Book Synopsis:
‘It wasn’t an extensive library. In fact, it consisted of eight books and some of them were in poor condition. But they were books. In this incredibly dark place, they were a reminder of less sombre times, when words rang out more loudly than machine guns…’
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 books the prisoners have managed to smuggle past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the secret librarian of Auschwitz, responsible for the safekeeping of the small collection of titles, as well as the ‘living books’ – prisoners of Auschwitz who know certain books so well, they too can be ‘borrowed’ to educate the children in the camp.
But books are extremely dangerous. They make people think. And nowhere are they more dangerous than in Block 31 of Auschwitz, the children’s block, where the slightest transgression can result in execution, no matter how young the transgressor…
The Librarian Of Auschwitz is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.
My Review:
The Librarian Of Auschwitz is an emotion though fascinating glimpse at life in the notorious concentration camp of Auschwitz. I’ve read a lot of fiction regarding the Holocaust but I’ve not heard of the library there before so found it very interesting to read about it’s existence and how it helped some of the inmates there. The descriptions of the ‘human book’, people who know books so well they know them off by heart were particular interesting to me and I liked how they could be loaned out too!
Dita was a wonderful main character that I grew very fond. Her bravery and her attempts to help others were great to read about, especially as the reader knows the events to be true. Woven in between her story are stories of other inmates in the camp which gives the reader more of an understanding of how terrifying and horrendous life was there. The bits that have stick in my mind were the stories of the awful twin experiments that Mengel performed in the camp, which must have been heartbreaking for their parents to witness.
As is probably expected with a book about the Holocaust this is a highly emotional and heart breaking read with some of the events being very hard to read about. It’s also a surprising gripping story as the reader soon gets to know the different characters that are imprisoned in the camp and quickly becomes aware of what is at stake. This makes the book hard to put down as you want to keep reading to find out what happens to everyone.
Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Tess from Ebury Publishers for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review.
About The Author:
Antonio Iturbe lives in Spain, where he is both a novelist and a journalist. In researching The Librarian of Auschwitz, he interviewed Dita Kraus, the real-life librarian of Auschwitz.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Isn’t it terrible to think of books as dangerous? Great review Joanna. This is one I definitely want to read.
LikeLike