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The Hitler Trilogy #1
Sekretny pokój w Auschwitz
Dwie siostry zostają brutalnie rozdzielone przez wojnę. Anna trafia do nazistowskiego obozu koncentracyjnego. Danuta nie przestaje starać się o jej ocalenie, nawiązując bardzo ryzykowany kontakt z polskim podziemiem. Marzenie o ponownym spotkaniu zostaje niestety udaremnione. Szansa na zemstę pojawia się sześćdziesiąt lat później… Tragiczna i zarazem porywająca opowieść o oszustwie, odwadze i sile przetrwania.
424 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
23 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
Steve Matthews
15 books19 followersSteve Matthews was born in the UK in 1953, migrating to Australia in 1985. At the age of fifty-five, he sold his business interests to fulfill a lifetime’s ambition to write full time. Since then, Steve’s children’s books have been published in Australia, the UK, Canada and the USA, and his work in children’s literacy at home and abroad has been acknowledged in the Australian State Parliament. Steve's first book for adults, The Skinny Girl was based upon a true story of domestic abuse and has generated over $22,000 in donations for organisations helping victims of abuse and violence. Hitler's Brothel was Steve's first venture into historical fiction, and it has become an Australian best seller, being published in several languages. Hitler's Assassins is book two in a trilogy that examines the strength of women during WWII. Book three, Hitler's Resurrection will be published in 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
December 7, 2021
Look team, this was not especially spectacularly well written, but it was a wild ride. This was a purely title-based purchase for me, and my expectations (with the cover promise of historical accuracy) was a compelling, graphic, Holocaust story. All I really need to say, is Mathews delivers. It’s not going to win the Booker, but this History geek was entertained for a couple of days. Note: if the atrocities of the Holocaust cause you significant distress, this may not be the read for you.
December 5, 2020
Wow! A few weeks ago I would have said there wasn't much that I hadn't read about the Holocaust however I had no idea that any concentration camp had a brothel! This story is told with a sensitivity that carries you along with the characters. The ended displays the power of the apparently powerless and gives closure whilst still leaving just enough mystery for your imagination to fill in the blanks. A great read.
October 11, 2020
My first thoughts were that this book had a solid feel and bright appealing cover despite the serious topic it was delving into. I was also attracted by the notation that the story was based on true events.
The narrative was very easy to follow and I enjoyed the weaving of modern times with past events. The story provided an angle that I had not previously come across with this topic, and makes one think about human behaviour and choices - a recommended read.
The narrative was very easy to follow and I enjoyed the weaving of modern times with past events. The story provided an angle that I had not previously come across with this topic, and makes one think about human behaviour and choices - a recommended read.
October 30, 2020
I love a good historical fiction story and this book certainly delivered. Strong characters, an epic story and all the while I"m learning about events that really happened during World War II. This one goes straight to the mustread again part of my bookshelf.
July 20, 2021
Brutal honest and somewhat raw. A brilliant story about the women. Left me shocked and full of empathy for those who had to suffer through these times. May this never ever be repeated
January 19, 2023
I am a simple creature: you put a clickbait title in front of me, and I will read it.
To this book’s credit, while the brothel had little to do with Hitler himself, the actual story was plenty good. It was compassionate, desensationalised, well-researched, and deeply frightening. I’m still not sure what to make of it.
Hitler’s Brothel is mostly about the occupation of Poland. The SS comes for all the young women in a village, and while they abduct Ania, her sister Danuta manages to escape. Ania is incarcerated at a fictional camp neighbouring Auschwitz, at the brothel set up for the high-ranking workers. Danuta gets involved with the Polish resistance, the other side of the war effort. The framing device is Ania’s life in New Jersey in 2000, where she is married, has friends, a stable life, when she comes into contact with a war criminal from her past. That’s the clickbait story to go with the title
I come from a country where the history books are consumed with a whole host of other horrific events that happened to us from the 1930s to the 1940s. WWII, and the Holocaust, is a sterile monograph in those books. Everything I learnt, I learnt through the movies, other people’s writing, and the Internet.
In short, I’m not at all in a position to say whether Hitler’s Brothel is in respectful or poor taste.
Here’s what I thought from reading it.
It does a phenomenal job of showing the banality of evil. In fact, it did a better job of that than anything else. The third POV character (besides Ania and Danuta) is the camp staff. There is the commandant, Fischer, and his two lackeys: the well-read, educated Schroder, and the opportunistic, cruel Braun. All three are obsessed with glory and greed in their own individual ways, which means three times the vile content you expect from a Nazi unreliable narrator. And the truly chilling thing about them is how they’re neither cartoonish nor evil for the sake of it.
Take Braun, an insecure and violent sadist. He is the textbook example of a flat villain, and even he has reasons for what he does and how he does it. They’re not good reasons, or sympathetic or understandable ones. But there is a very clear connection between how his mind works and the harm he inflicts on other people.
