It’s a double-edged sword that the memories of places like Ravensbruck have dimmed over the years. On one hand, we hate to think of our parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends being subject to such utter depravity and evil. On the other hand, allowing the stories to fade into the background enables the ignorance that enabled that depravity to move to the center. Books like Gwen Strauss’s The Nine are crucial in the fight to ensure state-sanctioned genocide doesn’t happen again. The Nine refers to the author’s great aunt and the group of resistance fighters who escaped Ravensbruck as the prison population was forced to leave the camp- a “death march.” The women were not yet 30 when they joined the fight against the Nazi occupation of France, and neither their age nor their gender shielded them from torture or imprisonment in the Nazi’s “female” concentration camp. All of the women credited their friendship and support for getting them through imprisonment and their escape. The Nine is only one story of individuals who were able to escape the claws of the Nazis. Considering the millions of stories that were cut short, every survivor’s testimony takes on even more importance. Every survivor’s testimony whispers “never again” so we can speak the truth aloud today. Never again. Never again. Never again.

I read this back when I got a copy and for some reason my review is nowhere to be found (I did write it!) - anyway, I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t different than I expected but I really liked the character development and thought the story was engaging.

The Nine is a compelling and well-researched narrative that delves into the harrowing experiences of nine female resistance fighters during World War II. This book truly shows how these women, including the author's great aunt Hélène Podliasky, were incredibly brave in the face of all the horrors of Nazi Germany. The book talks about how this special group came to be formed, meeting at various points throughout their imprisonment in a concentration camp and a forced labor factory. These women bonded over their shared experiences of resistance and survival, about how they all ended up where they did and what they did to get out of it. It doesn’t end there, though; it also delves into the lives of these incredible women after the war, which I appreciated the most. The narrative not only captures their daring escape but also explores the aftermath and the challenges they faced in returning to normal life after the war. Oftentimes, stories about war or resistance during a war end with the war. This doesn’t stop there, but gives us even more insight into this incredible group of women.

The book does suffer from a slight lack of character depth. There was so much more I wanted to know about these women and their relationships with each other, but the story feels more like a detailed account of what happened rather than the psychological aspects of it. I would have wanted more insight into the bond between these women, especially since it’s such a uniquely formed one and under such devastating circumstances, but we didn’t get to see that as much. I think this also lends an issue of detracting from the emotional impact such a story should have. Because the book focuses so much on telling us what happened as factually as possible, it can be a bit difficult to engage with the text emotionally.

Overall, Strauss's detailed research and storytelling bring to light the profound sisterhood and strength these women possessed. Overall, The Nine shows that it’s been deeply researched and it’s a powerfully told story that highlights an often aspect of World War II history that I had never even heard of (which is such a shame because it was so so interesting and great to read about!).

A powerful non-fiction book about nine women who survived the Holocaust. A fascinating and heartbreaking read.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this book the characters were interesting and the book was hard to put down. I highly recommend

I love reading historical fiction books … especially if they are set during WWII. It is obvious that the author did a lot of research. And though her forté is poetry, she has written a heartwrenching story. These nine women endured so much as they became incarcerated in concentration camps. Their strength, fortitude, and determination is truly amazing. Based on the lives of real women, this story will shock you at the brutality they suffered at the hand of the Nazis. I doubt you will manage to travel through the pages of this emotional tale without shedding a tear.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

Want to read a true account of strong women during WWII? Then pick up a copy of The Nine by Gwen Strauss. This is an account of nine women who defied the odds during the war by being part of the resistance. They were captured and deported to Germany. By the time all was said and done they had formed a strong bond to one another. They supported one another and escaped together on a death march near the end of the war. Not many people knew about what they had done and many that had been in their situation were reluctant to discuss this. This story is an important part of history that we all need to be aware of. I highly recommend this book.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest opinon.

The Nine

by Gwen Strauss

Five years of research and writing went into the creation of The Nine, a nonfiction work that focuses on a group of nine women, most in their twenties, who joined the Resistance movement in World War II at various times and places. Six were French, two Dutch, and one Spanish. They were individually captured and sent to worse than horrible Nazi internment camps.

