I am a huge fan of books based during WWII. This was a different viewpoint in that you experience the war through the eyes of the German people. While their tribulations were nothing compared to the Jewish people they did live through bombings, loss of their loved ones … a variety of hardships. This book focuses on how some of the German citizens did what they could to help protect the citizens who would have suffered at the hands of Hitler’s regime. This is a great journey through family, love, loss, and the will to survive.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This book is a great testament to the fact that you can always be a silent hero. It's about a couple who live in Germany when Hitler comes into power. They are both successful psychiatrists and they eventually have a set of twins, one of whom turns out to be deaf. This doesn't bode well with that pesky eugenics program they had running at the time, and when these two doctors are faced with sending their disabled son and patients to an unknown future, they quickly start to falsify documents in order to save lives. This is the 4th WW2 historical fiction I've read from the german's pov and it's fascinating to shed light on that other side, the side where you're country is being taken over by a madman and you're facing the prospect of war. I give Fight in Silence a solid 4 gold stars

Thank you netgalley for giving me the pdf so that I can share my thoughts and opinions with y'all 🧡

This is a unique story as it is written from the German POV in World War 2.
This is w story about loss, love, friendship and sadness.
A lovely book

Told from a different perspective to what we normally hear from, this book opens up a complex life in Germany before and during the atrocities.
The knowledge and research of the author comes through and makes the reader aware of things that aren't well known.
Shocking and heartbreaking in equal measure.

This was such an interesting historical fiction. It takes place before and during WW2 but from the perspective of two married German doctors. I’ve read a lot of books set in WW2 over the years but rarely from the perspective of German citizens who so fervently opposed the Nazi party and fought against it within the field of medicine. In addition to following a family’s story throughout the war, the book also presents an interesting early history of psychiatry. While originally published in German, this book is a flawless translation to English with a captivating writing style. At times, I did feel the book was a bit too long but overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. I gave this book four stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my copy of this book.

I was tempted by this hefty (400+ pages) ARC on Netgalley because at some point last year I was looking for a sweeping historical novel, and in particular a WW2 book with an unusual angle. This one completely met, even exceeded that criteria.

This book is about what the Nazis did to people with disability, both physical or mental. The Nazi ideology was all about racial purity, and it was not only Jews, gays and Romani people who didn’t meet the crazy standards. People with disability were suspected of having impure genes, and therefore they should not be allowed to pass on their genes. Even their parents were suspects, since they had given birth to “imperfect kids”.

I knew of the eugenicist policies in Nazi Germany from the history textbooks in high-school, but I had not thought it through. I had not thought about what the Nazis required from doctors who were previously supposed to treat patients, and now were asked to fill in evaluation to sort out the less handicapped from the more handicapped, who would be “disappeared” after transfers away from their home-base hospital.

This novel takes a large view of history, and I’m rather grateful for that, except when it took a lot of pages to really enter deeply into the subject. It starts in 1926 when two people meet at med school and fall in love. Richard and Paula live in Hamburg, and at that time the medical studies in psychiatry are flourishing and all sorts of new, non-aggressive therapies are being developed, to move away from the brutal treatments of shell-shocked soldiers from WW1. Of course, not all doctors are on-board, but Richard and Paula are hopeful and are passionate about medicine and psychiatry. After marrying, Paula works as as a doctor in a children’s hospital, but when they have kids, one of them is deaf. They take on sign language and early intervention, and all would be well… if Hitler didn’t arrive to the government.

I liked the book, but I didn’t love it. First, it dragged at times, and I really thought it could have been edited down a good number of pages. Second, there was no element of surprise in the plot. Good people were good, bad people were bad, some bad stuff happened during the war… I might be a bit blasé by having read too many WW2 novels, but still, to me war novels are exactly about putting people under extraordinary circumstances and seeing unexpected events and reactions. See a great example of this in Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave.

And third, speaking about good people, Richard and Paula are such parangons of pure perfection! They can see from the very start how Nazi ideology bad is, they are ever so courageous, stand up against the Nazis, they see through any piece of propaganda… I know we all want heroes and I’m grateful for some optimism (especially right now), but somehow after 400+ pages it stretched my disbelief a bit too far, especially knowing what I know from history books about the overwhelming support to Hitler in the general German population. See by comparison the Bernie Gunther’s novels, for example, that show that even good people were slowly corrupted by the twisted ideology pervasive across all sectors of society. I do trust the writer, a professional psychiatrist, to have her facts right about this particular part of her profession’s history, but the overall atmosphere seemed too rosy and naive to my taste.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for this copy in return for my honest review. I've read a lot of books set during WW2 but this book presents a perspective on WWII historical fiction that I have never read before and I found the subject matter fascinating. Simply stunning.