Goddamn Fischer is described as fat, hairy, lecherous, and wants to be called “Baldy” (short for Baldric). And so, his faux-affability makes your skin crawl as he pores over reports and “innovates” ways to “improve” the camp, and “compete” with his rival (Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz). The book even notes that when Germany starts losing the war and the pressure on the camp intensifies, Fischer stops being a bumbling headmaster-like figure and completely unmasks his true colours.
Worst of all, this book understands that while there were many SS officers who were in it for the violence, the vast majority of them were bureaucrats. The way Fischer and Schroder refer to human beings just like them as “units” and “rats” and “index cards” is terrifying. They are so successful in their dehumanisation campaign that it even started to work on me. There were times that my eyes glossed over them talking about “units” and I thought they meant luggage or possessions or lumber from the camp. You know, units of production, rather a person they wanted to murder. The more you repeat propaganda in the most dull, everyday sentences, the more you start to believe it. Lesson learnt first hand.
The other thing that this book does is show that survival and death is a matter of luck. This is why so many movies on the subject discomfit me. (This is why everyone hates Life Is Beautiful.) Because what happened to real people was so incomprehensible, the most publicised stories are about individual exceptionalism. It’s the only way to make sense of the un-understandable. The hero survives through grit, even though they may sacrifice everything else in the process. Hitler’s Brothel (fucking clickbait title!) shows how people can do everything right and still get murdered. People can do everything right but make one mistake, and get murdered. People can be a literal Nazi who grew fat on atrocities, and retire happily. People can be so close to getting out alive, and they don’t. There’s no reason why. There’s nothing anyone could have done “more” or “better”. It made me want to fling my Kindle across the room because setting it on fire wasn’t a good option.
So, yeah. Aside from the spectacularly well-researched angle, I thought the book addressed two of the worst myths that Hollywood has sold to us: that Nazis breathe, sleep and dream evil just because, and that you can survive anything if you have guts and wiles.
That, and Jewish people went passively into the camps and to their deaths. This book doesn’t aggressively tackle that one, but it makes it clear that this wasn’t always the case.
Here’s the parts about the book that I wasn’t sure about.
While it does a genuinely incredible job of showing how the SS functioned, it didn’t bring the same humanity to the inmates of the camps. Those people are a faceless mass of suffering. Suffering that is compassionately described, leaving no room for doubt as to how deep the Nazi rot ran, but they’re just...
They’re just there to tell you that the camps were bad, Nazis were bad, what the Germans did was very fucking bad.
Danuta’s arc involving the Polish resistance is a little slow and on the unexciting side, but it shows us who Danuta is, who Slav and the rest of the resistors are. How far they will go, and how they won’t let anything stop them. Ania’s arc is about a scared teenage girl who suffers brutally but is despised because she doesn’t suffer “as much” as the others (her particular position in the brothel being seen as the “cushy” one). While Ania is living like that, she’s an individual with her own thoughts and fears and hopes. She’s the viewpoint character of worse things happening at the camps to her friends and strangers, and all she feels is guilt.
Then Ania loses her few privileges one by one, and immediately she stops being a character, and just one of thousands suffering the same fate.
I understand this is because it’s hard to write, let alone read. The story’s pacing is also changing and it’s hurtling at breakneck speed towards the end of the war. The practical considerations are real. But it just doesn’t feel right.
Also oh my god the representation of women in this book. From Ania being considered “special” because of her heterochromatic eyes, to Fischer being her “premier” client in the brothel and her gradually enjoying her own sexual proficiency, to the old woman in the liberated camp who finds comfort in the arms of a man for the first time as she dies. All this was probably written with the best possible intentions, but wow did it come out wrong.
This is especially galling because this book could absolutely do better! There are many, many instances when it shows the power of female friendship (present day Ania’s with her best friend, Ania and schoolteacher Emelie who repeatedly tries to protect her, women standing up for women) and there are times when the book forgets that it’s actually good.
My last real complaint is the writing style. While it starts off very strong and escalates rapidly with the horrors of war, it eventually devolves into some hybrid of novel and non-fiction. It reads like creative non-fiction as everything is described in paragraphs of exposition, and the dialogue is in clunky monologues. The content remains as good as ever (or more horrifying as the camp’s officers get increasingly desperate to escape alive) but the writing style has fallen apart.
But look. I didn’t hate it. I was frustrated by some parts of it, but I appreciate just how much this book cared.
To this book’s credit, while the brothel had little to do with Hitler himself, the actual story was plenty good. It was compassionate, desensationalised, well-researched, and deeply frightening. I’m still not sure what to make of it.
Hitler’s Brothel is mostly about the occupation of Poland. The SS comes for all the young women in a village, and while they abduct Ania, her sister Danuta manages to escape. Ania is incarcerated at a fictional camp neighbouring Auschwitz, at the brothel set up for the high-ranking workers. Danuta gets involved with the Polish resistance, the other side of the war effort. The framing device is Ania’s life in New Jersey in 2000, where she is married, has friends, a stable life, when she comes into contact with a war criminal from her past. That’s the clickbait story to go with the title
I come from a country where the history books are consumed with a whole host of other horrific events that happened to us from the 1930s to the 1940s. WWII, and the Holocaust, is a sterile monograph in those books. Everything I learnt, I learnt through the movies, other people’s writing, and the Internet.
