After suffering the indignities of Auschwitz for 3 years, Cilka Klein is sentenced to a Siberian Gulag for 15 years. Her Soviet imprisonment was marginally less awful than her time in a nazi concentration camp, but that’s not saying much.

At times, this book was hard to continue reading. The unspeakable cruelty Cilka endures is stomach churning. It’s easier to put down the book than deal with the emotions it stirs up. Amazingly, despite her circumstances, Cilka shows remarkable kindness, making selfless decision after selfless decision. Her generous and forgiving spirit, especially in the face of such malignity, are inspiring and make this work the read.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I hadn't read The Tattooist of Auschwitz first. I hope to read it soon. I didn't notice that I was missing anything by not reading it first as the author provided the necessary background. However, I think the reading experienced could only be enriched by reading the other book first.

I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put it down once I got started on it. The atrocities that the Jews faced makes this a hard book to read, but it is so worth reading. The characters were so well developed and my heart just broke for everything they had to go through.

This is one of my favorite books this year and maybe of all time. I'm excited to go back and read the author's first book as I feel that it will give me more depth and understanding about this period in time.

What a great read and I'm excited to read anything else by this author.

Rating: 4 chilling stars

After having read and enjoyed this author’s prior book, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”, I was pleased to receive her latest release from NetGalley. Cilka Klein made a fairly minor appearance as a friend of Gita and Lale in “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”. Frankly I didn’t really remember her from that book which I read about a year ago. In many ways, her story is so much more dramatic and heartbreaking than Lale’s story. I’m glad that I was able to read and review this book. Be forewarned though, that while it is a strong work of historical fiction, it is about a horrific time in world history. It’s an unflinching look at some of the worst cruelty political regimes can subject people to.

We meet Cecilia, ‘Cilka’ Klein as the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau is being freed at the end of WWII. Unfortunately for her, the camp is being freed by the Soviets. Based on reports from other prisoners instead of being freed, Cilka is sent to a Polish prison. Because she was kept as a sex slave for the Commandant of the death camp and housed in a private room in the barracks that was used for prisoners the night before going to the gas chamber, she was accused of being a collaborator. Unimaginably, instead of being freed and allowed to return to Czechoslovakia, she is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a Russian Gulag. Camp Vorkuta, the camp she is sent to, is 90 miles above the Arctic Circle

It seems that she is entering the second level of Hell instead of savoring freedom and rebuilding her life. Once again she is called on to pull on unknown levels of reserves to form a new community in the ultra-harsh landscape. She has PTSD flashbacks about the things that she endured while in Birkenau, when she is again abused sexually and physically. Slowly she starts to scrabble up from the bottom of the camp’s pecking order and begins to work in the camp hospital. From there she is able to better the lives of all her hut mates with whom she has formed a strong bond.

This work of historical fiction is a testament to capacity of the human spirit to survive. What makes some people press on, and other to give up much more easily? I don’t have the answer to that, but this book does show both sides of this coin. Others often rely on Cilka’s strength to help them through the toughest of the tough times. She selflessly puts their needs over her own. I’m not sure that I would have the same selfless attitude that she did. She felt such a degree of guilt and shame for having survived Auschwitz that she didn’t value her life much. She valued the lives of others over her own life.

I won’t tell you how the story ends. You’ll have to pick this up and read it for yourself. Is Cilka ever freed? Does she find self-forgiveness? Does she find love? This is a good piece of historical fiction that kept me turning the pages, sometimes in great distress, to see how Cilka survived.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, St Martin’s Press; and the author, Heather Morris for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 heart-wrenching stars

This one is a companion to “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” but can definitely be read as a stand-alone. My interpretation is that this is historical fiction, based on the lives of real people.

In this tale, we have Cilka, who knew Lale and Gita from the first book, they were all prisoners at Auschwitz. Because of her beauty, Cilka has been chosen to be the “mistress” of two German leaders at the camp. She is faced with rape from these leaders almost every night. She also oversees the prisoners in a block that are condemned to die the next day. All this starting when she was a 16-year-old. Faced with surviving or dying like the other women, she does what it takes to make it through the war. Imagine the horror of the camp being liberated after the war and Cilka is not freed. Instead she is charged with collaborating with the enemy and sent to a Russian gulag in Siberia.

