What a shocking and emotional read for me. Several times it brought me to tears, caused me to stop and think. I liked the author’s style of writing which kept me engaged and made it easy to follow each person’s story. She didn’t stop with liberation, but followed what happened after. I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and so thankful for the opportunity to read it. In a war, no one is a winner...very important message from this book.

‘Why would anyone want to take away teenage girls?’

I did not know what to expect when I read this book. I was unaware that the first official Jewish transport to Auschwitz contained 999 young Jewish women. And, as distressing as it is to read of yet another example of inhumanity, it is important that the stories of these women are not forgotten.

On the 25th of March in 1942, nearly one thousand unmarried Jewish women boarded a train in Poprad, Slovakia. They believed that they would be working for the government for a few months, in a factory. Instead the young women (many still teenagers) were sent to Auschwitz. Few of them would survive. Their government paid 500 Reichsmarks per person for the Nazis to take them as slave labour. These women were powerless, both because they were Jewish and because they were female.

In this book, Heather Dune Macadam reveals some of their stories. To do this, she has drawn on interviews with survivors, witnesses and families and the USC Shoah testimonies. This is a harrowing read. In terms of survival, some work assignments were slightly safer and more comfortable than others. Some women survived, most did not. Illness was almost always a death sentence, as were the whims of the guards. Survival had its own cost for many.

There are few survivors now. And many of us, born after World War II, have limited knowledge of what happened. Accounts such as this are important: we need to remember their lives; we need to acknowledge the horror; we need to acknowledge the failings of so many who allowed (by ignoring what was happening) such a tragedy to occur.

These women were not fighters or prisoners of war. They were young women who thought they were helping the government. They were young women looking to the future. Their stories are important and should not be forgotten. Thank you, Ms Macadam for writing this book.

‘A novel would end here. It would wrap up with everyone safe and happy and travelling home to be with loved ones. Fiction can do that. Nonfiction cannot. And that is not how wars end.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is the first book I’ve read by Heather Dune Macadam. This is an incredible told very compellingly. It’s well documented book told by the survivors and their families. That it documents women who were in Aushwitz and chronicles a fine in history that mankind should not let be forgotten is wonderful. I would recommend this book.

Macadam writes with a narrative style while fluidly weaving in research to add depth to the story of the first transport to Auschwitz. It was a very emotional read and at times I had to take mental breaks to get through it but I think it is one of the most important books I’ve read. She did an incredible job giving voice to this era in history to the point that I felt like I knew all of them. I also loved how she acknowledged what areas were debated among survivors showing how much perspective matters. She explained why some parts of her research were difficult - mainly destruction of the historical record or the ways in which Nazis viewed what was important to document. I also thought she did a great job explaining how PTSD impacted the women while showing their resilience and humanity. I am greatly changed by the stories and learned a lot.

Extraordinary and harrowing. So little is known about these young women. Despite how emotionally draining this was, I was compelled to keep reading until I was finished.