The Librarian of Auschwitz
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The Librarian of Auschwitz
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Narrated by:
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Marisa Calin
About this listen
This program features a prologue read by Dita Kraus.
Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, The Librarian of Auschwitz is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. Written with touching sensitivity by Antonio Iturbe, and translated by Lilit Thwaites, this audiobook provokes every emotional response and will not be forgotten.
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 title has Common Core connections.
©2012, 2017 Text copyright Antonio Iturbe; translation copyright Lilit Žekulin Thwaites (P)2017 Macmillan AudioWhat listeners say about The Librarian of Auschwitz
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kathy van every
- 2020-02-22
Essential.
I’ve read many books about the Holocaust, but for some reason, this one moved me like no other. As much as it had to end, I already miss Dita. Highly recommended.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kraig
- 2022-10-31
She did it scared, but she did it.
When I first started listening to this story I was perplexed that so many would put their lives at risk to use and protect eight tattered books. It felt wholly irrational. The whole concept of a family camp, a children's block made no sense in a place like Auschwitz. But one thing Holocaust stories do better than most any other literature is put things into perspective. Human life is so precious. And what better way to spend your days than investing in the life of a child, even if you can't be certain they'll live out the year.
It makes me think of the Chinese proverb, when you have but two pennies left, with one buy bread and the other a lily. We must have bread as well as beauty to survive. And the school kept them going, the teachers and the students. The books gave their minds something to hold onto when everyday life was dehumanizing them one horror scene after the next.
A lot of reviews are critical of the the way the author chose to put the book together - as historical fiction not just pure facts. It didn't bother me at all though. It was very engaging, and I finished this audiobook so much faster than I normally do just because I needed to know what happened next.
My biggest struggle was just not feeling like I really knew Dita. When the author shares about meeting her in person at the end of the book you get the sense of her indomitable spirit, her spunky forthrightness. But in the story it's hard to really lay hold of her character. And I can't quite put my finger on why that is.
It's also just so disturbing hearing about all the things you know about the holocaust, and then hearing more things you've never heard. And's that's just the nature of this genre. You live in that land of shadow while you're listening to the book, holding your breath and hoping it's all over soon because it's mentally hard just to wrap your mind around... and you're confronted time and time again with the unbelievable - that real people really did face these horrors and so much more. And it's what makes Dita so incredible. She did it scared. She chose to be the librarian. She had face to face conversations with Dr. Mengle. And still she held on to life, and chose to do the impossible. I just didn't feel like telling all these facts about the horrors of the camps helped the story. I would have preferred it narrowed to the things she witnessed, experienced and felt or heard whispered / rumoured.
As so many others have noted, the final section about what happened to the characters in the book is so valuable. I wish that in the story the author had given more insight into why Viktor chose to go back, even if fictionalized. I think he did it as recompense. Trying to find redemption through saving the lives of Renee and her mother. I don't think simple infatuation with her would lead him back to the hellish gates of Auschwitz.
I didn't understand the part about Jakov, Miriam and their sons execution either. Why were they reunited to be shot? I didn't feel like it was necessary to even go back to them if it was going to be so vague about why they were killed.
It feels almost too good to be true that, like in the Tattooist of Auschwitz, Dita is reunited with and marries a man she met in the camp. And you're so glad that life begins anew for her, and she and Margit have the tenacity to grab hold of each new day and forge ahead, living life.
It hard to call any book of this nature "good." But it was engaging, and valuable. I really didn't know much about the family camp or children's block so it was intriguing to learn more about it, even though so incredibly sad.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A.B
- 2019-02-23
Moving story, impeccable narrating
I couldn’t stop listening. The story was moving and engaging and the narrator brought characters to life with her many accents and inflections. Very well done.
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