If This Is A Woman

Winner of the Longman-History Today Book Prize: A 'profoundly moving chronicle' (Observer) that tells the story of Ravensbruck, the only concentration camp designed specifically for women, using new testimony from survivors

On a sunny morning in May 1939 a phalanx of 800 women - housewives, doctors, opera singers, politicians, prostitutes - were marched through the woods fifty miles north of Berlin, driven on past a shining lake, then herded through giant gates. Whipping and kicking them were scores of German women guards.

Their destination was Ravensbruck, a concentration camp designed specifically for women by Heinrich Himmler, prime architect of the Nazi genocide.

For decades the story of Ravensbruck was hidden behind the Iron Curtain and today is still little known. Using testimony unearthed since the end of the Cold War, and interviews with survivors who have never spoken before, Helm has ventured into the heart of the camp, demonstrating for the reader in riveting detail how easily and quickly the unthinkable horror evolved.

'It not only fills a gap in Holocaust history but it is an utterly compelling read' Taylor Downing, History Today

'A sense of urgency infuses this history, which comes just in time to gather the testimony of the camp's survivors . . . meticulous, unblinking . . . [Helm's] book comes not a moment too soon' The Economist

Short-listed for Longman-History Today Awards 2016 (UK)
Long-listed for PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2016 (UK)

“Compelling . . . [Helm] has painstakingly sought out many survivors and talked to them herself. The results are devastating . . .What one is left with at the end of this momentous book is a sense of the power of human nature, both for good and evil - Independent on SundayA profoundly moving chronicle - ObserverAn epic feat of scholarly investigation - SpectatorHelm has done us all a great service in this compelling, magisterial volume . . . Read this book. Be appalled. Be moved. And be angry that so little action was taken to help, or to remember, until it was nearly too late. Read it, and weep - Jewish Chronicle”

Compelling . . . [Helm] has painstakingly sought out many survivors and talked to them herself. The results are devastating . . .What one is left with at the end of this momentous book is a sense of the power of human nature, both for good and evil - Independent on Sunday

A profoundly moving chronicle - Observer

An epic feat of scholarly investigation - Spectator

Helm has done us all a great service in this compelling, magisterial volume . . . Read this book. Be appalled. Be moved. And be angry that so little action was taken to help, or to remember, until it was nearly too late. Read it, and weep - Jewish Chronicle

Sarah Helm was a reporter on the Sunday Times and Diplomatic Editor for the Independent before becoming the Jerusalem and then Brussels correspondent for the same paper. A Life in Secrets was her first book.

For decades the story of Ravensbrck was hidden and today is still little known. Using testimony unearthed since the end of the Cold War, and interviews with survivors who have never spoken before, Helm has ventured into the heart of the camp, demonstrating for the reader in riveting detail how easily and quickly the unthinkable horror evolved. 'Using material once locked behind the Iron Curtain, Sarah Helm has performed a tremendous feat of historical rescue: this book at last gives full voice to the women of Ravensbrck, one of the most notorious women's prisons in history, for the very first time' Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag 'Compelling . . . [Helm] has painstakingly sought out many survivors and talked to them herself. The results are devastating . . .What one is left with at the end of this momentous book is a sense of the power of human nature, both for good and evil' Independent on Sunday 'Read this book. Be appalled. Be moved. And be angry that so little action was taken to help or to remember until it was nearly too late. Read it and weep' Julia Neuberger, Jewish Chronicle 'An epic feat of scholarly investigation' Spectator

Winner of the Longman-History Today Book Prize: A 'profoundly moving chronicle' ( Observer ) that tells the story of Ravensbruck, the only concentration camp designed specifically for women, using new testimony from survivors On a sunny morning in May 1939 a phalanx of 800 women - housewives, doctors, opera singers, politicians, prostitutes - were marched through the woods fifty miles north of Berlin, driven on past a shining lake, then herded through giant gates. Whipping and kicking them were scores of German women guards.Their destination was Ravensbruck, a concentration camp designed specifically for women by Heinrich Himmler, prime architect of the Nazi genocide.For decades the story of Ravensbruck was hidden behind the Iron Curtain and today is still little known. Using testimony unearthed since the end of the Cold War, and interviews with survivors who have never spoken before, Helm has ventured into the heart of the camp, demonstrating for the reader in riveting detail how easily and quickly the unthinkable horror evolved. 'It not only fills a gap in Holocaust history but it is an utterly compelling read' Taylor Downing, History Today 'A sense of urgency infuses this history, which comes just in time to gather the testimony of the camp's survivors . . . meticulous, unblinking . . . [Helm's] book comes not a moment too soon' The Economist

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