Fantastic book! I never heard Mala’s story before and I am so glad to have the honor to read this book. Loved loved loved it.

Mala and Edward are in a concentration camp. Mala speaks six or seven languages. Because of this she is a runner and doing other things that puts her in contact with the higher ups.
This is wonderful story. It is very emotional. It tells it like it was.
I was given this book to read and review by the publisher.
I definitely recommend it!!

This novel is set in Auschwitz and Birkenau and is based on real life story of Mala and Edek. This story is certainly not for faint hearted and I would not recommend it especially for readers who are not prepared to read the horrors of Nazi brutality. Though I have read many historical fiction novels of this period this novel is so raw and exposes so many horrors and crimes committed in those camps and how the world was so blind to them. The small amount of humanity that some SS commanders show in these camps is heartening to read about. A very emotional and gripping story. Be prepared with a box full of tissues next to you because all throughout the book you won't have a dry eye.

A powerful, heartbreaking and well-written story based on real life events which I found incredibly difficult to read at times. Mala, the first Jewish woman to escape Auschwitz, and Edward’s love story was even more poignant and inspiring for evolving against the backdrop of a concentration camp where horror, torture and depravity was a daily occurrence. Elllie Midwood doesn’t shy away from the difficult scenes, yet still weaves an enduring love story and brings warmth and truth to a story that will stay with me for a long time. A recommended read.

This is a beautifully told yet tragic story based on true events and real people. It’s kind of a fictional memoir about the lives of Mala, an inmate at Auschwitz-Birkenau who was the first woman to escape the camp and Edek, a fighter in the underground resistance who had the escape plan. They vowed do succeed in escaping together or die trying. It is a heartbreaking love story with many moments of beauty in between.
I always enjoy reading historical fiction, in part because of the ways the stories are told, but also because the people are so incredibly strong and brave and you as the reader are given such vivid details of the horrors they endured and how much the people like Mala and Edek were willing to do to get the freedom that they were entitled to and deserved.
Mala and Edek not only looked out for themselves, as most people do nowadays, but they made sure that any contraband that they were able to get was shared with others. And by the end of the story, the depths of emotions you have felt is indescribable.
Highly recommend to fans of this genre.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my review.

This is the second book I have read by Ellie Midwood. The first being 'The Violinist Of Aushcwitz' which is a must read if you like reading historical fiction based on true stores. Books about the horrors of this period of history are so important to ensure no one forgets.
“Hell was empty because all the devils were in Auschwitz”.
‘The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz’ is based on the true story of Mala, a prisoner in Auschwitz who uses her position as a camp administrator ‘runner’ to help as many other prisoners as she can. She is well liked and admired by the prisoners of the camp and even some of the Germans in the camp like her. She was the first woman to escape from Auschwitz.
Mala meets Edek, a Polish political prisoner who needs Mala’s help for his planned escape. Mala and Edek soon fall in love. This story tells of their love in a place so shocking and horrible it is hard to imagine how anyone survived Auschwitz let alone could fall in love.
It is a Heartbreaking and incredibly sad book but one I highly recommend. Have the tissues at hand.
With thanks for the ARC.

The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz is a tale inspired by a real woman named Mala and her beau Edek. Throughout the book, the reader is taken on a journey swapping between Mala's and Edek's point of view as they help others, fall in love, and hope to survive another day at the infamous Nazi concentration camp. Author Ellie Midwood, weaves a beautiful and harrowing tale of love, loyalty, and a fight for survival.

I was initially drawn to this book because of its cover art, and upon starting it realized it filled a specific reading void for me in the moment. Historical fiction - specifically ones set in World War II - almost always capture my attention. This book was no exception being well written, having intriguing characters, and hooking me immediately. I read through it in just a few days, and the story was a good experience for my reading journey this year.