The rest of the book chronicles the horrible conditions she faces at the gulag. I had to read this one in small chunks because it was depressing and heart-wrenching. This is not a romanticized tale of concentration camps or Russian prisons. There are some interesting stories as Cilka ends up working at the hospital and gets some training as a nurse. She has amazing resiliency and I’m amazed at all she survives.

This one finally concludes with some happiness for Cilka. I recommend reading this one at the right time as I found it depressing and horribly realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley, Heather Morris, and St. Martin's Press for a complimentary copy of the book to read.

Cilka’s Journey is a long, despairing one. Initially we see Russian soldiers liberating her and the surviving prisoners at Auschwitz Birkenau. However, her freedom is cut short as she is soon condemned for consorting with the enemy, which she did, but used it as a survival tool, and is sent to a Siberian work camp. After suffering for three miserable years, she now faces more years of confinement and debasement. She entered Auschwitz at age sixteen and 15 more years of life as a prisoner await. She deals with brutal weather conditions in Siberia and once again faces near starvation, and sexual assault; along with a new abusive condition: back breaking work in the coal mines; however, she is determined to survive. Jennifer Morris gives the reader hope that Cilka will survive. She illustrates Cilka as a smart, courageous, passionate young lady who serves as a peacemaker and a mentor for the younger women in her hut and camp. We see her as a determined problem solver and one who does whatever it takes to survive just as she did in the concentration camp. Her journey brightens as she makes friends with the campmates as well authority figures who encourage her to work in the camp hospital, where she becomes deeply involved with patients while also learning nursing skills. Man’s inhumanity to man as well as humanity exists in Cilka’s Journey The novel is based on factual events and people. Morris did extensive research on the real Cilka, the events, and the setting in Siberia. If you are a historical fiction fan add this to your TBR list.

4.5 stars rounded down. This is a book of historical fiction. Cilka Klein was a real life person who was taken by Germans in WWII to Auschwitz and then Birkenau concentration camps when she was only 16.
The author confirmed that Cilka was a real person, but many events in the book are her own interpretation of Cilka's experiences.
The German camp commandant notices her beauty and takes for his personal sex slave in 1942. She survives because of this. The Soviet Army liberates the camp in 1945. They decide that she was a collaborator because she slept with the enemy. They sentence her to 15 years hard labor. She is sent to another concentration camp, Vorkuta, in the far north of the USSR. She is taken under the wing of the camp doctor, who recognizes her extraordinary abilities. Cilka trains to be a nurse and survives 10 years in Vorkuta before being released.
This is an inspiring story of courage and the will to survive in the face of terrible, life threatening conditions. I became invested in Cilka's story and thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend it to fans of Lilac Girls.
Thank You St. Martin's Press and Heather Morris for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.

Fascinating, heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting story about life in a prison camp in Soviet Russia after World War II.

Cilka Klein briefly thinks her life is about to improve when she is released from a concentration camp at the end of the war. Instead she is put in a train car for a harrowing journey to Siberia. Things just keep getting worse, until a young doctor recognizes her facility with languages, and later, gift for nursing. In her years in the prison camp, despite experiencing unspeakable horrors, Cilka manages to forge relationships and selflessly help others on occasion.

Cilka is an unforgettable heroine, and author Morris fleshes out a period in history only briefly covered in most history classes. Although a quasi-sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you need not read the first book to follow Cilka’s Journey. #NetGalley #CilkasJourney

You are looking at my favorite historical fiction read of 2019! Can you imagine surviving Auschwitz only to be sent to a Siberian labor camp? This book broke my heart and then put it back together numerous times. To say it was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement. Whenever I read stories like this, I am amazed at the resiliency of the human spirit. This is one of those books that draws you in from the very first pages, and keeps you emotionally invested until the very end. I am still thinking about this book days after reading it, and I am still thinking about Tattooist a year after reading it. This book lived up to my expectations in every way I hoped. If you are looking for a heart-wrenching historical fiction read that will make up feel like you were there, you should read Cilka's Journey, which is out on Tuesday. All the stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you @stmartinspress for my copy.

