Touching the Wire: A doctor and nurse fight to save lives, and find love in a Nazi death-camp. Seventy years later the doctor's granddaug (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781502912602)

"He had no way to tell her he had given her life: no right to tell her to abandon hope." A fictional tale of love and darkness in Auschwitz-Birkenhau, and of every man and woman who bore the Auschwitz tattoo, or were interred in Nazi death camps throughout WW2, this Holocaust love story is inspired by real events. It is a tribute to the courage of victims of Nazi war crime, sadly a part of Jewish history. The horror of holocaust experiments carried out under the auspices of war and Hitler's obsession with a master race are hard to understand, impossible to condone, and difficult to imagine forgiving. The human spirit that can find love in such a place must be rare indeed, but a person in dire circumstances will grab at a kindness where it is offered. Such is the premise of this story, and it asks the question, could you forgive? Part One transitions between 1944/45 and the 1970s and continues in Part Two in the present day.
Part One - In the Shadow of the Wolf In a death camp hospital in 1940's Poland, a young doctor and nurse struggle to save lives and relieve the suffering of their women patients. As their relationship blossoms, amid the death and deprivation, they join the camp resistance and, despite the danger of betrayal, he steals damning evidence of war-crimes. Afraid of repercussions, and for the sake of his post-war family, he hides the evidence but hard truths and terrible choices haunt him, as does an unkept promise to his lost love.
Part Two - Though the Heavens should Fall In present-day England, his granddaughter seeks to answer the questions posed by her grandfather's enigmatic carving. Her own relationship in tatters, she meets a modern historian who, intrigued by the carving, agrees to help her discover its purpose. As her grandfather's past seeps into the present, and more carvings are discovered, she betrays the man she loves and is forced to confront her own guilt in order to contemplate forgiving the unforgivable and keep her grandfather's promise. How many Jews were killed in the Holocaust? Estimates vary around the 6 million mark, a number that is hard to imagine. 100 coachloads a day was how one person quantified it.

Excerpt: "A young woman bent to retrieve her possessions. An SS officer strode past. 'Leave. Luggage afterwards.'She stood wide-eyed like a startled deer, one arm cradling a baby. Beside her an elderly woman clutched a battered suitcase. The girl's eyes darted from soldier to painted signboard and back. 'What are we doing here, grandmother? Why have they brought us here?'The wind teased at her cheerful red shawl, revealing and lifting long black hair. She straightened and attempted a smile. 'It'll be all right, Grandmother. God has protected us on our journey.'Voices rasped, whips cracked, dogs barked... An SS officer pushed towards a woman of about fifty. 'How old?' She didn't respond so the officer shouted.He edged closer. As a doctor he held a privileged position, but he'd also discovered he had a gift for languages. He translated the German to stilted Hungarian, adding quietly. 'Say you're under forty-five. Say you are well. Stand here with the younger women.' He moved from woman to woman, intercepting those he could. 'Say you are well. Say your daughter is sixteen. Say you can work or have a skill. Say you aren't pregnant.'Miriam's eyes glistened. 'May He rescue us from every foe.' She touched her grandmother's cheek, a gentle lingering movement, and placed a tender kiss on her baby's forehead. She moved to stand where he pointed. Miriam's eyes met his. He had no way to tell her had given her life: no right to tell her to abandon hope. 'Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.'
"Readers have described this Holocaust thriller as - 'astonishing - compelling - relentlessly engaging - important - complex and brilliant - outstanding.' Readers' feedback, via reviews, is hugely appr

Author: Rebecca Bryn
ISBN-10: 1502912600
ISBN-13: 9781502912602
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 10/31/2014
Pages: 358
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.74d