The Midwife of Auschwitz

During the ride to Auschwitz, Ruth dies in Ester’s arms. Before her death, Ruth tells Ana that Ester is now her daughter. Ana believes that “[s]taying alive was the only weapon they had right now” (124). Once inside the combined camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ana and Ester march with other women before a Nazi doctor who will decide whether they will receive jobs or death. Ana proves that she is a nurse and midwife and says Ester is her assistant. He sends them to Block 17, a maternity dorm. Along the way, workers take their possessions, shave their hair, and tattoo identification numbers on their arms. Once inside Block 17, they see around 100 women in different stages of pregnancy. A woman, Elizabet, almost immediately gives birth to a child. A woman prisoner who was formerly a midwife, Klara, murders the baby in front of the other women. The Nazi officer, Doktor Rohde, appears and says that Klara will no longer euthanize babies, giving hope to Ana and Ester. The doctor clarifies that he is not talking about Jewish babies.

Woken early in the morning by Klara, Ester hears Ana praying the Hail Mary and finds it strengthening. She wonders if God has forgotten them. The women in Block 17 are to be relocated. They suspect that many of the sicker women will be executed. Ester and Ana are moving with Klara to Block 24, where they will be responsible for all the camp’s maternity patients. They have nothing but “filthy, lice-infected blankets, dirty water and a rusty pair of manicure scissors. Every baby that was born in the camp was a tiny victory” (143). Ana meets Doctor Janina Węgierska, a physician from Warsaw sent to the concentration camp because she treated Jewish patients. Ester befriends Naomi, a 16-year-old Greek girl who speaks Polish. Naomi tells them about Mala, a woman prisoner who is a multilingual interpreter and can check to see if Filip has written a letter to the camp for Ester.

Ana and Ester continue to deliver babies in Block 24. They face sadists such as Dr. Josef Mengele, who wants to perform horrific experiments on newborns. When a baby survives long enough that Mengele loses interest, he sends the mother and child to Block 25, where women wait to die. Children born to non-Jewish mothers receive numeric tattoos. Ana unsuccessfully tries to hide newborn Jewish babies from Klara. With the help of Dr. Węgierska, Ana and Ester create a maternity area in Block 24, and “[e]very time Ana confirmed a Jewish pregnancy her heart sank. Nine months was a long time to carry the seed of a life that would be snatched from you the moment it flowered” (153). Ana receives a letter from Bartek, confirming that he and her eldest son are safe in Warsaw. A man and woman SS officer arrive to announce the Lebensborn programme. They will take any blonde child, regardless of the mother’s race, back to Germany to replace dead German soldiers. Ana suspects Ester is pregnant.

Mala delivers a letter to Ester from Filip. When Ester expresses her gratitude, Mala dismisses it as the best she can do to help the women survive. Filip writes that their fathers are safe. He promises that they will both survive and be together again. Ester hides the letter in her straw mattress. All the women in Block 24 must remove their clothing outside for disinfection. The men pull the women’s mattresses out and douse them in disinfectant, ruining Ester’s letter. Ana steadies Ester and points out that she is probably pregnant. Ester realizes that the baby she always wanted is also a threat to her life.

The women in Block 24 create a musical group led by Alma Rose, an Austrian Jew. Ana lies in her bed listening and remembering another package she received from Bartek, containing a secret message: “Hold fast, we are winning, my love” (174). As the music ends, the two Nazis representing the Lebensborn programme appear again and take four newborn infants from their mothers. When one comments that the babies look sickly, Ester explains that they do not have proper facilities. As the Nazis leave with the babies, Ester jumps onto the back of the man. Klara pries Ester off the Nazi. Klara and her subordinate, Pfani, tie Ester to a bunk to beat her with a whip that often results in death. Naomi bribes Klara with a loose diamond to release Ester. Naomi reveals that the German officer who gives her special gifts has gotten her pregnant.

Ester watches as Pfani tattoos images on her thighs. Pfani explains that, as a prostitute, she has been in camps since she was a little girl. She desperately wants to escape Birkenau. Naomi tells her that another part of Auschwitz has a brothel, intriguing Pfani. Ester decides to keep the tattoo equipment and mark newborn infants with their mother’s number so they can be found after the war.

Pfani transfers to Puff, the brothel in the original Auschwitz camp. Klara begs her not to leave to no avail. Ester tricks Klara into giving her the job of tattooing the babies. Zofia, a young Polish Jewish widow, gives birth to a baby with blonde hair, whom she names Oliwia. When Klara isn’t looking, Ester tattoos Zofia’s number in the baby’s armpit, where it is hidden.

Christmas Eve is terribly cold, and Ana worries that she may not be strong and warm enough to help the women who might go into labor. For the evening roll call, Irma Grese, the notorious Nazi camp matron, calls the thinly clad women into the snow for “a Christmas treat” (200). Nazi guards place candles on a fir tree and light them. Taunting the mostly Jewish group of women, Irma says they have missed out on being Christians. She says that Christians are likewise deluded, that there is no God of any kind: The strongest humans—the Nazis—are the real gods. The guards uncover the base of the tree, which is built on the bodies of dead prisoners. The women prisoners begin to sing Silent Night, startling the guards. The Nazis light the tree on fire and disperse. Ester’s water breaks, and Ana hurries her into the dorm, where the women help with her labor. Her baby, Filipa Ruth, is born on Christmas Day.