The Midwife of Auschwitz Inspired by a heartbreaking true story, an emotional and gripping World War 2 historical novel (Women of War)

I couldn’t stop reading this book. There are many books about the atrocities the Nazis imposed on people, countries, and the world. This book describes the horrors, the inhumanity, and the gross anti- Semitism the Jews, resistance, and other ethnicities faced and endured in the horrible camps. Yet, the survival drive and hope they had was unbelievable. God was there even though many lost faith. Good things always come out of tragedy. We can never allow this to happen again. I was in tears at the courage and fight these women had. The human spirit is so strong. God bless them all.

Every time I read a book about the holocaust, I discover new atrocities that had escaped me before. I choose to read these important books not out of a sense of some morbid curiosity but in the spirit of “Never Forget” and to help me combat the disgust I experience as even today there are holocaust deniers spouting their sick conspiracy theories.Stuart’s book is historical fiction based on the real-life Stanislawa Leszcynska, a Polish Catholic midwife, who was sent to Auschwitz as punishment for rendering aid to Jews suffering in a ghetto in Lodz, Poland. Stuart named her character Ana Kaminski, who was separated from her husband and sons when she was arrested. Travelling with her on the same overcrowded cattle train was her young Jewish friend Ester Pasternak, a new bride also separated from her family.Upon arrival at the camp, and to avoid immediate death by the “selection” process, Ana announced she was a midwife and that Ester was her assistant. That statement earned them the “right” to be assigned as laborers rather than going straight to the gas chambers. The horrific fate of the newborns was so unfathomable and sickening that I researched and discovered that the real midwife had delivered over 3,000 infants in Auschwitz-Birkenau.As Stuart accurately revealed, the treatment of newborns transitioned over three different phases. In the first phase, all newborns were cruelly drowned in a bucket moments after birth, right in front of their mothers and all the other expectant mothers. In the second phase, all Jewish children suffered the same drowning fate, but the children of non-Jewish collaborators were allowed to live, but only a handful survived, because their starving mothers could not produce enough milk. In the third phase, non-Jewish children and Jewish children with blond hair were allowed to live so that SS Officers could relocate them with German families. This last stage was not driven by a morsel of compassion but was in response to the large number of casualties of German men in the war, creating the need for a supply of babies that were intended to continue the Third Reich. Ester and her newborn daughter fell victims to this latest phase, when her baby was stolen by the SS. As she had done for other mothers, Ester secretly tattooed her own prisoner number into the infant’s armpit, hoping to be reunited with her after the war.After Russians liberated the few inmates at Auschwitz who were not forced to participate in the infamous death marches out of the camps to nowhere, Stuart’s book concentrated on the poignant and often heartbreaking return to Lodz, where the surviving characters searched for news of their family members. Reunions were hard to come by, due to the lack of information and the number that had perished. Stuart also discussed the painfully slow and largely unsuccessful process of tracking the infants whose armpits had been tattooed with their mothers’ inmate numbers. Regardless of how depressing books about the holocaust are, I will continue to read them to educate myself, and I encourage others to learn more about the evil that knew no bounds.

This story made me cry so hard. I love these stories of courage and hope. Peace came to these and they flourished during and after a time that was desperately hard. It’s unimaginable the things these people faced bc of one man’s hate. My heart breaks knowing maybe this is a fictional noval but is true in so many ways.

As one who lo as good Historical Fiction let me say: this book is an awesome and compelling historical fiction that traces and tells true history along with the fiction! This book will make the reader cry but also believe in hope against all odds! Truly a journey through the valley of the shadow of death, torture, and the worst most gruesome time in world history! But even there the sanctity of life cannot be snuffed out no matter how demented humans can sink!Very well written! Great historical notes in the end notes! Most highly recommended!!!

Emotional, precious, determined, and beautiful. This book is so inspiring. It actively makes me want to seek out ways to improve humanity.