Hitler’s Brothel
Title: Hitler’s Brothel #1
Author: Steve Matthews
Publisher: Big Sky Publishing
Genre: Historical Fiction, General Fiction
Year of release: 2020
Release Date: 21st October 2020
Rating 
TW Gun Violence, Rape, Starvation, trauma, death, pet death.
Book #1 of #3 Book This series should be read in order.
Synopsis
Two sisters are cruelly separated by war in tragic circumstances. Ania is imprisoned in a concentration camp in Poland and Danuta’s search for her sister leads her into the Polish Underground. They each do what they must to survive long enough to find each other. Their dream of being united ends in shocking circumstances. Amazingly, the opportunity for revenge presents itself 60 years later in New Jersey, USA. But faced with the ultimate decision what will be the outcome: seek justice or revenge? Spanning 60 years, Hitler’s Brothel follows the lives of two Polish sisters, separated by the vagaries of war. It examines their lives as well as those of their German masters.
Review
9th January 1940; Zwinbrzych, Poland, Danuta, and Ania Burczyk’s world is turned upside down when their childhood home is invaded by the SS Army the only home the sisters knew is destroyed, the sisters are separated and the effort to be reunited begins. Ania is taken to a Concentration Camp in Poland, Danuta’s search for her younger sister leads her to cross paths with the Polish underground; along the way, the sisters learn to survive apart in the hopes they will one day come together again.
Hitler’s Brothel in my opinion is a standout in the Historical Fiction genre that covers the subject of WW2.
The layout is just one of the reasons the book a standout in this genre for this reader, Hitler’s Brothel is split into eight parts; I believe this detail highlighted for me just how long the Holocaust lasted rather then just reading a date, and the importance of liberation and the weight that moment in history carries for survivors and their families.
The character of Ania had to develop on her way to the Wyżnica Concentration Camp, this was heartbreaking and admirable. Having now finished this book I’m not sure I would be able to do it. The minor characters in the story were of interest and placed well within this book, it was a pleasure to read a story where all characters and plotlines were utilised well.
Steve Matthews has written a story that absorbs the reader right from the opening pages, I had to force myself to put the book down. WW2-based stories have always been of interest to me and Hitler’s Brothel was predictable thanks to history, but the author has let the reader ask some of their own questions which I found original for a WW2 novel.
Hitler’s Brothel was an incredibly moving and left this reader at times a little angry and disappointed in humankind’s past behaviors, I was also somewhat grateful to live in a time period where I have a voice and it is heard and my choices and my body are my own.
I recommend this book to a mature audience, if you are a fan of WW2 novels then you must add this to your collection, if you’re just discovering this genre or want to know more about this period in History look no further than Hitler’s Brothel.
I cannot wait to see Steve Matthews second and third book in the Trilogy #2 Hitler’s Assassins #3 Hitler’s Resurrection have in store.
