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adoubledareaway 's review for:
The Librarian of Auschwitz
by Antonio Iturbe
The history of World War II, and the Holocaust, is something that I've been passionate about for most of my life. I've dedicated countless hours to educating myself about the subjects, by reading books, watching documentaries, scouring the internet, anyway possible. I was even planning on getting a degree in history, and teaching the topic (something I might still pursue). Needless to say, when a new YA, historical fiction book that takes place during the time period comes out, I am on top of it. And I'm quite proud to admit that: no YA Holocaust novel has ever disappointed me. And that includes this one.
This story follows Dita Adler, a young Czech girl imprisoned at Auschwitz, in the special "family camp," Block 31. Here, families are kept mostly intact, and there's even a school for the children. It's in this special place that the most priceless, and dangerous, treasure is hidden: books. We follow Dita, the appointed librarian, as she struggles to keep the books hidden and safe, avoid the attention of the insidious Dr. Mengele, and most importantly, stay alive.
This novel was a bit of a toughie to get into, almost to the point that I was afraid I wasn't going to enjoy it. You see, the beginning of the story deals a lot with what life in this "family camp" is like, and it's very different from how life for prisoners is portrayed in most other Holocaust novels. The prisoners aren't kept together with their families on purpose, children don't attend school. This isn't how we've been lead to believe Jews were treated in concentration camps. So it's a little disorientating. It almost makes it seem like the prisoners have nothing to fear. Which is exactly the point. As we read, we learn that this was the intent of the Nazis when it came to these "family camps." They were created to fool the Allies into thinking that the Jews were being well cared for, and that the rumors of genocide were simply that: rumors. Iturbe creates this same effect in the first half of the novel, and it really pays off in the end. I'm quite a fan of it now, in retrospect.
I also really appreciated how Iturbe was able to seamlessly integrate Dita's POV, all of the other POVs, and the factual information, together. I never found myself wanting to skip over any of the side characters chapters, and I never felt taken out of the narrative when Iturbe inserted a historical fact. It all tied so beautifully together, and it really gave the story a wide spectrum of perspectives, that really made it that much more of a heartbreaking read. He also wasn't afraid to go from light and happy, to dark and dismal in a short space. It really gave the sense of "you never know when the shoe is gonna drop," which must have been how these people felt every minute of every day.
The thing I loved most about this story was actually the Postscript. After the actual novel ends, Iturbe addresses the reader directly, and discusses how this novel came to be. He gives us insight as to how he met the real Dita, what she is like, and how she, and her story, have touched Iturbe. He also informs us that, along with wanting to tell this incredible woman's story, he wanted to vindicate one of the characters, Fredy Hirsch, who's name has been tarnished for most of history. This all just gave the novel and even greater sense of purpose. And as someone who, as mentioned earlier, is so passionate about learning from these people, and making their voices heard, it really just struck a chord with me.
This novel was beautifully, and cleverly done. The characters were compelling, and the story was utterly heartbreaking. This is going to be one of my new, go-to recommendations for this topic.