As the book progressed, I had a hard time believing how much of it was true as the circumstances described seemed impossible given the setting. I found I couldn't suspend my belief well enough to be drawn completely into the story. That being said, I really appreciated the Author's Note at the end describing how and where she got her information showing that the story was more accurate than I initially gave it credit. I did a little research on my own into Mala, and found a lot of the same information. Obviously the dialogue was made up, but the main plot points were based on what Mala and Edek actually experienced and accomplished while at Auschwitz. In the end, this really influenced my decision about the book, and I would recommend it to others who specifically enjoy WWII novels.

CW: death, thematic, torture

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review (publish date is March 9th).

A powerful and haunting story from Ellie Midwood. She doesn’t shy away from allowing the readers a true glimpse into the atrocities that took place at Auschwitz-Birkenau. I read the majority of the book with a lump in my throat and heaviness upon my chest. It’s hard to imagine these events took place at all, much less in the last century. This why stories like these are so important. We can’t forget. We can’t erase these horrendous events from history. We owe it to every single person who suffered to tell their stories and remember their names.

However, amongst the suffering, it's the story of love, hope, camaraderie and compassion that will stay with me.

It's hard to say you loved a book that is so heartbreaking but it is well deserving on the five stars I've awarded it.

My full review can be found at https://mmbbookblog.com/the-girl-who-escaped-from-auschwitz-review/

This book tells the story of the first Jewish woman to ever escape from Auschwitz, Mala Zimetbaum. Fluent in several languages she had earned a favoured position as a secretary and runner within the death camp and used her privileges to help others. Surrounded by death and suffering she falls in love with Edek Galinski and their feelings for each other bring light, and even humour, in to this hostile and terrifying environment. Although the author does not shy away from describing the terrors and suffering that went on in Auschwitz there is a love story at the centre of this book. Mala and Edek were absolute heroes, so incredibly brave and I was in awe whilst reading about them. The book is a fictionalised account of their plan to escape, although they were real people and the events detailed in the book really did happen.

I’ve read so many books about this time period, and even visited Auschwitz a few years ago. I think it is hugely important that as many stories from that hateful place are told and shared so that something like this can never happen again. I do think that Edek and Mala’s story is incredible and expertly written by Ellie Midwood. I would recommend this book, a hard but important read.

Every so often a book comes along that completely and utterly destroys me. I finish it, I set it down, and, for a moment, I strongly consider never touching a book again. And then, slowly but surely, I pull my mangled heart from the pages, gently piece it back together, and continue on. But the book has made its mark. A permanent imprint on me. My heart carries this mark forever, and over the years, these repeated experiences have shaped how I view the world. The authors have helped shape me as a person. Today, The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz joined this short, but distinguished, list.

Set in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the worst of the WWII German concentration camps, The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz tells the story of Mala and Edek, two Polish prisoners who fall in love while planning their escape. Ellie Midwood is an incredibly gifted historian who, through her detailed descriptions, was able to bring the camp to life so many decades later. While I found myself entranced by the novel, I couldn’t escape the glaring reminder that this book is based on a true story. The crematoriums, the gas chambers, the mass graves, piles upon piles of corpses - they all happened. I have never, and will never, be able to understand how humans can be so ungodly cruel to one another. How we can be so cold, completely immune to the pain of another. I don’t want to understand. But I do want us to remember- because that is the only way we can hope to avoid reliving.

Midwood has already established herself as an amazingly gifted writer - she doesn’t need me to remind everyone of that. But if I may, I would like to thank her - for telling the stories that need to be told. For holding us accountable. For reminding us that beauty exists where we least expect it. Look for it.

Thanks so much to Ellie Midwood, Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz, a novel based on the true story of Mala Zimetbaum, was definitely a compelling story. It added a great layer to the stories Auschwitz-Birkenau and told of the sacrifice, tenacity and hope of the prisoners in the camps.

