Antonio Iturbe The Librarian Of Auschwitz Analysis

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Section One: Author Biography Spanish novelist and journalist, Antonio Iturbe, collaborated with former Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus and award-winning literary translator, Lilit Thwaites to create a historical fiction detailing “...the smallest library in the world and its librarian”(Iturbe). Set in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Extermination Camp of Oswiecim, Poland, 1944, the work adopted the name The Librarian of Auschwitz. Antonio was inspired by historian Alberto Manguel’s The Library at Night, which summarizes history’s greatest libraries (Freitas). In this work, eight books are mentioned to have composed a small library in Auschwitz, leaving Antonio questioning: “How was it possible to have a library in the hell of Auschwitz?”(Iturbe). As a result of his piqued curiosity, Antonio stumbled upon a woman named Dita Kraus. He had remembered that the librarian in Auschwitz was named Edita Kraus …show more content…

Though, the reason for this usage is to set the stage for the characters and their personalities. Antonio writes in a passage every few paragraphs that includes more complex vocabulary and sophisticated uses of adjectives. In a passage from chapter 17, Antonio describes Dr. Mengele’s jealousy toward the Kommandant and his reluctance to admit to himself that his own appearance is a weakness untrue to his strong presence: Mengele studies the Kommandant with detachment—his long face and fanatical look. The medical captain does not consider himself an extremist; he’s a scientist. Perhaps he doesn’t want to admit being envious of Schwarzhubber’s incredibly blue eyes, so unmistakably Aryan compared to his own, which are brown, and which, together with his darker skin, give him a disconcertingly southern Mediterranean appearance. (Iturbe 217,