I really like the WWII historical fiction genre. This book was very well written, held your attention, had great characters and told the story as it was with little sugar coating.

I really liked that it shared the feelings of the characters, their fears, their doubts, their passions and their love for each other and others. To look into the soul of one that is suffering and to still see compassion for others is a wonderful test of faith.

It also showed how different each character was and how they reacted to the situation. Ala a young teen growing up in the Warsaw ghetto , her ballet, her friends. Max who plays a main part in the book and his self doubt and compassion for those less fortunate. Those that fought back in that fateful fight and the courage they had. I could smell the gunpowder during the fight and I had tears when Matt lost Sabina and had to leave Ora to save her sister and when Marcel couldn't save Ala's ballet instructor. I even felt Marcel's frustration with his job.

The ending was so sad!

If you want to know what happened to the Jewish people in the Warsaw ghetto than you should read this book. It is a test of the faith of the Jewish people and the horrible hatred the Nazi's had for them. What a horrific time in history, it must never happen again. This book will inspire you, scare you, bring you to tears..it is a must read.

This story is broken up into three parts. It is fast-paced and full of suspense. Right from the beginning, we become aware of the threat Hitler has on both Ala, Max when we meet them and all of the Jews. This story moves very quickly which makes sense because Hitler’s take over was very very quick in Poland during his reign which is factually correct.

Throughout this story, there are many twists and turns that leave you breathless waiting to see what happens next and when I think I have the plot figured out it changes again and leaves me guessing.

Glenn Haybittle's new novel is a brilliantly told story of a family in Warsaw during the Holocaust.
Ala is a talented young dancer whose dream lies in the arts. The story centers on Ala and her uncle, Max, who is still dreaming of the love he lost to another man, Sabrina. GH plots out the grime details of families having to move and move again.
The degradation of the human body, mind, and spirit floods over from the very beginning.

We know history by heart. We know that Polish sympathizers helped to betray their neighbors, to work as policemen. What GH gives us is the authentic life of a family and minute details of their history, how they get along, and who does not help in survival. The story is, of course, about love and loss in the worst of times in human history.

If there is one book you must read now, it is this one. Fascism is on the rise in this world, and we must be well versed in its implications and drawn-out results.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this immense novel (July 30).

WW2, Poland, family-dynamics, torture, nazis

This book is moving and disturbing, but exceptionally well written. There are other books which have presented life in nazi occupied areas and the continued impact upon the world, but this one makes it all seem more current and condemns the human race for its cruelty and enjoyment of the humiliation of others.
The entwined stories of uncle and teenage niece are heart wrenching but realistic, as are the observations of death, starvation, disease, and murder up close and personal. The Nazis are insane, that's a given. But the common people who ignored what they did are little better.
I hope that this book will make people more aware of the current threat in the world today.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Cheyne Walk via NetGalley.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction and even fiction pieces that focus on WWII and Holocaust era content. I have read many different books on this topic. I was so intrigued when I saw that this book was about the Warsaw Ghetto and a girl that loved to dance. The cover is beautiful and really drew me in. It was very real and raw and portrayed so many things that people dealt with and the persecution, horrors, torment during WWII due to Hitler. After reading the different ones, this was the first book I read focusing on The Warsaw Ghetto. That was a huge plus for me, as you do not often see the smaller ghetto areas focused on.

In my opinion there were too many unnecessary sexual references. These started within the first few pages. The writing style felt very disconnected and and often felt forced, to me. I was expected more flow, but the writing did not have that. The sentences felt very short and to the point, leaving an urge for more from the story instead.

Heart wrenching story of a young dancer's family's struggle in the Warsaw ghetto. All she wanted was to be a dancer. Even in the ghetto, Madame put together a small troupe and program. But, with starvation and all of the absolutely horrendous treatment, the numbers of their friends and family dwindled. It was all she could do just to survive and try to fight back.

A powerful read. This is the first I have read by this author but I will be looking out for others now.

This book is fiction but it is very real pf the Holocaust and the Jewish Ghettos. I enjoy books set in this time and this one did not disappoint.

Thank you for letting me read an advance copy.