The author was able to interview her great aunt Helène who spoke five languages and was the leader of this band who joined together to survive and escape. Strauss followed quite a maze of information and was aided by many including families of “The Nine.” The book begins with Helène’s story which for me was emotionally difficult as she provides some details of her capture and torture. There were some types of torture, however, that Helène would not discuss or even name. The rest of the account moved more quickly as we learn more about each of the young ladies in the first nine chapters along with descriptions of life in a labor camp. Each chapter moves them closer to either death or escape. Most of the rest of the book lays out their last days together and concludes with what happens after the war is over.

The ladies did not share their stories with very many people for a variety of reasons which the author relates. Several wrote about their experiences in unpublished formats to be discovered after their deaths. Many former prisoners of World War II suffered again after their presumed return to safety—homes and loved ones were gone, their bodies were physically ruined, and society turned against them. Statistically they were lucky to survive, but they bore visible and invisible scars. Most returnees were reluctant to discuss their imprisonment with even those closest to them and found that, in general, people did not want to hear about their experiences.

I highly recommend this book for the author’s insightful and thorough reporting about the brave women of the Resistance and the cruel and evil system that treated them as vermin. One of the policies that I sadly see repeated currently is those in power inciting division to weaken and control those under them. In the camps, the Poles received the best treatment from the Nazis, followed by the Reds. Every group looked down on another in the camps with the Roma (Gypsies), criminals, and homosexuals regarded as the bottom of humanity.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: History, Nonfiction (Adult)

Notes: 1. Subtitled: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
2. At the first of the book there is a list of the women with their nicknames and a brief description
3. At the end of the book are notes about the author’s journey into the past, a bibliography, notes on each chapter, and a list of the illustrations (which sound interesting, but were not included in my Advance Reader Copy).

Publication: May 4, 2021—St. Martin’s Press

Memorable Lines:

The Jewish prisoners were given the worst rations, worst living conditions, and the hardest jobs. They were already the most traumatized group, having suffered pogroms, witnessed mass murders, and narrowly escaped the gas chambers. All of them had probably seen their loved ones die, and they may or may not have counted themselves lucky to be alive.

They were proud of how they served each other, divided food equally, and maintained their civility in such an uncivil place. It had kept them strong when others become more and more like animals, lost their sense of themselves, and fell into dark despair.

In the sea of people who seemed to have been tossed up like pebbles on a beach, the prospect of finding their loved ones felt nearly impossible.

Okay. Wasn't great, wasn't awful. Just wasn't as good as I had hoped. 3 stars, but will check out more by this author later.

From the first few chapters, I was able to read, this book is an incredible historical narrative of nine brave women. Well-written and researched.

I wish the time had not run out for me to finish it.. All of our WWII stories are extremely important to know.

I am giving 5 stars to the first chapters I read. It is a worthy read for history buffs.

Updated review May 2022:

I love this book. I read part of it in print and listened to the audiobook.

Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, her voice carried this story perfectly between the characters of women and men.

A heartbreaking, eye-opening book about the unknown and often unspoken history of WWII in Europe. It's a history I did not know fully about. The story itself is of nine women who survived the horrors of being captured and held in Germany. But the story is so much more.

If you love history this is a must-read book. If you love stories about strong women this is a must-read book.

I disagree with the author, Gwen Strauss. She is a historian who went to great lengths researching and pulling this story together with perfection.

This book was incredibly powerful - a nonfiction account of nine women who were in the French Resistance, were imprisoned in Ravensbruck, and managed to escape together. Although I've read a number of books about World War II and the concentration camps, I didn't know much about the French Resistance, and it was fascinating to read how young women risked their lives to help others. The book was written so that each of The Nine had her own chapter, and the narrative alternated between the "present day" escape and the history of how that woman came to be there. Although the detail was well-researched and certainly contributed to my understanding, there were times when I got frustrated to leave the main narrative; I think I might have preferred if the book were told chronologically, starting with each woman's pre-camp work / history, rather than jumping around. Still, by halfway through the book, I couldn't put it down. Definitely recommended.

