Posts with the custom taxonomy term Poland

What I Left for You by Liz Tolsma

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1939/Present – Poland

Helena Kostyszak is an oddity—an educated female ethnic minority lecturing at a university in Krakow at the outbreak of WWII. When the Germans close the university and force Jews into the ghetto, she spirits out a friend’s infant daughter and flees to her small village in the southern hills. Helena does everything in her power to protect her family, but it may not be enough. It will take all of her strength and God’s intervention for both of them to survive the war and the ethnic cleansing to come.

Recently unengaged social worker McKenna Muir is dealt an awful blow when a two-year-old she’s been working with is murdered. It’s all too much to take, so her friend suggests she dive into her family’s past like she’s always wanted. Putting distance between herself and her problems might help her heal, so she and her friend head on Sabbatical to Poland. But what McKenna discovers about her family shocks everyone, including one long-lost family member.

Until Our Time Comes by Nicole Miller

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1939 – Poland

American horse trainer Adia Kensington is living her dream of working at the famous Janów Podlaski stables in Poland, where they breed the best Arabian horses in the world. But her plans to bring the priceless stallion Lubor to the US are derailed when the German army storms into her adopted country in 1939. Little does she know this is just the beginning of six long years of occupation that will threaten her beloved horses at every turn.

Major Bret Conway is at Janów Podlaski under the guise of a news reporter, but his true mission is intelligence gathering for the British. That and keeping Adia safe, which is harder and harder to do as she insists they must evacuate 250 horses to save them from being stolen, sold, or eaten by the invading forces. What follows will test their physical, mental, and emotional strength, as well as their faith in God, humankind, and each other.

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt

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1939 – Poland

On a golden August morning in 1939, sisters Antonina and Helena Dąbrowska send their father off to defend Poland against the looming threat of German invasion. The next day, the first bombs fall on Warsaw, decimating their beloved city and shattering the world of their youth.

When Antonina’s beloved Marek is forced behind ghetto walls along with the rest of Warsaw’s Jewish population, Antonina turns her worry into action and becomes a key figure in a daring network of women risking their lives to shelter Jewish children. Helena finds herself drawn into the ranks of Poland’s secret army, joining the fight to free her homeland from occupation. But the secrets both are forced to keep threaten to tear the sisters apart–and the cost of resistance proves greater than either ever imagined.

Capturing Hope by Angela Couch

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1939 – Poland

One step ahead of the Nazi’s. . .leaves Nadia little room for hope.
 
After her father is murdered by Nazis and her mother flees to her native Germany, hope is something of which Nadia Roenne feels little—even if it is the meaning of her name. It isn’t until an American photographer sacrifices his escape from Poland to save a Jewish family, that she finds a purpose. David Reid is very familiar with failure, but when he is charged with getting Nadia safely out of Poland, he is determined to succeed—even if she works against him at every turn, putting other’s lives ahead of her own. While they race against the daily shower of bombs over Warsaw and the ever-nearing German army, Nadia grows used to risking her life. . .but dare she risk her heart?  

Abounding Hope by Cindy Kay Stewart

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1939 – Poland

Poland’s looming defeat forces an American teacher to escape with children wanted by the Nazis.

The Nazis are threatening Poland, but American teacher Irena Simmons refuses to flee to safety. She’s dedicated her life to serving in her church and school, and she’s watching over the little German boys she whisked to safety the year before. When her former classmate, Jonathan, surprises her in Lvov and insists she leave with him before the war starts, Irena balks. Nothing will interfere with her work—especially a man making demands.

American shipping magnate Jonathan Huntwell had a crush on Irena in school. When their former classmates select him to travel to Poland and escort her out before it’s too late, he doesn’t expect the inner turmoil she ignites in him. Although honor-bound to aid any friend in trouble, Jonathan acknowledges that Irena is more than an obligation to him. However, he must keep his feelings hidden, or he’ll jeopardize their friendship.

Irena soon discovers that the Gestapo agent she successfully evaded in Germany has found her in Poland, and he’s after her young charges. When the Germans invade, Jonathan is in Denmark on business, too far away to help. As the rising danger threatens everything Irena holds dear, she must find a way to protect those she loves.