Cilka's Journey is a follow-up of The Tattoist of Auschwtiz. We follow Cilka after her emancipation from the horrible concentration camps in Poland, to her imprisonment in the gulags of Siberia. Once again, Cilka is faced with survival. And she finds herself navigating this similar space of trauma, guilt, and survival.

Pros;
This story was heartbreaking and amazing. I cried, multiple times. The author clearly spent a lot of time researching for this novel, and the book was better off for it.

Cons: Similar to tattooist, I was not a fan of the writing style. It felt choppy and forced at times. Which made certain sections tough to read.

Based on a true story of cruelty and fortitude under such circumstances
This book was phenomenal! I was totally engrossed from page one. The trials and tribulations of a young girl who becomes a woman under awful circumstances. It will break your heart and build it back up again.
Cecelia Klein, Cilka, has been in Auschwitz, a German concentration camp for three years when the book opens and is being told she is free. But what happens next is what the rest of the story is about. The women she meets in the gulag are so brave, endure so much but make a life in spite of their new world. This quote from the book sums it up, “Cilka can see that she has gone from one cruel, inhuman place to another.” Not since reading the DIARY OF ANNE FRANK have I felt the hope but unabashed realization of life at that time albeit one before the camps and one after. There are hints of what life in a socialist country is like: the wealthy still get better treatment than the poor. Is that fair?
There are so many people who might enjoy reading this book: those whose family have a connection to Auschwitz, German women, Jewish women, young women in general. I loved it and I’m none of these. It comes highly recommended. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley. I give it 10 stars!

This is by the author of 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' and follows the life of Cilka, the best friend of Gita from that first book. I have not yet read The Tattooist Of Auschwitz yet (I know - it is in my very large stack of books waiting), but I had no trouble following this story, so do not feel you need to read the author;s first book ahead of this one.. Cilka managed to stay alive at Auschwitz by being raped regularly by a camp commander, but after liberation by the Russians she is charged with being a collaborator and sentenced to 15 years in a gulag in Siberia. The gulag is the setting for most of the book, with the Auschwitz experiences told as flashbacks. It is a wonderfully told story of survival, inspired by the life of a real person and a book I will be highly recommending to my customers.

This was a heartbreaking novel but so well written. The horrible tragedies that occurred were real for so very many. Cilka was a very strong character.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A strong and remarkable story, very well written and conducted in such a way that the reader is thrilled and feels everything Cilka suffers.

At various times, I have to stop reading to breathe and have strength to face what would come after.

A wonderful book that should be read by everyone to give real value to freedom.

This is one of those books where I opened it and wanted to dive in deeper. This story depicts what could have happened after world war II for the prisoners of the concentration camps. I had no idea what was in store as a reader and was enveloped in the stories of human connection and fear that Cilka felt in her new world. It was not an easy book to read in terms of content. Heather Morris does an excellent job of navigating stories that are heartbreaking and approaching this subject in an understanding way.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get swept away in this heart-wrenching book.

Having borrowed "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" from the library I was looking forward to reading Heather Morris' new book. The book is written as a stand-a-lone and it goes fully in describing Cilka who was introduced in the first book as part of a group of friends that supported each other in order to survive.
Cilka survived Auschwits-Birkenau for 3 years only to be branded by the Russians as a collaborator and spy. Her sentence is 15 years in Siberia.
It's hard to image that somebody could survive this situation of imprisonment under extreme condition for all those years and still been able to make a go at a normal life afterwards.
This book was a bit of an education for me because I realized how little I knew about the conditions of the prisons and treatment of prisoners in Siberia.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Cilka’s Journey in exchange for an honest review. Heather Morris’ sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz does not disappoint. The second book transports the reader to a Soviet gulag, where Cilka is imprisoned as a result of her “involvement” with the Nazis. Without giving too much away, Cilka survives the gulag, and somehow finds love and hope amid this Arctic desert.

