Emilia

This story is dedicated to all the victims of sexual slavery in German concentration camps, who had to endure inhumane suffering under the Nazi regime.

For many years after the atrocities had been committed, both sides — the abusers and the abused — still vehemently denied certain aspects of the Holocaust, and even the victims refused to admit the ugly truth about their incarceration, some out of fear, some out of shame, until several women decided to break an unofficial oath of silence and brought their stories to life.

This book is based on one of those stories.

Emilia is a young Jewish woman whose life slowly turns into a nightmare as she faces a dreadful choice: to secure her family’s very existence by offering herself to one of the men who had put her behind walls of barbed wire, or to perish together with the least fortunate.

The Krakow ghetto and her first abuser pale in comparison to what is yet to come, as she is sent to a place that will become her personal hell and scar her for life.

Endorsements

Silver Medal, International Book Award — Readers' Favorite (Historical Fiction, 2017)