The German Sisters

AMIDST HITLER’S RISE, TWO SISTERS FIND THEMSELVES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WAR, SEPARATED BY AN OCEAN AND DECADES OF SILENCE. BUT A CHILD REMAINS THEIR LAST, SECRET BOND.

Gerda is thirteen when Hitler takes office; Ilse, eleven. While Gerda grows disillusioned by Nazism, Ilse becomes a follower: The Führer’s voice on the radio is like a drug to her. At fifteen, Ilse is honored to be sent to Year on the Land, an indoctrination program meant to produce mothers who embrace the regime’s catchphrase Kinder, Küche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church) and boost the Aryan birth rate.

There, Ilse falls in love with a boy from a nearby camp and becomes pregnant. Dreading the consequences of her pregnancy, she surprises her estranged sister at the train station, handing her an infant, just as Gerda and her new husband are fleeing the regime.

Years after the war, burdened by memories of glorifying Nazism, Ilse must both confront her schoolgirl self, naively caught up in fascism’s false promises, and face the daughter she gave away. 

Emotionally resonant and deeply relevant, this evocative novel offers a window into the experiences of millions of German citizens under Hitler—their indoctrination, resistance, and lifelong regrets. The German Sisters explores how ordinary lives are transformed by extraordinary times—and whether love can survive history’s deepest betrayals.