In short, I’m not at all in a position to say whether Hitler’s Brothel is in respectful or poor taste.
Here’s what I thought from reading it.
It does a phenomenal job of showing the banality of evil. In fact, it did a better job of that than anything else. The third POV character (besides Ania and Danuta) is the camp staff. There is the commandant, Fischer, and his two lackeys: the well-read, educated Schroder, and the opportunistic, cruel Braun. All three are obsessed with glory and greed in their own individual ways, which means three times the vile content you expect from a Nazi unreliable narrator. And the truly chilling thing about them is how they’re neither cartoonish nor evil for the sake of it.
Take Braun, an insecure and violent sadist. He is the textbook example of a flat villain, and even he has reasons for what he does and how he does it. They’re not good reasons, or sympathetic or understandable ones. But there is a very clear connection between how his mind works and the harm he inflicts on other people.
Goddamn Fischer is described as fat, hairy, lecherous, and wants to be called “Baldy” (short for Baldric). And so, his faux-affability makes your skin crawl as he pores over reports and “innovates” ways to “improve” the camp, and “compete” with his rival (Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz). The book even notes that when Germany starts losing the war and the pressure on the camp intensifies, Fischer stops being a bumbling headmaster-like figure and completely unmasks his true colours.
Worst of all, this book understands that while there were many SS officers who were in it for the violence, the vast majority of them were bureaucrats. The way Fischer and Schroder refer to human beings just like them as “units” and “rats” and “index cards” is terrifying. They are so successful in their dehumanisation campaign that it even started to work on me. There were times that my eyes glossed over them talking about “units” and I thought they meant luggage or possessions or lumber from the camp. You know, units of production, rather a person they wanted to murder. The more you repeat propaganda in the most dull, everyday sentences, the more you start to believe it. Lesson learnt first hand.
The other thing that this book does is show that survival and death is a matter of luck. This is why so many movies on the subject discomfit me. (This is why everyone hates Life Is Beautiful.) Because what happened to real people was so incomprehensible, the most publicised stories are about individual exceptionalism. It’s the only way to make sense of the un-understandable. The hero survives through grit, even though they may sacrifice everything else in the process. Hitler’s Brothel (fucking clickbait title!) shows how people can do everything right and still get murdered. People can do everything right but make one mistake, and get murdered. People can be a literal Nazi who grew fat on atrocities, and retire happily. People can be so close to getting out alive, and they don’t. There’s no reason why. There’s nothing anyone could have done “more” or “better”. It made me want to fling my Kindle across the room because setting it on fire wasn’t a good option.
So, yeah. Aside from the spectacularly well-researched angle, I thought the book addressed two of the worst myths that Hollywood has sold to us: that Nazis breathe, sleep and dream evil just because, and that you can survive anything if you have guts and wiles.
That, and Jewish people went passively into the camps and to their deaths. This book doesn’t aggressively tackle that one, but it makes it clear that this wasn’t always the case.
Here’s the parts about the book that I wasn’t sure about.
While it does a genuinely incredible job of showing how the SS functioned, it didn’t bring the same humanity to the inmates of the camps. Those people are a faceless mass of suffering. Suffering that is compassionately described, leaving no room for doubt as to how deep the Nazi rot ran, but they’re just...
They’re just there to tell you that the camps were bad, Nazis were bad, what the Germans did was very fucking bad.
Danuta’s arc involving the Polish resistance is a little slow and on the unexciting side, but it shows us who Danuta is, who Slav and the rest of the resistors are. How far they will go, and how they won’t let anything stop them. Ania’s arc is about a scared teenage girl who suffers brutally but is despised because she doesn’t suffer “as much” as the others (her particular position in the brothel being seen as the “cushy” one). While Ania is living like that, she’s an individual with her own thoughts and fears and hopes. She’s the viewpoint character of worse things happening at the camps to her friends and strangers, and all she feels is guilt.
Then Ania loses her few privileges one by one, and immediately she stops being a character, and just one of thousands suffering the same fate.
I understand this is because it’s hard to write, let alone read. The story’s pacing is also changing and it’s hurtling at breakneck speed towards the end of the war. The practical considerations are real. But it just doesn’t feel right.
Also oh my god the representation of women in this book. From Ania being considered “special” because of her heterochromatic eyes, to Fischer being her “premier” client in the brothel and her gradually enjoying her own sexual proficiency, to the old woman in the liberated camp who finds comfort in the arms of a man for the first time as she dies. All this was probably written with the best possible intentions, but wow did it come out wrong.
This is especially galling because this book could absolutely do better! There are many, many instances when it shows the power of female friendship (present day Ania’s with her best friend, Ania and schoolteacher Emelie who repeatedly tries to protect her, women standing up for women) and there are times when the book forgets that it’s actually good.
