“What we shared
In fear, cold, hunger, hope.
The ordeal, both physical and mental,
can’t be repeated, even for us.
It is limited to the world of never again.
What we have endured together
belongs to us, to that other life, to those moments, as a transmutation from one to the other, in another life”. - Nicole Clarence, One Of The Nine.
War, incarceration in concentration camps, death marches, and the ensuing pain, misery, and hardship, makes one wonder at the fortitude and perseverance required both to live, and to survive, the cruelty and oppression, but the nine courageous ladies here did survive, after a daring escape from a column of prisoners along the route of their death march, and this is their shared story, a story of resilience, friendship and survival against all the odds.
We’re told about their experiences, from being members of the French and Dutch Resistance, to their incarceration in Concentration camps at the hands of the Nazis, the brutality, and torture, both physical and mental, the dehumanisation, the gnawing hunger, and the ever present threat of death. This is told alongside their long and dangerous journey home, where they relied on the kindness of strangers, a handful of food here and there, a night on a bed of straw in a barn, all the while terrified of being discovered. One old lady, looking at the pitiful sack slung over one of their shoulders, asked ‘Is that all that you were able to save my child?’ To which came the reply - ‘I also saved my life ‘
The nine women in this biography were real people, and each of the nine is given a face, with a full and illuminating historical account of their lives leading up to the point of their long quest to cross to the liberated side of Europe, and then home, and beyond, and it goes without saying, that some of the horrors these women experienced at the hands of the Nazis, are extremely difficult to read, and in fact I had to put the book down at times, but their bravery should be acknowledged, and remembered, and my admiration for them is without limit, but I don’t mind admitting that I shed many tears throughout this inspiring read. Highly recommended.
In fear, cold, hunger, hope.
The ordeal, both physical and mental,
can’t be repeated, even for us.
It is limited to the world of never again.
What we have endured together
belongs to us, to that other life, to those moments, as a transmutation from one to the other, in another life”. - Nicole Clarence, One Of The Nine.
War, incarceration in concentration camps, death marches, and the ensuing pain, misery, and hardship, makes one wonder at the fortitude and perseverance required both to live, and to survive, the cruelty and oppression, but the nine courageous ladies here did survive, after a daring escape from a column of prisoners along the route of their death march, and this is their shared story, a story of resilience, friendship and survival against all the odds.
We’re told about their experiences, from being members of the French and Dutch Resistance, to their incarceration in Concentration camps at the hands of the Nazis, the brutality, and torture, both physical and mental, the dehumanisation, the gnawing hunger, and the ever present threat of death. This is told alongside their long and dangerous journey home, where they relied on the kindness of strangers, a handful of food here and there, a night on a bed of straw in a barn, all the while terrified of being discovered. One old lady, looking at the pitiful sack slung over one of their shoulders, asked ‘Is that all that you were able to save my child?’ To which came the reply - ‘I also saved my life ‘
The nine women in this biography were real people, and each of the nine is given a face, with a full and illuminating historical account of their lives leading up to the point of their long quest to cross to the liberated side of Europe, and then home, and beyond, and it goes without saying, that some of the horrors these women experienced at the hands of the Nazis, are extremely difficult to read, and in fact I had to put the book down at times, but their bravery should be acknowledged, and remembered, and my admiration for them is without limit, but I don’t mind admitting that I shed many tears throughout this inspiring read. Highly recommended.