Member Reviews

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris. Historical fiction is sometimes very sad. This book though well written is one of the saddest I have ever read. I cannot even begin to imagine what Cilka went through.

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Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris is the second in her series but could easily be read by itself. Rather than focusing on life at Auschwitz alone like many other historical novels, Morris' mainly narrates what happens to Cilka after leaving behind her terrible life at the concentration camp. Sadly, her pains did not stop there as she was sent to a gulag in Siberia as punishment for the perceived collusion with the enemy during her stay at Auschwitz. All throughout the story, there are flashbacks to her former imprisonment to help understand her feelings and fears related to the ups and downs at Vorkuta Gulag.

Once again, I was barely able to put down one of Morris' books until I made it all the way through. I feared and I cried, I laughed and I rejoiced right along with Cilka throughout most of the story. The only part that left me hanging somewhat was the ending as it felt very rushed to me. Morris shows once again that she has done her research for this book so while this is a fictional story, it is based on many facts of the real Cilka.

There are many, many historical fiction books to explain the horrors of the Holocaust to people today but finally, here is a book that shows that while the Nazis were thankfully stopped, this doesn't mean everything was improved for all the prisoners. There were still many people that went through pain and tragedy at the hands of a different kind of dictator.

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Reading about the atrocities of World War 2 have always turned my stomach and left me with a true sense of disbelief. As I read about the horrors of concentration camps, work houses, the genocide that occurred it feels so horrific I almost place it into a category of “fictional” experiences. Because how could something so horrifying happen to a whole population of people???? It makes me question humanity and truthfully makes me question even God.

However, in this novel the author not only describes horrific scenarios that took place, she also points to HOPE, and how it can bloom in the darkest places, specifically in the rooms of the hospital, and in the stories of healing - both of the physical body, and the soul. You see this in Cilka’s relationships with the women she is assigned to live with and those she works with. I felt the author did a good job weaving in hope through the darkness.

I often asked myself through the book - how would I have behaved if I had been in Cilka’s situation? As she’s been faced with some brutal and demoralizing situations I was prone to quick judgement. However, I found that as I understood more of her life story, I did not judge her as harshly as I did initially. This is a good life lesson - when we lean in and learn about people’s real life stories, we aren’t as quick to judge. I hope I will try to remember that, and do better.

It should be noted that I have not read the previous novel “Tattooist of Auschwitz”, but want to now that I have enjoyed the authors writing and storytelling style.

(I did receive an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Netgalley!)

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While interviewing Lale Sokolov, the Holocaust survivor who became the subject of her historic novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris learned another story of strength and survival—that of Cilka Klein. In Cilka’s Journey, Morris presents that second story inspired by Sokolov, based on fact but fictionalized when details were unavailable or to preserve the privacy of living people.

Forced into prostitution to two German officers at Birkenau when she was only sixteen and also unwillingly made overseer of the barracks where condemned women spent their final night before death by gas, Cilka hoped for freedom when the camp was liberated. Instead, the Soviets charged her with aiding the Germans and sentenced her to fifteen years at Vorkuta, a Siberian labor camp. Her time at Vorkuta makes up the bulk of the novel.

Before you decide Morris's novel may be too tragic and depressing to read, know that although Cilka faces terrible hardships and personal fears, she finds strength from fellow prisoners, kindness and unexpected opportunities when-- and sometimes from whom--least expected. The further I read, the more unusual and captivating I found Cilka Klein’s life story.

Author Heather Morris does not stop with the final chapter and epilogue. She supplements her novel with a detailed account of her research, an explanation of what was fact and what was fiction, and extensive historic background written by Owen Matthews to enhance readers' understanding of the history behind and nature of Stalinist forced labor camps in general and Vorkuta in particular.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an Advance Readers Copy.

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Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris is the latest novel from the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The main character in this book is based on one from Tattooist, which I have not read, but I was still able to dive seamlessly into Cilka’s Journey.

History's accounts of the Holocaust can make it seem that once the gates to the camps opened and the survivors were liberated, the war was over. But that was not the case for everyone, particularly those considered Nazi collaborators because of what they had to do to survive. Cilka was one of those people. Her beauty gave her an advantage of sorts when the Nazis singled her out for their own purposes. She was given marginally better treatment to keep her appealing, but it came at great cost.