My last real complaint is the writing style. While it starts off very strong and escalates rapidly with the horrors of war, it eventually devolves into some hybrid of novel and non-fiction. It reads like creative non-fiction as everything is described in paragraphs of exposition, and the dialogue is in clunky monologues. The content remains as good as ever (or more horrifying as the camp’s officers get increasingly desperate to escape alive) but the writing style has fallen apart.
But look. I didn’t hate it. I was frustrated by some parts of it, but I appreciate just how much this book cared.
November 27, 2025
Resilience, luck and an inner strength was needed to survive the barbaric camps of the holocaust.
People did what they could and against severe odds survived.
Ania was brutally separated from her family and life and made to become a prostitute in the camp.
Being attractive gave her an existence that was not as harsh as some in the way of living conditions but emotionally and physically she endured activities against her will.
Ironically a legitimate concern was that after the war she would be ostracised and be targeted as a collaborator.
The intimate encounters giving her an up close view of her captors.
A tool to exact revenge decades later.
Another very interesting aspect of that dreadful era comes alive in an authentic and harrowing way.
It pays its respects to those that might not get the spotlight and the work they did to survive.
The post war years was quite intense and thought provoking.
Ania had an opportunity to serve justice.
Should she do it or not?
The candle needs to burn for all those souls who endured and died, this portrayal keeps it alive.
People did what they could and against severe odds survived.
Ania was brutally separated from her family and life and made to become a prostitute in the camp.
Being attractive gave her an existence that was not as harsh as some in the way of living conditions but emotionally and physically she endured activities against her will.
Ironically a legitimate concern was that after the war she would be ostracised and be targeted as a collaborator.
The intimate encounters giving her an up close view of her captors.
A tool to exact revenge decades later.
Another very interesting aspect of that dreadful era comes alive in an authentic and harrowing way.
It pays its respects to those that might not get the spotlight and the work they did to survive.
The post war years was quite intense and thought provoking.
Ania had an opportunity to serve justice.
Should she do it or not?
The candle needs to burn for all those souls who endured and died, this portrayal keeps it alive.
November 28, 2020
‘Listen to me, I tell you. I tell you this: she was a good neighbour, a good worker and a good woman.’
The novel opens in New Jersey, USA, on 7 February 2000. Something, involving Stella’s friend Anna, has happened. It looks like she is going to kill someone: who, and why?
The next part of the story takes us back to 9 January 1940, to Zwinbrych in Poland.
Over a period of sixty years, this story will unfold. The story of two sisters from a Polish village in World War II, separated when soldiers came to recruit women for the brothel at the Auschwitz concentration camp. One sister, Ania, was taken while Danuta fled. Danuta was shot and left for dead. When she recovered, she joined the Polish underground to try to find her sister. Ania was one of several women forced into sexual slavery, in a brothel which was set up to ‘reward’ the non-Jewish prisoners. A clever and evil motivational tool which destroyed lives. Those who survived were often shunned and treated as outcasts.
Ania and Danuta set out to survive, hoping one day to be reunited.
I did not know, until I read this novel and then did some research of my own that there was a brothel for the prisoners at Auschwitz. While the brothel was real, Ania and Danuta are fictional.
The story is heartbreaking and yet another reminder of the cruelty and tragedy of war.
This is a thought-provoking novel: both important and difficult to read.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The novel opens in New Jersey, USA, on 7 February 2000. Something, involving Stella’s friend Anna, has happened. It looks like she is going to kill someone: who, and why?
The next part of the story takes us back to 9 January 1940, to Zwinbrych in Poland.
Over a period of sixty years, this story will unfold. The story of two sisters from a Polish village in World War II, separated when soldiers came to recruit women for the brothel at the Auschwitz concentration camp. One sister, Ania, was taken while Danuta fled. Danuta was shot and left for dead. When she recovered, she joined the Polish underground to try to find her sister. Ania was one of several women forced into sexual slavery, in a brothel which was set up to ‘reward’ the non-Jewish prisoners. A clever and evil motivational tool which destroyed lives. Those who survived were often shunned and treated as outcasts.
Ania and Danuta set out to survive, hoping one day to be reunited.
I did not know, until I read this novel and then did some research of my own that there was a brothel for the prisoners at Auschwitz. While the brothel was real, Ania and Danuta are fictional.
The story is heartbreaking and yet another reminder of the cruelty and tragedy of war.
This is a thought-provoking novel: both important and difficult to read.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
January 17, 2021
‘This story is for all the Anna Brenewski’s who suffered in the concentration camps of WWII.’ Steve Matthews
Hitler’s Brothel is the second book from Australian author Steve Matthews. I was immediately intrigued yet disturbed by the title and immediately turned to the author notes to learn there was a brothel in Auschwitz. Indeed, there were brothels in other camps as well. While Hitler’s Brothel is work of fiction, Matthews has weaved his tale around real events. Visiting Auschwitz and meticulous research has allowed Matthews to create a sense of place that leaves the reader feeling both despondent yet hopeful through his protagonists. While the protagonists were young Polish sisters, Ania and Danuta, I deeply felt this was Ania’s story. Perhaps because the inspiration behind Ania is Anna Brenewski, a woman who did what she had to so she could survive Auschwitz.