In the Warsaw ghetto is a wonderful book based on life inside one of the degrading settlements established to debase and ultimately wipeout the Jews during Hitler’s regime in World War 2. This was written from an entirely different perspective however. We followed the lives of Ala and her uncle Max, two somewhat wealthier Jews who initially did not suffer from the poverty and malnourishment inflicted on those living in the ghetto like so many who perished around them. They were good people who thrived on helping others. I particularly loved the references to Dr Korsack and his young orphans which were introduced occasionally through the novel as I really enjoyed that novel. Ala’s life continued as normal as much as possible while simultaneously witnessing those she knew so well fall around her. Her interest in sex and the growing desires of a young woman was a new angle not previously explored to such an extent in holocaust literature in my experience, and the author did so showing a great depth of understanding. The descriptive language used was well composed and assisted the reader form detailed images of every scene. The novel drew me in more and more as it progressed and in the second half of the novel I couldn’t read quickly enough, so was the eagerness I felt to discover what became of Sabina, Ora, Engenia, Marcel, Zanek, Max and Ala. The ending fitted the novel well however it was not at all the ending that I anticipated. I would recommend this novel to all. I don’t often give 5 starts but I feel in this instance 5 stars are highly deserved!

This was a hard book to read. It describes the atrocities and horrors of polish Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. It was a hard read but, also one I feel that is needed. While it is fiction, this book describes what many in the ghetto went through.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unviased opinion of it.

4.5 stars
This is the third book by Glenn Haybittle that I have read about the Holocaust and each of them was powerful in its own way. I found this one to be more tense and more brutal and equally as important in spite of how hard it is to read at times. The novel depicts the Polish Jews who were forced to live hungry, under horrible conditions, taken from their homes, many of whom were herded to death camps and many who were randomly shot dead on the street. In alternating narratives, this horrific time in Warsaw from 1940-1943 is told by Ala a young woman, eighteen, an aspiring ballet dancer and her Uncle Max, an introspective, brooding man who has never married since the love of his life married another man. Even though forced from their comfortable homes, they aren’t immediately impacted . They have places to live, food and Ala still has her dance. But they witness dead bodies in the street, homeless children, round ups to the camps and the horrific shootings right in front of them. There’s an ominous feeling that it will be a matter of time before they are personally impacted. So they live their daily lives amid the horror, the bombs , Nazis in the streets randomly shooting people waiting for the worst.

I liked Max’s narrative more than Ala’s and was so moved when he meets his former lover in the ghetto and cares for her and her two daughters; the irony that it was because of the ghetto that they are reunited is not lost. Ala’s felt at times a little too YA for me. There are numerous things here that reflect the complexity of their lives. Jewish identity, resistance, Zionism, aspirations, desires, coming of age, the meaning of family , all of these things now impacted in a major way because of their life in the ghetto, because of the Nazis. It’s a Holocaust story so it was inevitable that it was sad beyond words, horrific, gut wrenching, but the Postscript is both moving and beautiful.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Cheyne Walk through NetGalley.

Almost too brutally real. Definitely too hard to read, but too wrong to stop. Thank you NetGalley and Glenn Haybittle for the Arc and the opportunity to read and review In The Warsaw Ghetto. I thoroughly appreciated the writing style of this book. The author did not hold anything back. The characters tell it exactly like it is, exactly what they are thinking without leaving anything out. When you are done reading you will totally, fully understand what went on in the Warsaw ghetto, you will feel as if you lived through it. . You will not be able to understand how anyone would want to live after enduring what they witnessed and lived through. How in G-ds name can human beings be so evil? That is something I will never be able to wrap my brain around. Thank you to all the authors who continue to write about World War II and the Nazis, this helps to ensure that the world will never forget.

Another fine historical fiction set during WWII, this time the setting is the Warsaw Ghetto. The 2 main characters, Ala and Max are Jewish relatives forced into ghetto housing. The ghetto was set up sometime in 1940 and closed in 1943. It is a harrowing life and truly left me grateful for all that I have. I’d like to thank Net Galley for the ARC.

