Beautiful, heartbreaking, all of the emotions one could feel while reading a superb novel, I felt them. I am so glad the author decided to write a follow up to the Tattoist for her readers to enjoy. This book definitely lived up to her previous one. The things this young girl had to endure and experience really will make you open up your eyes to all the blessins we have in this world today. I encourage everyone to read this book!

Thank you to netgalley.com for the opportunity to read the book before publication. We first met Cilka in The Tatooist of Auschwitz. While you can certainly read this book as a stand alone, I highly recommend reading The Tatooist of Auschwitz first.

Auschwitz-Birkenau has been liberated by the Russians, but not all prisoners are free. Any prisoner convicted of consorting with the Nazis is sent to a gulag in Russia. Cilka managed to stay alive in Auschwitz and she pays dearly for it. Sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a Russian prisoner camp her nightmare continues. Keep in mind that Cilka is Jewish And has lost her family at the hands of the Nazis.

Life, if you can call it that, in the Russian prison is hard and dangerous. Women are raped by other prisoners regularly and judged by their female counterparts who are also prisoners, often for crimes as insignificant as stealing a loaf of bread. Cilka is assigned to work in the hospital where conditions are somewhat better and certainly better than the mines.

Regardless of her own situation Cilka remains a kind and compassionate young woman who befriends and assists other prisoners both in the hospital and in the hut to which she is assigned. She lives with the guilt of surviving Auschwitz and the loss of her family in the concentration camps. She does not trust anyone in the camp to share her story with although one doctor suspects where she was transported from and what she has undergone and does everything she can to gain Cilka’s trust.

I had no idea that when the Russians liberated the concentration camps they could and would subject the Jews and other prisoners to a fresh new hell. Cilka’s Journey is beautifully written. You can feel her despair, resolve and sadness. It is brought to its end almost perfectly. Be sure to read the epilogue.

Cilka’s Journey was devastating, heartbreaking and hopeful all at once. Just to imagine that someone that suffered so much at such a young age and was then imprisoned for surviving is just beyond awful. I’m so glad Heather Morris wrote the follow up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz so we could know what happened to Cilka. Her story, like so many others deserved to be heard and known. The story was well-written with occasional flashbacks to the concentration camp from her current time in the prison camp. I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know how it ended.

Dare I say that I enjoyed “Cilka’s Journey”? It seems almost barbaric to enjoy reading about the pain, deprivation, horrors, and tortures that were inflicted upon Cilka and her friends. Yet this book transported me to another place, another time, where no one should have ever gone. Clearly written as a captivating story, this tale of lives lost and lives of survivors made me really care about the characters and kept me thinking about them even when I had to put the book down. It does not mince words or smooth over what these brave women had to face as punishment for their perceived wrong doings, which, in reality, were nothing more than living life and surviving in difficult times. Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced read copy. I highly recommend this book, as I recommend its predecessor, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”.

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris is a powerful story that is inspired by the true to life experiences of Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Cilka Klein. Readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz will remember being introduced to Cilka who was a close friend of Gita, the titular character's love interest. In an afterword by the author, Lale, the individual whose story is recounted in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, describes Cilka as the bravest person that he has ever known, and Ms Morris certainly brings this courage and unimaginable strength to life in the telling of Cilka's story.

Cilka Klein is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau when she is only sixteen, and her distinctive beauty serves to both save and condemn her. In order to ensure her survival, Cilka submits to sexual relationships with Nazi senior officers while at the women's concentration camp. After three years of enduring repeated rapes and other unfathomable injustices, she is sentenced to serve time at Vorkuta-Gulag, a Siberian prison, for the crime of consorting with the enemy. Once again, Cilka suffers deplorable conditions, but is able to find a small measure of humanity and purpose while working as a nurse-in-training.

This is a difficult read insofar as we are forced to confront the inhumanity of a period in history that is almost unfathomable in the fact that we are reading about the lives of real people rather than fictitious constructs. Ms Morris has truly brought history to life and, essentially, has given those who suffered the atrocities a face. I believe that this novel, as well as The Tattooist of Auschwitz, should be mandatory reading, not only for students, but for everyone. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