The only drawback for me in the book is I felt it was a little wordy and a more work than it needed to be. The author often weaved decent-sized sections of backstories or the characters’ reminiscing right in between the dialogue in a conversation, but then jump right back into the other side of the conversation. It was so much off-topic by then that the I often had to go back and read again what the characters were talking about in the first place because it side tracked so much. It felt a little more complicated than it needed to be and made the story drag on a bit for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the early read in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz

I am a newcomer to the writing of Ellie Midwood having just recently read the Violinist of Auschwitz and being blown away by how she made me feel as if I was right there in the midst of it all, so I was excited to see that she had another book coming out and requested the chance to read an advance copy. Many thanks to #NetGalley, #Bookouture and author #EllieMidwood for giving me that opportunity. My opinions are all my own.

I think the dedication of a book can often give you a good idea about what you will find inside the pages to follow. This is true here as well and so I share the dedication:

“Dedicated to all the freedom fighter, past and present; to everyone who has ever spoken against oppression, persecution and inequality. Keep speaking your truth and fighting your battles. Your bravery won’t be forgotten.”

One really shouldn’t be surprised at how many stories are coming forth from the era of the Holocaust and the War. So many people were touched/rocked by the events of the time, and their stories are so valuable to those of us who follow after. Ellie Midwood is doing an excellent job at introducing her readers to the lives of some people who were indeed individuals who stood up for all that was good even at great personal cost.

This novel was inspired by the lives of two real individuals – Mala Zimetbaum and Edek Galiński. I have visited Auschwitz, but I don’t remember hearing about these two as part of the tour that I took. I’m sorry about that and very thankful to Midwood for drawing their story to my attention. They are known as a young Jewish woman who because of her skills had a job that gave her more freedom than most within the camp and a Polish man who before the war had been embarking on naval service but also was skilled in carpentry and other hands-on skills. While at Auschwitz they met, fell in love, and eventually managed to escape together from Auschwitz. Sadly, the prologue makes it clear that their freedom did not last long.

Their story is a fascinating one and has been very well-researched by the author. When I had finished reading it, I was able to go online and find out more information about this couple and even see pictures of them. For those who are interested you can read more at the following link.
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/tragic-love-at-auschwitz%C2%A0-auschwitz-birkenau-state-museum/VALCdmyTRwp2IQ?hl=en

Ellie Midwood has an excellent way with words that as I mentioned before pulled me in as a reader. Here are some words she used to voice the thoughts of Mala as she moved around Auschwitz as part of her duties: “She loathed the processing block the most; it was the place where the last fragments of hope were clubbed to death, where former lives were cut short and swept away along with lumps of shorn hair, where names were abolished and replaced by numbers, forever branded into women’s forearms with a crude tattooing tool.”

Another sentence that grabbed me: “Danger was virtually everywhere; the air stank of it just like it stank of burnt flesh and singed hair.”

Midst all the horror there was also this: “The whipped golden butter of golden clouds was slowly melting around the glowing disk, reddening the tops of the trees tucked in snow “As though someone spilled pure honey atop the reddest apple one can find.” “

In this book you will learn how some doctors refused to perform abortions on pregnant women even though pregnancy itself was pretty much a death sentence. So often those who claimed moral authority truly lacked any morals at all. “They spoke at length of their Christian values, but when it came to offering shelter to the persecuted, they shut their doors and chased the invaders off their property with guns and curses.” Sadly this is still true today.

For fans of The Violinist of Auschwitz, you will reconnect with Alma and Zippy, both real women who featured in both books. You will also learn more about the real men and women who were part of the Nazi machine at Auschwitz.

Midwood has include a section with the historical background behind the story which I found well worth reading. I would highly recommend this book to other readers. I believe the story of Mala and Edek has much to teach all of us. I will finish with a final quote from the thoughts of Mala. “Bravery was a muscle that ought to be trained.” May we all train our muscles so that we can become braver in standing up and looking out for the needs of those we encounter.

A disturbing and yet heart-wrenching story; it was extremely hard to read this book and impossible to put it down too. What makes it even more hard to read is the knowledge that these were actually real people, not fictional characters, and they really did go through the horrors and depravity mentioned in the book.

