Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope by: Wendy Holden (audiobook)

genre: non-fiction

Three women from three different countries. All of them barely pregnant as World War II begins its ugly conclusion. With stories as heartbreaking and inspiring as you can imagine, Anka, Rachel and Priska each manage to bring an infant into the world that survives the end of the war despite concentration camps and labor camps and interminable rides on horrific trains. I think it is important to note that first, the fact that the babies survive, because knowing that everything will be OK is the reason why I could finish this book. Well, not OK. Because the experiences these ladies have during the war are never, in any way OK. But the ending is a beautiful thing, and this true story is remarkable.

It is told mostly chronologically and switches between the three different girls and their own personal experiences.  While it is, obviously, a dark and hard story to listen to, there were also minutes of beauty in unlikely places, of unbelievable luck and what brave souls can do to confront atrocity.  I did find that it was quite repetitious, just by the nature of the fact that the girls stories are similar.  You can only say the same thing so many different ways and I get that, I just noticed it.  It was also a bit hard to keep everything straight in my head, although the author certainly made an effort to differentiate people.

As much as I loved the war stories themselves, I also really liked that we got to follow Anka, Rachel and Priska throughout the rest of their lives to see how things played out for them.  The most powerful part is, of course, what a mother's love can do and what a woman's body is capable of handling.  This one kept my attention all the way through.