Hitler’s Brothel starts with a bang on February 7th 2000. Literally. In New Jersey, USA. Ania is about to shoot an old man.
Next, readers find themselves back to 9th January 1940. Ania and Danuta were living in the village of Zwinbrzych, Poland, with their extended family. What started out as an ordinary day quickly turned to tragedy when German soldiers stormed the house. While some of the family were murdered in cold blood, fate had other ideas for Ania and Danuta.
With two different coloured eyes, Ania was an unusual yet beautiful woman. Captured by the Germans, her beauty saved her from hard labour. She was given food and clothing, shelter in Auschwitz but, it all came at a price. Ania was one of a small group of women who lived and worked in the brothel. While this brought some of the women together, Ania’s extra privileges caused a rift, leaving her very much on the outside. As woman in this day and age, the idea is too horrific to contemplate. Reading Ania’s account was every bit the nightmare I thought it to be. In contrast Danuta is lucky to escape the house, only to be shot and left for dead. When she recovered, she tried to find her sister by joining the Polish resistance. Will Ania and Danutia find each other again?
With a bump, readers return to 2000….Will Ania kill the old man?
Hitler’s Brothel is a reminder that there is still so much more to learn about the past. It is a must read for fans of historical fiction.
Hitler’s Brothel is the second book from Australian author Steve Matthews. I was immediately intrigued yet disturbed by the title and immediately turned to the author notes to learn there was a brothel in Auschwitz. Indeed, there were brothels in other camps as well. While Hitler’s Brothel is work of fiction, Matthews has weaved his tale around real events. Visiting Auschwitz and meticulous research has allowed Matthews to create a sense of place that leaves the reader feeling both despondent yet hopeful through his protagonists. While the protagonists were young Polish sisters, Ania and Danuta, I deeply felt this was Ania’s story. Perhaps because the inspiration behind Ania is Anna Brenewski, a woman who did what she had to so she could survive Auschwitz.
Hitler’s Brothel starts with a bang on February 7th 2000. Literally. In New Jersey, USA. Ania is about to shoot an old man.
Next, readers find themselves back to 9th January 1940. Ania and Danuta were living in the village of Zwinbrzych, Poland, with their extended family. What started out as an ordinary day quickly turned to tragedy when German soldiers stormed the house. While some of the family were murdered in cold blood, fate had other ideas for Ania and Danuta.
With two different coloured eyes, Ania was an unusual yet beautiful woman. Captured by the Germans, her beauty saved her from hard labour. She was given food and clothing, shelter in Auschwitz but, it all came at a price. Ania was one of a small group of women who lived and worked in the brothel. While this brought some of the women together, Ania’s extra privileges caused a rift, leaving her very much on the outside. As woman in this day and age, the idea is too horrific to contemplate. Reading Ania’s account was every bit the nightmare I thought it to be. In contrast Danuta is lucky to escape the house, only to be shot and left for dead. When she recovered, she tried to find her sister by joining the Polish resistance. Will Ania and Danutia find each other again?
With a bump, readers return to 2000….Will Ania kill the old man?
Hitler’s Brothel is a reminder that there is still so much more to learn about the past. It is a must read for fans of historical fiction.
January 18, 2021
If you are looking for a well researched historical novel, then don’t go past Hitler’s Brothel.
Australian author Steve Matthews has written a good rollicking tome that draws the reader in quickly. He brings readers to a final dilemma that none of us would want. Along the way, Matthew’s tale follows the story of a Polish teenager who falls victim to the Wehrmacht during a time when lives were cheap and easily taken.
A brothel for Hitler? What better way to spur on workers in concentration camps and reward officials!
Matthews has a delicate way of describing events within the brothel as he concentrates on the German machinations that brought it into existence and the various power brokers.
Worth the read and a good example of how deep research can turn a work of fiction into a believable account of some of history’s darkest days.
Christopher J. Holcroft
Australian author Steve Matthews has written a good rollicking tome that draws the reader in quickly. He brings readers to a final dilemma that none of us would want. Along the way, Matthew’s tale follows the story of a Polish teenager who falls victim to the Wehrmacht during a time when lives were cheap and easily taken.
A brothel for Hitler? What better way to spur on workers in concentration camps and reward officials!
Matthews has a delicate way of describing events within the brothel as he concentrates on the German machinations that brought it into existence and the various power brokers.
Worth the read and a good example of how deep research can turn a work of fiction into a believable account of some of history’s darkest days.
Christopher J. Holcroft
April 6, 2021
I have read a lot of holocaust stories and never thought there would be a brothel in a concentration camp. This story is heartbreaking from the first page to the last which is very descriptive and horrifying at times. Definitely not a story for the faint hearted. A well written story that I couldn't put down.
January 26, 2023
I’m a huge fan of historical fiction, it’s one of my favourite genres. However I found this one particularly interesting as it’s from a point of view I have not yet read from before.