"In The Warsaw Ghetto" by Glenn Haybittle. A work of novel fiction basses on historical fact. All of mankind faces death..... Some without warning; and some by horrendous torture. I have read a good many books about WWII and the atrocities committed by the Germans . . . But none set by the bar of this book! Ala Silberman is a young woman...child training to be a dancer when the Nazis take over Poland. And, even in the depths of hell inside the ghetto, people make art, cook and dream....make love... and sing and become conditioned to survival amongst unspeakable tragedy. The author has written so very eloquently of life and death. I highly recommend. To be published in 2019.

Thanks To NetGalley, Cheyne Walk and Glenn Haybittle for my digital copy of In The Warsaw Ghetto.

Ala Silberman is busy training as a ballet dancer when the Germans invade Warsaw and nothing can prepare her for how much her life will change. Ala is very close to her Uncle Max he's a bachelor he has never gotten over the loss of his first love Sabina who he met at university and she decided to marry someone else.
Before they know it both Ala, her mother, father, brother and uncle Max are all living in the ghetto.
It's a huge shock but for Ala's family, at first life isn't too bad as they have money, everything can be smuggled in and can be bought for a price. But as time goes on life gets harder, housing is crowded due to new people arriving daily, disease is rampant, people are starving, freezing, their money can only last so long and it only gets worse. The German soldiers take what they want, anyone who tries to stop them has no chance and they enjoy humiliating the Jewish people
Max discovers Sabina is living in the ghetto as her catholic husband divorced her, she has two little girls Ora and Eugenia. They're living in terrible conditions with her auntie and they move in with Max as he has a spare room. For awhile they live as a family, eventually they decide to marry as a way of keeping them all safe.
But as time goes on no one is safe in the ghetto, people go missing never to be seen again, the transports to concentration camps begin and the Nazi's plan to empty the ghetto. Nothing can prepare the Silberman's for the horror they witness during two years they spend in the Warsaw ghetto, eventually Max and Ala do anything they can to survive, living on rooftops, they move under ground, living in drains and they both decide to fight back.
In The Warsaw Ghetto is a heart breaking book to read, nothing is held back, it's violent, brutal and contains a lot of sexual references. I finished the book, it was a struggle for me due to the subject and I gave it three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I truly enjoyed this book, Haybittle did a wonderful job bringing his characters, Ala and Max Silberman to life in an honest and heartbreaking fashion. As a lover of all things World War II with the focus on the Holocaust, this was one of the most (seemingly) realistic portrayal of the hardships that the Jewish people faced in the ghettos. Starting from the beginning of the Ghetto to it's destruction in 1943, this was a hard-hitting portrayal that has stuck with me. In fact, it took several days to process prior to being able to try to get my thoughts down in order to write this review.

I found the characters to be full of depth and development throughout the story. There are certain points that I found to be unnecessary with Ala's relationships, but that is a really minor point. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of realistic historical fiction.

If you enjoyed my review, thanks! You can find me on instagram @my_bookishthoughts and on Goodreads!

Wow, this book was certainly some read. I have read lots of books set during World War II and this has been one of the most gripping and haunting stories I have ever encountered. In the Warsaw Ghetto focuses on two central characters of Ala and Max and their experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto. I was enthralled from start to finish, it's an epic story that I read in one day. I really enjoyed this book apart from one thing, the amount of sexual reference. I felt that they were really unnecessary and took focus away from the real story of survival ship.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC

In the Warsaw Ghetto by Glenn Haybittle is a historical fiction novel that weaves between two main characters (Ala and Max) that are relatives and also both Jewish persons forced into ghetto housing during WWII Warsaw, Poland.

Their trials and tribulations, and ultimately their fate (along with many others) makes for a haunting and heartbreaking read.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review.

What a truly remarkable story of WW2 about the Warsaw Ghetto. . My stomach was in knots from beginning to end reading this book. It was heart wrenching yet powerful showing the will that the Jews had to live. The ending was very emotional. The only parts of the book I didn’t like were the comments about sex. . It didn’t belong in this book at all and to me seemed pointless to include it. Would definitely recommend this book. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.