This book was a whole different look on WW2, from the German side which we don't usually get to hear about. You can tell that the story is a little heartbreaking but for me there was a bit of a disconnect with the translation. Which is typical for me and books that are translated. It was well done.

This is book presents a perspective on WWII historical fiction that I have never read before. It tells the story of two German psychiatrists. It tells how medical records were forged to save ill patients from certain death. I found this book very interesting. I would recommend it for fans of historical fiction.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

The subject matter of the book is very close to my heart, so despite the WW2 novel market being saturated at the moment, I decided to give this book a try. I have a disability and have studied disability and literature to post-grad level so Hitler’s treatment of disabled people and eugenics in general are subjects I’ve read about widely, but never in novel form.

The novel starts in Hamburg in 1926 when our two main characters Richard and Paula meet and fall in love. Soon after they marry, Paula becomes pregnant with twins. She gives birth to a boy and girl and this is the happiest time in their lives, with only one problem; their son Georg has been born deaf. They vow to protect him and have optimism that with his family’s help, all will be well. However, as I was reading, I was aware of the time period and knew that the rise of Nazism is just around the corner and everything will change. As they seize power, they begin to round up people with disabilities for euthanising. Richard is a doctor and finds himself falsifying documents to help his patients, but also remaining protective of his own son. Will they be able to remain hidden, or even together?

What makes this book unusual is that we are reading about WW2 from the perspective of German citizens. Ordinary Germans suffered hardship through bombings and loss of both loved ones and their homes and livelihoods. In 2014 a memorial was unveiled in Berlin to commemorate the 300,000 people killed by the Nazis. That’s without counting those in Poland, Austria and other occupied countries. The book ends after the war and describes how Germans were treated after the war. I think the fact that this a German author accounts for the incredible detail and historical fact woven into a story. Where it lacked occasionally was in the emotions, but that could easily be a problem with the translation. I felt the book was well researched and characterised. It shows the other side of a war that we’re used to hearing about from the victor’s standpoint, I really enjoyed it and would recommend to others.

Thank you Amazon Publishing UK, Netgalley and Melanie Metzenthin fro this e-ARC in return of my honest review.

What a wonderful story! When the hope is all gone and future seems bleak and dark, it comes back to people who made life better sacrificing their careers, families, loves and themselves. This is a WWII story told by German family. They are both doctors and they do not fall under Hitler's propaganda but try to fight. They both use different instruments to sabotage Hitler's law to eradicate people who he thinks are not worth for the society.

The story is heartbreaking with ups and down but it shows the scope of tragedy that Hitler brought upon his own people and the World. Many similar books do but not many tells the story from within. It is a different feeling to read a book told by Germans during Nazi Germany and emphasize with them. Definitely, not all Germans were evil but as a reader I am not used to stories about good Germans.

At parts, the novel is too cheesy and it is hard to believe that main characters were that lucky but few hardships were thrown their way. It is all very believable and it did stuck with me for a while. I wasn't able to stop thinking about the book and it is always a good sign.

Very enjoyable story. Excellent character development. Thank you for the opportunity to meet this author!

I have to say that if it weren't for Netgalley, I wouldn't be introduced to so many different authors that I would probably never read otherwise. And this is one of those cases where I am so grateful to have done so!

A FIGHT IN SILENCE by Melanie Metzenthin (and translated by Deborah Rachel Langton) is a truly remarkable story that, to me, loses nothing in translation. I don't even know where to begin, it was that amazing!! It provides us with a very different perspective of WW2 of not only being in Germany but centering around medicine, the aslyums and of those who had been sent there. But it is so much more than that. To experience it, you really have to read it yourself.

Spanning two decades, the story begins in Hamburg in 1926 with Paula Engelhardt and her friend Leonie, as medical students, attending a lecture about mental illness and the state of mind of sufferers, when Paula meets Richard Hellmer, also studying medicine. The two find themselves sitting in a cafe after the lecture debating the prospective nature of life and suffering, with both expressing their desire to specalise in psychiatry. Paula's own father is a psychiatrist, leading her to follow in his footsteps. Richard's father is a carpenter, something in which Richard became fully qualified before studying medicine. Paula is an only child, whereas Richard is one of three children. Both families are close and continue to be so with the engagement and marriage of Paula and Richard.

