Review of 'The Midwife of Auschwitz' by Anna Stuart
Release date: May 31st, 2022!
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Review of ‘The Midwife of Auschwitz’
I have read a lot of novels based on the horrors of World War II but none made my heart ache and weep like this one. Anna takes her writing to a whole new level with this powerful, gut-wrenching story based on the holocaust. Despite the hate that runs like a foul river through the actions of these Nazi rulers, this story is brimming with undying love, indescribable perseverance, soul-stretching courage and undefeatable will.
The research on this novel would have been massive yet the author has gathered and utilised it so well it feels like she lived through the experiences herself. I have watched a number of videos and read articles on the terrible things that happened in the concentration camps. This novel, in many ways, is quite accurate and definitely true to the people, activities and events. The author has done a fabulous job weaving fact with fiction into The Midwife of Auschwitz.
To start with: the inspiration behind this epic story is based on the true account of one woman, a Polish midwife, Stanislawa Leszczynska, who exhibited unprecedented courage, determination and love for those who were suffering. As a midwife she entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and over the course of her captivity, delivered over three thousand babies. The author uses these facts to create the character of Ana Kaminski. Although not following all of Stanislawa’s life, there are enough pieces to give us a pure sense of the horrors experienced. And Ana, the character, has been beautifully fashioned to exhibit the same strengths. Her faith sustains her in the face of so much death. The atrocities carried out before her eyes would have broken any feeling human being. But rather than fall under the scythe of the Nazi regime, she takes it upon herself to be a light in the darkness, to comfort the captives, to act with purpose and stay alive. Ana is passionate about her mission and as she says: “Being a midwife was the one thing she truly knew and the one thing she would do until they were all, finally freed.”
But as gallant as Ana’s aspirations are, and as successful as she is in delivering children and helping mothers as best she can, over and over again, slivers of hope rise, only to be dashed on the rocks of despair as loved ones are torn from the hearts and arms of the victims. The author writes of this blood curdling cruelty inflicted by the Nazis on these poor suffering souls with such detail and accuracy, you feel as if you are in the camp with them huddling in corners afraid to move. It’s a stark picture of how far humans can fall under the influence of evil, pride and delusion. It is shocking to see how merciless a human can become once given over to a cultish political mindset. The level of the acts of torture a human can inflict on another is mind bending. The horror and grief these women, men and children had to bear was unimaginable.
The story is told not only through Polish midwife Ana Kaminski but also through Jewish nurse Ester Pasternak. They are both sent to the same concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Their professions allow them to be spared as they are useful to the Nazis. They each experience some horrific things but together try to save the children by tattooing them in a special spot so that one day mother and child may reunite. Of course, providing any of them survive. In the real world, and in fiction, things don’t always go as planned but Ana’s and Ester’s efforts are admirable and their courage inspiring.
The story is grim and at times very hard to read due to the nature of the content but under a dark tapestry of evil runs the light threads of hope. No matter how much the Nazis tried to extinguish these people’s lives, those who could fight back, did, with all the strength they could muster. For Ana’s words echo across the halls of devastation “staying alive is our only weapon.”
This novel covers so many things, including the after effects of war. Even those who survived by rescue or escape, once returning home, had a hard journey to normalcy. Would any of their loved ones be left? Would they reunite? Adjusting to freedom again proved difficult, once they left the barbed wire fences and confining walls. Many scars remained, not only on their bodies but also on their minds. This torture had such negative effects that, at times, the Nazi persecution turned the victim’s ‘blood to ice’. The repetition of horrors disengaged their hearts to the violence they saw. It was a survival mechanism to prevent the risk of going mad.
“This place is a hellhole of misery and suffering, where women and babies come to die.” Yet Ana delivered 3000 babies in the camp. Over sixty had been taken to be Germanised and Ester had managed to tattoo most of them with the hopes one day mother and child could be reunited when the war ended.
This novel is beautifully written and will break your heart over and over again. Yes, you will not want to stop reading and will definitely need your tissues for this story will strike every cord of humanity in you and make you feel every emotion possible. Author Anna Stuart has done an amazing job and, although the trail of sorrow runs far and wide, a major message in The Midwife of Auschwitz shines through: love will triumph over hate. 5 Plus Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for a review copy.
