Iturbe, Antonio. THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ

Iturbe, Antonio.
THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ
New York : Godwin Books, 2017
IL YA
ISBN 978-1-62779-618-7
This is a Holocaust story but one you may not have heard before. We meet Dita as a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau. But she is part of Block 31, a group of prisoners who allowed to keep their own clothing and have a bit more freedom than the others but it is still a hard existence. A young man named Freddy Hirsch is able to provide schooling to the children and some adults in secret. Dita is 14 and loves reading. The Nazis have burned books and very few remain. But there are 8 books in Block 31. Eight precious books that must be hidden from the guards for fear they will be taken away. Dita finds a way to hide the books and actually loan them out to other prisoners. If she is caught, it could mean her death. This is based on a true story from the camps. Many of the people in the story survived the camps and were able to tell their story. Do you cherish books as much as those in the camps did?