In the wake of the Great war, Germany is experiencing unrest as the National Socialist Party (Nazis) begin to make their presence felt in smaller circles. With each election they gain more votes and a greater movement throughout the country. But the propaganda which they are flouting leaves Germans in serious doubt as to where their country is headed...and what it means for them. Rumours begin to surface and soon life becomes harder for those less fortunate than the healthy blonde, blue eyed Aryan.

Paula continues to study while Richard moves into the area of psychiatry, taking up a position some miles away at a reputable asylum. Paula then discovers her difficulty in following in her father's footsteps when it appears men are favoured for positions ahead of her. She decides to enter pediatrics alongside Leonie working in the children's hospital in Hamburg. All the while, their growing concern for what is happening in Germany continues to build...even moreso when Leonie is suddenly without a job. It is now illegal for Jews to hold such positions as doctors or to study, as they face the political unrest and turmoil that continues to grow. Soon Leonie flees with her father to Switzerland, who is neutral, before things get worse for them and Paula finds herself missing her best friend.

When Paula discovers she is pregnant, both are shocked to discover they are expecting twins. Paula continues to work at the hospital throughout her pregnancy, despite some older colleagues misgivings. After 18 long hours of labour, Paula gives birth to a baby girl but the boy has some difficulties delivering. But he soon arrives and the new parents are elated. They name their daughter Emilia and their son Georg, after Richard's older brother. But it isn't long before Richard notices that something isn't right with Georg. He is a happy child, certainly, but he fails to respond to noise or his name being called. Paula refuses to believe this, stating that she would have noticed. After a brief barrage of tests, Richard's fears are confirmed - their son is deaf. Paula berates herself for not noticing. But both parents are fearful for what this could mean for their son should his deafness be made known. The Nazis have been known to eradicate anyone being of "life unworthy of life", that being a disability.

So beginning with early intervention, Paula and Richard work tirelessly with Georg as he grows, teaching him both sign language and lip reading, and how to speak smoothly. Emilia is incredibly protective of her brother and George is saddened when he must attend a different school to that of his sister. Despite attening the deaf and dumb school, he speaks effortlessly like that of a hearing child. The story is that he is "hard of hearing" as a result of complications during birth, which everyone accepts without question.

As the unrest in Germany continues to grow, the depression hit people hard and many struggle to find work and feed their families. All the while the socialist movement in Germany found this easy to exploit as Hitler gained popularity and the Nazis ultimately seized power. Once war is declared, life for Germany as they know it changes. However, Richard and Paula are doctors - their occupations are reserved, although as Paula is a mother, her working life is over. But for Richard, the changes that he finds himself faced with are both horrific and barbaric. When his superior retires, a colleague with socialist ties is promoted and the once reputable asylum becomes a living nightmare.

New legislation has been passed stating that anyone with a disability, suffering a mental condition, a hereditary illness or classed as imperfect is considered a liability and they are either forced to be sterilised or, even worse, euthanised. This becomes even more important to the Hellmers to keep Georg's deafness secret and ensure that his "hearing problem" isn't classed as and inherited condition, such as hereditary deafness. Some doctors went along with the forced sterilsation and euthanising of their disabled patients, some - like Richard - fought to save their lives, though it was incredibly risky and very very dangerous. To be caught would mean death.

Richard began by falsifying the medical records of his patients, deeming them fit to work, otherwise they were driven to the forest in sealed lorries and gassed. But the fact that he deemed every patient fit, drew the attention of the Gestapo, and he was instantly dismissed from his position of twelve years. But before they could send him off to a punishment regiment, he enlisted alongside his best friend Fritz, a notable surgeon, in the medical corp as a doctor. He's sent to Italy, Africa and Egypt as he and Fritz work in the miedical hospital far from the frontlines.

While the war rages, Paula is left with her children, their extended family and Fritz's wife Dora and their children as they survive the nightly air raids and attempt to keep Georg's deafness a secret. But when Georg comes down with hepatitis and is sent to Richard's former workplace that now doubles as a children's hospital, Paula fears for her son's safety as Richard's nemesis will stop at nothing to oust their son's condition just for the sheer spite of it.

