Iturbe, Antonio The Librarian of Auschwitz, 432 pages. Translated by Lilit Zekulin. Henry Holt (Macmillan), 2017. $20. Language: R (25+ swears, 2 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (innuendos of prostitution); Violence: PG-13 (Holocaust tortures, deaths)

When Dita and her family are moved from the walled Terezin ghetto to the barracks of Auschwitz, Dita finds a place for herself in Alfred Hirsch’s secret classes for the children of Auschwitz. Her job is to care for the eight printed books and the “living” books (teachers who can tell a vivid remembered story of a book) that the prisoners managed to sneak pass the guards. Interwoven with the story of Dita and the books are the atrocities and cruelties of life in the camps and Dita’s life after she manages to survive long enough for liberation after she is transferred to Bergen-Belsen.

Based on the life of Dita Kraus, a Holocaust survivor, Iturbe adds to the stark, gruesome knowledge that we have of the conditions of survival in the camps. I have been to Terezin in the Czech Republic and Dachau, but I can still only imagine how difficult it was to survive. This will be a pretty challenging book for even a high school student to read, but so interesting.

HS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

The holocaust is always a difficult topic to talk about but it is a very important one that more students need to know about I feel. This book does a perfect job of making you feel for the main character and put you in the face of real events.

The Librarian of Auschwitz – Antonio Iturbe (translated by Lilit Thwaites)

You probs already know this, but I will read anything and everything about the events of WW2, the rise of the Nazis and the extraordinary bravery displayed by those that were persecuted under Hitler, so naturally when I saw this, I had to pick it up. Also, its a translation and I’ve never read anything that wasn’t originally published in English before. (At least I don’t think I have…)

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 Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror 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 is a mostly fictionalised account of the lives of a selected number of prisoners living in the family camp that was created as part of Auschwitz-Birkenhau, it features some of the notable inmates that I learned about when I visited a few years ago (maybe that’s a story for another time) as well as some of the more infamous names from the SS. It mostly follows the story of Fredy Hirsch, who managed to convince the commanders to allow him to set up a school in the camp and into which some books were smuggled, which were looked after by 14 year old Dita. Most of the inhabitants of this part of the camp were arrivals which had been marked for ‘special treatment’ and was one of the few places where children were allowed to live, rather than being sent straight to their deaths. It was a place of particular interest to Dr Mengele, who if you haven’t heard of, I recommend looking up, especially if you need a face to put to the word evil.

Like I said at the beginning, this version is a translation, so there are a few moments that feel like they’ve lost their context or features a strange word choice, I kind of wish I was more proficient with languages so I could read the original, but alas, languages aren’t really something that schools focus on in England. More’s the pity. I think this might be the first book I’ve ever read that has been translated into English and I’d love to expand my reading habits into more translated books if any of ya’ll can think of some to recommend.

The Librarian of Auschwitz is endlessly fascinating and heartbreaking and bitter sweet. It gives a detailed account of camp life and is unapologetic in its telling of the more harrowing moments the prisoner’s endured there. We learn about these incredibly brave people, like Fredy Hirsch, who wanted to make life as normal for the children in his care as possible and like Dita Kraus, who miraculously managed to survive the camps and after the war made her way to Israel. I wish there were more books like this telling the stories of those who were voiceless for so long and it is so important that we remember and we learn from these events, so we can make sure that such horrors are not repeated.
It is certainly a great book for those studying the period or with a particular interest in Nazi Germany and the occupation of Europe, it’s also interesting as many of the characters you come across in this book are of Romani descent, as well as Jewish and it also gives a little insight into places like Prague, which are often left out of history lessons.

This was a very interesting and difficult story to read, because of the atrocities that Dita Kraus experiences. This is more than just a historical fiction novel there are frequent asides to elaborate on other events or famous prisoners/people who were near the events of this novel.

The Librarian of Auschwitz is based upon a true story. I was truly moved by all that the prisoners had to endure. The story follows the life of Dita. A young woman who is selected to be the librarian of the eight books that the "school" possesses. And, then.. there are the living books. Teachers who vividly recall a book that they've read and re-read over the years and now, tell that story to the children in the "school" in Auschwitz.

