Cilka's Journey
(The Tattooist of Auschwitz #2)
by Heather Morris
Published by St. Martin's Press
on October 1, 2019
Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, WW2
Length: 352 pages
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Synopsis:
In this follow-up to The Tattooist ofAuschwitz, the author tells the story, based on a true one, of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again. Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labor camp on charges of having helped the Nazis--with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggle to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Siberia, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to survive.
My Thoughts:
Cilka's Journey begins as Auschwitz is liberated but her freedom is still far out of reach. The role she played in The Tattooist of Auschwitz labels her as a spy and she is shipped off to fifteen years in prison in Krakow and then Siberia. There, she is awarded small luxuries compared to what her fellow people received in Auschwitz and her good luck wins out when she is awarded a job that gives her opportunities to help her fellow prisoners.
"She is just surviving... There is no one way to do it."
I read (and reviewed) The Tattooist of Auschwitz a few months ago and enjoyed the hopeful story despite the horrors of the Holocaust. Cilka's Journey had a very similar theme of hope, love, and looking forward to the future but also covered the many hardships that women suffered throughout Auschwitz and in prison.
My only complaint is the similarities between the main characters. Each is randomly given an important job that sets them apart and gives them purpose, privilege, and a little more to share amongst the other prisoners. Both Lale's and Cilka's stories are supposed to be based in fact but the similar 'lucky streaks' make it seem a bit disingenuous.
I would recommend this duology to readers of historical fiction that would prefer to read Holocaust fiction without crying their eyes out. Both have endings that readers will enjoy.
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