Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris 

Reading Heather Morris's Tattooist of Auschwitz, I was always interested in what became of the character Cilka. Even just the brief descriptions showed she was such a strong woman just trying her best to survive.

Therefore, when I saw that Cilka's Journey was being released I knew that I had to make sure to get it. For a change I decided to get this one on Audiobook.  At first, I was wary that I might struggle to listen to this kind of book as hadn't tried it before, but this one didn’t disappoint me at all, I didn’t want to stop listening. The narrator really brought the story to life, and the book itself is an upsetting but inspirational tale of what life was like for Cilka.

The story splits between Cilka's life in Auschwitz and the Russian Gulag she was sent to for conspiring with and sleeping with the Germans whilst she was imprisoned. A shocking end to her imprisonment at the German Death Camps that she was lucky to survive and where she suffered greatly.

Cilka, however, was still determined to survive in the Labour Camp, where this time she at least had a date that should give her release as long as she could learn to live in this new harsh environment.

As with a lot of Auschwitz novels, this can be hard to read or listen to, but it is amazingly written and it’s, beyond a doubt, an inspiration to us all that someone could go through so much and still want to live.  It also makes me feel extremely lucky that this is not something I have had to endure in my life.

We should all remember what has happened in the past, even if it is just to try and make sure that it does not happen again. If you are a historical fiction fan or have previously enjoyed stories surrounding WWII then this is a must read.  It’s one of my top books of the year.

By Claire