Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the TerezÃn ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in … that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.
Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.
This title has Common Core connections.
Godwin Books
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It is not a one-time act of people in situations where despair and loss of hope for life are supposed to prevail, and then even the irrational moments of courage come. Moments and little acts, such that we don’t also consider dangerous actions today that might have caused your death at the time. As in the dangerous ghettos and other death camps, here again, in this story, there is the recurring motif which is a parable of the resistance of the spirit. This is a story about a period, a terrible event in human history and one young girl symbolizing the world’s opposition to evil. This is a much larger story than the writer’s words can describe. But when I look inside the plot of the book, at the heart of this story and not all the periodic inferno surrounding it – I find a moving book, written attractively and mainly a documentary diary of tens of thousands of people named in the name of one girl.
The Librarian of Auschwitz is the true story of Dita Kraus, a young Czech girl first sent to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during WWII. She was subsequently transferred to Birkenau, or Auschwitz II. During that time, she took custody of, and protected a few books, as the treasure they were in a place like that. It is fictionalized and envisioned as far as the details of dialogue and circumstances go, but is still true. The author, Antonio Iturbe, is Spanish and met and interviewed Dita as an older woman. I found the book was good, and valuable for history, but after a lot of details, it wrapped up quickly like a roller coaster, as if the ending were an epilogue of sorts. I would normally give the writing a four-stars, however the English version is a translation and not the original, so I have to presume the original in Spanish was better. It’s a recommend, but only for those who are interested in Holocaust memoirs, of which there are so many out there.
interesting perspective of the times and realistic storytelling of a very sad time in our history.
supposedly written for teens but definitely for adults as well.
It was very good I loved it. Fun to read I like how it was written from different people’s points of view.
Who knew that the prisoners at Auschwitz were able to hide a small library of 8 books to use in schooling the children and encouraging others?! Dangerous? Yes!
But hope is necessary to survive in such terrible circumstances. This was written by a man who spent extensive time with the actual “librarian”, who was only 14 years old when she courageously served. He also did extensive research and incorporated material from other sources. I’ve read many WWII books, but this one was different and, while not always easy reading, was worth the read.
If you are interested in the WWII and the horrors of the Germans towards the Jews, you will want to read this book. It vividly presents the existence of the Jews in the concentration camps while showing the lies portrayed to the rest of the world through “happy children” in a day program. The librarian secretly guarded the very few books they read and reread in the program. I highly recommend this book.
True story –
excellent and inspirational Good insights to the horrors of the Holocaust
As with all books on this subject I am always moved and inspired to learn of the level of human suffering and the power of the human spirit.
very informative and well written
Great story of a tragic time, on the scene storyline.
I was looking forward to reading this book and I have to say I was very disappointed in this book. I found it confusing, not entertaining, could not relate to the characters, and I was not excited to continue reading this book. There are so many other holocaust books that I found much more entertaining!
I love books like this! This by far is one that I couldn’t put down!
I recommend this to everyone!!!
This book tells the sad truths of Auschwitz. It also show the hope that those people had and shared in a hopeless situation.
Obviously a take off on The Tattoist of Auschwitz. Still a good story. Easy read
It was a real education about the German death camps during WWII. This should be read by anyone who did not live at that time.
I really liked this book.
It floors me every time I read about the how the Jewish people were treated and how the Germans people could do this to any people!
VERY disappointing. Could not get interested in the story. The author just keeps repeating herself over and over. Finally, just gave up on it. NOT recommended.