We follow 2 sisters, Ania and Danuta, who are brutally separated in tragic circumstances by war. One is imprisoned by the germans, destined to be the star attraction in the new camp project brothel; the other escapes and is on the run, joining the Polish underground plotting revenge; both fighting the cause in their own way, both doing what they must to survive for each other.
The story floats between both Ania and Danuta and the ordeals each faced, and you cannot help but be captivated by the level of courage they both displayed. They both were determined to challenge their own fate with their one shared focus of becoming reunited with each other. Unknown to the sisters, it is challenging and also heartbreaking for the reader turning the pages to know how close by and connected each of them in fact were. And when you get to their reunion.. it will leave you utterly speechless.
Even though this book is inspired by true events, beyond imaginable, I was so drawn and captivated by the way this was written. I didn’t want to believe it was real. It hurt, it made me sad. Parts were infact nauseating to digest. It was factual, yet memoir like. It was detailed in such a way that you almost felt part of it. And it felt more real and close to home in a sense for me by the simple fact that I’m female and this is written through the lens view of two women.
The black and white images separating each section of the book were intense and somewhat shocking. Some made me swallow big, others gave me goosebumps. This really amplified the horrific events occurring between the pages for me.
Both sisters faced very different fates, yet both challenging in their own rights. I don’t think either was better or worse than the other. The subdued sacrifice required by either path would have needed much strength and courage to partake.. it would have been so easy to just give up.
I wanna touch on the concept of a war time brothel, one of imprisonment. I’m sure they existed, but this is my first time reading of one and the way they went about it was chilling. A hunt of a different kind. A hunt for desire.. for pleasure. Based on looks and sex, not race or religion. Quite conflicting and deceptive when compared to the bigger Hitler mission.
The intense ending reeked of revenge. An entire life’s worth of angst lived, unravelled.. undone in a split second.. in a bang. It was a sliding door moment. The past colliding with the now. An opportunity too good to be missed. The changing of power. I’m signing off this review with one final comment.. She did her sister proud.
Dark, deceptive and grippingly horrific.
December 6, 2021
The story started good and intriguing but when I got halfway through the book I became so annoyed about the many historical factual inaccuracies I couldn't be bothered continuing. Also almost all German words and expressions, very simple ones, were incorrect which was also irritating.
Read
February 5, 2022Did not finish.
I couldn’t get into this book at all. I tried reading it every day for six days in a row; but the writing was verbose and far too drawn out to hold my interest. I got to the end of chapter ten but just couldn’t go any further.
I couldn’t get into this book at all. I tried reading it every day for six days in a row; but the writing was verbose and far too drawn out to hold my interest. I got to the end of chapter ten but just couldn’t go any further.
April 16, 2021
Gripping stuff! Can't wait for more from this author!
January 27, 2021
Wow. What an emotional and brutal read. I don’t think I’ve come across a novel so incredibly well researched before. You’d be forgiven for forgetting that 𝗛𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗹 is indeed fiction. Despite the harrowing and heartbreaking scenes, I could not put it down.
As a massive history buff, I personally found the intricate details compelling and necessary to achieve what makes this novel so great. Without them, it would be just another story of the Nazi occupation.
I’ve not read much on the Polish Underground and I found that fascinating. I think a lot of people tend to forget that it wasn’t just Germany that was affected, but Poland and the majority of Eastern Europe also.
I think what I liked most about this story, is the multiple narratives. You get a look inside the characters, from prisoner, Nazi, resistance.
I highly recommend this novel if you’re wanting something intense and richly paced. And please, do read the author notes at the end for an insight into why he wrote this book and the research he undertook - including visits to the concentration camps.
As a massive history buff, I personally found the intricate details compelling and necessary to achieve what makes this novel so great. Without them, it would be just another story of the Nazi occupation.
I’ve not read much on the Polish Underground and I found that fascinating. I think a lot of people tend to forget that it wasn’t just Germany that was affected, but Poland and the majority of Eastern Europe also.
I think what I liked most about this story, is the multiple narratives. You get a look inside the characters, from prisoner, Nazi, resistance.
I highly recommend this novel if you’re wanting something intense and richly paced. And please, do read the author notes at the end for an insight into why he wrote this book and the research he undertook - including visits to the concentration camps.
Read
September 3, 2020Steve Matthews’ “Hitler’s Brothel” is a great read from cover to cover.
I was kept in suspense as time and again he kept me guessing as to which way the story was heading. I did not want to put the book down.
I found it particularly interesting as it is based on very sad actual historical events and it kept me wondering about what I would do if I was in the situation that the characters were facing.
After reading “Hitler’s Brothel” I am looking forward to reading Steve’s other work.
Highly recommended.
Ian Irvine
I was kept in suspense as time and again he kept me guessing as to which way the story was heading. I did not want to put the book down.
I found it particularly interesting as it is based on very sad actual historical events and it kept me wondering about what I would do if I was in the situation that the characters were facing.
