It took me a long time to read this book. After I read the first few chapters, it sat on my bedside table for some weeks. My courage had failed me. I didn’t want to read about the transport to Auschwitz or the horrors there.

Remarkably, a few of the characters managed to stay alive for the three years that Auschwitz was open. “We opened Auschwitz and we closed it,” said one. They were smart and tough and lucky. No one can say more than that. And no one can say which of the three characteristics was more critical.

There were a few stories that could have been explored in more detail. We heard several times of Wunst, the SS guard who was in love with Helena, the Jewish prisoner. Love? Did she love him or exploit a situation that allowed her to survive? We know she married someone else but did testify on his behalf. Surely there’s a complicated story there, but we don’t hear it.

There is also passing reference to a brothel, possibly run by a guard who was a prostitute in her pre-Auschwitz days. Who were the prostitutes? Who were the patrons? Who made money? The Nazi ideology was that Aryans did not mix with the verminous Jews. How widely was that belief violated?

No Holocaust tale has a happy ending. But one learns that some of the girls survived and married and had children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. It’s not a tale of happiness, but it is a testament to resilience.

Wow. Hard to read but I am glad I did.

Truly harrowing, and hugely important. It's so good that we're getting more and more stories out into the world.

999 by Heather Dune Macadam is a well written, well researched, and very comprehensive account of 999 (mostly) Slovakian women on the first transport to Auschwitz in 1942. It was heartbreaking and very hard to read at times, but I was impressed by the author's dedication to telling the story of these women during World War II. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced ebook copy. All opinions are my own.

One of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve ever read. It broke my heart countless times, while simultaneously made me feel the strength and heart of the women of the first transport.

An incredible history of the first official Jewish transport into Aushwitz consisting, in reality, of 997 girls. You find yourself grieving with the girls and celebrating the small victories which so often were life or death. Heartbreaking in its detail, this story of survival, grief, and, above all, resistance pays beautiful tribute to the girls and women who lived and died in one of the darkest moments of human history.

The information in this book was amazing and I am so pleased that the author has brought the story of these ordinary women to life. It brings to the forefront stories of those who are normally forgotten and overlooked by history. I would give 5 stars for content.

Unfortunately, I personally did not like the narrative structure. I found the combined narrative with interspersed historical clarification to be a bit clunky. It felt like the author ware going for a fiction-style narration so that the reader could emotionally relate to these women but the non-fiction points really interrupted that for me. This is what brought down my rating - maybe you won't be bothered by it!

This is one of the hardest books I’ve read in a long time. It is also one of the most important books. I happened to finish it this year on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) which felt eerie and poignant. Learning from and about these women who have been largely ignored by history and then were even outcast from the survivor community was so powerful and so interesting. Every page broke my heart, but I am so glad I read this. The writing is great, the research is even better, and it’s truly an act of service and recognition to the survivors to read this.