World War II Brave Women Fiction

Poland, 1938. Despite threats of alienation from his Christian family, Johann, a decorated army officer, falls deeply in love with Rachel, a Jewish medical student. When they settle into their new countryside home, their marriage is happy and blissful…and short-lived. After the Nazi invasion of Poland, Johann goes missing. Without a family to rely on and antisemitic sentiments growing all over the country, Rachel and her newborn daughter Ilona are thrown into the Warsaw ghetto. Faced with reality, Rachel knows the only way to save her daughter is to smuggle her outside the ghetto.

New York, 1963. Ever since he was a young boy, struggling to survive among the rubble of bombarded Berlin, Manny Heimann knew he wanted to be a doctor. Having barely managed to escape the terrible fate of Mischling German children, Manny is adamant about dedicating his life to helping all those in need… Until a familiar face enters his clinic one fateful afternoon, threatening to uproot everything he believed about human kindness – and cruelty.

Lyon, 1941. As Nazi forces march steadily through France and Jewish families seek refuge from persecution, seventeen-year-old Juta wakes one morning to find her sister, Sara, gone. And when Juta discovers that Sara has been wrongfully accused of espionage and arrested by German soldiers, she traces it all back to one man. A cruel, obsessive man who believes himself scorned by her family and who will stop at nothing to see them suffer. Arno.

1937, Germany. Lily, a talented aspiring seamstress, falls head over heels in love with Heinrich, a charming major in Hitler’s Wehrmacht. Their love affair blossoms into a beautiful romance, and despite the growing fear of impending war, Lily dreams of the wonderful future they will have together. But Heinrich has a secret – one that, if revealed, would put his life in grave danger. And now Lily’s, too.

The life of the vibrant Schwartz Family changes completely overnight. The sudden illness of Noa, the family's youngest daughter, forces them to attain a great sum of money for an urgent operation, and they are at a loss. Daria, the oldest sister, is the only one who believes that the not so distant past of the intricate Hungarian family holds an old secret that could lead the way to save her little sister's life. Armed with great determination, Daria goes on a cross-continent journey to investigate the Schwartz dynasty's origins.

Europe, 1939. Hanne is an adolescent boy, born into a wealthy family from Belgrade. Realizing the Nazi threat is advancing toward the Balkans with giant strides, his parents are prepared to do anything to save their son’s life. The road to survival, however, is not easy. Just as Europe’s gates are about to shut down, Hanne and 1,100 other youths sail away on the Danube River. On board the ship, under appalling living conditions, Hanne falls in love with Inge, a young German Jewish girl.

Poland 1938. Eve of the World War II. Rivka sends her husband and three beloved children to the United States, where they will find safe shelter from the war. She tells everyone that she is staying behind in order to care for her aging parents but her real reason is completely different. Beyond her work as librarian, Rivka serves as a spy for the Jewish underground, a critical role in the changing reality in Europe.

Western Austria, winter of 1941. Naomi, a young Jewish woman, gives birth to a baby girl in a remote rural farm. The Nazi foe is everywhere, and Naomi realizes she must do everything in her power in order to save her daughter’s life, even at the expense of her own. United States, 1990. Helena tells her daughter, Blair, for the first time, the truth about her past, and presents her with a mysterious box that sheds light on her personal story.