The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice, by Natalie Livingstone

 

Publication Nov. 13, 2026

As I discovered when I resorted to reviews to double check the spelling of a name, there are already lots of extensive, well-written reviews out there. As a result, I'm going to stick to my own reaction and keep it relatively short. I found myself reading in bits and pieces, I must admit, as some sections were rather, hmm, not hard reading but unsettling reading given the context. Unsettling but well worth the read and I do recommend it highly. While the author's focus is certainly on the women she selected to highlight, the reality behind the story is laid bare through their stories. Man's inhumanity to man may seem like a rather sexist cliche to use but it is universal as we're all part of humanity and not just men but women were impacted by events many only know from history books, including me.

 Livingstone has obviously researched her subject in depth and it was interesting to read why she selected these women to showcase. I liked that she took the time and effort to introduce us to these amazing women, ranging from lawyers to actual victims, as human beings, not simply characters conjured up to make a point. You'll learn quite a bit about each of them as you read (even in the reviews, I should note). The one that I was most drawn to, however, was Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier (the name I had to double check the spelling of), who was both a member of the French Resistance but also survived Auschwitz. Then, astoundingly to me, she chose to stay behind to help care for other survivors while waiting to be sent home to France. I simply could not imagine how she could summon up both the physical and emotional strength to do that. 

Bottom line, all the stories are amazing, however, so do give these women their due and take in their words. Not only will you learn about the people involved but the author even manages to take us into Nuremberg itself, giving you the sense of being there, willingly or not, using the words of not just the women involved via letters and memoirs but even family memories when available. Acknowledgements and notes as well as picture credits, sources, a bibliography, and index are included. In other words, while certainly drawing on the collected research of others, the author makes it personal, allowing us to look at this historical moment in time from a different angle, a human one. Thank you #StMartin'sPress for this early look at a book approaching an event from an angle I doubt many have considered. It's quite powerful. 

Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, by Amanda Friedeman, Kelley Szany

 Available March 4, 2025

This may seem an odd Christmas read but the more I watch the news, the more important it seemed to be to read it now. These are stories of real people, children at the time, who faced the horrors of discrimination. Some were sheltered by sympathetic non-Jewish families, other faced the horrors of the concentration camps. What they have in common is that they survived, scarred and changed forever. Even those who were ultimately reunited with families. The modern images of children in cages calls back this horrific era, one we'd like to believe can never happen again. Often, we're not so sure about that. 

In any case, while I won't detail the nine lives shared here, I'll note that each shares a lesson in life the survivor learned. Each story touched me in different ways, whether imagining the fear of thinking your family has abandoned you to, yes, the horrors of life in a concentration camp. Each story shares a photo of the subject in their more youthful days as well as biographical information that includes where they ultimately began their lives over. There are relatively current photos, too, as well as brief snippet of what they would capsulize as what they learned from their experience that helped them survive and adapt to their "interrupted lives". One woman's story hit home as it stressed her efforts to encourage people to use their power, their vote.

Bottom line, this is an important book, albeit on aimed at young readers. It makes one wonder how we would have survived. IF we would have survived. While undeniably a tough, sad read, it is the reality of our past with hopes it isn't our future. It was inspiring to see how these people have gone on to live and contribute to the world in ways both big and small. My thanks to them for probably reluctantly agreeing to share their stories. Also, thanks #LernerPublishingGroup for making this available for an early read. As a former history teacher who has read many, many books on this era, this one, in its simplicity, managed to touch me. I highly recommend it to not only my teacher friends but those who hope for a better world. Knowing where we were helps us find our way toward a better future.