A FIGHT IN SILENCE is like nothing I have ever read... and I have read many WW2 books set in England, Germany and even Austria. But this one is very different to any of those. Building slowly, the story unfolds at a pleasant pace as we learn about each of the characters and their facets, as we become invested in them and their lives. I was very quickly hooked and was completely immersed in the story that I found myself not wanting it to end...while at the same time wanting the horror for those involved to end.

A truly remarkable story, A FIGHT IN SILENCE is unique in its subject matter of psychiatry at the time as well as being a beautiful tale of love, friendship, family and courage.

I have to make mention of the fantastic work of Deborah Rachel Langton in her impeccable translation of this beautiful and remarkable book. In reading it, one would think that it had been written in English, the translation is that flawless.

I simply loved A FIGHT IN SILENCE and cannot give it a high enough rating in my opinion. I would love to give it 10 stars! I hope the second novel featuring Paula and Richard is translated so I can continue their journey with them post-war.

I cannot recommend A FIGHT IN SILENCE highly enough! To experience the beauty of this unique and remarkable story (I know I keep saying it, but it's true), you really MUST read it for yourself. You won't regret it.

I would like to thank #MelanieMetzenthin, #DeborahRachelLangton, #NetGalley and #AmazonPublishingUK for an ARC of #AFightInSilence in exchange for an honest review.

This book was okay. Unfortunately I didn't realize when I requested it that it was translated into English. I tend to dislike translated books because they fall flat for me; they arent as vibrant and engaging as books originally written in English. Also the description of this book leaves a lot to be desired compared with the actual book. In the description you're told the parents have to protect a deaf child. While that's true that's far from the main focus of the book, and that disappointed me. I am hearing impaired myself so I was very interested in that aspect of it. Unfortunately this book was overall a miss for me. 3 stars.

A Fight In Silence delves into the mentally ill and how they were treated by the Nazis during World War II. The Nazis felt that there was nothing wrong with exterminating life that was unworthy of life. If you had epilepsy, if you were deaf, if you were blind, disfigured in any way, if you suffered any type of physiological issue you were considered unworthy of life. Sterilization programs for the mentally ill were put into place to prevent what were deemed mentally ill people from passing on their inherited traits. Eventually these same individuals were gassed and murdered, many of which were children. While I enjoyed the book I feel that the emotion got lost in the translation. There were many times I felt that things were told in a cold manner, although I believe if I read it in German, the original language it was written in I think the emotion would have been there. As in all books dealing with war there is so much guilt that takes place even when people were doing their best to do what was best. Richard, a German psychiatrist, was appalled by he Nazi regime. He had a son that was born deaf. His son was considered unworthy of life. Richard and his wife Paula, who was also a doctor fought hard to keep their son and his twin sister alive. They were also advocates for all the children and adults being deemed “mentally ill”. Richard tried to save everyone but always felt guilty because he got caught falsifying reports to save people. He then began to question himself thinking that maybe he might have been better off sacrificing a few to save more? This is a heavy concept to contemplate. It makes for a good book club discussion. The book ends years after Hitler was killed so it also delves into how Germans were treated after the war. It was hard for “good” Germans like Richard and Paula to prove they were not part of the Nazi beliefs. I am giving this book 3.5 stars but mainly for the fact that I felt emotion was lacking in the translation. Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing U.K. for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Fight in Silence is one of those books that makes you think that every problem has perspectives. This book is told from the German perspective and I should say that it is captivating. It is dreadful enough to know that your country is involved in a war and to add more to the dread the country's sterilizing or euthanizing the persons with disabilities what will you do as a doctor? Of course you will tamper the records. That's what Richard does. And when caught, he's sent to Afruca as an army doctor where his wife Paula is in the Germany with their kids expecting an unknown future. You can't do much when your country is in the war and worse its gonna lose. It was heartbreaking to read this book and I would recommend to all historical fiction fans.

Thanks to NetGalley, Amazon UK and Melanie Metzenthin for my digital copy of her book: A Fight In Silence.

Hamburg Germany 1936, Richard Hellmer and Paula Engelhardt meet, both are studying medicine, they fall in love, get engaged and eventually marry. Richard is a psychiatrist and Paula works as a doctor at a children's hospital.
The newlyweds are happy, of course they're concerned by what is happening in Germany, so are their families, they don't agree with the politics, many Germans didn't and what could they do?

