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beastreader's review against another edition
5.0
These types of stories only exist because of the people who survived them were willing to share their stories like Dita. Her story is one that I became invested in right away. Even without trying, Dita had me transported back in time as I stepped into her shoes.
I was there with her from the moment that her family had to leave and were prisoners in the camps. Which you would never wish that life on your worse enemy. To the moment when her father passed away; and her mother and her were released. Finally when she met her husband, got married, and had children.
Readers of Corrie Ten Boom's, The Hiding Place or The Diary of Anne Frank will want to pick up a copy of this book to read. This book is not one to be missed. My heart broke but was mended at the same time while reading this book.
I was there with her from the moment that her family had to leave and were prisoners in the camps. Which you would never wish that life on your worse enemy. To the moment when her father passed away; and her mother and her were released. Finally when she met her husband, got married, and had children.
Readers of Corrie Ten Boom's, The Hiding Place or The Diary of Anne Frank will want to pick up a copy of this book to read. This book is not one to be missed. My heart broke but was mended at the same time while reading this book.
katyoctober's review against another edition
5.0
I can not recommend this book enough. It is a deeply moving memoir and is, of course, so relevant in June 2020. I am so glad that Dita’s story and that of her family, friends, and everyone she’s known has been captured in this book.
The book is in three parts: pre-war Czech Republic, WWII, and post-war and beyond. It is so readable and I stayed up late unable to put it down. I particularly enjoyed learning about the innocence of Dita’s life in pre-Communist Czech, without a telephone in the house. The sections on post-war (I won’t include spoilers) were also fascinating!
On a broader note:
I think reading books like this keeps us human; and makes us human if we read these books or hear these stories at a young age.
By that I mean that many people have read Anne Frank’s diary as a young person, been taught the story of the Holocaust, and been utterly shocked and really lost their innocence. I think it’s important to remind yourself continually that we should work to never again let any of the events happen. Not just the most awful events perpetrated during the war, but the gradual erosion of the Jews’ rights in the run up to the war; and then the utter destitution the post-war refugees were left in in the post war years. This book had a vivid depiction of the years /decades of struggles for Dita and her husband Otto, when trying to establish a modest life and home for their small family. Thank you for encouraging me to setup a new donation to the Red Cross today. There can never be enough memoirs like this.
Dita wrote this book at the age of 89, with a very long and very rich life to look back on; her wealth of experiences and her wisdom shines through in the way she reflects on events.
Thanks for a wonderful read. Recommended to absolutely everyone! (Except under-11s as there are some slightly mature bits).
The book is in three parts: pre-war Czech Republic, WWII, and post-war and beyond. It is so readable and I stayed up late unable to put it down. I particularly enjoyed learning about the innocence of Dita’s life in pre-Communist Czech, without a telephone in the house. The sections on post-war (I won’t include spoilers) were also fascinating!
On a broader note:
I think reading books like this keeps us human; and makes us human if we read these books or hear these stories at a young age.
By that I mean that many people have read Anne Frank’s diary as a young person, been taught the story of the Holocaust, and been utterly shocked and really lost their innocence. I think it’s important to remind yourself continually that we should work to never again let any of the events happen. Not just the most awful events perpetrated during the war, but the gradual erosion of the Jews’ rights in the run up to the war; and then the utter destitution the post-war refugees were left in in the post war years. This book had a vivid depiction of the years /decades of struggles for Dita and her husband Otto, when trying to establish a modest life and home for their small family. Thank you for encouraging me to setup a new donation to the Red Cross today. There can never be enough memoirs like this.
Dita wrote this book at the age of 89, with a very long and very rich life to look back on; her wealth of experiences and her wisdom shines through in the way she reflects on events.
Thanks for a wonderful read. Recommended to absolutely everyone! (Except under-11s as there are some slightly mature bits).
jovianjournals's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
bkish's review against another edition
4.0
I am jewish and I read literature that connects to Nazi Germany and my own people.