Mala and Edward are inmates in the Auschwitz camp where she serves as an interpreter and he is a political prisoner, plotting his escape. The story reveals how the two find love and hope in each other amidst the horror that is Auschwitz.Both Mala and Edward were incredibly brave and kind-hearted people who went out of their way to help and bring hope to others, despite the torture and terror they faced.

The book was absolutely gripping with the characters coming to life off the page. The scenes between Mala and Edward were poignant, more so, because the time they had together was short-lived. It is hard to imagine that humans could inflict such brutality on fellow humans. Having said that, it was heartening to see that atleast a few of them retained their humanity. While the ending was already obvious, it was heart-breaking all the same.

Overall, a beautiful story, not for the faint-hearted; but one that should be told anyways, if only not to repeat the mistakes of history.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely beautifully written book but respectfull and so well researched.

I think having at the beginning of the book that this is fiction but based on a true story rather than way at the end would be more impactful as it changed the way I felt about the book after I read that.

Incredibly emotional book had me tearing up most of the time yet I couldn't put the book down.

Will definitely read more by this author in the future.

The Less you Know, The Better you Sleep

An Amazing book of courage and fortitude. Not only just survival, but resistance in a place so horrible that not every day, but every minute could be your last. Not a place setting for a romance, but in this awful place a romance does blossom.

Mala is a Jewish girl sent to Auschwitz by cattle car simply for being Jewish. She finds a job in camp as an interpreter as she knows several languages. She is known throughout the camp as a compassionate person. She helps inmates get easier jobs when they need them, she gives away her clothes and food to those that are cold and starving. She works with the camp resistance.

Edward or Edek as his friends call him is a veteran political prisoner. He has one of the earlier numbers and has been at the camp for a while. Edward is a Polish prisoner working as a fitter. He does plumbing or construction wherever he fits and is needed. He is also working with the camp resistance. He has a plan to escape with his friend Wieslaw an Mala is helping them.

When Mala and Edward meet and fall in love, Edward and Wieslaw both know that Mala will be escaping with Edward.

The story is of the camp, their survival, the horrible things that go on and the narrow escapes that Mala endures in the camp. The ruthless guards and the sympathetic ones. The love between Mala and Edward, the stolen minutes and their escape plan. The resistance and their plans for escape and to blow up the crematorium.

The ending in this book is a total surprise.

This is a story built on truth. I loved the words written after the story telling of the different people that inspired the characters. That Mala was a real person in Auschwitz. The books written by some of the other's that inspired characters in this book. The book was heartbreaking and very sad at times, but it is inspiring and a good read. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Ellie Midwood, Bookouture, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of the book for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Ellie Midwood and Bookouture for this advance review copy.

When I started reading this book I had accepted it was going to be a hard hitting and emotional read and boy was I right. I finished yesterday reading this yesterday and it all still feels a little raw.

The book is based on a true story of Mala Zimetbaum - a skilled Jewish inmate who was hired by the SS to work as an interpreter at Auschwitz, her language skills being the only thing that saved her from an otherwise inevitable fate at the gas chambers.

Gaining the trust of her superiors, Mala covertly helped and enriched many lives of other Jewish inmates by changing their duties, getting medical help and access to small luxuries.

When she meets Edek - a camp veteran and politican prisoner, he reveals the plans he has made to try and escape Auschwitz. They fall in love, and plan to escape together, alerting the allies to the atrocities that were occurring within the camps.

There will be no spoilers here but this is based on real life after all; so I'm sure you can appreciate their mission isn't as straightforward.

A true love story that will stay with you long after the last page is turned. (You'll need the tissues for this one).

