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Loading... 't Hooge Nest (original 2018; edition 2021)by Roxane Van Iperen
Work InformationThe Sisters of Auschwitz by Roxane van Iperen (2018)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Indrukwekkend boek over twee Joodse zussen tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Ze maken deel uit van het verzet en proberen uit handen van de Duitsers te blijven. Ze vinden 't Hooge Nest, een villa in het Gooi. Daar bieden ze onderdak aan andere Joden. Uiteindelijk worden ze toch ontdekt. De zussen blijven bij elkaar als ze worden afgevoerd naar Westerbork en uiteindelijk Bergen-Belsen. Daar leven ze samen met Anne en Margot Frank. Lien en Janny overleven de oorlog en worden herenigd met hun gezinnen. Janny and Lien Brilleslijper reside in Amsterdam, and thrive by living vibrantly and creatively. They and their families love being part of a few artistic communities, and get to meet many talented people. When the nazis invade, no one knows what to expect but they are forced to learn quickly. These two incredibly brave and smart Jewish sisters help fellow Jews in The Netherlands during WWII with assistance from their family and large number of friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. They work with a network of resisters to create fake ID's, find safe hiding places, and buy food and medicine for many Jews being hunted down. Their beloved younger brother Jaap a brilliant tinkerer/inventor creates a bicycle radio so they can keep up with news about the war and the approach of the allies. When they themselves needed to flee Amsterdam, they were extremely fortunate to find, at the 11th hour, the beautiful and large High Nest home in the forest where they manage to keep their family together, and hide many others while continuing their resistance work. Jaap builds hide-a-way areas within the house in case strangers arrive. To manage the fear and anxiety the family hold picnics, and worked on small entertaining productions. The Sisters from Auschwitz introduces us to the incredibly strong, resourceful and loving Brilleslijper family, their unclouded moral compass guiding the extraordinary efforts they expended on helping friends and acquaintances during the Holocaust, despite the utmost risks. Excellent, beautiful and moving read. This is the true story of the Brilleslijper sisters whose indomitable spirit and courage carried them through the years leading up to World War II, and beyond. Both were deeply involved with the Dutch resistance effort. As the situation in The Netherlands became more and more dangerous for Jews with the Nazi presence, they knew they had to move out of Amsterdam. They found a home called The High Nest, in a remote area. They hoped to live there safely, unnoticed, until the war ended. The author of this book bought the home called The High Nest, in 2012, with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. As she learned of the home’s history and the families that lived there, she knew she had to investigate to find out more. That began a labor of love and years of extensive research. Using documents and oral interviews, she pieced together one of the most completely definitive descriptions of Hitler’s diabolical plans. She follows the path of the sisters and many of those who were involved in their resistance effort, and later on, their effort to survive. The details presented are expansive and often difficult to take in because of the diabolical nature of Hitler’s plans. No matter how much one has read about The Holocaust, this book will inform them of even more of the Nazi’s barbarism. I believe evil truly existed at that time, as friend and neighbor turned in Jews to what they knew would be uncertain death or hardship for their own personal gain. They simply viewed the Jews as less than human or undeserving. Perhaps they were motivated by greed and jealousy, for even after the war’s end, many were still cruel to the few that survived and returned. This is not to imply that all of the Dutch were evil or complicit, but it is to imply that protestations of ignorance are untrue and the sound of silence against Hitler was deafening. As the Jews were marched to cattle cars, there were witnesses. As they were transferred from place to place, and marched through the street, frail and beaten , often near death, they turned away and pretended not to notice what was right in front of their eyes. To deny knowledge was simply to lie about it. It went on for years in plain sight. The sisters and their husbands created hiding spaces in The High Nest home. They had failsafe warning systems, which they rehearsed, to keep all of them safe from the clutches of the Germans. Unfortunately, as my mother used to say, man plans, G-d laughs. Eventually, they were betrayed and captured. While they were free, ignoring their own safety, they offered safety to those in danger, They arranged to have false documents made to enable others to escape, and they were also couriers for those same documents. Their experiences before, during, and after the war are so well documented in this book, that it becomes a definitive study of the fear and horror of the Holocaust, from the torture, to the roll calls, to the gas chambers and the crematoria, nothing is left out. The living conditions are described fully and the humiliation and suffering are palpable on every page so that sometimes one has to pause and take a breath. One has to go on, though, because this is not fantasy, it is real and we cannot forget. Forced to dig their own graves, forced to stand naked in front of leering men, forced to take showers in what were really gas chambers, forced to live in lice ridden, overcrowded substandard conditions, forced to starve and witness the brutality of others as they were tortured and laughed at, forced to work until they collapsed in all sorts of deplorable conditions, they often lost hope because no one was coming to their rescue, though they were innocent of crimes. They had been sacrificed. This is a detailed account of what took place during Hitler’s rise to power, and thank G-d, his fall from grace. The author has a gift of putting words on the page that bring the reader right to the places she writes about, from the ghetto, to The High Nest, to Auschwitz, to freedom. Unfortunately, many of these places are not places any of us would want to be, and reading about it is hard, but necessary. The women knew Dr. Mengele, they were there when Anne Frank and her sister died. They lived through the most inhumane time of our history. The narrator of this book is extraordinary. The subject is really difficult and the events are very brutal, yet she never interjected her own emotions into