Dita is part of a special transport of Jews to Auschwitz. The Nazis are prepared to show the Red Cross at anytime.. that the Jews who are moved from their homes to the ghetto.. and then Auschwitz are still very much alive and living a normal life. Of course, they don't call them prisoners.. they call them detainees. It is due to the fact that the Red Cross may request to visit this select group.. that this specific Jewish group of prisoners are safe from the showers and furnaces.

Books are forbidden for Jews by the Nazis. Books are knowledge. And, knowledge is something the Nazis do not want getting out into the populace. For the government that controls knowledge, fair news and books.. controls the people.

The main goal of the teachers at the "school" is to hide that they are actually teaching the children how to read and write. The only thing that they are supposed to be doing.. is allowing the children to play games and draw pictures. The Angel of Death aka Mengale.. likes to have the children occasionally come to his "lab" so that he can do "tests" that will satisfy whatever twisted theory the madman could think up and carry out his experiments.

This is a very important historical novel that I hope will find it's way into classrooms all over the world. Never forget.

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Separate and different review on "Authors on the Air"

The Librarian of Auschwitz
By Antonio Iturbe (Author), Lilit (Translator)
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (October 10, 2017)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1627796185
• ISBN-13: 978-1627796187

Based upon the true story of survival, Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus. Dita and her parents are first put into the Terezin ghetto in Prague. Then, she and her parents are transferred to Auschwitz as part of a “family group” that the Red Cross is tracking. The Red Cross advises the rest of the world that the detainees are in good health and being treated well in the family camp at Auschwitz. Dita lives in daily fear of Dr. Mengale who has personally told her that he’s keeping an eye on her. He is suspicious of the fourteen year old girl due to the way she acted during roll call at the Auschwitz “school”. Dita risks everything as the “librarian”. She is tasked with the school’s eight books and also the living books. Those teachers who vividly recall one book that they read from memory the tale of their “book”.

I was captivated from start to finish. There are just those "special" books that will always remain in your heart. The Librarian of Auschwitz is one of those novels. I highly recommend ‘The Librarian of Auschwitz’ by Antonio Iturbe. This is one of those rare books that you hope becomes required reading in school.

I was truly moved by all that the prisoners had to endure. Books are forbidden for Jews by the Nazis. Books are knowledge. And, knowledge is something the Nazis do not want getting out into the prison populace. For the government that controls knowledge, accurate and fair news and books.. controls the people.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Holocaust. It’s difficult to fathom that the entire world refused to listen to what was happening behind the barbed wire of the numerous death camps. To read a story that is so well written, with such detail of the prisoner’s lives and need to survive. Dita strives to survive the Terezin ghetto in Prague, Auschwitz, and then finally.. Bergen-Belsen. Dita recalls Anne and Margot Frank and was there when they passed within a day of one another from Typhus. They were buried in the mass grave in Bergen-Belsen.

An incredible story of survival. I truly hope that this book becomes a must read novel for students. Much like the story of Anne Frank.. this is the story of a young girl.. but, it’s her survival story of the death camps. Imprisoned for seven long years in a place.. where many didn’t even survive seven hours.

"The Librarian of Auschwitz" made me nauseous. I had to  put the book down to stay sane at times. It made my skin crawl, my brain buzz, my very soul cringe. It did exactly what a book set in Auschwitz should do.

Antonio Iturbe's book, previously published in Spain, came out in the US on October 10. There are some awkwardly-phrased pieces of dialogue because of the translation, but that didn't bother me much. At times, the fact that it's a translation helped -- it made me imagine the book was actually translated straight from German. That it's a diary rather than historical fiction.

Iturbe's writing, even when translated from Spanish, is incredibly gripping. There are some advanced copies that take me weeks to get through because I can't get myself to read past the second chapter. Not so with The Librarian of Auschwitz. From page one, I was hooked. I firmly believe that I would have been hooked even without having read a summary.

It seems that there are quotes that throw a punch on every other page. Often, when I was reading, Iturbe's writing would kick the air from my lungs.

"In Auschwitz, human life has so little value that no one is shot anymore; a bullet is more valuable than a human being."

More valuable than a human being. My history books and Hebrew School classes have told me as much over and over -- the Germans didn't want to waste bullets on the Jews -- but this quote stuck with me. It's still ringing in my brain.

Everyone knows the basic story of the Holocaust. Everyone knows the Nazis were the antagonists. Everyone knows what happened in the end. This book isn't meant to just re-tell the story. It's meant to open your eyes to what life was like inside. How the real people in Auschwitz spent their time, kept themselves alive, continued on against all odds.

