Remembering the Ravensbrück Rabbits in Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

The Holocaust is one of the most notorious and tragic human rights violations recorded in history. Approximately 6 million Jews were murdered and another 17 million people were victimized including Soviets, Non-Jewish Polish civilians, Serbs, people with disabilities, Romas, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Many pieces of literature recounting the horrors of the Holocaust exist, but many stories will remain unheard and many more untold due to the massive impact of the incident on Europe during WWII. There is a need to remember these stories more than ever as we live in a world where the disappointing reality is that Neo-Nazis actually exist and are even permitted to protest.

Seeing as January 27 marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I thought I’d share a little bit about a story I recently finished that was set during that time: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. 

Lilac Girls is a historical fiction novel inspired by the experiences of a wealthy New Yorker, Caroline Ferriday. During World War II, Ms. Ferriday worked tirelessly in the French consulate and raised funds for the French Resistance. Through her work with French women, Ms. Ferriday learned about the existence of the only all women concentration camp, Ravensbrück.

[Lilac Girls on Goodreads.]

Martha Hall Kelly created the character Kasia to provide a perspective of what life was like as a prisoner in Ravensbrück. At Ravensbrück, women were subjected to medical experiments that killed them or negatively impacted their livelihood for life. Some of the experiments involved inserting objects like glass and wood into the legs of the victims to purposely infect them in order to test the effectiveness of an antibacterial called sulfonamide. The victims were called “rabbits” because of the way they were experimented on like animals.

After the war, the violations done to the Ravensbrück Rabbits were lost among the other stories of atrocities done in concentration camps partly due to the fact that Poland was under the Iron Curtain. The women who survived had permanent damage and never received justice. In Lilac Girls, we see how Kasia struggles to reintegrate into a society that brushed aside the most traumatic experience of her life. Her intra/interpersonal relationships suffer because she is unable to find peace of mind.

Caroline Ferriday worked towards justice for the victims of the Ravensbrück experiments for a whole decade after the war. Through Ms. Ferriday’s advocacy, the story of the Ravensbrück Rabbits gained international attention and the women finally received compensation from Germany. Thirty-five of the Ravensbrück Rabbits were brought to the United States where they received much needed medical care with the thoughtful donations of countless people. Caroline Ferriday developed a close bond with four of the Ravensbrück Rabbits and even left the Legion of Honour she was awarded by France to the women in her will.

I had not known about Caroline Ferriday or Ravensbrück prior to reading Lilac Girls, and I’m sure many others can say the same. The story of Caroline Ferriday and Kasia is a testament to the importance of remembrance. It’s incredible to see how much power there is in only one person who chooses to never forget someone’s story. Ms. Ferriday did her part, and it’s up to us to do ours.

Thanks for reading!  Have you read Lilac Girls before? Did you know about the story of Caroline Ferriday and the Ravensbrück Rabbits before this post? What are some other books that shed light to forgotten stories of the Holocaust?

Side note: It’s not the 27th anymore, but I was having technical difficulties yesterday. So in true Belle Can Read fashion, I present to you this late post 🙂.