When she was freed by Russian soldiers, she was tried as a collaborator and sentenced to hard labor in a Siberian prison camp. Her troubles were not even close to over. Not only did she need to stay sane and healthy under horrible conditions, but she also had to conceal her past from her fellow prisoners who could see her as a traitor.

This was a heart-wrenching and compelling account of the horrors of Russian gulags and the complexities surrounding survival in untenable situations. It’s also a reminder that everyone has a story and nothing is as black and white as it seems to be.

Cilka’s Journey was a five-star read for me. I recommend it to anyone interested in history, particularly that of World War II and its aftermath as well as stories about people able to dig deep into reserves of strength against seemingly insurmountable odds.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of Cilka’s Journey from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I am so grateful to St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of Cilka’s Journey via Netgalley.
I read Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and was deeply touched by Lale & Gita’s story, but I also found myself wondering what had happened to Cilka in particular. Cilka’s Journey is a fictionalized account of what she went through after surviving Birkenau and being liberated by the Soviet Army. Identified as a collaborator, she was sentenced to 15 years in a Siberian gulag. It is unimaginable to me that after being raped & tortured for three years, Cilka has to endure even more in the gulag. Knowing that Cilka did find love in her life leaves me filled with hope.
I have read many books about the Holocaust and WWII, but not many talk about what happened in Russia during and after the war. I’m continually grateful to the people who keep telling the untold stories.

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After suffering the indignities of Auschwitz for 3 years, Cilka Klein is sentenced to a Siberian Gulag for 15 years. Her Soviet imprisonment was marginally less awful than her time in a nazi concentration camp, but that’s not saying much.

At times, this book was hard to continue reading. The unspeakable cruelty Cilka endures is stomach churning. It’s easier to put down the book than deal with the emotions it stirs up. Amazingly, despite her circumstances, Cilka shows remarkable kindness, making selfless decision after selfless decision. Her generous and forgiving spirit, especially in the face of such malignity, are inspiring and make this work the read.

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I wasn't sure what to expect as I hadn't read The Tattooist of Auschwitz first. I hope to read it soon. I didn't notice that I was missing anything by not reading it first as the author provided the necessary background. However, I think the reading experienced could only be enriched by reading the other book first.

I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put it down once I got started on it. The atrocities that the Jews faced makes this a hard book to read, but it is so worth reading. The characters were so well developed and my heart just broke for everything they had to go through.

This is one of my favorite books this year and maybe of all time. I'm excited to go back and read the author's first book as I feel that it will give me more depth and understanding about this period in time.

What a great read and I'm excited to read anything else by this author.

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Rating: 4 chilling stars

After having read and enjoyed this author’s prior book, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”, I was pleased to receive her latest release from NetGalley. Cilka Klein made a fairly minor appearance as a friend of Gita and Lale in “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”. Frankly I didn’t really remember her from that book which I read about a year ago. In many ways, her story is so much more dramatic and heartbreaking than Lale’s story. I’m glad that I was able to read and review this book. Be forewarned though, that while it is a strong work of historical fiction, it is about a horrific time in world history. It’s an unflinching look at some of the worst cruelty political regimes can subject people to.

We meet Cecilia, ‘Cilka’ Klein as the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau is being freed at the end of WWII. Unfortunately for her, the camp is being freed by the Soviets. Based on reports from other prisoners instead of being freed, Cilka is sent to a Polish prison. Because she was kept as a sex slave for the Commandant of the death camp and housed in a private room in the barracks that was used for prisoners the night before going to the gas chamber, she was accused of being a collaborator. Unimaginably, instead of being freed and allowed to return to Czechoslovakia, she is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a Russian Gulag. Camp Vorkuta, the camp she is sent to, is 90 miles above the Arctic Circle

It seems that she is entering the second level of Hell instead of savoring freedom and rebuilding her life. Once again she is called on to pull on unknown levels of reserves to form a new community in the ultra-harsh landscape. She has PTSD flashbacks about the things that she endured while in Birkenau, when she is again abused sexually and physically. Slowly she starts to scrabble up from the bottom of the camp’s pecking order and begins to work in the camp hospital. From there she is able to better the lives of all her hut mates with whom she has formed a strong bond.