If you want to be absolutely floored by Iturbe's writing, read this book. Just know that you'll be looking Auschwitz in the eye. You won't be looking at old, dilapidated ruins and museums and black-and-white photos and left-behind suitcases. You'll be looking at a real, functioning death machine. Staring into its open maw, trying to look past the stench of death. It won't be pleasant, but it will be vivid.

If there's one October release you should read, it's this one. You can get it on Book Depository now.

First and foremost, many thanks go to NetGalley and the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the chance to read this amazing ARC.

The Librarian of Auschwitz recounts the real-life experiences of fourteen-year-old Dita Adlerova (now Dita Kraus) while she was imprisoned at the Auschwitz-Birkenau prison during World War II. During that time, she met Fredy Hirsh, a fellow Jew who was given the role of looking over the children in their camp at Auschwitz. And while he was told that he could not teach the children, Fredy chose not to abide by these rules. Upon meeting Dita in the camp, Fredy grew to trust her and asked that she take responsibility for the eight books that the prisoners of Auschwitz managed to keep hidden from Nazi soldiers their arrival to the concentration camp. These books and the stories that the many prisoners held in secret became the light that kept people moving forward during their time in the camp. While the history of Auschwitz is beyond grime, Antonio Iturbe beautifully rewrites Adlerova's story in such a way that you can feel the will of the Jewish people not willing to give up their beliefs and their hopes that life will continue even after this dire time in their history. As a side note, some readers might feel that the story starts out a bit slow, but the back history and introduction of each character becomes relative in the end.

I received an ARC edition from the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an eARC of this book. 📚The Librarian of Auschwitz comes out today (in English at least). The book tells the story of Dita, a 14 year old from Prague and then the Terezin ghetto, who is given the job of Librarian in the family camp at Auschwitz. In a place where books are as dangerous as weapons, protecting them is a dangerous task. 📚But, when everything else is taken, books and stories can give hope. 📚This is a fictional account based on actual events (be sure to read the author's notes), and the real people behind the story made it even more powerful.

Dita Kraus was a real life Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoner at age fourteen. This book is based on her own experience. She and her parents were taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she met Freddy Hirsh, a Jewish leader. He asked her to be in charge of the eight books the prisoners hid from the guards, thus she became the librarian of Auschwitz.

The accounts of the Jewish people of their experiences in the concentration camps are full of sadness and despair, yet hopeful. The fear and anguish and harrowing treatment is beyond cruel. Dita's story is of courage and hope and bravery. A very powerful novel. Thank you NetGalley for opportunity to read her story.

This was a beautiful story that was very hard to read at some points, but certainly no less beautiful. It is a moving story of Dita, the Librarian of Auschwitz, and how she helped protect books during a terrible time in history.

It's never easy to tell the grim tales of human reality. It never gets easier to read of the horrific things that happened during the Holocaust. It never feels like I can separate myself from the experiences back then by enough years. Every time I read a Holocaust story, it feels like it is too soon. This book is no exception. Grim yet hopeful, the tale of the Librarian of Auschwitz is one I was very interested in as an avid reader of books and librarian. It's raw and emotional.
One wish: pacing is a little slow. I realize that is a reflection of life at a concentration camp. However, as a reader, it could really put some people off and cause them to not finish the book. I finished it, but I can see how a student and some adults would not find it "worth it".
If you liked "The Book Thief" by Zuzak and "A Night Divided" by Nielsen, you will enjoy "The Librarian of Auschwitz".

Based on a true story from the Holocaust, this book will make you hold your breath and keep hoping that certain people will survive. I would recommend this to anyone who liked the Book Thief or Rose Under Fire.

I didn't have time to finish this one, but I'm not sure I want to anyway. The 125 pages I did read were not bad, but a little too slow for me. It's confusing at points and, though it is a book for children, a little too childish. I might finish it if I see it at the library some day, but it won't be high on my priority list.

A beautifully written book about a very difficult topic based on the real life story of Dita Kraus, a young girl who risks her life to keep a small, hidden, library ginger-haired in Auschwitz. Also a testament to one of the many unsung heroes of this time, Freddy Hirsch, who refused multiple opportunities to escape in order to stay with the children and give them some kind of education. In his words, “It doesn’t matter how many schools the nazis close - each time someone stops to tell a story and children listen, a school ha been established."

