Maria's Code

Author Cynthia Engelmann was bequeathed a manuscript from Polish Maria Weychan which carried a very heavy weight and responsibility. Maria had survived the horrors of WWII and wanted to tell her story. In 1945 Stalin rejected claims of war crimes made by Poles and prevented them from talking until they were finally released from their gag order in 1992. But even then opening old wounds was a horrifying contemplation.

Maria was a dancer in Poland when Germany declared war. She and her mother were taken to a camp called Poggenburg (one I had never heard of before) where she was humiliated, starved and tortured. At first her manuscript caused a few doubts to an archivist but as he researched he discovered she was telling the truth. There was indeed such a camp as attested to by witnesses and letters and her name appeared. In the book are photographs of gas chamber bunkers and a water reservoir which were key to the story. Maria described the "Jews Test", people and details only someone who had gone through her experiences would know. In addition to her imprisonment, she told her beautiful story about her lost great love.

Photographs and illustrations bring Maria's terrible story to life. Told in two parts, the first is background and research and the second Maria's harrowing memoir. If you wish to learn more about this particular camp and/or WWII Nazi control and "liberation" by the barbarous Red Army, do prioritize this. In fact, it should be required reading.

My sincere thank you to Matador and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this powerful, important and heartbreaking book.

Oh my! My thank you to Matador for the excellent read. If not for starting a new job, illness and out of town family, I believe I could have finished this book in a week. It is a long read.

The first part of Marias Code, we learn of how Cynthia and Maria became friends after Cynthia's viewing and purchase of a horse from Maria. As Maria is dying, she asks her friend to retrieve some items from her home to bring to her. In those items, Maria has a manuscript written in German that she tried to publish after WWII. She was unable to do and hoped that her friend Cynthia may succeed.

Cynthia struggles interpreting the book. Months after Marias death, she is able to read a completed translation of Marias book. She is unsure how true the book is, putting it away for several years. Once she has the time to focus more on the book, she begins her journey to see how true Marias book is. This calls for many phone calls and trips to find and see the places in Marias book.

I find this book unique as we follow the authors travels to places in Marias book. Once research has been done, facts verified and Cynthia's travels are completed, we then move on to Marias manuscript. We follow her from beginning to the end of WWII. From aristocrat, to losing most everything, to prisoner and release.

This book deserves a second read. A part of history that I'm glad was able to be published.