This work of historical fiction is a testament to capacity of the human spirit to survive. What makes some people press on, and other to give up much more easily? I don’t have the answer to that, but this book does show both sides of this coin. Others often rely on Cilka’s strength to help them through the toughest of the tough times. She selflessly puts their needs over her own. I’m not sure that I would have the same selfless attitude that she did. She felt such a degree of guilt and shame for having survived Auschwitz that she didn’t value her life much. She valued the lives of others over her own life.

I won’t tell you how the story ends. You’ll have to pick this up and read it for yourself. Is Cilka ever freed? Does she find self-forgiveness? Does she find love? This is a good piece of historical fiction that kept me turning the pages, sometimes in great distress, to see how Cilka survived.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, St Martin’s Press; and the author, Heather Morris for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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4.5 heart-wrenching stars

This one is a companion to “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” but can definitely be read as a stand-alone. My interpretation is that this is historical fiction, based on the lives of real people.

In this tale, we have Cilka, who knew Lale and Gita from the first book, they were all prisoners at Auschwitz. Because of her beauty, Cilka has been chosen to be the “mistress” of two German leaders at the camp. She is faced with rape from these leaders almost every night. She also oversees the prisoners in a block that are condemned to die the next day. All this starting when she was a 16-year-old. Faced with surviving or dying like the other women, she does what it takes to make it through the war. Imagine the horror of the camp being liberated after the war and Cilka is not freed. Instead she is charged with collaborating with the enemy and sent to a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The rest of the book chronicles the horrible conditions she faces at the gulag. I had to read this one in small chunks because it was depressing and heart-wrenching. This is not a romanticized tale of concentration camps or Russian prisons. There are some interesting stories as Cilka ends up working at the hospital and gets some training as a nurse. She has amazing resiliency and I’m amazed at all she survives.

This one finally concludes with some happiness for Cilka. I recommend reading this one at the right time as I found it depressing and horribly realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley, Heather Morris, and St. Martin's Press for a complimentary copy of the book to read.

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Cilka’s Journey is a long, despairing one. Initially we see Russian soldiers liberating her and the surviving prisoners at Auschwitz Birkenau. However, her freedom is cut short as she is soon condemned for consorting with the enemy, which she did, but used it as a survival tool, and is sent to a Siberian work camp. After suffering for three miserable years, she now faces more years of confinement and debasement. She entered Auschwitz at age sixteen and 15 more years of life as a prisoner await. She deals with brutal weather conditions in Siberia and once again faces near starvation, and sexual assault; along with a new abusive condition: back breaking work in the coal mines; however, she is determined to survive. Jennifer Morris gives the reader hope that Cilka will survive. She illustrates Cilka as a smart, courageous, passionate young lady who serves as a peacemaker and a mentor for the younger women in her hut and camp. We see her as a determined problem solver and one who does whatever it takes to survive just as she did in the concentration camp. Her journey brightens as she makes friends with the campmates as well authority figures who encourage her to work in the camp hospital, where she becomes deeply involved with patients while also learning nursing skills. Man’s inhumanity to man as well as humanity exists in Cilka’s Journey The novel is based on factual events and people. Morris did extensive research on the real Cilka, the events, and the setting in Siberia. If you are a historical fiction fan add this to your TBR list.

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4.5 stars rounded down. This is a book of historical fiction. Cilka Klein was a real life person who was taken by Germans in WWII to Auschwitz and then Birkenau concentration camps when she was only 16.
The author confirmed that Cilka was a real person, but many events in the book are her own interpretation of Cilka's experiences.
The German camp commandant notices her beauty and takes for his personal sex slave in 1942. She survives because of this. The Soviet Army liberates the camp in 1945. They decide that she was a collaborator because she slept with the enemy. They sentence her to 15 years hard labor. She is sent to another concentration camp, Vorkuta, in the far north of the USSR. She is taken under the wing of the camp doctor, who recognizes her extraordinary abilities. Cilka trains to be a nurse and survives 10 years in Vorkuta before being released.
This is an inspiring story of courage and the will to survive in the face of terrible, life threatening conditions. I became invested in Cilka's story and thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend it to fans of Lilac Girls.
Thank You St. Martin's Press and Heather Morris for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.

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Fascinating, heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting story about life in a prison camp in Soviet Russia after World War II.

