Oh, My goodness. I tend not to read World War II stories because they are mostly painful. I also avoid stories set in the Russian gulags for the same reason. So here I am, reading a docudrama covering both places.
This book, the author tells us, is a fictional biography of a real person. The fiction comes in, like in the docudramas we watch on television, where there are name changes to protect the privacy of people who would rather not be reminded, there are composite characters, and where there are conversations that may or may not have happened. We accept these because it makes a more compelling story.
Cilka Klein is just a girl when her family is rounded up and sent to the death camps. She survives the war in Auschwitz-Birkenau mostly because the prison commandant finds her beautiful. When the war is over and the death camps are opened, she thinks she will be free and able to return to her home. However, the Russians, who have taken charge of this camp, call her a collaborator and sent her to Siberia.
The story could be very sad. There are places where Cilka loses things and people important to her. But she manages to find new people to fill her heart and bring her happiness and a sense of purpose. She even finds her husband in the gulag, although they don't marry until both are released from that cold prison.
I received the copy of the book I read for this review from the publisher.
This book, the author tells us, is a fictional biography of a real person. The fiction comes in, like in the docudramas we watch on television, where there are name changes to protect the privacy of people who would rather not be reminded, there are composite characters, and where there are conversations that may or may not have happened. We accept these because it makes a more compelling story.
Cilka Klein is just a girl when her family is rounded up and sent to the death camps. She survives the war in Auschwitz-Birkenau mostly because the prison commandant finds her beautiful. When the war is over and the death camps are opened, she thinks she will be free and able to return to her home. However, the Russians, who have taken charge of this camp, call her a collaborator and sent her to Siberia.
The story could be very sad. There are places where Cilka loses things and people important to her. But she manages to find new people to fill her heart and bring her happiness and a sense of purpose. She even finds her husband in the gulag, although they don't marry until both are released from that cold prison.
I received the copy of the book I read for this review from the publisher.