Within These Walls of Sorrow by Amanda Barratt

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1941 – Poland

Zosia Lewandowska knows the brutal realities of war all too well. Within weeks of Germany’s invasion of her Polish homeland, she lost the man she loves. As ghetto walls rise and the occupiers tighten their grip on the city of Krakow, Zosia joins pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz and his staff in the heart of the Krakow ghetto as they risk their lives to aid the Jewish people trapped by Nazi oppression.

Hania Silverman’s carefree girlhood is shattered as her family is forced into the ghetto. Struggling to survive in a world hemmed in by walls and rife with cruelty and despair, she encounters Zosia, her former neighbor, at the pharmacy. As deportation winnow the ghetto’s population and snatch those she holds dear, Hania’s natural resiliency is exhausted by reality.

Zodia and Hania’s lives intertwine as they face the griefs and fears thrust upon them by war, until one day, they are forced to make a desperate choice . . . one that will inexorably bind them together, even as they are torn apart.

The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke

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1939 – Poland

Seemingly overnight, the German blitzkrieg of Warsaw in 1939 turns its streets to a war zone and shatters the life of each citizen―Polish, Jewish, or otherwise. Sophie Kumiega, a British bride working in the city’s library, awaits news of her husband, Janek, recently deployed with the Polish Air Force. Though Sophie is determined that she and the baby in her womb will stay safe, the days ahead will draw her into the plight of those around her, compelling her to help, whatever the danger.

Rosa and Itzhak Dunovich never imagined they would welcome their longed-for first child in the Jewish ghetto, or that they would let anything tear their family apart. But as daily atrocities intensify, Rosa soon faces a terrifying reality: to save their daughter’s life, she must send her into hiding. Her only hope of finding her after the war―if any of them survive―is a medallion she cuts in half and places around her neck.

Inspired by true events of Poland’s darkest days and brightest heroes, The Medallion paints a stunning portrait of war and its aftermath, daring us to believe that when all seems lost, God can make a way forward.

When the Heart Sings by Liz Tolsma

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1943 – Poland

Natia has a secret—and she’s hiding him right beneath her captor’s nose.

In 1943 Poland, the Nazis have forced Natia and Teodor from their peaceful farm to the harsh confines of a labor camp. When the couple is separated, Natia is chosen to be the housekeeper for the camp’s overseer, and Teodor is sent to work in the factory. Despite the strict camp rules—and the consequences for disobeying them—Natia finds a way to communicate with Teodor by sending messages through song as she passes Teodor’s dormitory.

The stakes get higher when Natia finds a Jewish orphan on the overseer’s doorstep. She is determined to protect the boy and raise him as the child she and her husband were unable to bear—but if her German captors discover how much she’s hiding, both she and Teodor may pay the ultimate price. . .

Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar

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1943 – Poland

Auschwitz Lullaby brings to life the story of Helene Hannemann—a woman who sacrificed everything for family and fought furiously for the children she hoped to save.

On an otherwise ordinary morning in 1943, Helene Hannemann is preparing her five children for the day when the German police arrive at her home. Helene’s worst fears come true when the police, under strict orders from the SS, demand that her children and husband, all of Romani heritage, be taken into custody. Though Helene is German and safe from the forces invading her home, she refuses to leave her family—sealing her fate in a way she never could have imagined.

After a terrifying trek across the continent, Helene and her family arrive at Auschwitz and are thrown into the chaos of the camp. Her husband, Johann, is separated from them, but Helene remains fiercely protective of her children and those around her. When the powers-that-be discover that Helene is not only a German but also a trained nurse, she is forced into service at the camp hospital, which is overseen by the notorious Dr. Mengele himself.

Helene is under no illusions in terms of Dr. Mengele’s intentions, but she agrees to cooperate when he asks her to organize a day care and school for the Romani children in the camp. Though physically and emotionally brutalized by the conditions at Auschwitz, Helene musters the strength to protect the children in her care at any cost. Through sheer force of will, Helene provides a haven for the children of Auschwitz—an act of kindness and selflessness so great that it illuminates the darkest night of human history.

