Reviewed by Emma Crowley
All they had left was each other. Until the Nazis tore them apart.
After years of hiding from the Nazis, Rachel Epstein and her little sister Mindel are captured by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. The only ray of light for either girl is that they are together.
But on arrival they are separated. As she’s seventeen and deemed an adult, Rachel is sent to work in a brutal factory whilst four-year-old Mindel is sent into the so-called “star” camp for Jewish prisoners. All on her own, Rachel knows her sister will have no chance of survival—unless she can find someone to take care of her.
Working in the windowless, airless factory—filling munitions casings with chemicals that burn her fingers and make her eyes sting—the only thing that keeps Rachel going is the thought of her little sister. Because if there’s even a chance Mindel is alive, Rachel knows she must try to save her.
But, separated by barbed wire, and treated brutally by SS guards who do not even see them as human beings, can either of the orphaned sisters ever dare to hope that they’ll find their way back to each other? And to freedom?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Not Without my Sister to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Marion Kummerow is a new discovery for me in the historical fiction genre and this book, Not Without my Sister, is an impressive story. At times it is a difficult read given the subject matter and the fact that one of the main characters is only four years old. It made me think of my own niece who just turned four and I really couldn’t imagine something like what befell Mindel happening to her. Set during the last few years of the war the story follows two sisters torn apart as they are taken to the Bergen Belsen Concentration camp. What follows is a heartbreaking story and yes that word is perfect to describe what both Mindel and Rachel go through.
Heartbreaking is a term used many a time to describe books of this nature but here it is very true as I couldn’t believe what was unfolding and it was quite upsetting and harrowing everything that the girls experienced. But throughout it all hope, courage, strength, resilience and bravery are the dominant traits that shine through. The title couldn’t have been more apt as both sisters are determined not to be without each other and will do anything in their power to be reunited. The odds are stacked firmly against them and your heart is in your mouth at nearly every turn of the page and as you are kept in suspense throughout. It’s a very well written story, with brilliant descriptive and emotive writing, that will have you on the edge of your seat and experiencing a wide range of emotions the further the story progresses.
For the majority of the war the Epstein family remained working on their farm in the German countryside. They are Jewish but thanks to the generosity of a neighbour who bought their land when new rules of ownership were introduced, he has allowed them to stay on and work for him. They don’t have much but toil away on the land and do their best to remain unnoticed but all that changes one day when Rachel, Mindel and their two brothers are out foraging in the countryside. News reaches them that the mayor of the town and his cronies have arrived to the farm and taken their parents away. Rachel at 17 is the eldest and she takes charge protecting her siblings and a plan is set in motion in order to achieve their freedom. But just when things are about to fall perfectly into place Mindel and Rachel are captured. The two boys manage to escape to freedom or subsequent capture, who knows?
Rachel had felt that the family should have left the area a long time ago but now nothing can be done and their fate has been sealed. The sisters are moved from camp to camp until they arrive in Bergen Belsen. But as the new arrivals are separated into various sections of the camp, the worst happens and the sisters are separated. What makes their situation even worse is that Mindel is only four. Her fourth birthday celebrated with her family on the farm has a significance throughout the story as this memory and its connection to apples crops up at various points when the girls feel they have reached their lowest ebb. I loved the use of this visual and it showed how pleasant and important memories sustain us through the toughest of times.
Mindel, despite being such a young age, was the stand out character for me throughout the book. The initial raw innocence and ignorance of her can’t be overlooked. Nor can the image that inspired her character get out of your head once you look it up on the author’s website. How can a beautiful little girl with only her rag doll, Paula, as her companion make it through the horrific experience the prisoners in the camp were forced to endure. Mindel does not know of, nor does she understand, the bigger picture and perhaps she is better off. She wonders, why am I here? What have I done? Wasn’t I good? Her entire character really makes you sit back and think about the incarceration and brutality that existed for innocent people. Seeing the war and its repercussions from such a young child’s perspective gave this reader an entirely new outlook on an aspect of the war that I had already read so much about. What stood out for me is the loneliness that Mindel experiences when she realises that Rachel is in a different part of the camp to her and she doesn’t know whether she is still alive or what has exactly happened to her. She was abandoned but not through choice and I questioned whether she could survive. As most inmates were trying to look after themselves and survive the hell they were living through how could they look after a four year old they didn’t know?
Mindel becomes resourceful and honestly for the majority of the novel, I truly forgot how young she was. She forms a friendship with fellow orphan Laszlo. He is only 7 but he becomes her protector, confidant and best friend almost like a brother and father all rolled into one. The loneliness abates for Mindel as they form a gang with some other children and steal from the kitchens in order to get some extra food or they try and find things they could trade. But always at the back of Mindel’s mind is her beloved Rachel and she does anything she can in order to get news or to make contact. I loved the introduction of the Mother Brinkmann character. Herself and her husband took in orphans and were more or less left alone by the guards. That’s not to say they had things easy. No one did behind the barbed wire but this character acted as a matriarch for Mindel and gave her some much needed security and comfort. Yet the hope still remained deep within Mindel that she would be reunited with Rachel. Given all that unfolded form both sisters perspectives I didn’t think this could be possible and I kept rapidly turning the pages to discover where the much longed for reunion could or would happen and if it did how affected would they both be by their differing experiences.
Rachel, on the other side of the camp, has to dig deep within herself to find the strength to face many moral dilemmas, to make difficult decisions and to continue to fight for what was right. Alternate chapters are told from Rachel’s viewpoint and we can see the breaking down of her body both physically and emotionally the more she is put through. Chosen for work detail, first in a munitions factory and then in the dreaded salt mines her spirit is eroded. She becomes like many of the other inmates almost like there is an absence of a spirit inside her and she is merely a walking shell. There were several times where I thought this is it for her she doesn’t have enough physical strength remaining to keep going but then she would surprise you and rally and keep taking things hour by hour in the most inhumane of circumstances.
Rachel was resilient but this characteristic was tested time and time again. She wants nothing more than to find Mindel or at least to know for certain what happened to her and just when that crucial point is within touching distance the author throws a major curveball and you literally want to throw down the book in disgust that what is much hoped for has yet again evaded Rachel. She is a remarkable young women and it’s only the thought of the love she has for Mindel and that her parents would want her to do her best to locate her again that really keeps her going. Without this goal, I feel Rachel may just have laid down and given up as many others did and who could really blame them or her ? The callous acts inflicted by the guards are hard to read about. They are sadistic and love to see pain inflicted. There is a scene with Mindel and the children that involved counting and it really is stomach churning but it’s important that no detail was spared no matter how challenging it was to read as it only enhanced my understanding of the subject matter and gave me an even deeper appreciation of what brilliant and courageous people both Mindel and Rachel were.
The only thing I would say is I found the inclusion of Anne Frank and her sister in the story just came out of the blue when they become barrack mates with Rachel. Yes, they too were at Bergen Belsen, but given their story is one which so many people know of and Anne’s diary is world famous what really was the point of including them in this book. I saw the connection but I just felt overall it was best to leave them out. I felt slightly uncomfortable reading about them in this story and didn’t feel their inclusion was merited.
Apart from the minor issue mentioned up above, I found Not Without My Sister to be a gripping read and a story that I flew through. The raw emotions emanated from every page and the fierce loyalty the two sisters have for each other is inspirational. In fact, the entire story is inspirational and thought provoking and makes me appreciate even more the many sacrifices people made for our futures during the war years. Marion Kummerow, has definitely written a book that is well worthy of a read and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
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