Cilka’s story is an incredible one to be sure, but I did not find it as compelling and riveting as Morris’ first book. Lale and Gita captured my heart, and what made their story so compelling was the constant threat and stench of death around them. I found Cilka’s Journey lacked this edge. Yes, it’s a miracle she somehow survived ten years in this hell and she was a brave woman, but I don’t think her “voice” is heard in this story, not like Lale’s in The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

If you read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you must read Cilka’s Journey! The story focuses on Cilka while intertwining characters and scenes from the Tattooist book. Morris explains how she developed her characters and plot based on actual events and interviews at the end of the book. I highly recommend!

This second novel from Heather Morris is a follow-up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz and while Cilka was introduced in the first book you need not have read it first to be totally consumed by her story.

Cilka's Journey is a magnificent portrayal of strength, courage and humility in some of the horrifying times this world has seen. Cilka is based on a real person who survived Aushwitz-Birkenau and then was imprisoned in the Russian Gulag system for conspiring with the enemy.
I won't say too much about the book because really you have to read it to FEEL Cilka's Journey. The pain, suffering and eventually the love that comes to her even though she doesn't think she deserves it is a true testimony to the human condition. I can't say enough good things about this book and even though it will tear at your heart it is a must read if you like historical books. The section that REALLY brings brought this home for me though was the chapter titled Vorkuta-the White Hell, it's an afterword by Owen Matthews. He provides in-depth research into the Gulags in The USSR under Stalin's rule. It is unbelievable what we are capable of doing to each other in times of war and oppression.

Thanks to St. Martins Press, Heather Morris and NetGalley for this advanced copy of Cilka’s Journey for which I have offered my unbiased review.
#CilkasJourney, #NetGalley

I loved this book! WWII historical fiction always seems to be the era that I'm drawn to, so it's nice to see a different perspective on that. I loved reading about Cilka and her tenacity, but mostly I enjoyed the way this was presented. Since The Tattooist of Auschwitz focused more on the concentration camp, I was happy to see that this focused more on after that period. Although it still wasn't a good time in her life, seeing how Cilka handled what was thrown at her was inspiring. At times I felt that things were oversimplified or glossed over, but I know if those had been explored fully the book would easily be 1000 pages.

Cecilia “Cilka” Klein was sixteen years old when the Nazis sent her to Auschwitz with her sister. Her good looks saved her life, for she became a sexual slave to two senior officers in the camp. In return, Cilka was assigned to oversee the “death block”. Treading a morally compromised line in a world gone mad, Cilka survived three years until the Soviets liberated the camp in 1945. Little did she know that her ordeal was far from over. For collaborating and sleeping with the enemy, the Soviets condemned her to serve fifteen years of forced labor in a Siberian gulag. Once again, her looks would win her “protection”, but it was her undying will to survive that earned her a better place in that community.

The story of Cilka apparently began in the runaway hit The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which I didn’t read. I don’t know if that affected my perception of this book but it is possible that that was the case. I found Cilka’s Journey very readable, page-turning even, but that element, combined with a third person narration, did not suit the mood, atmosphere, and character development of this story.

I never empathized with Cilka, but it was a moral judgement on my part. I didn’t find her likable enough, despite her efforts to erase the past that was thrown into her, because she chose to survive by witnessing death in a world where millions didn’t have the choice to either live or die. Despite the savagery of her situation—in both camps—, she was in a better place than all the other millions who had no choice at all. I celebrate her will to survive, however, and use her “improved” circumstances for the betterment of others. War can trample morality. The Nazis excelled and exploited that fact to their advantage. Ultimately, it’ll be up to history to restore Cilka’s place among the suffering but I don’t think this book accomplished that end.

Disclaimer: I received from the publisher a free e-book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.