The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany

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Just feet.” Lon watched the endless rows of women trudging by, half of them barefoot, half of them in wooden clogs. All of the muddied, bare feet were red and bleeding.

p> 13. The author learns from the fam­i­lies of the nine women that trau­ma does not end with the per­son who first expe­ri­enced it. Can trau­ma be inter­gen­er­a­tional? If so, how is that idea show­cased in thebook? Clara's transformation is what propels the story, but climate change lies at its epicenter. Griffin doesn't come across as preachy but, rather, matter of fact about the effects humans have had on the ongoing climate crisis: "No one wants to hear they're part of the problem--that they are the problem now." And while the real world doesn't have an Everwitch to help stop atypical weather, like the aurora borealis lighting up a Pennsylvania school's campus or a heat wave of 100-degree days in the middle of winter, Griffin wants it to be duly noted "that things are shifting, that we don't have as much control as we used to."This book comes out May 4th and it’s not one to miss! This is definitely one of the best books I have read this year. I was immediately captivated by the story of these brave nine women. Though the dangers the women face are significant, their unorthodox means of travel help contribute to an unexpected feeling of picaresque adventure, as the women lie and scavenge their way toward freedom... The women's bravery and ingenuity as they traverse an almost apocalyptic landscape makes for a thrilling narrative...Gripping." —Shelf Awareness

Memorials now not only remember great soldiers but also the victims of slavery and systemic terror, such as the Legacy Museum in Alabama. “There is now a sense of the necessity of remembering.” At Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia Strauss was an Adjunct Professor in 2002, teaching english composition, and a Design Press Editor from 2002 to 2005. Wanting to spend more time with one of her three daughters, who was going through a difficult patch in her life, they went to Germany for the first time.p> 10. The book tells of var­i­ous encoun­ters with hos­pitable and help­ful Ger­mans, as well as hos­tile and poten­tial­ly dead­ly episodes. Did you believe it when Annelise and Ernst Reitzer claimed they had not known how bad the campswere? Like an army unit, they had a band of brothers feel about them. They were from different social classes, different countries, but somehow they became a unit.” I was driving down the road in winter when I saw a completely bare tree with a crow sitting on the top branch. I thought, "Seasons are cool," and that's when I was hit with the idea.

Beauty, grace, horror, and suspense—an important work that also happens to be a hell of a read!” —Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead A] narrative of unfathomable courage... Ms. Strauss does her readers—and her subjects—a worthy service by returning to this appalling history of the courage of women caught up in a time of rapacity and war." —Wall Street Journal This book was so engrossing, fascinating, harrowing, and captivating that I forgot at times that it was nonfiction. These women all participated in the Resistance against the German occupation, risked their very existence, and were imprisoned. Instead of giving up, they continued to fight, and this is their story of escape, survival, and resilience. I am stunned and forever changed by their heroic and unforgettable stories. I am so grateful that the author (whose own aunt was one of the women) was able to bring light to these events and be able to tell the world of these strong women. Reading their stories of escape and survival is something that everyone needs to read. It is something that I will never forget. Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times. With their arms draped around one another and their hearts pounding, they waited for the beat of the clogs dragging on the ground to fade. When the column was no longer in sight and they could no longer hear the rhythmic pounding of feet, Lon said, “It’s clear.”

The Nine

This haunting account provides yet more evidence not only of the power of female friendship but that the often unrecorded courage and resilience of ordinary women must be honoured and celebrated. It's a most inspiring read...Utterly gripping." — Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes An incredible story about the power of friendship and the faith in humanity in one of the darkest times in history." —Lee Woodruff Gwen Strauss (born 1963) is an American author living in France, [1] [2] and currently the Director of the Artist Residence Program at the Dora Maar House in Ménerbes (France). p> 6. The women took pride in mak­ing gifts for each oth­er and their fam­i­lies, even when they risked being pun­ished for it, and even when, strict­ly speak­ing, these items were not nec­es­sary for sur­vival. Why were these items so important? Mémoire des Hommes, Base "Titres, homologations et services pour faits de résistance" Jeannine Hélène Suzanne PODLIASKY

