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Gwen Strauss

Biography

Gwen Strauss

Gwen Strauss' poems, short stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals, including The New Republic, London Sunday Times, New England Review and Kenyon Review, and she has published a collection of poetry, TRAIL OF STONES. She was born and spent her early years in Haiti. Strauss lives in Southern France, where she is the Director of the artist's residency program at the Dora Maar House.

Gwen Strauss

Books by Gwen Strauss

The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
by Gwen Strauss - History, Nonfiction

THE NINE follows the true story of Gwen Strauss' great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a 10-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris. Arrested by French police, they were interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points --- in prison, in transit and at Ravensbrück. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.