Cilka's Journey (The Tattooist Of Auschwitz, #2)

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                                           CONTAINS SPOILERS

In this follow-up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the author tells the story, based on a true one, of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again. 

Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labor camp on charges of having helped the Nazis--with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggled to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Sibera, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to survive. 

 

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Haunting. Heart-wrenching. Extraordinary. 

How do I begin? Another book that I cannot begin to explain the emotions. There are so many emotions right now. I feel as if they are going few different directions. Cilka’s Journey will make you cry, feel angry. I know that I cannot begin to imagine what Cilka thought during all of this. As I read the book, all her emotions were facing; it made me feel as I was there with her. All her feelings felt so real to me. I couldn’t get this book out of my mind; long after I turned the pages. Cilka’s Journey is not a story that you will be able to forget, even if you tried to. Everything Cilka faced everything that she has done. If that’s not bravery, then I’m not sure what is. When she gets out of Auschwitz, she must go to another. I don’t know how she was able to last if she had. I was rooting for her, and I was hoping that she would be able to make it out of there, alive. I do know that she was never the same after that, but then how could you be? To me, she is one of the bravest people. No matter what was happening, she kept on going. Cilka did anything that she could to survive. 

I read The Tattooist Of Auschwitz in 2019, and I fell in love with Lale and Gita’s story; it was unlike any love story that I read before. I even ended up re-reading the book before starting Cilka’s Journey . I remember what Cilka had to face in the first book, and my heart broke from her in that book. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to her after. I asked if she would finally get a chance to go home. I was hoping that she would. I never imagined that she would end up in another camp, going through all the pain, the torture all over again. You cannot help but love Cilka, the person who was always looking out for others, no matter what she was going through. Cilka’s Journey is not an easy book to read; my heart shattered multiple times while reading this story. Cilka’s Journey is one of those books that’s sad but at the same time inspiring, giving you a hard time putting it down. 

I loved The Tattooist Of Auschwitz , but I think I loved Cilka’s Journey more. To me, it felt much more powerful than the first book was. Heather Morris knows how to tell breathtaking historical fiction. I know that it’s fiction, but I feel I learned so much just from reading the book. I even researched on my own after finishing the book. Cilka’s Journey is such an inspirational book, and I still cannot get out of my mind. I’m eager to see where Heather Morris will take us next.