love during the harshest of conditions.
I appreciate Ilse Stein’s character arc as we meet her as a timid, sheltered Jewish girl who arrives in Minsk after she and her sisters are resettled into the ghettos. There she meets women like Rivka and Liza, savvy leaders who lost husbands as the winds of war rage over the eastern front. Isle learns just how strong she is as she vows to survive and keep her sisters safe.
Although disillusioned and jaded, she learns to trust as she meets Willy Schultz, an officer in the Luftwaffe who befriends her. Their love story is sweet, tender, and real as they let their guards down while coming to terms with being from opposing sides.
This book left me wanting to know more of what becomes of Ilse, Willy, Liza, and all of their friends after the book ended, especially because these people existed during World War II. Highly recommended.
The Holocaust is one of recent history’s more horrible events – and it’s more horrible to see it, any of it, from the inside. That there are, or have been, survivors to bear witness to what happened makes it no easier to contemplate.
No Woman’s Land is a story from inside the early days of the Holocaust, an account (because it is too close to reality to really be a story) of a German Jewess who came to love a Luftwaffe lieutenant, an officer who rejected the Nazi party line and loved her in return. A flower blooms in the midst of concrete, struggling through a crack in the cement, risking its very existence, not just its beauty, to any passing foot or tire.
There is an ending to Ilse and Willy’s account, as far as the book goes. They are real people, and the ending of their story is not told. But the book does not claim to provide their lives, simply what happened during the horrible time in the early part of the war, and for that, it is hard to read because it is so real.
No Woman’s Land is, simply, a very moving and unique book well worth the effort.