Books The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany by Gwen Strauss

"The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany" by Gwen Strauss is a powerful, heart-stopping narrative based on the real-life story of the author's great-aunt Hélène Podliasky and eight other young female resistance fighters during World War II. All under thirty when they joined the French Resistance, these women smuggled weapons, harbored agents, coordinated communications, and hid Jewish children.

They were eventually arrested, interrogated, and tortured by the Gestapo before being imprisoned in harsh conditions across French prisons and a German forced labor camp. Despite unimaginable hardship, these nine women formed a close-knit bond. During the war's final days, they were forced on a death march but chose their moment to escape, embarking on a perilous ten-day journey across the front lines from Germany back to Paris.