I recently read Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris. She is the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which I’ve heard of before and haven’t had the chance to read yet. Evidently, some of the characters in this story are in her other book. This was an enjoyable book that brings to light events that nobody really liked to talk about after World War II: what happened to some of the survivors.
After the concentration camps were liberated at the end of World War II, survivors still had a harrowing journey ahead of them. For some, their horrors weren’t over. Some of the newly liberated women were further victimized by their liberators. While people like Corrie Ten Boom spoke about forgiveness in The Hiding Place, not everybody was willing to be so understanding. Cilka Klein was one of those people who did not receive forgiveness from her liberators. After being raped for three years in a concentration camp, the Russians accused her of “sleeping with the enemy” and spying and was sentenced to a further 15 years of hard labor in a Siberian gulag.
Cilka’s Journey is based on a true story. It does a good job of portraying life in the gulag. The prisoners faced backbreaking labor, poor food, and horrid living conditions. The men victimized the women further. It’s not surprising that many people died there. Eventually, Cilka improved her life somewhat, but she was still in prison.
Cilka is the kind of person you want to root for. She often thought about others before she thought about herself. In addition to being kind, she repeatedly demonstrates bravery. You do get to find out what finally happens to her, but I don’t want to give away the ending.
Even though Cilka’s Journey deals with difficult topics, it is not overly graphic. Still, it has violence and sexual assault, which could be a trigger to some people.
The book is well-researched and contains a lot of accurate history inside. I like how Ms. Morris included an author’s note at the end telling the facts about Cilka. She also included information about the gulag she spent time in. I thought they were good touches.
Overall, I really liked Cilka’s Journey. It’s an important story that tells about a part of history that is often overlooked: what happened to some Holocaust survivors. I recommend it to people that are interested in World War II. I didn’t read The Tattooist of Auschwitz before reading this book. The book would probably be better if I had read that one first, but it’s not necessary.