Cilka Klein briefly thinks her life is about to improve when she is released from a concentration camp at the end of the war. Instead she is put in a train car for a harrowing journey to Siberia. Things just keep getting worse, until a young doctor recognizes her facility with languages, and later, gift for nursing. In her years in the prison camp, despite experiencing unspeakable horrors, Cilka manages to forge relationships and selflessly help others on occasion.

Cilka is an unforgettable heroine, and author Morris fleshes out a period in history only briefly covered in most history classes. Although a quasi-sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you need not read the first book to follow Cilka’s Journey. #NetGalley #CilkasJourney

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You are looking at my favorite historical fiction read of 2019! Can you imagine surviving Auschwitz only to be sent to a Siberian labor camp? This book broke my heart and then put it back together numerous times. To say it was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. Whenever I read stories like this, I am amazed at the resiliency of the human spirit. This is one of those books that draws you in from the very first pages, and keeps you emotionally invested until the very end. I am still thinking about this book days after reading it, and I am still thinking about Tattooist a year after reading it. This book lived up to my expectations in every way I hoped. If you are looking for a heart-wrenching historical fiction read that will make up feel like you were there, you should read Cilka's Journey, which is out on Tuesday. All the stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you @stmartinspress for my copy.

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Cilka's Journey is a follow-up of The Tattoist of Auschwtiz. We follow Cilka after her emancipation from the horrible concentration camps in Poland, to her imprisonment in the gulags of Siberia. Once again, Cilka is faced with survival. And she finds herself navigating this similar space of trauma, guilt, and survival.

Pros;
This story was heartbreaking and amazing. I cried, multiple times. The author clearly spent a lot of time researching for this novel, and the book was better off for it.

Cons: Similar to tattooist, I was not a fan of the writing style. It felt choppy and forced at times. Which made certain sections tough to read.

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Based on a true story of cruelty and fortitude under such circumstances
This book was phenomenal! I was totally engrossed from page one. The trials and tribulations of a young girl who becomes a woman under awful circumstances. It will break your heart and build it back up again.
Cecelia Klein, Cilka, has been in Auschwitz, a German concentration camp for three years when the book opens and is being told she is free. But what happens next is what the rest of the story is about. The women she meets in the gulag are so brave, endure so much but make a life in spite of their new world. This quote from the book sums it up, “Cilka can see that she has gone from one cruel, inhuman place to another.” Not since reading the DIARY OF ANNE FRANK have I felt the hope but unabashed realization of life at that time albeit one before the camps and one after. There are hints of what life in a socialist country is like: the wealthy still get better treatment than the poor. Is that fair?
There are so many people who might enjoy reading this book: those whose family have a connection to Auschwitz, German women, Jewish women, young women in general. I loved it and I’m none of these. It comes highly recommended. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley. I give it 10 stars!

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This is by the author of 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' and follows the life of Cilka, the best friend of Gita from that first book. I have not yet read The Tattooist Of Auschwitz yet (I know - it is in my very large stack of books waiting), but I had no trouble following this story, so do not feel you need to read the author;s first book ahead of this one.. Cilka managed to stay alive at Auschwitz by being raped regularly by a camp commander, but after liberation by the Russians she is charged with being a collaborator and sentenced to 15 years in a gulag in Siberia. The gulag is the setting for most of the book, with the Auschwitz experiences told as flashbacks. It is a wonderfully told story of survival, inspired by the life of a real person and a book I will be highly recommending to my customers.

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This was a heartbreaking novel but so well written. The horrible tragedies that occurred were real for so very many. Cilka was a very strong character.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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A strong and remarkable story, very well written and conducted in such a way that the reader is thrilled and feels everything Cilka suffers.

At various times, I have to stop reading to breathe and have strength to face what would come after.

A wonderful book that should be read by everyone to give real value to freedom.

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This is one of those books where I opened it and wanted to dive in deeper. This story depicts what could have happened after world war II for the prisoners of the concentration camps. I had no idea what was in store as a reader and was enveloped in the stories of human connection and fear that Cilka felt in her new world. It was not an easy book to read in terms of content. Heather Morris does an excellent job of navigating stories that are heartbreaking and approaching this subject in an understanding way.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get swept away in this heart-wrenching book.

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