After reading “Hitler’s Brothel” I am looking forward to reading Steve’s other work.
Highly recommended.
Ian Irvine
February 5, 2021
Engaging! Combing well researched history and creating fictional characters results in a great read. Horrendous survival stories with a nice twist to end
September 14, 2021
*Potential spoilers marked as such
It had been a while since I’d seen anything unique relating to Hitler/WWII/Holocaust, but then this novel came up on my feed. The title obviously lures you in, but what’s inside keeps you entertained. Two sisters, the Polish resistance, a commandant, numerous SS guards, an old man in a retirement home... The concentration camp brothel was new to me and a fascinating storyline. We also get the warm, yet tragic tale of two sisters’ ironclad bond. Finally, the biggest stars of the show for me were the representations of the SS guards, each vile and despicable in their own ways. The vivid descriptions of their desperate acts during and after the war and the insights into their motives and personalities were unlike anything I’ve ever read. A story that truly shows the horrors of this life, while also giving us factual tidbits and an exciting story that keeps you enthralled. Like many other novels related to these topics, you place yourself in each precarious situation and wonder what you would do if you were there. Another welcome addition to the WWII shelf.
*
*
POTENTIAL SPOILERS
Fischer was a standout character for me... his desperation to be Hitler’s prized pig was astonishing and so well-written. Even the big bad commandant he claimed to be needed that validation and “love” from his twisted role model.
One of my favorite series of scenes in the novel was all of the different SS guards and their plans to escape capture at the end of the war and attempt to lead a normal life after running these death camps and taking part in these atrocities. They were all shrunken down to scared little children tripping over themselves and conjuring up elaborate, far-fetched plans just to try and see another day. There’s something extremely justifying in reading about these men trembling in fear. That was an aspect I had not really seen in various accounts of WWII/Nazis/the Holocaust, so it was fascinating. Especially satisfying was when our dear friend, Braun, who thought he so slyly escaped it all, was met with his fate in the best way possible.
The constant turns of events in Danuta and Ania’s lives kept the story so interesting and, as I referenced above, made me think of what I would if I were in their shoes... I am still at a loss for an answer. Would I have joined the brothel for an “easy” time at the camps? Would I have joined the Polish resistance? Would I have gotten into a relationship with and slept with a German guard knowing what was going on? Would I have had the guts to bring Braun to his end? Also, the couple instances of missed connections for the two throughout the story, and the ultimate a-ha moment bringing them together, had my heart racing.
Also, justice for Schole. Obviously still an evil SS guard, but a tiny bit more human than the rest.
It had been a while since I’d seen anything unique relating to Hitler/WWII/Holocaust, but then this novel came up on my feed. The title obviously lures you in, but what’s inside keeps you entertained. Two sisters, the Polish resistance, a commandant, numerous SS guards, an old man in a retirement home... The concentration camp brothel was new to me and a fascinating storyline. We also get the warm, yet tragic tale of two sisters’ ironclad bond. Finally, the biggest stars of the show for me were the representations of the SS guards, each vile and despicable in their own ways. The vivid descriptions of their desperate acts during and after the war and the insights into their motives and personalities were unlike anything I’ve ever read. A story that truly shows the horrors of this life, while also giving us factual tidbits and an exciting story that keeps you enthralled. Like many other novels related to these topics, you place yourself in each precarious situation and wonder what you would do if you were there. Another welcome addition to the WWII shelf.
*
*
POTENTIAL SPOILERS
Fischer was a standout character for me... his desperation to be Hitler’s prized pig was astonishing and so well-written. Even the big bad commandant he claimed to be needed that validation and “love” from his twisted role model.
One of my favorite series of scenes in the novel was all of the different SS guards and their plans to escape capture at the end of the war and attempt to lead a normal life after running these death camps and taking part in these atrocities. They were all shrunken down to scared little children tripping over themselves and conjuring up elaborate, far-fetched plans just to try and see another day. There’s something extremely justifying in reading about these men trembling in fear. That was an aspect I had not really seen in various accounts of WWII/Nazis/the Holocaust, so it was fascinating. Especially satisfying was when our dear friend, Braun, who thought he so slyly escaped it all, was met with his fate in the best way possible.
The constant turns of events in Danuta and Ania’s lives kept the story so interesting and, as I referenced above, made me think of what I would if I were in their shoes... I am still at a loss for an answer. Would I have joined the brothel for an “easy” time at the camps? Would I have joined the Polish resistance? Would I have gotten into a relationship with and slept with a German guard knowing what was going on? Would I have had the guts to bring Braun to his end? Also, the couple instances of missed connections for the two throughout the story, and the ultimate a-ha moment bringing them together, had my heart racing.
Also, justice for Schole. Obviously still an evil SS guard, but a tiny bit more human than the rest.
February 23, 2021
Polish sisters Ania and Danuta become separated when the Germans invade their homeland. Ania is forced to work in a brothel at a concentration camp and Danuta joins the Polish underground.