Based on a true story, Mario Escobar’s Auschwitz Lullaby demonstrates the power of sacrifice and the strength of human dignity—even when all hope seems lost.

The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert

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girlfromthetrainThe Girl from the Train

WWII – Germany, Poland, South Africa

Six-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Aushwitz. Jakób Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks.

As World War II draws to a close, Jakób fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They intend to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl’s unscheduled train reaches the bomb first.

Gretl is the only survivor. Though spared from the concentration camp, the orphaned German Jew finds herself lost in a country hostile to her people. When Jakób discovers her, guilt and fatherly compassion prompt him to take her in. For three years, the young man and little girl form a bond over the secrets they must hide from his Catholic family.

But she can’t stay with him forever. Jakób sends Gretl to South Africa, where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant families—so long as Gretl’s Jewish roots, Catholic education, and connections to communist Poland are never discovered.

Separated by continents, politics, religion, language, and years, Jakób and Gretl will likely never see each other again. But the events they have both survived and their belief that the human spirit can triumph over the ravages of war have formed a bond of love that no circumstances can overcome.

For Such a Time by Kate Breslin

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forsuchatimeFor Such a Time

1944 – Poland (German Occupied)

In 1944, blond and blue-eyed Jewess Hadassah Benjamin feels abandoned by God when she is saved from a firing squad only to be handed over to a new enemy. Pressed into service by SS-Kommandant Colonel Aric von Schmidt at the transit camp of Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia, she is able to hide behind the false identity of Stella Muller. However, in order to survive and maintain her cover as Aric’s secretary, she is forced to stand by as her own people are sent to Auschwitz.

Suspecting her employer is a man of hidden depths and sympathies, Stella cautiously appeals to him on behalf of those in the camp. Aric’s compassion gives her hope, and she finds herself battling a growing attraction for this man she knows she should despise as an enemy.

Stella pours herself into her efforts to keep even some of the camp’s prisoners safe, but she risks the revelation of her true identity with every attempt. When her bravery brings her to the point of the ultimate sacrifice, she has only her faith to lean upon. Perhaps God has placed her there for such a time as this, but how can she save her people when she is unable to save herself?

London Refrain by Bodie and Brock Thoene

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1939 – Poland

England teeters on the brink of war.
It’s no longer a question of if. It’s a matter of when.

In the dark fall of 1939, the hopes of the Polish people fade as Nazi bombers strafe the beloved city of Warsaw. Politicians debate while hundreds stand in lines at the British Embassy, desperate to flee the country before Hitler’s ground forces arrive.

Mac McGrath, a veteran American photographer, recorded the landslide toward war with dedication, believing that if he told the truth, the world would rise up and put a stop to Hitler’s evil plans. Now his foolish idealism embarrasses him.

Outside the embassy gates, Jewish schoolteacher Eva Weitzman prays for a miracle. Without a British passport, she will fall into the Nazis’ clutches.

Who will live and who will die? Will anyone dare to stand against the apathy of nations?

Warsaw Requiem by Bodie and Brock Thoene

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1939 – Poland

Hitler’s shadow looms over Poland.
Will Nazi bombers soon circle the beloved city of Warsaw?

It’s May 1939. Aaron Lubetkin, esteemed rabbi of Muranow, is released from a Warsaw prison. But he and his family—beautiful Etta, daughter Rachel, and sons David, Samuel, and baby Yacov—remain targets of Hitler’s sinister plot.

In the free city of Danzig, Lucy Strasburg flees in terror from SS officer Wolf von Fritschauer. If he finds her, the consequences for Lucy and her newborn will be dire. Yet each day the web around her tightens. Imprisoned pastor Karl Ibsen refuses to compromise, to bend to the Nazi will. But will he break if his children, Lori and Jamie, are caught and tortured? How long can they evade the Nazis’ clutches?

As Hitler’s darkness spreads, it is only a matter of time. . . .