A Train in Winter
An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
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3.9 • 140 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
In January 1943, 230 women of the French Resistance were sent to the death camps by the Nazis who had invaded and occupied their country. This is their story, told in full for the first time—a searing and unforgettable chronicle of terror, courage, defiance, survival, and the power of friendship. Caroline Moorehead, a distinguished biographer, human rights journalist, and the author of Dancing to the Precipice and Human Cargo, brings to life an extraordinary story that readers of Mitchell Zuckoff’s Lost in Shangri-La, Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts, and Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken will find an essential addition to our retelling of the history of World War II—a riveting, rediscovered story of courageous women who sacrificed everything to combat the march of evil across the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In an unfocused account, Moorehead relates the story of 230 women accused of being members of the French Resistance who were sent on one train to Auschwitz in January 1943; fewer than 50 survived the war. In fact, only some of the 230 were involved in actual Resistance activities. The youngest prisoner, 16-year-old Rosa Floch, caught writing "Vive les Anglais!" on her school's walls, died of typhus in Birkenau. Alsatian psychiatrist Adelaide Hautval was arrested after exhorting German soldiers to stop mistreating a Jewish family; she survived the war, but committed suicide after recording the horrors she saw when forced to participate in Josef Mengele's medical experiments at Auschwitz. Moorehead (Human Cargo) wants to recount how these women supported one another and to honor women of the Resistance, but she tries to tell too many stories about a highly diverse group of women, many of them not Resistance members. Though moving, the lack of focus may leave readers confused. Photos.
Customer Reviews
A Train in Winter
This is an excellent history of the women involved in the resistance in Paris during World War II. I didn't know about this dark time in Paris about the role women played a part in the war.
It hurt my heart how the women were treated and what they did to survive their time in the horrible camps. But, there were always helpers who showed compassion.
I recommend this book. These things should never be forgotten.
SM
Important history
Thoroughly researched and respectful of its subjects. I agree that sometimes there are so many names, I couldn’t really keep track of them all, but the suffering and endurance of these women should not be forgotten, so the author probably didn’t want to delete anyone from this important historical record. I’m glad I read it.