Cilka's story is a heartwrenching story of despair and mixed with hope of a 16 year old, Jewish girl living in Czechoslovakia who is sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later to a Gulag in Siberia. She spent over 11 years in captivity struggling to survive each day...not to live, but just to stay alive. This story is told through others in the camps who knew her and considered her the bravest person they've ever known. We were introduced to Chilka in the book titled The Tattooist of Auschwitz and this is the continuation of her life as a prisoner during WWII and her interaction with other prisoners and her captors. Both books are easy to read and certainly will cause you to appreciate what people will do to survive.