Gill Turner

A Will to Survive: Ewa's Story Gill Turner

I realised that we would never have a future in this godforsaken place. One by one we would gradually die. We were always hungry as we never had enough to eat and we had little hope of ever leaving. I became so desperate I knew I had to do something about our situation. As a young girl, Ewa Lugwiga Cisalowicz was turned out of her Polish family home by invading Soviet soldiers in 1939. For the next five years, her family were transported to various labour camps under Stalin's rule. The conditions were so appalling that every day was a struggle to survive. With five younger siblings to feed, as well as her mother and father, starvation was at the forefront of Ewa's mind. In desperation, she learned how to forage in the forest to help feed her family, knowing that if she had been caught, she would have been shot. This true story about life in the most desperate of times is as moving as it is compelling. Ewa's spirit, determination and positive outlook serve as a wonderful inspiration and her strength shines through the prose. Pick this book up to marvel, cry and rejoice as one of the grimmest periods of recent history is narrated first-hand.