The German Midwife: A Novel

The German Midwife is a first novel by Mandy Robotham. For a first novel, this is fantastic. it definitely has a different plot from any other book written about Eva Braun that I have read. Although it is a novel, it reads like a true story. The details are stupendous and it shows thorough research into the Berghof and the life of Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler. The premise of the book brings up a question that I have often wondered about myself. What if Hitler had a son? Anke Hoff was a German midwife who worked in a hospital in Berlin. She was well thought of by her peers and much wanted by women who were pregnant. She had a different view of childbirth than did many other midwives or doctors. She relied on the Mother’s body to tell her what was needed by the Mother and what the next step was. Her calm demeanor calmed the most nervous of mothers. However, Anke did not adhere to the beliefs of the Nazi party. She did not differentiate between Germans and Jews to help. She would go into the ghetto area and help Jews just as fast as she would help German Mothers. This brought her up against the Gestapo and landed her family- Father, Mother, Brother, and Sister- in the camps. Her family did not adhere to the beliefs of the Nazi Party either and probably would have been swept up sooner or later. When she helped the women in the camp she was placed in, she did the best she could to make sure the babies lived. She refrained from killing them after birth. That was one thing she could not do. However, she and her helpers made footprints of the babies and cut a lock of their hair as a token for their mother so the child would not be forgotten. One day, she was told to go to the Commandant’s office. Here she was told she was leaving in an hour for a special assignment. That gave her time to turn her job over to a friend and to say goodbye. Then she was whisked off to attend a high-ranking Nazi woman who was pregnant. This woman was Eva Braun and the Father was Adolf Hitler! The book is intriguing and definitely keeps your attention. It is very difficult to put down for any reason. Mandy Robotham just pulls you into the story until you feel you are right there with them.

The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham has this as one of its descriptors: “A new historical romance for 2019.” That description, clearly stated on the novel’s Amazon page, slipped by me entirely. I don’t read anything with “romance” in a novel’s description. What hooked me was a comparison to “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” something I had listened to as an audiobook. The comparison was good. One was a compelling read, the other a compelling listen. If I had known some of the descriptions I would encounter in this novel; I probably would not have read it. My fault. With the word “Midwife” in the title, I should have expected some of the very clinical, detailed depictions of a difficult childbirth. I attended several of the births of my children, but as a male, there is no way I was prepared for several of the descriptions of difficult birth I read in this novel. Although several women may read this work with the attitude of “Yep, been there, done that,” there is another set of gruesome descriptions that should not resonate with most women. Most of this work deals with Angke’s work in German prison camps during WW II. Angke was originally a German prisoner trying to stay under the radar and survive by doing low-level, unimportant work while incarcerated. She was a German “political” prisoner as was her father, mother, sister, and brother. Considered politically unreliable because they did not join the Nazi party and spoke out against ever constricting social laws, the family was imprisoned in three different prison camps. Angke was jailed separately. There was an instance when a woman about to give birth was in great pain and difficulty. In trying to help her, Angke revealed her training as a midwife and after that became one. Then the horrors began. We know today of the Holocaust; we have witness testimony from the Nuremberg trials. It seems like every horror imaginable became a reality. Still, there were elements of the horrors from that time depicted in this novel that were new to me. The author tells us that this is a work of fiction and there are important elements of the novel I am sure are fiction. But there are others that I accept because of prior knowledge of similar horrors revealed through documentary evidence. Most revolve around the fates of mothers and children after the birth of a child. Women in the camp who were German gave birth under difficult conditions with little to no medicine. Forget anesthesia; there was no medicine to deal with post birth injuries that might occur to a woman. All prisoners were malnourished; the degree to which this affected a woman’s health at birth depended on when they arrived in the camp and how long they had been there. It was obvious that some of the women became pregnant through rape by the guards. For German prisoners, women could keep their babies for a limited number of days. The infants were then moved to a nursery where they were uncared for, unfed, and stacked in rooms without heat. Most died. It was different for Jewish women. Babies were removed from their mothers within the first hour after birth and thrown into barrels of icy water or, in some cases, hurled against the sides of the barrels. For this novel, the author suggests that these executions were carried out by especially sadistic guards and, in one case, a criminal prisoner who enjoyed killing children. Fiction, but believable. Although all of this is horrible to read, it gets worse but in a more abstract way. Angke is good at her job. Although not Jewish, she willingly and with empathy, helps Jewish prisoners. Angke believes that all life is sacred, especially the lives of innocent children. Officials noted her skills. When a very special German important person gets pregnant, Angke is drafted to attend the important person. She is not given a choice; one camp official notes that if Angke does not perform well, her family’s treatment in two other camps will become significantly worse. Angke will move out of the camp into “The Berghof” and will become the personal attending midwife to Eva Braun, girlfriend/partner/confidant of Adolf Hitler. She may even meet the Father of her Country when he occasionally visits Eva. Eva will constantly be under guard of course. Most of the guards will be typical Nazi scum, but there will be a handsome SS officer. Of course, there must be romance somewhere; the Amazon page says so. Angke has a huge problem. Already anti-Nazi, she will now be responsible for bringing the spawn of Hitler into the world. Might the child carry some cruelty gene that would perpetuate chaos in the world? Even if that were not true, could the child be manipulated by others to be a Hitler clone? Could Angke save the world by terminating Eva’s pregnancy? Does she have a responsibility to do this? So many questions. The author will offer some answers along with some surprises. I will not even explore the romance element. Readers might guess where it is going. I find it extremely unrealistic, and it made the novel a four Amazon star read for me. This novel has a strong story very well done even though the romance element is unbelievable. Author Robotham emphasizes this is a work of fiction. I found most of the fiction in the romance element. That is not a good thing because everything outside the romance element almost qualifies as horror. It is a fast read that I considered a page-turner. I read it in one session and will read more by this author. It sells on Amazon for USD 0.99, and I would have paid a lot more.

What if Eva Braun were pregnant with none other than the child of the Fuhrer himself, Hitler? What if you could sneak a peek inside Hitler’s secluded home in the mountains of Bavaria where his fiancé Eva lived in safety while thousands were suffering and dying at the direction of her lover? What if you could get a glimpse of what their relationship might have looked like? What if a young woman imprisoned in Auschwitz were hand selected to attend the privileged Eva throughout her pregnancy, then safely deliver the baby? What if you could follow on this momentous journey of a midwife, pulled from the bowels of hell where her family still remained, and observe the relationship between the infamous mother-to-be and herself, the midwife? What would you do if the future heir of the devil himself were in your hands? This book will capture your imagination and have it running wild. Filled with horror and heartbreak, inhumanity and empathy, corruption and ethicality, this is a wonderful example of what a creative imagination and good storytelling is all about.

I bought this after reading and much enjoying The Berlin Girl. I ordered several others by this author including A Woman of War which it transpires is The German Midwife under another title. The book under either title is worth the read. It is well written and easily read. Recommended.

This was a great book, engaging from first to last. It presents a very good possibility of "what could have been." The characters were well done, I could "see" and "hear" them all very well as I was reading the story. I found them credible and interesting. There was a lot of interesting information about midwifery. This story didn't drag at any point. I have read a great many WW2 novels and this rates up there as one of the better ones.

Wirklich, fesselnd und großartig!!

The collaboration and moral support amongst the inmates in the camps is so commendable. Survival was a common focus. It is amazing the thinking and ensuing actions that are taken to maintain this goal.

This was a really good book but intriguing if you really want realism about Nazi Germany. I liked the story lines and character development