First impressions of If This Is A Woman by Sarah Helm

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Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,

 If you follow me on Instagram and my main blog, Keeping Up With Juliette,than you will know that back at the start of April I went on a history trip with my school to Berlin. On my trip there, I visited Sachsenhausen former concentration camp where I bought the book If This Is A Woman by Sarah Helm, at one of their book stores there. After reading the first few pages of this book, I realised that Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp for male prisoners. I believe that Sarah Helm wrote another book called If This Is A Man which talks about that particular camp whereas her other book talks specifically about Ravensbrück Concentration Camp for women. So far, I'm finding it really interesting. I never really read the prologue of books but I decided to do so this time since it seemed interesting and I wanted to get some context. Helm talks about how it was really difficult for her to get the information she needed for her book because whilst everyone talks about Auschwitz Birkenau in Poland, smaller concentration camps like Ravenbrück are rarely talked about. She even tried to interview a former prisoner their but the lady refused, saying that it was too terrible to talk about. I can understand now just how much effort went into this book. It's worth it because I've learnt so many new things already that I didn't know before. I learnt that the SS officers working at the camp had their own fancy villas on the site and some even brought their family and children to live with them because they had a free Kindergarten nearby. I also learnt that the prisoners possessions were taken away from them and stored in brown paper bags in the attic in case they were liberated. As well as this, I also learnt that every inch of hair on their body was shaved and if they had a wedding ring on them, it was taken off. I am shocked by how the guards chose to treat the women and I hope I learn more about the horrors of humanity as I continue to read this amazing book.

Have you read this book before? What other war stories have you read? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!

 See you next time,

 Bye,

 XOX, Juliette

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Hello everybody and welcome to my blog. If you're new here, my name is Juliette Page and I'm a 19 year old writer from the UK, who has been blogging the ups and downs of her life since the age of 12 years old. I am 1/2 French, 1/4 English, and 1/4 Japanese and I love to dance, write, and learn new things. You can follow my life story on this blog as I continue my journey of self-discovery through developing my opinions on the world, working through challenging times, and achieving the goals that I set for myself. If you're looking for something a little more bookish, you can check out my second blog, which is all about my favourite books and the importance of reading (because I ❤ to read too). My times for posting are listed here. ➡️ Keeping Up With Juliette (1st blog) : Monday (Lifestyle post), Wednesday (Writing post), Saturday (Dance post). The Book Hub (2nd blog) : Occasional Tuesday book reviews, read-alongs, etc. I hope you enjoy my content and I can't wait to see you soon! Be sure to follow and subscribe! XOX, Juliette.

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