The Children's Block: Based on a true story by an Auschwitz survivor

by Otto B. Kraus

'We lived on a bunk built for four but in times of overcrowding, it slept seven and at times even eight. There was so little space on the berth that when one of us wanted to ease his hip, we all had to turn in a tangle of legs and chests and hollow bellies as if we were one many-limbed creature, a Hindu god or a centipede. We grow intimate not only in body but also in mind because we knew that though we were not born of one womb, we would certainly die together.'Alex Ehren is a poet, a prisoner and a teacher in block 31 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the children’s block. He spends his days trying to survive while illegally giving lessons to his young charges while shielding them as best he can from the impossible horrors of the camp. But trying to teach the children is not the only illicit activity that Alex is involved in. Alex is keeping a diary…Originally published as THE PAINTED WALL, Otto Kraus’s autobiographical novel, tells the true story of 500 Jewish children who lived in the Czech Family Camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau between September 1943 and June 1944.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Holocaust, World War II, War, Historical, Fiction, Audiobook

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Otto B. Kraus was born 1st September 1921 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He and his family were deported in May 1942 to Ghetto Terezin and from there to Auschwitz where Otto became one of the children’s counsellors on the Kinderblock. Their camp was liquidated after six months. The able-bodied inmates were selected by the notorious Dr Mengele and sent to forced labour in Germany, the rest – more than 7000 people including mothers with young children, the weak and the elderly – were killed in the gas chambers. Otto was among the 1000 men sent to the concentration camp Schwarzheide-Sachsenhausen in Germany. After the war, Otto returned to Prague where he learned that neither his parents, nor his brother had survived. He enrolled at the university to study Literature, Philosophy, English and Spanish. He received a modest grant and started to rebuild his life. He met Dita by chance and remembered her as one of the youths on the Kinderblock in Auschwitz and they became friends. They were married in 1947 and in 1949 they emigrated to Israel where they lived at first in a kibbutz and later moved to the Youth Village Hadassim where Otto taught English. Dita and Otto raised two sons and a daughter. Otto died on the 5th October 2000, at home, surrounded by his family.

Reviews

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A VIRAL NO

Why the heck do we read so manny books about the Holocaust?! We all know how it begun, how it ended and what happened in between! So where’s the thrill?! The excitement?! The fun of it?!...

In fact, when it takes to Holocaust, we are not reading for fun. We are reading cos we want to take part in a collective NO, and we all want it to go viral!...

The Children’s Block belongs to this sort of painful books. Please read it if you want to reinforce your NO. Please do all you can to make it stronger and contagious!!! ...

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um Não Viral

“O Fumo é meu irmão”

Será por puro masoquismo que persistimos em ler livros após livros sobre o Holocausto?! Leituras penosas, transbordantes de sofrimento, dor, perfídia... que nos incomodam e perturbam até à medula!

Não creio!...

Se o fazemos é simplesmente porque queremos juntar o nosso Não a algo mais forte: a um outro NÃO gritante, coletivo, poderoso... e que pretendemos viral!

“O Bloco das Crianças” é mais um desses livros chocantes que irá reforçar ainda mais esse NÃO epidémico. Lê-lo... é quase uma missão!

“Não podemos dizer que houve o holocausto de seis milhões, mas, sim, seis milhões de holocaustos distintos, todos diferentes uns dos outros, cada um com o seu próprio sofrimento, os seus medos e as suas cicatrizes.”

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very hard to find because it is out of print. Luckily my local library was able to interlibrary loan the book for me from a library across the country from me. I would never have known about this book if I hadn't first read the book called The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. The Painted Wall is referenced in the back of Iturbe's book. Without reading this book first I'm not sure I would have liked The Painted Wall as much. I felt like the Librarian of Auschwitz gave me the schema to read and comprehend what was going on in The Painted Wall because it has way more description and detail than The Painted Wall. I would recommend readers read The Librarian of Auschwitz first and then read this book as a follow up if you are interested in learning more about Auschwitz's tragic Children's Block.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Children’s Block is a novel that came together from a survivor's diary entries, although the author has incorporated his own experiences of his time in the camps, as well as used research and interviews so that he keeps it as true to what happened in them, as well as included some real life people, one in particular being the notorious Dr Mengele.

With books like this one, I always devour any introduction or afterword as I find these every bit as informative as the stories themselves. As well as there being an author’s note, there is also an introduction from Otto’s wife. I could feel the emotions stir inside me even before beginning the actual story.