(This review will be shared on my blog in the month of release)

I'm always up to a good Auschwitz story, since is one of the historical events I like to read the most about, even if sometimes (most of them) it's painful to read about all the crimes that were committed. But I really liked the approach of this book, and the author did a respectful job. Mala and Edek are characters you inevitably fall in love with. At first, it seemed to me that they fell in love very fast, but well then I thought about the context and how time wasn't the same in Auschwitz. I was seriously rooting for them, and even If got heartbroken at the end, I think theirs is an amazing story that gave hope to many of the inmates. I'm thankful to Ellie to transform their story into a novel. I definitely would read more from her -I saw that she also has another Auschwitz book. I liked it a loot and of course was well written, but I did realize that they were some punctuation errors that I guess will be corrected for the final version.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of "The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz" in exchange for my honest review.

Author Ellie Midwood has written a brilliant follow-up book to "The Violinist of Auschwitz" which told the true story of violinist Alma Rosé. While these two books are both stand alone novels, some of the events described in this novel make more sense if one has read "The Violinist of Auschwitz" first.

The Prologue introduces us to Edward (Edek) Galiński and Mala Zimetbaum in the Żywiec Mountains of Poland on July 6th, 1944. This is their true story.

Edek arrived in Auschwitz in June 1940 as a political prisoner. He had been a maritime school cadet. He became inmate 531 sentenced to hard labour for plotting against the Reich. On the transport he became friends with Wiesław Kielar, inmate 290.

At Birkenau Women's Camp Mala is a camp runner in charge of delivering orders and official documents from one block to another for Maria Mandl the women's camp leader. She is inmate 19880, she is allowed to keep her dark blond locks and wear civilian clothes.

The story alternates between Auschwitz and Birkenau. Edek answers to Rottenführer Lubusch, whom he shares a first name with. He is always kind and tried to treat the inmates decently and with humanity in this place of ruthlessness.

Edek learns that Mala is held in high regard. She is a favourite with the camp administrators and is in a position where she can help others with better work details, bits of food, clothes, passing of notes.

As the story progresses to March of 1944 the author mentions the death of Alma Rosé after her beloved Miklós dies during the Family Camp exterminations. He gave her hope and without him her life had no meaning.

On June 24th, 1944 Edek and Mala escape from the camps. Their freedom is so close yet impossibly out of their reach. They placed their trust in people who were making promises and were brave until they were faced with the reality of their decisions.

On October 7th, 1944 the Sonderkommando lead an uprising in Edek and Mala's memory.

The Epilogue describes the visit of Wiesław Kielar to the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 29th, 1968.

Once I began this book, I could not put it down, and the pages flew. Unfortunately, this is based on truth, and I kept thinking, how could they get away with what they did. Why did the world allow it? Then I remembered the part where they put on the show for the Red Cross. What a blight on history, I don’t know how the perpetrators lived with themselves?
This book also follows a young woman and a young man, they have big hearts under horrendous conditions, and with their selflessness end up saving lives. I found myself walking in the shoes of these people condemned to hell in the form of Auschwitz-Birkenau and witnessing the atrocious happenings.
This is my first book by Ellie Midwood, and it won’t be my last, be sure to read the author’s notes at the end!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bookouture, and was not required to give a positive review.

4*
This is the 2nd of the Auschwitz books that I’ve read by this author.
Based on the true story of Mala Zimetbaum a young Jewish woman who was raised by her father to be an educated independent woman is incarcerated by the Nazis. She is deemed useful as she speaks 6 languages and can translate for them. She holds a position of one of the camp elite.
Mala is doing what she can to help the less fortunate prisoners, and belongs to the underground resistance group.
Her story encompasses harrowing descriptions of what they had to endure, but it shows that compassion, hope and love can endure in an environment where it is primarily each person for themselves.
It is well written and the character development is excellent, I was heavily invested in the outcome of Mala and Edek.
It is slow paced, the tension and atmosphere build well towards the end. Its very emotional and moving and had me in tears.
A memorable quote from the book :-
‘Auschwitz was an animal kingdom with animal laws’
There were references made to other characters who have been written about. I need to see if I can find a book about the polish doctor Stasia.

Over all it didn’t engage me as much as the violinist, but it still left a big impact, and will stay with me.