This is quite amazing as Dita Kraus (married name) is written about in Librarian of Auschwitz. This is her story of her life beginning in Prague Czech and now living in Israel. She wrote this at age of 89 and she is now 91. The period of time when she was what was called by some Librarian of Auschwitz ( the death camp created by Hitler and his nazis) is not primary in this book.
In addition to the 3y when she was deported by the Nazis to 3 concentration camps (Terezin, Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen) at young age of 14-17 Dita had a life marked to me by very significant losses. She has a huge heart and took care of many people in her lifetime.
2 b continued
Judy
This is quite amazing as Dita Kraus (married name) is written about in Librarian of Auschwitz. This is her story of her life beginning in Prague Czech and now living in Israel. She wrote this at age of 89 and she is now 91. The period of time when she was what was called by some Librarian of Auschwitz ( the death camp created by Hitler and his nazis) is not primary in this book.
In addition to the 3y when she was deported by the Nazis to 3 concentration camps (Terezin, Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen) at young age of 14-17 Dita had a life marked to me by very significant losses. She has a huge heart and took care of many people in her lifetime.
2 b continued
Judy
natycuac's review against another edition
3.0
Es un libro difícil de abordar, no tiene la estructura de un libro "ambientado en Auschwitz", tampoco el de una biografía como tal, aunque se acerca más a esto que a cualquier otro género. Se podría decir que son las memorias de una sobreviviente, en muchos sentidos, como cuando naces en precariedad y todo se derrumba y se vuelve a derrumbar sobre ti y todo lo que te rodea.
Y tal vez la misma forma en que está escrito te lo grita de diferentes maneras. La forma de narrar se siente monótona y, sin embargo, es la única forma en que la autora puede revivir sus memorias, manteniendo la calma y sin llegar a romperse.
Para muchos puede que su historia no sea nada novedosa, una más dentro de las miles que hay sobre los campos de concentración. Pero para mí fue interesante ver un punto de vista previo y un poco más de información sobre la gente que fue víctima sin entender del todo qué estaba pasando, fuera del foco de "poder" y en poblaciones que estaban más alejadas del centro de conflicto, como fue Checoslovaquia.
También en su historia podemos ver cómo se vivió el después de, la gente que tuvo que esperar, que migró en condiciones precarias, las dificultades de volver a tener una vida "normal" luego de la catástrofe.
Uno de los puntos que me llamó más la atención y que explica un poco la fascinación que tiene el mundo con este tipo de libros fue algo que comentó alguien en una de las charlas y viajes de Dita: "Puede que el haber vivido una catástrofe cree empatía entre la gente". En un mundo lleno de catástrofes, además de tener la duda de cómo sobrevivió el otro y lo que sintió, lo que más necesitamos es esperanza.
Y tal vez la misma forma en que está escrito te lo grita de diferentes maneras. La forma de narrar se siente monótona y, sin embargo, es la única forma en que la autora puede revivir sus memorias, manteniendo la calma y sin llegar a romperse.
Para muchos puede que su historia no sea nada novedosa, una más dentro de las miles que hay sobre los campos de concentración. Pero para mí fue interesante ver un punto de vista previo y un poco más de información sobre la gente que fue víctima sin entender del todo qué estaba pasando, fuera del foco de "poder" y en poblaciones que estaban más alejadas del centro de conflicto, como fue Checoslovaquia.
También en su historia podemos ver cómo se vivió el después de, la gente que tuvo que esperar, que migró en condiciones precarias, las dificultades de volver a tener una vida "normal" luego de la catástrofe.
Uno de los puntos que me llamó más la atención y que explica un poco la fascinación que tiene el mundo con este tipo de libros fue algo que comentó alguien en una de las charlas y viajes de Dita: "Puede que el haber vivido una catástrofe cree empatía entre la gente". En un mundo lleno de catástrofes, además de tener la duda de cómo sobrevivió el otro y lo que sintió, lo que más necesitamos es esperanza.