The story focuses on the block where the children were kept within the camp. What the adults had to endure is something that no adult should have to endure but to read of the children being treat in the same manner, was heart breaking. I liked how the author incorporated some real life figures in the story as well as telling us about the dwarf’s that were also captured and held there. Dwarf’s are not mentioned in many non fiction books that I have read, although I have read one that was solely dedicated to the subject and it was a real eye opener.

The Children’s Block is both an informative and compelling read. It will certainly make you go through an array of emotions. The authors own experiences really brings the horrors of time in the camps to life. I have to admit I’m not a lover of how it ends as it’s rather abrupt but even so, it’s still a story I would urge everyone to read.

My thanks to Penguin Random House UK and Tracy Fenton (The Book Club) for my advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

[Gary. · Rating 2 out of 5]

No real thread to the narrative, while some parts of the book flow, most do not, the book was a struggle to read to the end.

[Anae · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Qué historia tan terrible, tan horrible, tan espeluznante!
Como bien dice el autor, no se cometió un Holocausto, sino que fueron millones los holocaustos cometidos.
Conozcamos los errores del pasado para no volverlos a cometer en el futuro.
Nunca más.

[Clare Dowle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get in to this one at all. It seemed to have words just for the sake of being wordy. And it jumped all over the place between characters

[Marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I had high expectations and wanted to know more about life on the children's block, this book just couldn't really give me that. There is no real plot, it's all very scattered and repetitive, it gets confusing right from the beginning and I'm saying that as someone who has read a lot of stories of a similar premise, such as the Tattooist of Auschwitz, the Librarian of Auschwitz, the Choice or Cilka's Journey (all brilliant btw), this just couldn't compare at all. I really wanted to like this book, but it left me very disappointed.

[Katie Warburton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read that is based in the horrors of the Second World War, specifically Auschwitz. It was a very interesting book, it doesn’t gloss over the terrible things that happened there, but it does tell the story of the children, and how they were protected from the horrible things they were witness to, it’s a very touching novel, I couldn’t read it as quickly as I would have liked as the subject matter is very sad.

[Antonella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libri come questi andrebbero letti sempre, non solo nel mese della memoria. Ma ad ogni modo grazie al cielo esistono, e grazie al cielo c'è gente che li legge e si ricorda di cosa può essere capace l'animo umano. Lo consiglio insieme ad una confenzione di kleenex.

[Ratolina ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

[S I N O P S I S]
Alex Ehren es poeta y maestro en el bloque número 31 de Auschwitz-Birkenau, el bloque infantil. Pasó sus días intentando sobrevivir mientras de manera ilegal daba clases a los niños, además de que Alex guardaba un diario.
En el libro cuenta la verdadera historia de quinientos niños judíos que vivieron en el campo de concentración de Auschwitz-Birkenau entre septiembre de 1943 y junio de 1944.

[O P I N I Ó N]
No tengo nada negativo que decir a este libro. Tampoco puedo calificar un libro autobiográfico como bueno o malo. Simplemente si te gustan los libros de este estilo, te gustará "El maestro de Auschwitz".
He apuntado muchas frases, de esas que te remueven por dentro. Ha habido momentos duros narrativamente hablando y he tenido que ir parando o alternar de género literario junto con otro libro diferente.
Después de acabarlo, @cristi_lectora me chivó un dato "curioso": después del campo de concentración, Otto Kraus se casó con Dita Krausová (la mujer protagonista de la novela histórica de Antonio González Iturbe "La bibliotecaria de Auschwitz").
Solo deciros que este último también lo tengo en mi estantería, y pronto le daré una oportunidad.

«No hay accidentes en nuestras vidas, porque los acontecimientos son el resultado de todo lo que nos ha ocurrido antes, y lo que sea que nos suceda tiene que ocurrir y no puede evitarse. Yo me resistía a recuperar los diarios de Alex Ehren porque era reacio a afrontar mi propio pasado. La mente humana almacena el dolor en sus sótanos y yo no quería ni siquiera tener la llave de las habitaciones que había cerrado y olvidado. Y aun así los documentos consiguieron alcanzarme del modo y en el lugar que menos me podía imaginar».

[SHR · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I feel awful not finishing a book about Auschwitz but this was too slow and plodding for me. I have read a lot about the war and recently read "the Librarian of Auschwitz" (written about Otto's wife's experiences) and was hoping this book (written about the same section of the camp) would add more depth to the story of the teachers and children who spent their days there - it did not, it was a long list of events with little linking them. It lacked a storng narrative and did not tell us enough about the people it depicted (even of they were amalgam characters).
There are other books which depict the horrors of the camps and tell the stories of those killed and those who survived in a more evocative way, allowing us to try to learn from history and to remember them.

