A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France (The Resistance Trilogy Book 1)

In January 1943, 230 women of the French Resistance weresent to the death camps by the Nazis who had invaded and occupied theircountry. This is their story, told in full for the first time—a searing andunforgettable chronicle of terror, courage, defiance, survival, and the powerof friendship. Caroline Moorehead, a distinguishedbiographer, human rights journalist, and the author of Dancing to the Precipice and Human Cargo , brings to life an extraordinary story that readers ofMitchell Zuckoff’s Lost in Shangri-La , ErikLarson’s In the Garden of Beasts , and Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken will find an essential addition to our retelling of the history of WorldWar II—a riveting, rediscovered story of courageous women who sacrificedeverything to combat the march of evil across the world. Review “By turns heartbreaking and inspiring.” (Caroline Weber, New York Times Book Review ) “[A] moving novelistic portrait. . . . An inspiring and fascinating read.” (Meredith Maran, People (31⁄2 stars) ) “An extremely moving and intensely personal history of the Auschwitz universe as experienced by these women. . . . A powerful and moving book.” (Natasha Lehrer, Times Literary Supplement (UK) ) “[Moorehead] traces the lives and deaths of all her subjects with unswerving candor and compassion. . . . In Moorehead’s telling, neither evil nor good is banal; and if the latter doesn’t always triumph, it certainly inspires.” (Elysa Gardner, USA Today ) “As chronicled by Moorehead with unblinking accuracy, their agonies are appalling to contemplate, their stories of survival and friendship under duress enthralling to hear.” (More magazine ) “Haunting account of bravery, friendship, and endurance.” (Marie Claire ) “Compelling . . . Moorehead weaves into her suspenseful, detailed narrative myriad personal stories of friendship, courage, and heartbreak.” (Kirkus Reviews ) “Heightened by electrifying, and staggering, detail, Moorehead’s riveting history stands as a luminous testament to the indomitable will to survive and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.” (Booklist (starred review) ) “Even history’s darkest moments can be illuminated by spectacular courage, such as courage that Caroline Moorehead movingly celebrates in A Train in Winter . . . . Moorehead has created a somber account, sensitively rendered, of yet another grim legacy of war.” (Judith Chettle, Richmond Times-Dispatch ) “The first complete account of these extraordinary women and, incredibly, over 60 years later we are still learning new and terrible truths about the Holocaust. . . . An important new perspective. . . . Careful research and sensitive retelling.” (Buzzy Jackson, Boston Sunday Globe ) “A necessary book. . . . Compelling and moving. . . . The literature of wartime France and the Holocaust is by now so vast as to confound the imagination, but when a book as good as this comes along, we are reminded that there is always room for something new.” (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post ) “As Moorehead delves deeply into the women’s fight for survival, her narrative seamlessly comes together in order to share a significant part of history whose time has come to be heard.” (Meganne Fabrega, Christian Science Monitor ) “A miraculous story about friendship and the will to overcome extraordinary cruelty, heartache and loss.” (The Jewish Journal, "Best Books of 2011" ) From the Back Cover They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera; a midwife; a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of sixteen, who scrawled "V" (for victory) on the walls of her lycée; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to one another, hailing from villages and cities across France—230 brave women united in defiance of their Nazi occupiers—they were eventually hunted down by the Gestapo. Separated from home and loved ones, imprisoned in a fort outside Paris, they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie. In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France. Drawing on interviews with these women and their families, and on documents in German, French, and Polish archives, A Train in Winter is a remarkable account of the extraordinary courage of ordinary people—a story of bravery, survival, and the enduring power of female friendship. They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen who scrawled "V" for victory on the walls of her lyce; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers. Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie. In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France. A Train in Winter draws on interviews with these women and their families; German, French, and Polish archives; and documents held by World War II resistance organizations to uncover a dark chapter of history that offers an inspiring portrait of ordinary people, of bravery and survivaland of the remarkable, enduring power of female friendship. "How can you do this work if you have a child?" asked her mother."It is because I have a child that I do it," replied Cecile. "This is not a world I wish her to grow up in."On January 24, 1943, 230 women were placed in four cattle trucks on a train in Compiegne, in northeastern France, and the doors bolted shut for the journey to Auschwitz. They were members of the French Resistance, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, women who before the war had been doctors, farmers' wives, secretaries, biochemists, schoolgirls. With immense courage they had taken up arms against a brutal occupying force; now their friendship would give them strength as they experienced unimaginable horrors. Only forty-nine of the Convoi des 31000 would return from the camps in the east; within ten years, a third of these survivors would be dead too, broken by what they had lived through. In this vitally important book, Caroline Moorehead tells the whole story of the 230 women on the train, for the first time. Based on interviews with the few remaining survivors, together with extensive research in French and Polish archives, A Train in Winteris an essential historical document told with the clarity and impact of a great novel. "They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera; a midwife; a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of sixteen, who scrawled 'V' (for victory) on the walls of her lycée; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to one another, hailing from villages and cities across France--230 brave women united in defiance of their Nazi occupiers--they were eventually hunted down by the Gestapo. Separated from home and loved ones, imprisoned in a fort outside Paris, they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie. In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France. Drawing on interviews with these women and their families, and on documents in German, French, and Polish archives, A Train in Winter is a remarkable account of the extraordinary courage of ordinary people--a story of bravery, survival, and the enduring power of female friendship."--Page 4 of cover In January 1943, The Gestapo Hunted Down 230 Women Of The French Resistance And Sent Them To Auschwitz. This Is Their Story, Told In Full For The First Time--a Searing And Unforgettable Chronicle Of Terror, Courage, Defiance, Survival, And The Power Of Friendship To Transcend Evil That Is An Essential Addition To The History Of World War Ii. Part One. An Enormous Toy Full Of Subtleties -- The Flame Of French Resistance -- Daughters Of The Enlightenment -- The Hunt For Resisters -- Waiting For The Wolf -- Indulgent Towards Women -- Recognising The Unthinkable -- We Have Other Plans For Them -- Frontstalag 122 ; Part Two. Le Convoi Des 31000 -- The Meaning Of Friendship -- Keeping Alive, Remaining Me -- The Disposables -- Pausing Before The Battle -- Slipping Into The Shadows -- The Women. Caroline Moorehead. Originally Published In Great Britain In 2011 By Chatto & Windus--t.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 336-351) And Index.