Wow!! Such an amazing, heartfelt, courageous story.. I read the tattooist of Auschwitz and first heard of Cilka in Lale and Gitas story.. I was beyond excited to read this and this story completely blew me away. I cannot imagine how anyone survived the holocaust and the aftermath and it brings to life how horrible and evil the reign of Hitler and the aftermath truly was. It breaks my heart they had to endure this.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, tells the story of Lale the tattooist and the horrors he endures in Auschwitz. Cilka was introduced in the Tattooist. She was taken to be a mistress of the Nazi's and then she was convicted of being a collaborator and sent to Serbia. Cilka's Journey tells her story of survival. I loved Cilka and I liked her story. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Difficult to read this book especially knowing that much of it is based on actual events. To think of the horrors that people lived through during that time period is gut wrenching. It is a well written very descriptive and realistic story. I did not read the previous book, and feel it might be beneficial to have read it first in order to get a better background on the character.
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Well written story that brings many emotions up. I can’t comprehend a life life this. I am always encouraged and motivated by a book that shows how someone makes it to the other side of such a horrible situation. I am thankful to have read this book.
I received an advanced copy from netgalley and am thankful to the publisher, netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read Clika Journey.

Cilka's Journey is the beautifully written chronicle of a young woman's survival. Cilka somehow perseveres, doing what she must to stay alive first in a Nazi death camp, and then in a Russian gulag, without losing her humanity.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Wow. What a great book. Cilka was a real person and most of the story is based on the facts discovered while the author was writing another book.

It was well written and I was immediately drawn into the story. It is so hard to believe that these things happened but Cilka was strong and did what she needed to do to survive Auschwitz and prison after that.

This is a follow up to the The Tattooist of Auschwitz involving the character Cilka, based on a real person. Although I hadn't read the previous book, I will definitely read it now although it is not necessary as this book stands alone. Cilka was a survivor of Auschwitz when she was 16. She stayed alive by being the "mistress" of a Nazi commandant. She does whatever she has to to stay alive and survive. After the camp is liberated, she is convicted of collaboration with the Nazis and is sentenced to 15 years in a Siberian prison camp. She has to learn again how to stay alive and try to carve out a life for herself. She becomes a nurse at the camp and meets people who will change her life forever. This is an excellent book and I found myself cheering for Cilka one minute and crying for her another. Please read the author's note and Afterword that is included at the end of the book. It has a wealth of information about Cilka and her life after the prison camp and the history of the prison camps. I can not recommend this book highly enough.

I had read the first book in this series and was very excited to see a sequel. Honestly, I did enjoy the book, but maybe I should have read the first one closer to the second book. This book is well written and does a great job of explaining Cilka's life after the concentration camp. I cannot believe the horrors that people were exposed to during that time. The author uses great imagery and dialogue to make you become invested in their lives.

This was a solid 5-star book for me. I loved the writing style of Heather Morris and I really felt like I was in that harsh time frame. I would recommend this book especially after reading "The Tattooist of Auschwitz'. I laughed in parts but also cried. I want Cilka to win after all the hardship she had to endure. Heather Morris and St. Martin Press will be added to my go-to author and publisher to read.

To think human beings could do the atrocities that were done to other human beings during WWII is sickening and very bothersome. Heather Morris continues in the same vein as with The Tattooist of Auschwitz in her latest novel, Cilka’s journey. I think the only way I could continue reading these books, is with the knowledge that they had both made it through the war and all the abuse inflicted on them under the hands of the Nazis. Cilka knew that to survive the war she would have to become numb to her feelings and do what she was told. When the war was over, her abuse was not. Hopelessness was not in her vocabulary and the hope that she would prevail kept her going. A well written book, in which you will fall in love with the characters and pray that they survive. Thanks to St Martins publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this book. It was quite a journey in a concentration camp during World War Two. Cilka was a kind person caring for others even in the horrible conditions in which she lived. She found love which kept her going even during her darkest moments. I highly suggest this book
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Exceptionally well-told story, poignant and empathetic, but not melodramatic or sentimental. Mesmerizing fiction based on real events.

I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz a few years ago and was extremely moved while reading that unimaginable story. I jumped at the chance to read Cilka's Journey. I remembered the name of the character but that was it. Her story starts at the liberation of Auschwitz and I imagined it was going to tell how she rebuilt her live after being a captive in that horrid place. I was SHOCKED to learn she did not gain her freedom and I was engrossed in learning what this human being had to endure. I have read many historical fiction books about this time period and it is always hard to know what to say about such a story. I loved this book, but it doesn't seem right to say I love reading about all of that misery, I enjoyed reading it, but it doesn't seem right to say that either. Heather Morris did a superb job in taking the facts that she knew about Cilka, building her character and weaving a heartfelt telling of human strength and endurance in the face of inhumane, unthinkable evil. I hope Ms. Morris continues to tell these stories.

