THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ

A girl imprisoned in Auschwitz works secretly as a librarian in this graphic-novel adaptation of Iturbe’s celebrated 2017 work.

Based on the real story of Edita Kraus, who as a young teenager worked in a forbidden school within Auschwitz, the book follows Dita, an ordinary, book-loving Jewish Czech girl whose world is turned upside down when the Nazis arrive. Yellow stars and school closures come first, then deportation to Terezín and from there to Auschwitz. Though Auschwitz is an extermination camp, Dita and her family experience something resembling luck: They’re sent to BIIb, the family camp, where the Nazis temporarily keep Jews alive so they can perpetuate the lie that prisoners are being treated humanely. There, Dita secretly shepherds the few smuggled books into the hands of teachers and students. The prose, translated from Spanish, is flavorless; the heavy emotional lifting relies on the visuals. While the composition of the art works perfectly in some scenes (Dita’s first glimpse of Auschwitz, for example), the images are sometimes too cheery. Characters look almost adorable even when they’re starving in Bergen-Belsen, and only a few spreads grapple with the horrific conditions. A historical note provides some context.

Accessible but visually too upbeat for the subject, this is best paired with other Holocaust resources.