Wow. I am an avid historical reader, especially when the story is around strong female leads and within the WWII timeline. This story certainly stuck out for me as being one of the most intriguing. This book is realistically honest and is tough to read at times, but I love that the author left nothing back or sugar coated anything to tell these women's stories. It's a book of survival that will have you in tears and going through each motion right along with them.

I love this book. As heartbreaking as it is, it is also an uplifting story of bravery. "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."

Are you looking for a true adventure tale of female Resistance fighters in World War II? Then you are in the right book! Gwen Strauss recounts the trek that her great-aunt Helene Podliasky and eight other Resistance fighters made across Germany at the end of World War II.
Helene Podliasky, Suzanne, Maudet, Nicole Clarence, Madelon Verstijnen, Guillemette Daendels, Renee Lebon Chatenay, Josephine Bordanava, Jacqueline Aubery du Boulley, and Yvonne Le Guillou were the nine Resistance fighters who had been captured by the Germans in France and transported to Ravensbruck concentration camp, then to a Liepzig work camp where they manufactured panzerfausts for the German army. They did what they could to sabotage the shells by under-heating them. In April 1945, the women were marched out of Liepzig heading west away from the oncoming Russian army. The nine escaped from the column several days into the trip when the guards failed to keep everyone together. They made their way west by hook, by foot, and by luck. Some folks they encountered were helpful, some were hateful, but nothing stopped the women from finally reaching the American lines on April 21st and were taken to Colditz. They later made their way back to Paris and worked on resuming their lives.

Gwen Strauss manages to incorporate the lives of each women into the flow of the story in a way that embellishes rather than distracts from the narrative flow. She hooks the reader by opening with the escape and then switches to discussing her great-aunt. Each chapter moves the narrative along while highlighting another of the nine women. She concludes the book by providing information on their lives after the return to France.

The Nine is more than just another tale of heroism, but rather a reminder of all the unsung heroines of the French Resistance that do not get the credit for their hard work, their sacrifice, and their suffering. Read this tale to have your views on the French Resistance change.

An incredible story and very well written!
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany by Gwen Strauss is a great read about admirable women. I loved it! Five stars.

Powerful and heartwrenching.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is an avid reader of historical novels about WWII.

This was meticulously well researched and well written. I was so impressed with the amount of detail Ms. Strauss put into this novel.

Highly, Highly recommended.

This is a fascinating tale of heroism and tragedy that is historically true. This is a non-fiction account of nine women who worked in the resistance against Germany during WWII. They were courageous and did what they had to do to survive. The women are a band of nine resistance fighters that escaped a German forced march and made a ten-day journey across the front lines to safety. One of the women, Hélène Podliasky’s great niece writes about their experiences, some in triumph and some in defeat. She has collected many of the stories from the nine women and shows how their lives converge and diverge over the years. They survive horrendous conditions, including abuse, torture, starvation and harsh elements to name a few. This is a fascinating story but there are issues with the telling of it. It was not very well organized and we jump from situation to situation. We are not allowed a glimpse into the woman’s character rather it is just an accounting of events that happened. I would have liked this better if it had been more chronological. We jump from scene to scene and I was never sure if what I was reading was before or after an incident that had occurred earlier in the story. I wanted it to be a about the survivors themselves but it was very matter of fact and not emotional. This is a very horrific and difficult tale of perseverance but it is told clinically so it was difficult to connect with. The authors reveals that she only did one interview with her great aunt. She began this book with the disadvantage of not having a lot of first hand material so she relies on stories from the other eight women. There is just not enough information for her to piece together a cohesive story. I really wanted this book to be more informative. I think this could have been a great book because it’s a fascinating story but with so few details and the clinical way it’s told, it is rather mediocre. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Beautifully written and compelling real life story of nine women who escaped from a concentration camp during the Holocaust. I felt connected to the women as the author shared their stories.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review..

I love this book. It details the true story of a group of 9 women who servrd with the resistance against the Nazis during WWII. After a stint in Ravensburg, they managed to escape and evade recapture. It is an inspirational tale of bravery and friendship.