This is an extraordinary book and I am privileged to have had the opportunity to review it. Cilka's Journey is the story of Cilka Klein, and is both the physical journey from her family, to Auschwitz, to the Vorkuta Gulag in Siberia and finally home to Czechoslovakia. It is also the story of the personal/emotional journey along the way losing family and friends, personal suffering and watching the suffering of others. Cilka is remarkably resilient and survives both journeys but compromises herself along the way to stay alive.

The book is both well written and well researched. I did not read the Tattoist of Ausschwitz before Cilka's Journey, but this book stands well on it's own. I'd have to say that when I have the time, I'll have to go back and read the Tattoist of Ausschwitz to complete the story.

While reading this book, I've come to believe that historical fiction is an important part of our literature. While Cilka's is real, the name of her husband has been changed to protect the identity of his descendants, but the book tells such an important part of our world history during the 40s and 50s. I'd almost rather see the Tattoist of Ausschwitz and Cilka's Journey used in High School History rather than the dry history books that are probably used today.

Many years ago I read Solzhenitsyn's work, remembering mostly Gulag Archipelago and The First Circle. Solzhenitsyn is obviously important to Russian history and Russian literature, with Gulag Archipelago overlapping in time with Cilka's Journey. Although Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, I will always remember Cilka's Journey more for the story it tells of developing the Communist state. Telling the story of one person tells the story of all. Morris has produced one such masterpiece.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins and especially the author to read and review this book.

*3.5* stars.
This is a bleak, intense and horrifying account of what it was like to endure and survive for almost 10 years in the nightmare conditions of Vorkuta Gulag in the remote Siberian north.

Cecilia Klein (Cilka) was a friend of Lale and Gita in Auschwitz. In the author’s interviews with Lale (The Tattooist of Auschwitz ) he mentioned Cilka and described her as the bravest person he ever knew. Much research went into her story, but it was difficult to separate true facts from fictional fillers.

Cilka entered Auschwitz at the tender age of 16. Family members perished there. Very early in her imprisonment, she realized she must do as ordered to survive. To do otherwise meant certain death. She became ‘camp wife’ of a German commander, submitting to her rapist in order to avoid serial rapists and gang rapes which other women prisoners were experiencing. She was also put in charge of a section where sick, dying, and women of the 'wrong ethnicity or background' were held on their way to the gas chamber. To fulfill her role she pushed and yelled at those who hesitated in line to their ultimate grim destination. When liberated, she harboured much guilt for her role as camp ‘prostitute’ and in her inability to protect others.

Liberation from Auschwitz was not what she had hoped. She was imprisoned for sleeping with the enemy, which also meant to her accusers that she must be a Spy for Germany. She was sentenced to 15 years in Stalin’s Vorkuta gulag prison in Siberia where she spent almost 10 years. Whereas Auschwitz had its gas chambers, the plan for the Gulags was to get rid of undesirables through hard labour and starvation while they worked in the harshest conditions for the Russian motherland. Freezing temperatures, inadequate clothing, poor hygiene, disease, work-related accidents, and lack of nourishing food made survival unlikely.

Cilka was housed in a cold, badly constructed women’s barracks where most of the women became a substitute family. She dreaded that the women would find out about her past at Auschwitz. Again she gained a favourable position by submitting to one of the German commanders. This rapist fell in love with her.

I found some of the story unbelievable, as we are constantly reminded of her beauty, intelligence and compassion. It may be true that she was beloved by most everyone. A kind woman doctor is so impressed with her that she becomes her protector and trains her to become a leading nurse at the hospital. She is loved by the patients and their families. When sent on ambulance runs, the two male orderlies also fall in love with her. Cilka uses her privileged position to bring extra food from the hospital for the female prisoners and also steals medication for a woman who knows about her past and threatens to blackmail her. She declines favours offered to her in order to request that they be transferred to benefit friends.

When the German commander she was sleeping with is transferred, she is in danger of abuse by gangs of men who prey on other women prisoners. She is moved into the safety of the nurses quarters. While being trained in the operating room of the hospital, she falls in love with a badly beaten patient who is near death.

After her release, she was married for almost 50 years, and the happy couple lived in Czechoslovakia. The author, Heather Morris, travelled widely to research what could be learned about her life.

To learn more about the brutal and deadly conditions and the history of the Gulag prison camps, I urge readers to read the account by Owen Matthews at the end of this novel. He is a British journalist and historian who provides a historical perspective.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this engrossing and heart-wrenching story in return for an honest review.