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Personal Narrative: The Librarian Of Auschwitz By Dita Kraus

965 Words4 Pages

The world can be a very dark place, of this there is no doubt. Evil and pain has a tendency to penetrate and destroy the most beautiful of things. Yet, life still goes on. Pine trees begin to grow after the worst of wildfires. Roses bloom in the heart of harsh winters. And people, people thrive after tragedy. The tenacity of humanity becomes evident in moments of suffering. If Dita Kraus has taught me anything through her story of survival, it is that life, no matter how bleak, will always have value so long as one does not give up. The Librarian of Auschwitz first caught my eye when I was in seventh grade. The Holocaust, despite all its horrors, intrigued me, and I wanted to know what had really happened. Truthfully, it was a daunting book, …show more content…

I wanted nothing to do with it; it was just too depressing for my innocent, childlike mind. But then, as usually happens when it becomes too easy, life became tough. My father abandoned his family without even a trace of remorse. On top of that personal tragedy, COVID forced the world and its peoples to hide away, to become silent. The sunny side of life was obscured by storm clouds that seemed like they would never dissipate. Suddenly, bright novels with happy endings just could not capture how painful life could truly be. No longer was The Librarian of Auschwitz a book to be feared, but rather it became a novel from which hard lessons could be learned. Dita was no longer a stranger, but rather a friend who also knew how to experience hard …show more content…

Iturbe is a Spanish author who was inspired by Dita and wrote The Librarian of Auschwitz as a result of his impression of her. As someone who loves history and literature, I admire Iturbe for his willingness to reveal truth through his novel. To write a children's book on the Holocaust, and a historically accurate one at that, is a bold and passionate move. I believe that this man really does care about truth, and he presents it to his audience, no matter how hard it is to swallow. Truly, Antonio Iturbe is an admirable author, and like Dita’s story, he has inspired me to be truthful in my own writing. On my own continuing journey to become an English teacher, I know that I will carry Dita’s love of literature and education with me in addition to Iturbe’s stubborn refusal to veil the truth from the younger

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