the reading, rather, with just the right amount of expression, she told their story. It was almost a clinical, scientific explanation of tragic events from which there was no escape. For more bookish posts please visit https://www.ManOfLaBook.com The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story of Two Jewish Sisters’ Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory (‘t Hooge Nest) by Roxane van Iperen tells of Janny and Lien Brilleslijper, two sisters in the Dutch Resistance during World War II, who were captured. Ms. Van Iperen is a lawyer and publicist. This book is certainly not your run of the mill World War II / Holocaust book. Most of the book takes place in Nazi occupied Holland, however the last quarter takes place in Auschwitz. The Sisters of Auschwitz: The True Story of Two Jewish Sisters’ Resistance in the Heart of Nazi Territory by Roxane van Iperen is a historical biography. I couldn’t decide if this book should be considered specifically a history book, or historical fiction. However, it is much more of a history book than anything else. Much of the book takes place in a house called The High Nest (indeed, the original Dutch title). If I understood correctly, this is where the author lives now and discovered the story. The house certainly plays a big part in the sisters’ history. The Brilleslijper sisters certainly show a lot of courage and gumption; chutzpah if you will. Not only are they in hiding, and wanted they joined the resistance movement against a foreign occupier. The book is meticulous about the sisters’ history, and the people around them. I was surprised the learn that they met, and took care, of two other Dutch sisters – Margo and Anne Frank until their deaths. The sisters were surely some of the last people to see the Franks alive, and thanks to them Mr. Frank has found out what happened to his daughters. This is certainly a compelling and informative read. A story of courage overcoming overwhelming adversity against significant odds. I, for one, am glad that stories, especially of women’s contributions to the war effort and in resistance movements are being told.
History.
Nonfiction.
HTML: A New York Times bestseller The unforgettable story of two unsung heroes of World War II: sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper who joined the Dutch Resistance, helped save dozen of lives, were captured by the Nazis, and ultimately survived the Holocaust. Eight months after Germany's invasion of Poland, the Nazis roll into The Netherlands, expanding their reign of brutality to the Dutch. But by the Winter of 1943, resistance is growing. Among those fighting their brutal Nazi occupiers are two Jewish sisters, Janny and Lien Brilleslijper from Amsterdam. Risking arrest and death, the sisters help save others, sheltering them in a clandestine safehouse in the woods, they called "The High Nest." This secret refuge would become one of the most important Jewish safehouses in the country, serving as a hiding place and underground center for resistance partisans as well as artists condemned by Hitler. From The High Nest, an underground web of artists arises, giving hope and light to those living in terror in Holland as they begin to restore the dazzling pre-war life of Amsterdam and The Hague. When the house and its occupants are eventually betrayed, the most terrifying time of the sisters' lives begins. As Allied troops close in, the Brilleslijper family are rushed onto the last train to Auschwitz, along with Anne Frank and her family. The journey will bring Janny and Lien close to Anne and her older sister Margot. The days ahead will test the sisters beyond human imagination as they are stripped of everything but their courage, their resilience, and their love for each other. Based on meticulous research and unprecedented access to the Brilleslijpers' personal archives of memoirs and photos, Sisters of Auschwitz is a long-overdue homage to two young women's heroism and moral braveryâ??and a reminder of the power each of us has to change the world. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.53History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- World War IILC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Amsterdam is where we are with the story of the Brilleslijper family: sisters Janny and Lien, their husbands, their brother and their parents - all were outspoken against the Nazi regime and all were targets due to their activities. They fed people who couldn't get food, hid everyone who asked and even ran an underground press. The sisters would hide the Resistance newspapers under the babies in the pram. Janny even once faked labor to get out of an interrogation. They were a very brave family.
Eventually the pressure from the authorities became too much. Friends impressed upon them the urgency to find a new situation and so the entire family moved into a country house named The High Nest in March 1943. There were some Nazi sympathizers near but enough forest and grounds to insulate them from prying eyes. The owners of the house knew of five individuals officially in residence but unofficially there were usually twenty to twenty-five people living there. Contacts gave the family extra ration cards and they tried to conceal how much food they bought, even establishing two different milk runs. Some keen-eyed shopkeepers cottoned on but kept their mouths shut. Their brother Jaap built in cabinetry or false walls in most rooms as hiding spots and he even did a small underground tunnel but never took that very far.
It was a "Jew Hunter" that found them. Janny and Lien were highly sought after and the man received an extra bounty for the capture. The families were broken up but the sisters were kept together and they passed through several camps: Westerbork, Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz. Along the way they became friendly with another pair of Dutch sisters, Margot and Anne Frank, and their mother Edith. The four girls looked out for each other, sharing food and a bunk. Janny and Lien were there until the very end for Margot and Anne and gave them as much dignity in death as they could manage. And that's not saying much. Janny and Lien almost did not survive. They were terribly ill for a very, very long time after the liberation.
I had not read an account of anyone who had been with the Frank family in the camps and that was very interesting. The camp section of the telling is very bleak. Very graphic about lice and bodies, disease and lost of spirit. It's not necessarily fun reading but it is very educational and I think it's important to know history. I'm glad I read it but am not likely to re-read. Would recommend if you are interested in the subject matter. ( )