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Born Survivors
- Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
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Born Survivors
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Publisher's Summary
Eastern Europe, 1944: Three women believe they are pregnant, but are torn from their husbands before they can be certain. Rachel is sent to Auschwitz, unaware that her husband has been shot. Priska and her husband travel there together, but are immediately separated. Also at Auschwitz, Anka hopes in vain to be reunited with her husband. With the rest of their families gassed, these young wives are determined to hold on to all they have left-their lives, and those of their unborn babies. Having concealed their condition from infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, they are forced to work and almost starved to death, living in daily fear of their pregnancies being detected by the SS.
In April 1945, Priska gives birth. She and her baby, along with Anka, Rachel, and the remaining inmates, are sent to Mauthausen concentration camp on a hellish train journey. Rachel gives birth on the train; Anka at the camp gates. All believe they will die-then a miracle occurs. The gas chamber runs out of Zyklon-B, and as the Allied troops near, the SS flee. Against all odds, the three mothers and their newborns survive their treacherous journey to freedom.
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What the critics say
What listeners say about Born Survivors
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-05-17
Narrator was Excellent
The story began like any holocaust story but the narrator kept you interested, as the storyline progressed you understood the sacrifices of these women, by the ending you wanted more. Thoroughly enjoyed.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Yaroslav Yurkevych
- 2020-02-29
Tears to my eyes
It's rare that I would get tears to my eyes, but this book.
i don't know if it is because I lived in Israel or not, but the narrative is heartbreaking. I wish books like that were mandatory in school, so that the future generations knew where we came from and where we should never end up !
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Faye
- 2021-12-01
War is Hell for Women
I found this book very sad and a little too long.The performances of the girls were very good. I would highly recommend it to someone interested in the Second World War and the history of the Jewish people.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sara Froese
- 2022-09-13
Incredible testimony of war
This is a book well worth listening to. It’s hard to imagine how great the suffering was in world war #2.
How a human being can be so cruel and hard. Very heartbreaking.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Laura Cook
- 2020-09-25
What a touching story of survival
The narrator was wonderful at making each character come alive with her change of voices/accents.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Carolyn Ledwell
- 2021-09-25
Don’t believe in Miracles?
Journeying with these three women and their families through wonderful early years, and then the camps, is unbelievable. To have their descendants share their stories is a gift. Destiny decides. A difficult but authentic story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Irene
- 2020-02-20
Intriguing
The story line of the three women wove in and out seamlessly. Many of the situations and facts of the Holocaust were knew to me and again disturbing. Anyone who wants to know more about the Holocaust and be uplifted by the resilience of these women will not be disappointed. I fully recommend this book and although I am left with an amazement for the super human strength of these women, I am deeply disappointed in how we as humans are capable of such hate and atrocities. The narrator was excellent.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cheryl
- 2021-01-20
A must read for WWII book readers
I really loved this book. I have read countless WWII books and every time I read another I learn more about the atrocities that the Jewish and others who went through the holocaust went through and this book is no different. I couldn't even begin to imagine how a child grows in the womb of a starving woman who is beat often and worked almost to death survives. These children are such miracles. I loved doing research afterwards on the children as well. Definitely recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stefanie
- 2020-02-23
An incredible journey of 3 women
This book was exceptional for describing the hardships and despair of women prisoners in concentration camps. I appreciated the stories of the backgrounds of those exceptional women, their loved ones and fellow heroines. I liked also the revealing of their journeys and the ones of their babies after liberation and later in life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nano
- 2020-10-08
Historical and profound
I loved this book. I loved hearing about the strength, perseverance and determination of not only these women but so many others like them that survived these horrors. It is hard to believe such hatred and abuse of power existed and sadly still exists in our world. It is terrifying to me. The reason I gave the book 4 stars for the story, is that if I put it in the overall section it showed up as a 4 star and I believe it deserves 5 stars. The story is wonderful, sad and sickening to think people suffered like this but wonderful. It is simply that sometimes I found it hard to follow the storylines as it jumped back and forth between stories, historical accounts and timelines. Maybe if I had the time to just read it (listen to it) from start to finish over a short time period that would not be an issue. But I am so busy, that my reading (listening time ----the reason I LOVE LOVE LOVE audio books!!!) is limited to getting ready for work in the morning and my morning & evening commute to and from work (often interrupted by family calls hahaha). Thus I sometimes struggled to keep up. When I retire in the next few years I may listen to this again. Thank you for your treasured work:)
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1 person found this helpful