From the Publisher
It’s no surprise Born Survivors is gathering excellent reviews.” — Chicago Tribune
“Packed with harrowing detail and impressively well-researched…. Intense, powerful, and moving, more than make up for this. Born Survivors is a worthy testament to these three women and the miraculous survival of their children.” — Jewish Chronicle
“With remarkable detail gleaned from a wealth of research, journalist and author Holden relates the three women’s unforgettable journey from their imprisonment in ghettos to their arrival at Auschwitz, where the feared Dr. Josef Mengele inspected each woman to find out who was pregnant, through their forced labor at munitions factories and the final hellish transport to the Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen.… An astonishing and deeply moving work.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Holden deftly weaves together the stories of three women-Priska, Rachel, and Anka-whose children were born in Nazi concentration camps during the last chaotic weeks of World War II. The author’s analysis of each woman’s experiences. . . provide[s] valuable insight into the stark choices faced by Jews during the Holocaust. This book is recommended for a wide audience and all libraries.” — Library Journal
“A work of quite extraordinary investigative dedication…. A moving testament of faith.” — Sir Harold Evans
“Born Survivors, is exceptionally fresh history, a work of prodigious original research, written with zealous empathy.” — Women in the World, New York Times online
“An astonishing and deeply moving work.… With remarkable detail gleaned from a wealth of research.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Even though it occurred more than 70 years ago, the story’s truth is so chillingly portrayed that it seems as if it could have happened recently.... An engrossing, intense, and highly descriptive narrative chronicling the ghastly conditions three pregnant women suffered through at the hands of the Nazis.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Holden’s triple biography is packed with enough contextual information to qualify as a history lesson but makes its impression as a tale of undeniable courage and astonishing love in the face of incredible cruelty and evil.” — Contra Costa Times
“Holden weaves…written, oral and recorded accounts, plus an array of historical records, into a spellbinding story of perseverance amid systematic abuse.” — American Jewish World
Sir Harold Evans
A work of quite extraordinary investigative dedication…. A moving testament of faith.
Chicago Tribune
It’s no surprise Born Survivors is gathering excellent reviews.
Booklist (starred review)
With remarkable detail gleaned from a wealth of research, journalist and author Holden relates the three women’s unforgettable journey from their imprisonment in ghettos to their arrival at Auschwitz, where the feared Dr. Josef Mengele inspected each woman to find out who was pregnant, through their forced labor at munitions factories and the final hellish transport to the Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen.… An astonishing and deeply moving work.
Jewish Chronicle
Packed with harrowing detail and impressively well-researched…. Intense, powerful, and moving, more than make up for this. Born Survivors is a worthy testament to these three women and the miraculous survival of their children.
Contra Costa Times
Holden’s triple biography is packed with enough contextual information to qualify as a history lesson but makes its impression as a tale of undeniable courage and astonishing love in the face of incredible cruelty and evil.
Women in the World
Born Survivors, is exceptionally fresh history, a work of prodigious original research, written with zealous empathy.
American Jewish World
Holden weaves…written, oral and recorded accounts, plus an array of historical records, into a spellbinding story of perseverance amid systematic abuse.
Chicago Tribune
It’s no surprise Born Survivors is gathering excellent reviews.
Contra Costa Times
Holden’s triple biography is packed with enough contextual information to qualify as a history lesson but makes its impression as a tale of undeniable courage and astonishing love in the face of incredible cruelty and evil.
Jewish Chronicle
Packed with harrowing detail and impressively well-researched…. Intense, powerful, and moving, more than make up for this. Born Survivors is a worthy testament to these three women and the miraculous survival of their children.
Chicago Tribune
It’s no surprise Born Survivors is gathering excellent reviews.
Booklist (starred review)
An astonishing and deeply moving work.… With remarkable detail gleaned from a wealth of research.
American Jewish World
Holden weaves…written, oral and recorded accounts, plus an array of historical records, into a spellbinding story of perseverance amid systematic abuse.
From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY
"An astonishing and deeply moving work." —Booklist Starred Review
Library Journal
05/01/2015
Holden (coauthor, Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany) deftly weaves together the stories of three women—Priska, Rachel, and Anka—whose children were born in Nazi concentration camps during the last chaotic weeks of World War II. The author's analysis of each woman's experiences prior to 1939, the fate of their extended families under Nazi occupation, and the circumstances of their children's birth provide valuable insight into the stark choices faced by Jews during the Holocaust. The children, Eva, Mark, and Hana—among the youngest survivors of the Shoah—finally met at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of liberation. Holden's use of the imagery of doctor Mengele inspecting the women during their arrival at Auschwitz makes for dramatic reading but is problematic. Mengele did not inspect all arrivals, and few knew who he was when they arrived, causing the reader to suspect that the story is a postwar construct. While Holden is strong on the personal details of the women's lives, and the fate of their family members, the wider historical context is sometimes thin. VERDICT Despite minor problems, this book is recommended for a wide audience and all libraries.—Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-03-29
The incredible true story of three Jewish women who survived the Holocaust. Priska, Rachel, and Anka were married Jewish women in their early 20s when the Nazis took control of Europe. Like millions of other Jews, they were forced to give up their normal lives, all of their belongings, and their homes. Shuttled into ghettos and then off to one of the most notorious camps, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, they suffered through the Nazis' increasing atrocities. But these three women all held a secret: they were pregnant. They were moved from Auschwitz and ended up in Mauthausen, another notorious death camp. With facing the most horrible conditions imaginable, all three gave birth right before the Allies accepted Germany's surrender. In this meticulously detailed account, Holden (Haatchi & Little B: The Inspiring True Story of One Boy and His Dog, 2014, etc.) compiles an enormous amount of information from interviews, letters, historical records, and personal visits to the sites where this story unfolded. The graphic history places readers in the moment and provides a sense of the enduring power of love that Priska, Rachel, and Anka had for their unborn children and for the husbands they so desperately hoped to see after the war. Even though it occurred more than 70 years ago, the story's truth is so chillingly portrayed that it seems as if it could have happened recently. These three women and their infants survived in the face of death, and, Holden writes, "their babies went on to have babies of their own and create a second and then a third generation, all of whom continue to live their lives in defiance of Hitler's plan to erase them from history and from memory." An engrossing, intense, and highly descriptive narrative chronicling the ghastly conditions three pregnant women suffered through at the hands of the Nazis.
