Cilka is only 16 when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp where she endures three years of unimaginable horror.
After liberation, she's charged as a collaborator and sent to Siberian gulag where she is to serve 10 years. There, she faces more injustice and power struggles, but day after day she does what she can to survive and help the others keep their spirits up.
Cilka's Journey, like Tattooist of Auschwitz, is written in a report-like tone and doesn't translate as an emotional narrative in my opinion. Even though the content evoked heartbreak, horror, anger, and frustration, with the abhorrent events of Cilka's experiences in the gulag and in her flashbacks from Auschwitz.
Cilka was painted as a saint through everything she experienced, not the least bit self-serving. She definitely struggled with survivor's guilt, and that was eluded to, but I would've liked to see a bit more humanity from her point of view.
Overall, I enjoyed Cilka's Journey and would definitely recommend it to any historical-fiction readers. This was the followup to Tattooist of Auschwitz but could be read as a standalone.
After liberation, she's charged as a collaborator and sent to Siberian gulag where she is to serve 10 years. There, she faces more injustice and power struggles, but day after day she does what she can to survive and help the others keep their spirits up.
Cilka's Journey, like Tattooist of Auschwitz, is written in a report-like tone and doesn't translate as an emotional narrative in my opinion. Even though the content evoked heartbreak, horror, anger, and frustration, with the abhorrent events of Cilka's experiences in the gulag and in her flashbacks from Auschwitz.
Cilka was painted as a saint through everything she experienced, not the least bit self-serving. She definitely struggled with survivor's guilt, and that was eluded to, but I would've liked to see a bit more humanity from her point of view.
Overall, I enjoyed Cilka's Journey and would definitely recommend it to any historical-fiction readers. This was the followup to Tattooist of Auschwitz but could be read as a standalone.