Not Without My Sister: A compelling and heartbreaking WW2 historical novel

Not Without My Sister is about two sisters who were send to one of Nazi's concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen. However, Rachel Epstein & Mindel Epstein were separated. Since they were separated, they promised to live for each other and in the end they will meet again. Throughout the journey getting back together, they met and made friends with a lot of people include notable inmates Anne & Margot Frank. First of all, the courage and determination to live for each other made the story works. Based on survivor's experience, reader will learnt experience of had to live in the one of the Nazi's camp. In fact, Auschwitz was the worst one instead of Bergen-Belsen. Second, the characters were build pretty good like Rachel, strong and determined to live for the sake of her sister while Mindel, more likely a smart little one since she managed to survive even she was just a child. Without her sister, she still managed to live. Overall, it is easy to understand and quite moderate to me. Nothing that is so freaking harsh or too sad to handle.

Not Without My Sister by Marion Kummerow Rachel and Mindel are from Bavaria, Germany. They and their parents and two brothers enjoy a quiet, hardworking life on their small farm. They are Jewish, but non-practicing, which does not matter to the Natzis The Natzis arrive to take away their parents, a woman from the village warns the children away, so they are not immediately taken. They survive in the woods, finding small morsels of edibles to fend off starvation. Eventually, Rachel who is the eldest child, and Mindel who is the youngest child, the girls are snatched by roaming SS officers. They are sent to work camps. The boys had been sent off, by Rachel, to a convent, where they can live secretly and hopefully survive this awfulness that has become their world. Rachel and Mindel are slowly being starved to death. They witness hundreds of atrocities daily. Rachel does her best to shield Mindel, so she does not worry. They are bounced around from camp to camp, but when they arrive at the Bergen-Belsen camp, they are separated, never to know if they will ever find their way back to each other. Rachel talks to another woman who helps her learn the workings of the camp. The women's camp is forced labor for the SS. There is also a small men's camp, a small infirmary, and a camp for exchanging prisoners of war. Rachel has no idea which camp Mindel is in. Rachel gets sent to a munitions factory, while the work is not hard, it is hard on her body, the chemicals turn her hair and skin a different color and give her lung problems. After an accident, she is sent back to Bergen-Belsen to recover from her injuries. Rachel finds out that Mindel is in the prisoner exchange camp, there are a lot of orphans located there. Rachel is allowed three days to heal and is sent right back out to a salt mine. Conditions are deplorable, so bad, that Rachel gives up. There is no point in going on. Mindel is bewildered, she is four years old and has no one who loves her to take care of her. Rachel even has her bowl. Mindel finds out that if you have no bowl, you get no soup. Other women give her short orders to tell her where to bunk and what to do during the day. She has to sleep in a bed with two other women, she likes this since she has no blanket and one of the women shares with the other two bunkmates. She has to meet up in the yard and stand sometimes for hours, to be counted, the SS guards must be so stupid, that they can't count a few people who can't go anywhere. She eats two measly meals a day. The soup is ghastly grey in color and tastes terrible. Then all day long, Mindel stays on her bunk, there is nothing for her to do. The adults and older teenagers all have to do jobs, but Mindel is all alone. One day a group of small children runs into her barracks. They see her and run out. She takes off after them. She makes friends with them, especially liking seven-year-old Laszlo. He is an orphan, also. He has been on his own for a while and knows what to do and how to stay safe. Never draw any attention to yourself. If a guard doesn't like the way you look or even smell, they will start beating you, sometimes not even stopping after you die. Mindel is terrified of this. Laszlo takes Mindel under his wing and even brings a blanket and cup for her and sleeps with her at night, to keep her warm and comforted. You would think the title Not Without My Sister would refer to Rachel worried about Mindel, but it's actually Mindel's words, she does not wish to leave Bergen-Belsen, for fear that she will lose Rachel forever. This book shows that all of the inmates of the concentration camps had impossible odds, the lucky ones surviving until the liberation by the Americans and their allies. They were treated horribly by sadistic guards, both male and female. I am thankful that there were some survivors to tell the story of the atrocities perpetrated by the Natzis. Many thanks to #Bookouture and #NetGalley for the complimentary copy of #notwithoutmysister I was under no obligation to post a review.

This story is a page turner, but not in the usual sense, I wanted to know if they survived the terror that they ended up in. Of a family of five, we follow two of them as they journey to survive the evil that is taking place in Germany during WWII. Two sister’s one seventeen and one four at the time they are placed in the Concentration Camp, and they are there because of a religion. The author makes this read so very real, and the horrors of what happened during this time, linger. Books like this one make me realize how fortunate we are, and we should not forget, and all the while you keep wondering if these girls will survive, most don’t. Keep reading as there is an epilogue at the end, and I loved the updates! I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bookoutour, and was not required to give a positive review.