After her mother died Eva Taylor discovered a collection of letters and other items which revealed to her what her mother did during WW2 and what happened to her. Sabine’s War is the story of a brave woman caught up in events beyond her control and a life that was affected but what she did and saw. It’s not always an easy read but it is well evidenced by the documents uncovered by her daughter and is not romanticised in any way.
Sabine was a young Dutch woman of 22 who joined the Resistance when her country was invaded. She gathered information and hid those avoiding the German authorities. She was eventually betrayed and captured and spent the rest of the war in three concentration camps. Sabine was not a Jew so she wasn’t sent to the Death Camps but she was brutally interrogated on several occasions and many of those who had done the same work as she had were executed.
Sabine’s life was out of her control and, of course, she had no idea how long the war would last. Her daily life in the camps was difficult, she had to do hard, physical labour, and death was all around her. Her first love was shot down with his Spitfire over France and killed. A new love was executed by the Germans. She had to smuggle out letters to her family, many of which her daughter found.
In the end what saved Sabine were the attentions of a German prisoner, a professional criminal, who was infatuated by her. As the regime of the camp made her unwell he smuggled clothes and food to help her survive – many of his letters were found by Sabine’s daughter and extracts appear in the book.
This is a short but important book and a tribute to Sabine by a daughter who didn’t always understand her while she was alive.
Anne Is Reading 