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Born Survivors

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Born Survivors

By: Wendy Holden
Narrated by: Wendy Holden, Anne Dover, Eva Clarke
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About this listen

Among millions of Holocaust victims sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau in 1944, Priska, Rachel and Anka each passed through its infamous gates with a secret. Strangers to each other, they were newly pregnant and facing an uncertain fate without their husbands.

Alone, scared and with so many loved ones already lost to the Nazis, these young women were privately determined to hold on to all they had left: their lives and those of their unborn babies. That the gas chambers ran out of Zyklon-B just after the babies were born, before they and their mothers could be exterminated, is just one of several miracles that allowed them all to survive and rebuild their lives after World War II.

Born Survivors follows the mothers' incredible journey - first to Auschwitz, where they each came under the murderous scrutiny of Dr. Josef Mengele; then to a German slave labour camp where, half-starved and almost worked to death, they struggled to conceal their condition; and finally, as the Allies closed in, their hellish 17-day train journey with thousands of other prisoners to the Mauthausen death camp in Austria.

Hundreds died along the way, but the courage and kindness of strangers, including guards and civilians, helped save these women and their children.

In Born Survivors, Wendy Holden brings all three stories together for the first time to mark their 70th birthdays and the 70th anniversary of the ending of the war.

A heart-stopping account of how three mothers and their newborns fought to survive the Holocaust, Born Survivors is also a life-affirming celebration of our capacity to care and to love amid inconceivable cruelty.

©2015 Wendy Holden (P)2015 Hachette Audio
20th Century Military Women War Holocaust Prisoners of War Marriage Celebration

What listeners say about Born Survivors

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Excellent - well written

Having read a lot of books on the Holocaust this one would have to be the most well researched and written yet. An excellent read. Emotional and gripping - I couldn't put it down. then a bonus afterward (not sure what to call it) with one of the survivors, Well done Wendy Holden. you have left me looking for more of your work.

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very moving

This is a beautifully told true story of people who went through so much. This true story must be heard again and again so so that what happened can never happen again.

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Amazing

Amazing stories of survival and strength.. Was hooked the whole way through..the narrator was amazing

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Unbelievable Story

Amazing book. Had me in the verge of tears for most of it. The incredible courage of the mother & their unfailing love for their babies & husbands whose memories kept them going during the darkest times. Just when you lose hope the story of the station master & the town who tried to help & the highs and lows of liberation. I loved that they told us what happened to them all after. I can’t say enough about this beautifully written book

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Amazing

This has been one of the most moving story I have listened to. found how people fight to survive. How people were so cruel to others on orders of evil brain washed people. On the oth e r hand the kindness of others. At times it brought tears to my eyes and felt extremely sad . Loved everything about this book.

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One of the best survivour books

Not only is this a book about about 3 amazing incredibly brave women and their families but it is sensitively told without flourish and over dramatizing already very dramatic situations. It’s books like this that give you a true picture of the Holocaust and its horrors.

I’m so glad I’ve read this book, you will be too

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