Teen Book Review: The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

 Title: The Librarian of Auschwitz

Author: Antonio Iturbe

Publication Date: October 10th, 2017

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Genre: YA, Historical, Non-Fiction

Pages: 560

ISBN: 1627796185

Source: Publisher

Rating:

Synopsis (from Publisher):
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.

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Antonio Iturbe lives in Spain, where he is both a novelist and a journalist. In researching this story, he interviewed Dita Kraus, the real-life librarian of Auschwitz.

It does not take much to get sucked into a great story if it is, in fact, great. From the moment you flip through the first page or two of a novel, it could easily be categorized with any of these four elements; visually captivating, emotionally stirring, spiritually connected, or thought-provoking. Having a couple of these make for a good story. Sometimes an author is even able to entice you with a few of them. Very rarely will a book use all of these qualities and shake you into living, show you how your choices - no matter how miniscule - do affect life in the long run. Antonio Iturbe, with the flawless translation from Spanish done by Lilit Thwaite, has managed to interweave numerous real people into his book and create a masterpiece in storytelling.

The Librarian of Auschwitz is a book about suffering, cruelty, foul human nature, and no doubt death, yes, but it is also one of everlasting hope, sticking together, and conjuring up happy memories to ease the pain of the present. This alone encapsulates the emotional aspect a story based off of this historical era should already have. Because war is never fun or to be dealt with lightly. The insane amount of research that clearly went into the writing of this book is evident, and I applaud Iturbe for showing us - not merely telling us - another perspective into this era.

The story follows fourteen year old Dita Adlerova as she recounts being stripped from her peaceful home and forced to leave her childhood far behind as merely memories. Life in Auschwitz-Birkenau is made bearable thanks to the trust shown by the lively youth leader in the family camp, Fredy Hirsch, and the eight dusty books smuggled into their hands and kept in his office. Dita shows so much commitment to the bundles of paper that Hirsch decides to ask her to become librarian of their family camp and thus begins her daily evasions from becoming the next experiment of the dangerous Dr. Mengel and the connections she is trying to solve after the Auschwitz Resistance causes a tragedy.

Dita's curiosity and shy bravery is a peculiar one amongst the dejected ones of her fellow prisoners. The way she turns to books is extremely dangerous but helps her cope so well with what is going on around her that she even risks her life to read. Iturbe alternates between points of view (a little confusing at first) all from very different backgrounds, and makes them all connect somehow. I found myself laughing alongside Dita and her best friend Margit, boiling in anger at the injustices committed every single day at camp, and crying at friendly lives lost.

Some things I couldn't quite get around were the numerous rhetoricals thrown throughout the book. I was left with unanswered questions in the end. Why did this person really die? Where did she end up? How did Dita cope so well, so quickly, all on her own? All in all, this is the only constructive criticism I have to give.

Light is being shed on one of the ugliest aspects of the war. It is both informative and mind-boggling with writing to match. I would recommend this book to children and adults alike. Although at times too harsh, it shows the reality of millions of people. Not too graphic and not too depressing. This is a must-read for young history enthusiasts and one I thoroughly enjoyed myself.