There are those who might think that this was an act of useless bravery in an extermination camp when there were other, more pressing concerns-- books don't cure illnesses; they can't be used as weapons to defeat an army of executioners; they don't fill your stomach or quench your thirst. It's true: culture isn't necessary for the survival of mankind; for that, you only need bread and water. It's also true that with bread to eat and water to drink, humans survive; but with only this, humanity dies. If human beings aren't deeply moved by beauty, if they don't close their eyes and activate their imaginations, if they aren't capable of asking themselves questions and discerning the limits of their ignorance, then they are men or women, but they are not complete persons.” As a summarized version of the novel, it did incredibly well at introducing some really complex characters and stories that have me immediately adding the full length to my TBR.

This is a haunting, heartbreaking, and unforgettable Holocaust story -- a powerful testament to the courage of a teen girl who risked her life to preserve eight forbidden books. Even teens who don't love reading or share Dita's passion for books are sure to be caught up in a gripping storyline that features secret meetings, a possible traitor, daring escapes, and even romance.Dita is a curious, book-loving young girl who displays tremendous bravery in helping her family and other prisoners at the concentration camp. She lives one day at a time, focusing on the small acts of kindness she can perform. La lectura te mantiene en vilo en todo momento y, a pesar de que Dita es prácticamente una niña, su relato no es infantil. Tiene cierta inocencia que es acorde a su edad y a sus circunstancias, pero se va viendo cómo se ve obligada a madurar a la fuerza y a hacer frente a la tragedia, a la muerte, a la búsqueda de la esperanza cuando todo parece perdido, al miedo a confiar en la persona inadecuada, etc. Lo de su papel como bibliotecaria en medio de tanta desolación es un pequeño detalle dentro de la trama, algo que le da un toque de ternura a un lugar lleno de oscuridad.

The Librarian of Auschwitz is a sobering account of one girl's survival at Auschwitz. I've read a number of books detailing the Nazi's most infamous death camp Auschwitz so was expecting the devastating descriptions of the appalling living conditions and inhumane treatment of the prisoners. What I wasn't expecting was the glimpse of hope and humanity the prisoners of building 31 managed to preserve.In due course she gets selected to manage a small library in the camp ( in hiding of course ). Joseph Mengele is shown in the graphic novel and is as horrible as we know him to be. He somehow lets her out his radar and when the war ends she is relieved to be free. Her Father unfortunately falls ill and dies while in the camp. Ao meu ver, este livro divide-se am duas partes: a primeira (pensamos nós) que é mais uma "fantasia" nos campos de Auswichtz/Birkenau e a parte mais final do livro retrata uma realidade mais crua do que foram os fins e o degredo dos campos. Meter todos los millones de kilómetros cuadrados de mares, de bosques, todas las cordilleras de la Tierra, todos los ríos, las ciudades y todos los países en un espacio tan minúsculo era un milagro sólo al alcance de un libro.” Dita Polachova was raised in a loving home in Prague, the only child of book-loving parents, who filled their shelves with German, Czech and French books. Little did she know that by the age of 14 her life would be saved by a dozen tattered books which comprised possibly the smallest library in the world, in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Fourteen year old Dita is imprisoned with her family in an Auschwitz concentration camp. When she is asked by a Jewish leader to take on the role of handling the books for the makeshift school, Dita immediately agrees. Books are hard to come by, as many of them have been burned and deemed ‘blasphemous’ and ‘against the Fuhrer’, so Dita knows the job is a dangerous one. But her love of books and the joy she knows they can spread to others surpasses her fears.

Violence: Nazis beat men, women, and children; deaths due to illness and starvation; constant fear and threats from soldiers and Nazi doctor (Mengele) Some of the characters, like Dita and Fredy Hirsch, as based on the actual people, and of course, so are some of the Nazis like Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele, known as the Angel of Death for his experiments of the prisoners in Auschwitz. There is a great epilogue at the end of the book that does go into detail not just about what happened and the people involved. this is a difficult for me to rate, as i have found to be the case with many WWII/holocaust stories that are based on real life people but written as a work of fiction. The sudden death of her mentor Fredy in March 1944 was traumatic for the children. Informed of the impending mass murder on March 8 1944, Fredy was asked to lead an uprising. Shortly after, he was found in a coma from an overdose of sleeping pills. Dita learned much later that Jewish doctors, worried about his safety, had drugged him to avoid conflict, but misjudged the dose.Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, journalist Antonio Iturbe tells 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. Holocaust, Nazis, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Auschwitz, books, book banning, censorship, oppression, fear, death of both parents, librarians Perfectamente documentado y narrado. Una historia cruda y desgarradora que atrapa de principio a fin. So Dita’s story will be an important one for teachers and school librarians. This graphic novel is based on an adult novel, which I already put on-hold in OverDrive. I’m excited to read the full novel version of Dita’s story.