This was a good book, just not a great book like some Holocaust stories. I didn't fall in love with the characters like I wanted. The mystery of the headmasters death seemed to have no answers.

The Librarian of Auschwitz was a painful book to get through, but it was also an incredible story based on the true experiences of a teen girl trapped in a concentration camp during WWII. Most literature focuses purely on the horror of the concentration camps, so it was fascinating to see a story like this from the time that I had never even been aware of. From the outset it seems like a crazy idea to risk a life just for some books, but the story drives home the idea that it gave hope to those in the situation. It would be an incredible addition to history/literature curriculum and school libraries.

This book is the story of Dita, a young girl in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. Dita lives in the family block of the camp with her father and mother. The Germans created this section of the camp to show Red Cross delegates that the Jews were being welled cared for. The majority of the people from this camp had been transferred from Terezin to Auschwitz.

Part of the family block was a school run by Freddy Hirsch, a Jewish leader and a man who believed that even in a place like Auschwitz, children should have a place to learn. He tasks Dita with the job of caring for the books of the school, a job with huge risk as books were forbidden in the camp. As the war winds down and the Germans become desperate to get rid of any evidence that the death camps existed, Dita and the others must struggle to survive.

This book was beautifully written. Translated into English, the book captures the heartache, desperation, hope and love that existed in Auschwitz. The book tells the story of people who knew that knowledge was power and did what they needed to do to ensure that that knowledge was carried on. This book reminded me a lot of The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak in that it shows that all it takes is one person to stand up and turn darkness to light. What I liked most about the book was the author's notes. In this section, you learn about the real people that the book was based on. I feel it is so important for these stories to be told.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Netgalley.com for my honest opinion.

Incredibly, this is based on experiences of Dita Kraus, a fourteen-year-old imprisoned with her parents at Auschwitz. Another prisoner (and real life figure) Fredy Hirsch negotiated with Nazi commanders to establish a children's block inside the family camp, known as Block 31. As noted in the book, the family camp was really just established for propaganda purposes, to placate any inquiries into how prisoners were being treated. After Dita's family is placed in this camp, Fredy sees potential in her and assigns her the role of librarian. Eight precious books were covertly brought into the concentration camp, and Dita's job was to keep track of them, lending them to those prisoners who volunteered to serve as teachers for children in the camp, then collecting them and keeping them hidden. Such a small collection, some stained and falling apart at the spine, yet they helped the prisoners hang on to humanity. And Dita swore to protect them with her life. This book is an important historical fiction, detailing a dark time in European history, but it also celebrates heroes like Dita, and the other prisoners who held on to life as long as they could, and worked to instill this value in the children. As the author commented, true, people can consume bread and water and their bodies will survive. But they're not complete persons unless they also learn and debate, be moved by beauty and feed their imagination. Along with Dita's story, the author includes another fictionalized incredible true account of Rudolph Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, who managed to escape from Auschwitz and provide detailed reports of what was happening inside the camp. Recommended read.

The story was interesting but I had trouble getting into the book. Once I got to a certain point, things seemed to pick up. Thanks to Net Galley for an advance copy.

This is a novel, but based on the life of Dita Adlerova, a fourteen year old girl in Auschwitz, who was given the chance - or curse - of being the caregiver of eight forbidden books that were the foundation of Jewish learning in the camp. Books were strictly forbidden for the prisoners by the Nazi authorities, as was any kind of schooling. The charismatic Fredy Hirsch, the educator and children's advocate, had managed to established a block secretly devoted to keeping groups of children alive, nurtured, and educated as best he and other devoted adults could manage. All of this was done under the SS's daily persecution and inspection. Simply being in a building with a roof, increased rations and daily encouragement kept many of the children alive, though everyone had to play a part in deceiving their Nazi guards, especially the terrifying Dr. Josef Mengele, who had a special and horrible interest in the children. Dita must hide the books from constant threat of exposure, knowing full well she will die if they are found, but determined to do her part in supporting the books' role in reminding the prisoners that they deserve to stay connected to humanity through literature. Her enormous courage, cunning and observations of all those with whom she comes into contact - including the Frank sisters, who make a cameo appearance - makes this a fascinating, though still deeply upsetting account of a little known part of Holocaust history. For older readers, though any one with an interest in literature and history will find it rewarding.