The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction)

About the Author GWEN STRAUSS' poems, short stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals including The New Republic, London Sunday Times, New England Review, and Kenyon Review and she has published a collection of poetry, Trail of Stones. She was born and spent her early years in Haiti. Strauss lives in Southern France, where she is the Director of the artist's residency program at the Dora Maar House. Product Description "The Nine follows the true story of the author's great aunt Hâeláene Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris. The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, intransit, and at Ravensbrèuck. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape. Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times"-- Review Goodreads list of NEW & ANTICIPATED HISTORIES & BIOGRAPHIES An incredible story about the power of friendship and the faith in humanity in one of the darkest times in history. --Lee Woodruff The women's bravery and ingenuity as they traverse an almost apocalyptic landscape makes for a thrilling narrative...Gripping. --Shelf Awareness[Strauss] gets her facts right... A breathless story of almost superhuman heroism and suffering with a (mostly) happy ending. --KirkusIntimate.. chilling... A moving testament to the power of friendship --BooklistThe Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women. Banding together in the hellscape of Ravensbruck, the nine resistance fighters turned prisoners make a desperate bid for escape in the chaos of the war's end, embarking across battle-ravaged Germany toward home. Gwen Strauss melds a poet's pen and a decade of research into a tale of friendship, courage, and indomitable will. --Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice NetworkThis haunting account provides yet more evidence not only of the power of female friendship but that the often unrecorded courage and resilience of ordinary women must be honoured and celebrated. It's a most inspiring read...Utterly gripping. --Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes "I love this book. It delivers beauty, grace, horror, and suspense--an important work that also happens to be a hell of a read!" --Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead"Strauss, niece of one of the nine heroines and third-generation 'Witness of the Witnesses', answers questions and challenges with great finesse. In a writing of rare historical accuracy and deep empathy, a woman of today tells the stories of yesterday." --Agnès Triebel, Secretary General of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee"With Gwen Strauss' book and the scope of her research, that whole unknown period came to me as a gift from heaven... The precision of the speech, the delicacy of the style, the joys and misfortunes brought tears that I was happy to shed." --Marc Spijker, Guigui's son"At this moment of worldwide chaos and despair, this is a book that reminds us about what is important, and about finding strength and purpose during the worst of times. Highly recommended." --Goldie Goldblo