Bradley Stoke Community School

The Librarian of Auschwitz

By Antonio Iturbe

 

Synopsis

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. 

Setting

 Auschwitz, Poland

Themes

The power of books

Art and culture

Genre

Historical fiction

Educational Aspects

  • Links to KS3 History Curriculum

  • Links to CRS Curriculum

  • Links to PSHE Curriculum