I finished reading "The Nine" before work this morning and all I can say is "what a story!!" I have read numerous books about the Holocaust, both fiction and non-fiction, some good or great, others not so great, but out of each and everyone of them there is one thing that stands out above all else and that is the resilience and courage of these men and women. In every book, novel, article, biography and memoir I have read those qualities rise above all. They shine brightly through the women's stories in "The Nine". Witches are born on either the solstice or the equinox, and their powers, which come from the sun, reach full strength during their birth season. They have used their powers to control the atmosphere for centuries, keeping the weather in their respective seasons running smoothly. But over the years, the "shaders--those without magic"--have taken advantage of the witches' powers, pushing their limits and ignoring the warnings that magic isn't infinite. Now, witches are trying to use their magic to combat extreme atypical weather but are being depleted of their powers--they are forced to regularly use magic out of season (when they're at their weakest), such as winter witches fighting a substantial blizzard in spring. Only a witch tied to all four seasons whose magic never fades, just changes--an "Everwitch"--can wield enough magic to help balance the shifting atmosphere. Evers are rare, though, and 17-year-old Clara, described as having pale skin and red hair, is the first one in more than a hundred years. With the atmosphere collapsing and weather intensifying, the administration at her school, the Eastern School of Solar Magic, is looking to Clara "to make the difference." But now they were in the middle of Saxony, facing frightened and hostile German villagers, angry fleeing officers of Germany’s Schutzstaffel (SS), the Russian army, and Allied bombers overhead. The Americans were somewhere nearby, they hoped. They had to find the Americans or die trying. Andy Weir ( The Martian; Artemis) has created a propulsive space adventure in Project Hail Mary. The story centers on Dr. Ryland Grace, a middle-school biology teacher, whose obscure paper about alien races comes to the attention of some important individuals when the sun starts rapidly fading. More than half of humanity is predicted to die, and the earth's ecology will be in shambles if scientists can't figure out why the sun has suddenly started losing heat. Many prisoners perished or were gunned down if they showed weakness on these marches over long distances under guard. But nine courageous women, who had already endured torture and barbarity and were now labourers making armaments at HASAG Leipzig, made a daring escape from the serried ranks of women marchers and managed to survive, largely thanks to their support for each other.A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women’s resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades."—Heather Morris, New York Times bestselling author of Cilka's Journey Finally Hélène approached the new arrival. He was tall and thin. When he pulled on his cigarette, the ember glowed, and she could see his sharp, angular face. He seemed amused. “I wasn’t told there would be living cargo,” she said, barely hiding her anger. A woman broke from the line and ran into the field of undulating bright yellow rape flowers. She ripped the blossoms from the stems with both hands, stuffing them into her mouth. Though exhausted and dazed, everyone noticed, and her action sent an electric panic through the rows of women. Stunned, Hélène waited for the sound of the gunshot that would surely follow. It could be machine-gun fire that would take out a whole section—any section, maybe theirs. The guards could do this: shoot indiscriminately into the rows to teach them a lesson. But nothing happened. All she heard was the continuous drumming of wooden clogs from thousands of marching feet. After the war Hélène’s best friend in the camps, Zaza, defied that trend: Rather than keeping silent, she wrote her account of their escape—though she left out the full identities of the other women, perhaps to protect them. It would be first published 60 years later. She wrote bitterly that French prisoners of war and local Germans assumed that they were voluntary prostitutes who had seen an opportunity to “service” the SS and the “free” workers in the camps. The idea that they risked their lives transporting arms, passing messages or sheltering their comrades in the Resistance was not considered possible, much less the horrors they had been subjected to upon their arrest and deportation. Because they were young pretty girls, in their 20s, they were not taken seriously. I'd tell my younger self this: "Your sensitivity is a gift. It's a strength, not a weakness. You're strong because of it, not in spite of it. And it's your sensitivity that will lead you to your dreams."