• Those Who Save Us

  • By: Jenna Blum
  • Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
  • Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (965 ratings)

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Those Who Save Us  By  cover art

Those Who Save Us

By: Jenna Blum
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
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Publisher's summary

Trudy, a college history professor, is collecting oral histories from World War II survivors (both German and Jewish). Her mother, Anna, refuses to talk to her, but Anna's story is revealed in flashback. She conducted an affair with a Jewish baker who was summarily killed. Afterward, Anna caught the eye of a high-ranking Nazi officer. She was coerced into an abusive affair with him, which she went along with in order to ensure her survival - and that of her baby.
©2005 Jenna Blum (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Blum's spare imagery is nightmarish and intimate, imbuing familiar panoramas of Nazi atrocity with stark new power. This is a poised, hair-raising debut." ( Publishers Weekly)
"An absorbing tale of two women's struggles with the burdens and responsibilities of remembrance." ( The Boston Globe)

What listeners say about Those Who Save Us

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

engaging

I was hooked on this book from the beginning. It delt with two major topics, that of survivors guilt and of judging others. It was interesting to see this horrible time in history tackled in a different way. The character development was excellent and the story kept me anxiously waiting to see when and if Anna would finally tell Trudie about her past. I highly recommend it!

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heavy, Hellish, and Unforgettable

I have read quite a few nonfiction Holocaust/Nazi Germany books and am usually leery of fictitious books concerning the Holocaust. However, this book was rather 'enjoyable'. It is, of course, a very heavy book and not a "fun" read, but it is enjoyable! It not only felt real (I constantly had to remind myself not to discuss what went on in this book so that I would not get it confused with reality), but it had me on the edge of my seat.

Typically Holocaust stories are about the Holocaust victims and most people shy away from the topic of what the Germans went through (guilty/not guilty/etc...). I thought that the author was able to bring about this topic beautifully and even mentioned several books that "Trudy" is reading and that I myself have read ("Hitler's Willing Executioners", etc...) and that are wonderful resources for anyone to read that wants to know more about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

I highly recommend this book!

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Well done

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful story. The characters were very well developed and the readings by Francisco Rivela were excellent- great accents and just a great story. A disturbing but enlightening insight into the role of German women during Nazi Germany. Would highly recommend this book.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Another Perspective

I enjoyed this book because it offered yet another perspective which is becoming much more prevalent in these types of stories and, thus, more interesting. I read quite a bit in this genre of WWII, Holocaust, Germany and the viewpoint of a German woman's past life and daughter's current life is unique. It is not easy to read the flash back forward, but I think this author pulled it off without causing too much confusion. However, I really did like the memoir and it is a great book about WWII from the German side in portraying that not all Germans were despicable during the war. One likes to think that is true, and this story was yet another way of letting that be known as a possibility

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heavy! Very good read

GAH! This is getting heavy! About half way through and I think some of this will linger...

__________________________

Done and loved it! great story!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A book on tape that will keep you awake in the car

Where does Those Who Save Us rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the few books whose narrator has kept me awake while driving hours and hours late at night. Usually I start dozing and switch to music, but I couldn't stop listening to this book, and was sad was it had ended.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant insight into German minds and hearts

Sensitively written. Excellent development of characters... they came alive and touched my heart. I gained a deeper understanding of what the German people experienced in and after the war. Highly recommended.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

What did you like about this audiobook?

The well written history was remarkable in its detail of this family.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

Continued to learn what happened during the war.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Nothing

Do you have any additional comments?

Highly recommend

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, heartbreaking story!

I loved this book and found it difficult to put down. The only regret I have is that the book came to an end! I really like the style in which it was written and how the author organized the layers of this story--it is very much like peeling back the layers of an exquisite onion to unfold the story of this mother and daughter.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This book was a read for my bookclub but

If you could sum up Those Who Save Us in three words, what would they be?

As I said I read it because of bookclub but would have picked it to read on my own!

What did you like best about this story?

I find the WWII time period so interesting and half of the book was set then.

What about Suzanne Toren’s performance did you like?

She was easy to listen to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The second half was about the relationship between a mother who had lived through WWII & her daughter who was born out of a forbidden love! Since I am a daughter of a mother who also lived through WWII, I could relate to what the daughter in the book was going through with the mother.

Any additional comments?

Since I have lost my mother just a few years ago, I understand how the daughter in the book was feeling, losing her mother!

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2 people found this helpful