Women, who were teachers, students, chemists, singers, all kinds of women from 15 to 60 years old, put their life on the line and did what they could to resist Nazi Germany when France was occupied. Most paid for their courage with their lives. Caroline Moorehead gives the account of 230 women captured by the Gestapo and imprisoned first in a fort outside Paris, then on the only train sent with women out France to German concentration camps. This is their story, the women of Le Convoi des 3100. These women formed strong bonds of friendship. They worked hard to keep each other alive in Auschwitz-Birkenau, and in Ravensbruck. They had each other's back. They clung to each other to survive the savage treatment, shoddy living conditions, little food, abominable working conditions, rampant disease. That 42 survived is a testimony to their strong characters, their friendship and their continuous acts of courage in face of unbelievable acts of debauchery, cruelty, brutality. Moorehead continues their story as the few returned home.
Not an easy read. What makes this memorable is the care these women took of each other. How they hid the sickly members of their group, shared their meager rations equally, and how they kept their spirits up during their 3 years in prison.
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Showing posts with label France - German Occupation 1940-1945. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France - German Occupation 1940-1945. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - 294 Pages
Book Discussion title at Kathryn Linnemann
This is another book that I consider 'book club gold'. There was so much to discuss in this book - many of us had not heard of the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup in France during World War II. Without giving too much away, the book switches back in forth in time from Nazi-occupied France to 2002 (60th anniversary of this incident). Old family secrets and modern domestic issues blend together in a suspenseful, well-told story. If you enjoy World War II fiction, historical fiction, or just an all-around great book, you'll love Sarah's Key.
Our discussion covered everything from the Holocaust to reincarnation. Now how's that for variety?
Happy Reading!
A motion picture based on Sarah's Key was released in 2010, see Internet Movie Database at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1668200/
Discussion questions available from Reading Group Guides at: http://www.readinggroupguides.
A motion picture based on Sarah's Key was released in 2010, see Internet Movie Database at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1668200/
Discussion questions available from Reading Group Guides at: http://www.readinggroupguides.
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