0392727 | 24 Jul 2020 10:47 am | 4 | This is a book about what may be arguably the smallest collection of books to have been coined as a library to occur in the world; what distinguishes it, is its occurrence at all. Also highlighting how literature and storytelling can illuminate life in the darkest times. Librarian of Auschwitz, written by Antonio Iturbe, is based on the true story of a young girl, Dita Kraus. We follow her family through their displacement; from the Terezin settlement to Auschwitz. Distinguishing their story from millions of others, is their placement in the experimental family camp; Block 31. Block 31 was designed to represent a false image, one that was hoped to minimise to the wider world, the depths of genocide in the Nazi concentration camps. However, the camp did not allow special privileges regarding the environment or conditions, their suffering was still immense; regardless of the fact the world may see it. Interestingly, there was a few differences due to the nature of the camp, primarily families were able to intermingle to an extent, with a children’s block. To make it easier for the parents to work, games and activities were permitted; though, not school. So, hidden from the Germans, learning occurred within invisible walls and blackboards. Children would cluster around ‘teachers’ who would whisper their lessons to them. “It doesn’t matter how many schools the Nazis close. Each time someone stops to tell a story, and children listen, a school has been established” To complement this forbidden school there was a tiny assortment of tattered books. To which Dita undertook the role of librarian, circulating the forbidden books to the teachers for their lessons. She manages to keep the books hidden from the regime, understanding the brevity of the task she is entrusted, protecting them with her life. Dita enthusiastically enlists “living” books, who would tell stories to the children, providing an insight into a variety of traditional stories and oral stories emanating from the mixed cultures within the camp. This is now seen in some libraries where people can borrow “living books” often focusing on elements of contemporary issues to increase awareness; for example, a refugee’s story.
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