This is the true story of a teenager who
risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. Dita Adler—Dita Kraus in real
life—was only fourteen years old when she became the secret librarian of a
clandestine library in Auschwitz.
The library consisted of only eight books that
she had to hide consistently. The discovery of those books by the Nazis could have led to her
execution. Amid the dire living circumstances, the set of books offered the unique opportunity to nourish the imagination, spark
hope and learn something about life. Sometimes reading one of those books meant
hiding herself beside a latrine. Dita guarded them carefully. It was an act of freedom.
Reading a book was dangerous. Iturbe explains
this clearly in a few words:
“Throughout
history, all dictators, tyrants and oppressors, whatever their ideology—whether
Aryan, African, Asian, Arab, Slav or any other racial background; whether defenders
of popular revolutions, or the privilege of the upper classes, or God’s
mandate, or martial law—have had one thing in common: the vicious persecution
of the written word. Books are extremely dangerous; they make people think.”
The Librarian of Auschwitz is a riveting read.
It gets more engaging with each page.
Dita and her parents lived in Prague, where
her father worked as a lawyer. Under Hitler’s command, Germany annexed the Czech
lands. In 1943 Dita and her parents became prisoners in Auschwitz. Their only
crime was to be Jewish; the Nazis had stripped them of everything: their
possessions, home, jobs and safety. At first, they were forced to move to a Terezin ghetto, where they lived in crowded conditions and worked
hard without compensation.
Jews lived under the constant threat of hate
crimes. They were harassed for no reason, slandered and scapegoated. Hitler’s
hatred for the Jews translated into several laws. Jewish children, for example,
were no longer allowed to attend schools. In 1943 Dita and her parents
were shipped to concentration camps. In Terezin, Dita had met Fredy Hirsch, a man
who had a passion for education. He created a clandestine school and the secret
library in Auschwitz.
Hitler established a totalitarian regime and invaded various countries in Europe. In 1939, German troops invaded Poland. In 1940 they expanded to Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and then France. Norway and Denmark were conquered that same year.
Hitler took control of all the newspapers in
all the occupied countries and published propaganda to uphold his regime. He
confiscated radios. Those who resisted his irrational regime belonged to
the so-called Resistance. Members of the Resistance were sent to concentration
camps or executed after being interrogated.
Millions of
Jews died in gas chambers. Others died of starvation, diseases or were shot to
death.
How did Dita manage to survive the ominous conditions of the concentration camp in Auschwitz? How did she manage that secret library for a while? How did she endure starvation, lice, diseases and other harsh conditions? Iturbe's book will help you to understand how she survived. Many Jews were forced to labor in factories without enough food. The atrocities Dita had to witness make me look at her in awe today: the humiliations, brutality and barbaric actions she suffered in the hands of the Nazis did not crush her spirit.
The Librarian of Auschwitz has been an intense, emotional read that shook my heart and inspired me to read more books about the Holocaust.
When I write about cultivating inner peace I
think of Dita Kraus. Despite the trauma of her teenage years, she never stopped fighting for her dignity. She became an English teacher and
promoted a love for books. She is now ninety-four years old. You can listen
to this recent interview here:
I strongly encourage people to read The Librarian of Auschwitz. It is a very well-researched novel based on real facts and people. When Antonio Iturbe learned about the minuscule library in Auschwitz from the book The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel, he dived into the research that led him to write this book.
His interviews with Dita Kraus played an important role in the craft of the novel.
On October 7, the barbaric acts of Hamas in
Israel reminded me of the sadism, brutality and cruelty of the Nazis. The enemy
today is called Hamas. Hamas wants to destroy Israel and exterminate Jews. To
understand this terrorist organization, which has ruled Gaza like a cult
since 2006, you can listen to somebody who escaped the regime in
Gaza: his name is Moseb Hassan Yousef. He is the son of one of the founders of
this organization. Poorly informed people call Hamas a group of “resistance” or “liberation”.
This is not correct and we should explain it. How is Israel supposed to stay safe while Hamas continues to have the intention to repeat the attack it perpetrated on October 7?
Whenever I ask this question, I get no response.
My Writing Life blog promotes the freedom to
read books, supports democratic principles everywhere and stands up against any
kind of hate.
This book blog is taking a break until February
2024.
Thank you
for visiting My Writing Life blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration.
If you
enjoyed this post, feel free to read my writing on the following book:
Here's a well-researched article about the evidence on links between Hamas and Vladimir Putin:
