Amazon.in:Customer reviews: The Girl in the Striped Dress: A completely heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 page-turner, based on a true story

An unusual but heartwarming and gripping story of the relationship between an SS Guard & an inmate

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 3 September 2021

The Denazification court is in session, trying to rule over a case which is one of kind, an unusual love story of an SS Guard at Auschwitz and a Jewish girl, Helena. Is this really a love story though? Or does it simply give the appearance of one? Is this coercion?

Ellie Midwood takes onto a journey into the Auschwitz concentration camp, in the German occupied Poland during the Holocaust. It is a troubling journey, which allows you a glance at the cruel fate suffered by scores of victims. The circumstances are bleak. People are starving and being beaten and treated worse than animals. There are a lot of snippets of history in this historical fiction that will take you back to the vileness of those times and make you live through the plight of the victims. This is something really loved about this book. The story of kindness blooming within an environment filled with hatred, death and tragedy is a heartwarming expedition.

The story had such engaging characters, whose fickle emotions were intriguing. Did Frank really see through all the false propaganda that he was raised on? Was Helena fit to stand trial? Was Helena sick? Did Frank really love her or was there more to his demeanor? These kind of questions make it difficult to put the book down.

I haven't read a lot of books around the Holocaust, but there are several on my TBR. It was by mere co-incidence that I came across this book on NetGalley and the blurb instantly got to me. It was a great read for me. I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. Loved it!

#TheGirlintheStripedDress #NetGalley

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Akriti Purbey

This heartbreaking and beautiful tale of suffering, pain, love and survival is a must read.

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 9 August 2021

The Girl in the Striped Dress begins with the Denazification Tribunals in 1947 where a very unusual case is presented in the court about a former SS guard at Austwiz named Franz Dahler who is accompanied by his wife Helena Kleinová, a Jew inmate under his charge. The court also consists of Dr.Hoffman, a psychiatrist; Lieutenant Carter, a lawyer and Andrej Novak, a nazi hunter who wants Dahler in prison at any cost.

The story is primarily told from Dr. Hoffman's and Helena's perspective.

Helena is a Slovakian Jew who arrives at Austwiz in March 1942 to be gassed the next day. However, the same night she is chosen to sing a song for a SS officer named Franz. Franz gets enamored by her and had her and the other women shift to Kanada by cancelling their gassing.
Helena hates Franz with all her might and when she gets a letter from him telling "I fell in love with you", she is unable to bear it and shreds the letter to pieces.
But gradually, she learns of his kindness and when he saved her thrice from the gas chamber and typhus, she couldn't control the feelings developing for Franz.
In a place where people were either dead or went mad, Helena was saved by a young man's love.
And, just like that love blossomed in a place where only death was meant to be.

The psychiatrist assumed that Helena didn't actually love Franz but couldn't name the actual condition since Stockholm Syndrome wasn't discovered at that time but as the story progresses and the psychiatrist learn of the whole story, he is not sure.

The book is a rollercoaster of emotions. I have never read about WWII or the holocaust, so this book was confusing at first. But the author did a very remarkable job in research and explanation. Elle Midwood gave me enough reasons to read about WWII.

This book isn't all beautiful, it had many tearjearking incidents. The mere thought of the sufferings gave me shivers.

The book talks about everything in details. The author made sure to let the reader feel all sorts of emotions whether it's hate, pain or love.
This book provided me many details of WWII. The chapter named 'A Note On The History' tells us that it is a true story where most of the characters and incidents were real. The chapter was quite informative.

I will recommend this book to everyone. This heartbreaking and beautiful tale of suffering, pain, love and survival is a must read.

Helpful

Ruth MacDonald

Extremely well done!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 1 January 2023

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As listed this is a completely heartbreaking and gripping WW2 novel. The atrocities committed by the Nazi Regime continues to haunt those who experienced it firsthand. Those of us who read these novels do so with profound respect in an effort to educate ourselves… please may it never happen again.

lisagates

One of the best books ever!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 6 February 2023

Verified Purchase

This book was so touching and so informational. It truly was a page turner from start to finish. Highly recommend!

One person found this helpful

NH

Hope in Hell.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 1 January 2022

Verified Purchase

That the novel was based on true events and that I was aware of rare but similar stories of humanity in places like Auschwitz, was enough. I was a little concerned that there was, in my mind, some chronological or detail ambiguity with regards to Auschwitz especially in the first few chapters and occasionally later on, the author clarifies a lot at the end of her story. Given that, the story of Helena and Franz was thoroughly engrossing and quite hard to put down. Many would question the actions of Dahler with regards to Helena but it is fact that some SS did in fact help some of the prisoners.

Well written, the novel helps to capture the horror of the Holocaust and how people tried to survive. The descriptions of both inmate and perpetrators is harrowing and especially the whole sickening process that was Auschwitz(and Treblinka, Sobibor, Belsec, Chelmno and the multitude of other camps and sub-camps). Having taught History for decades and with a special focus teaching the Holocaust, I could easily recommend The Girl in the Striped Dress as a further resource for schools. In places it is very powerful in its imagery but I never felt that the Holocaust should be sanitized.

Overall, very pleased. It was good to read about a positive out of a negative. Recommended.

One person found this helpful

medprofessor

Far more horrible than I could ever have imagined

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 19 January 2022

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This book, very well documented with references by the author, is a true story. It should be read after seeing the documentary, "Love it was Not."" upon which this book is based. It brings forth far more horror than any other book I'v read about the Holocaust.

The three main characters are Helena, a Jew, after transport is rescued from the gas chambers by an SS Officer Franz.. He eventually falls in love with her, and even agrees in his trial, that he whipped her mercilessly until she fainted in front of other SS in order to save her on the way to be gassed. A strange paradox. He then continues to set in motion several charades to keep her safe..

The third character is Novak, a rare survivor of the Sonderkommandos, whose job was to strip the dead after the gassing of the victims. I say rare because these men were hung every two to three weeks and cremated as new ones were selected to be trained.

The book goes between the camp and the present with the trial of Franz. Helena, now his wife, is there to defend him, while Novak is determined to see him prosecuted.

In the most horrid scene I've ever read, occurs when Franz is gone to Berlin, Helena is to be gassed. She asks Novak do they all die from the from the gas? He says no, some just fall unconscious and are burned while still alive. This is never knew. She then begs him to please break her neck before she is cremated.

Every Nazi character is mentioned in the book.. Mengale, Hoss, Himmler, and more all with excellent references lending much validity to the book. .

I've read many books on the Holocaust, but this one will not only upset you, but haunt you long after you finish it...as it did me.

3 people found this helpful

Colleen

The Girl in the striped dress

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 19 October 2022

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I am currently reading it, and it is da good book

Val VanHouten

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 27 December 2022

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I am reading this book now, and so far, I love it!

One person found this helpful

Lori

Terrific book!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 21 October 2022

Verified Purchase

This is one of those books I could not set down! Ellie Midwood is a wonderful writer and this is the third of her books I have purchased!

Vanessa Hill

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 October 2022

Verified Purchase

So well written and such a beautiful story. Hard to read in parts but worth it. May we never forget.

5 star		68%
4 star		23%
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