This is another insight into the atrocities and depravations that occurred during WWII. Although this novel is fiction a brothel did in fact exist at Auschwitz. At times I recoiled and had difficulty continuing to read (nail to the eye) but at other times I felt the writing did not adequately portray the horror and extent of trauma the prisoners were experiencing. In particular I felt Ania's treatment by Fisher was glossed over. On other occassions I felt situations were manipulated to easily to fit in with the plot. This is a quick read.
This is another insight into the atrocities and depravations that occurred during WWII. Although this novel is fiction a brothel did in fact exist at Auschwitz. At times I recoiled and had difficulty continuing to read (nail to the eye) but at other times I felt the writing did not adequately portray the horror and extent of trauma the prisoners were experiencing. In particular I felt Ania's treatment by Fisher was glossed over. On other occassions I felt situations were manipulated to easily to fit in with the plot. This is a quick read.
July 22, 2021
A tale of two sisters from rural Poland, who’s lives were abruptly torn apart by the German invasion and their incredible journey for survival until liberation and eventually settlement in the US. Two starkly different paths but both journeys entwined with hardship, sorrow, living in fear and incredible cruelty. One ray of light was the bond and friendships that grew amongst survivors, that unspoken loyalty, that gave them both the strength and need to survive. The tragedy of this story was when the sisters finally met again, years later in very stressful, horrific, sad circumstances. This story needed to be told, whilst inspired by true events, the reality of WW2 is something each and everyone of us, should continue to read about in years to come, so history is not forgotten.
October 6, 2021
I have read many books on the halocaust and nothing surprises me anymore. At times I had to remind myself that some of the story was fictional and that was purely based on the fact that the parts that were the truth were well researched and the parts that were made up to fit were propabably not that far from the truth either. I'll always value the stories told from the survivors in a very special place in my heart but I admire anyone willing to continue to spread word on the topic. It is something that should never be forgotten. A mistake so grave made in history that it is the responsibility of future generations to speak, teach and remind people to never forget what happened.
April 30, 2021
I had a love/ hate thing going on with this novel. I loved it because it wad enthralling, suspenseful, gripping, emotional. But I hated it because I knew it was based on true stories, true events & a whole generation of real families killed, maimed for the sake of war & mens egos.
But again, Hilter's Brothel made me feel interested, empathy, pain & lots of other emotions. Very rarely, after finishing a book, I read 'About the Author' & 'Author's Notes' ,I did this time. His notes have given me a insight into the extent of research Steve Matthews gave to this novel.
But again, Hilter's Brothel made me feel interested, empathy, pain & lots of other emotions. Very rarely, after finishing a book, I read 'About the Author' & 'Author's Notes' ,I did this time. His notes have given me a insight into the extent of research Steve Matthews gave to this novel.
February 9, 2025
Wow! What a powerful story. Thank you Steve Matthews. My tears flowed to the very last page. I have read quite a bit of fiction around the holocaust but this was the first time I had heard of the brothel at Auschwitz. I always find the holocaust stories to be a difficult read in terms of the content and the atrocities that occurred, but what a fascinating insight into these horrendous times and I will definitely be reading the books which follow.
July 21, 2025
The book is really good. I always want more detail and thought a lot of things could be more fleshed out but that makes a longer story of course. As far as the audiobook by audible, I thought it wasn’t great and read like a robot mostly.
The writing sometimes chops me changes it seemed but may have been the readers style. Third person to first person in thoughts was not clarified most of the time.
The writing sometimes chops me changes it seemed but may have been the readers style. Third person to first person in thoughts was not clarified most of the time.
May 18, 2021
A fascinating read about little known aspect of the Holocaust camps, but while supposedly based on fact, one glaring error stood out - the liberation of Auschwitz by the British? Camps in Poland were of course liberated by the Russians - British troops never got anywhere near Poland. Apart from that, a riveting read, well written, albeit about a sickening episode.
i-refuse-to-read-this-shit
February 28, 2023This is a book that made me start a new shelf: I refuse to read this shit.
To understand why I will not read this: if the Auschwitz Memorial tells you it is a disgrace, why would you ever support it?
Here is a review by an actual, knowledgeable person, provided by the Auschwitz Memorial itself:
https://viewer.joomag.com/memoria-en-...
To understand why I will not read this: if the Auschwitz Memorial tells you it is a disgrace, why would you ever support it?
Here is a review by an actual, knowledgeable person, provided by the Auschwitz Memorial itself:
https://viewer.joomag.com/memoria-en-...
December 3, 2023
I didn’t quite know what to expect when diving into this book. What an absolute roller coaster ride of emotions. A fictional story based off of true horrific events. Ania’s story is utterly heart wrenching. Danuta’s on the other hand is more hopeful and gives us a break from the grievances that poor Ania is faced with until she’s not..
Terrifies me to think of what people are capable of.
Terrifies me to think of what people are capable of.
March 16, 2024
Really insightful take on the Holocaust. Extremely moving and I definitely shed a few tears along the way. A truly harrowing account of the suffering that had to be endured during the Second World War.
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