The Hellmer's discover Paula is pregnant and much to their shock they find out they are expecting twins. Paula continues to work at the children's hospital, despite her older male doctors complaining it's not right for her to be working while pregnant and they have rather old fashioned ideas.
After 18 long hours of labour, Paula gives birth to a baby girl they name her Emilia and a baby boy and they call him Georg. As the babies grow they notice that Emilia is progressing faster than her brother Georg and they soon discover why? Georg is deaf, they want the very best for their son, they start early intervention and employ a teacher to come once a week, to teach the family sign language and Georg learns to lip read.

Life in Germany during the depression is very hard, people are struggling to find work, going hungry and many Germans are very unhappy with the situation they find themselves in. You can see how easy it was for the socialists and Hitler to take advantage of this, they wanted to make Germany great again and the Nazi's seized power.
Once the war starts, life for the family changes, being doctors they're horrified to discover anyone with a disability or suffering from a mental condition or is classed as imperfect, the government consider them a liability, they could be sterilized or even worse euthanised. The Hellmer's try to keep Georg deafness a secret and make sure that his hearing problem isn't classed as an inherited condition. While some Nazi doctors went along with the sterilization and the death of their disabled patients, some fought to save their lives, it's risky and dangerous.

Richard starts falsifying his patients medical records, he's eventually caught and to escape punishment he quickly joins the army as a doctor. He's sent to Africa and Egypt with his friend and fellow doctor Fritz. While Paula is left in war torn Germany, she and her children manage to survive the nightly bombing raids and try to keep Georg's deafness a secret.

A Fight In Silence is very different to any other WW II historical fiction books I have read, it's written from the German point of view, it makes it a very unique story, you discover how the war effected German citizens and the entire country. The German people faced incredible hardship, they had to live with being bombed daily, loss of loved ones, their homes are destroyed, they had no idea how badly the war was going, the only information they received was what the regime wanted them to know, by the end it was pretty obvious they were never going to win the war and Germany was totally destroyed.

I enjoyed reading A Fight In Silence, I gave it four stars, it's a story about life in Germany during WW II, family, friendship, love, loss, endurance and survival.

This was a very interesting read about two psychiatrists during wwii. I liked the different perspective and it was an engaging read. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Loved this book!!! It was amazing. Beautifully written (or translated). I loved Paula and Richard. Such loving parents. They not only fought for their children but tried to save many people who ended up in the asylums. I hope the second book is translated, because I want to know what the family is up to after the war. This was a different perspective about WWII and mainly centers around the Germans and what was happening to anyone sent to asylums. The forced sterilization and being killed for not be a productive member of society were a few atrocities the people faced. The worst part is, that this stuff really happened. I loved reading about Paula, Richard and their extended family and the friendship they had with Fritz and Doro. The friendship between Fritz and Richard was so genuine. I enjoyed the little excursion they took in Egypt to find the tomb. The book felt like a real life account of a German family during WWII. This book was everything. It was a historical fiction book full of love, friendship, kindness, family and so much more.

Definitely recommend the book. I look forward to reading more books by the author. Hopefully more will be translated. I loved the cover.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Fight for the life of my child
A Fight in Silence was a truly remarkable story. Not only is this a story of two young doctors fighting for the life of their son, but for the lives of hundreds of handicapped people . While it appears in history that many of the Nazi doctors went along with the sterilization and ultimately the death of the disabled both physical and mental there were some German doctors that fought to save their lives while risking the lives of themselves and their families to do so.

Paula and Richard's story starts before the war as they are both in medical school. It continues through the war years with the birth of their twins , their son being deaf. Their struggles, their family and best friends Fritz and Dora. The hardships and losses they all faced during this time.

The story Also tells of their great love for each other and their dedication to their profession and their patients. Their love of family, their love of children, and the great lengths they went to protect them.

The story also tells of a friendship between them and a British officer after the war, and how he helped them bring a Nazi Doctor that murdered disabled children during the war to trial.

It was an inspiring story . Although the story was fiction, the events and some of the characters were based on true events. It was realistic and the characters were believable. It was. A part of war that most of us never knew about.

I would honestly recommend this book.

Thanks to Melanie Metzenthin, Amazon Publishing UK, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review and advance copy of the book