Ravensbrück

By Sarah Helm

Ravensbrück - Sarah Helm
  • Release Date: 2015-03-31
  • Genre: History
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 54 Ratings

Description

A masterly and moving account of the most horrific hidden atrocity of World War II: Ravensbrück, the only Nazi concentration camp built for women
 
On a sunny morning in May 1939 a phalanx of 867 women—housewives, doctors, opera singers, politicians, prostitutes—was marched through the woods fifty miles north of Berlin, driven on past a shining lake, then herded in through giant gates. Whipping and kicking them were scores of German women guards.
     Their destination was Ravensbrück, a concentration camp designed specifically for women by Heinrich Himmler, prime architect of the Holocaust. By the end of the war 130,000 women from more than twenty different European countries had been imprisoned there; among the prominent names were Geneviève de Gaulle, General de Gaulle’s niece, and Gemma La Guardia Gluck, sister of the wartime mayor of New York. 
     Only a small number of these women were Jewish; Ravensbrück was largely a place for the Nazis to eliminate other inferior beings—social outcasts, Gypsies, political enemies, foreign resisters, the sick, the disabled, and the “mad.” Over six years the prisoners endured beatings, torture, slave labor, starvation, and random execution. In the final months of the war, Ravensbrück became an extermination camp. Estimates of the final death toll by April 1945 have ranged from 30,000 to 90,000.
     For decades the story of Ravensbrück was hidden behind the Iron Curtain, and today it is still little known. Using testimony unearthed since the end of the Cold War and interviews with survivors who have never talked before, Sarah Helm has ventured into the heart of the camp, demonstrating for the reader in riveting detail how easily and quickly the unthinkable horror evolved. 
     Far more than a catalog of atrocities, however, Ravensbrück is also a compelling account of what one survivor called “the heroism, superhuman tenacity, and exceptional willpower to survive.” For every prisoner whose strength failed, another found the will to resist through acts of self-sacrifice and friendship, as well as sabotage, protest, and escape. 
     While the core of this book is told from inside the camp, the story also sheds new light on the evolution of the wider genocide, the impotence of the world to respond, and Himmler’s final attempt to seek a separate peace with the Allies using the women of Ravensbrück as a bargaining chip. Chilling, inspiring, and deeply unsettling, Ravensbrück is a groundbreaking work of historical investigation. With rare clarity, it reminds us of the capacity of humankind both for bestial cruelty and for courage against all odds.

From the Hardcover edition.

Reviews

  • Good read

    5
    By Vstrom1933
    For a history book it was not tedious to read. It had a nice pace. How humans survive in these conditions I have no concept of. The cruelty of mankind is sometimes hard to believe.
  • History everyone should read! I’m 💞💞💞

    4
    By pateiot
    Wow....this book took extensive research and time and I applaud this writer for bothering to get times and places and names! It is unfathomable that this occurred and I thank you for taking the time to tell these ladies stories! Accurate history is so important to keep from repeating the same atrocities.
  • Ravensbruck

    5
    By sometimers3
    I hadn’t heard of this concentration camp before. It is time it is made public about the horrendous treatment of women. The female guards at this death camp treated the prisoners beyond belief. It’s so hard to accept that they were more brutal than some men. It is unreal that more officers and guards weren’t punished for war crimes. They are insane. Putting them to death is not punishment enough.
  • Eh

    1
    By Abby Rey
    I found this book to be very wordy. A lot of the sentences I found myself drifting off, and having to reread it. There’s a lot of information in just one sentence. It’s too bad because there were some interesting stuff in there. I couldn’t finish it.
  • Incredible insight about the camp

    5
    By Roguewavez
    I will definitely read this one again and maybe understand more about Ravensbrück or read to see if I missed something I didn't catch A must read!!!!!!!
  • Very Good

    5
    By better_bandit
    This book is very well researched and one of the best reads I have experienced as of late. The author gives a thorough account of what transpired in one of Himmler's concentration camps. As a male I was much impressed as to how resilient these women were. Through time, women have suffered greatly at the hands of war. But all the stereotypes of the "weaker sex" are disregarded here. I know that most of them are gone now. But if it were able to stand in their presence for a moment I would not be able to look any of these women in the eye and tell them they were not strong. Simply put...their quality exceeds mine. I highly recommend this book.