[Mariana Salazar · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me gustó particularmente
Se que es un tema horrible y es difícil imaginar lo que la pobre gente debió de sufrir en un lugar como Auschwitz, pero no logre conectar con este libro, no tiene profundidad, es confuso y me costó mucho terminarlo.

[The Reading's Love Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

RECENSIONE QUI: https://thereadingslove.blogspot.com/...


"Il maestro di Auschwitz" è una lettura istruttiva e profonda sull'orrore accaduto nel campo di concentramento di Auschwitz-Birkenau durante la seconda guerra mondiale. È un resoconto dettagliato della crudeltà e della disumanità dell’uomo ma soprattutto della fede e della speranza che lo scrittore stesso ha vissuto in prima persona, sulla propria pelle, perché lui è stato un sopravvissuto, uno che ha conosciuto il dolore, la fame, la malvagità dell’essere umano, uno che però non si è arreso e che grazie alla presenza dei bambini ha avuto la forza di tenere duro e di resistere nel tentativo di alleviare le sofferenze di quei piccoli. Perché il sorriso e la gioia dei bambini sono una delle meraviglie del mondo da conservare e ricordare nel cuore e nei ricordi, sono loro con la loro innocenza e la loro tenerezza a dare la forza agli adulti di rimanere vivi e lottare. In queste pagine si respira la morte, si avverte il freddo sulla pelle ed essendo un libro scritto da un uomo che ha vissuto in prima persona tutti gli accadimenti, rende la storia ai nostri occhi ancora più reale e forte, ancora più straziante e inquietante. Conosciamo Alex, un insegnante o meglio, un eroe che sfida le regole dei nazisti insegnando di nascosto ai bambini del blocco 31 della famiglia ceca, con la paura costante di non sapere cosa potrà accadere da un minuto all'altro, e facendo del suo meglio per nascondere loro gli orrori del campo �� che i bambini scopriranno solo dopo essere usciti dal loro blocco - che si svolgeva intorno a loro, mascherando l’orrore attraverso attività di gioco, di arte, musica e teatro. Questo diario si concentra sulla vita di questi bambini all’interno del campo e sulle condizioni in cui si trovavano tutti i deportati. Tutti i personaggi presenti all’interno della storia raccontano storie diverse e ciò ci mostra che ognuno di loro pensa e affronta diversamente l’orrore, anche se le situazioni sono le stesse. È un romanzo che unisce più voci in quanto sebbene l’autore abbia inserito le proprie esperienze nel campo, ha utilizzato anche ricerche e interviste in modo da mantenerlo fedele a ciò che è veramente accaduto, includendo non solo personaggi realmente esistiti che si ispirano a persone della vita reale ma anche altri che lui stesso ha inventato. Otto B. Kraus scrive in un modo quasi poetico, catturando l’orribile realtà di Auschwitz, il trauma duraturo che nonostante la fine della guerra è rimasto nella mente e nei sogni dei sopravvissuti come un senso di colpa che non va più via e che fa porre loro la difficile domanda: “Perché io sono sopravvissuto e gli altri no?”. Alla base del romanzo c’è il messaggio di fondo di cosa significa essere umani e sopravvivere e cosa vuol dire la moralità. Questa è la storia di Alex, Lisa, Pavel, Shashek e dei piccoli Adam, Bubenik e Majda e di tutti quelli che non ce l’hanno fatta. "Il maestro di Auschwitz" è la storia di ogni uomo, donna e bambino che ha vissuto l’inferno, la storia personale di ognuno di loro, di quelli che ce l’hanno fatta e degli altri che non ce l’hanno fatta, di quelli che sono morti nel tentativo di aiutare gli altri e di quelli che hanno lottato con le unghie e con i denti fino alla fine...

CONTINUA SUL NOSTRO BLOG. VENITE A TROVARCI
https://thereadingslove.blogspot.com/

[Abril Camino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues no me ha gustado (casi) nada. Reconozco el valor documental de los hechos que se narran, pero no me ha convencido la forma de contarlo ni lo deslavazado de la narración ni tampoco que todo se base en un supuesto cuaderno/diario que jamás se menciona.

[books.bintulu]

Stopped at page 62. Banyak sangat watak, jadi confuse. Dan susah nak bezakan yang mana Jewish, yg mana German huhu

[Adriana Machado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Não é que tenha sido um mau livro (até porque 3 estrelas é acima da média 😂), mas não foi uma leitura fácil, para mim. É um livro bastante curto, mas a leitura arrasta-se muito.
Acho que é um tema que prefiro em Não ficção, ou apenas abordado de outra maneira. Não criei apego pelas personagens e achei a história muito rasa.
Acho que a diagramação da editora também contribuiu.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vet inte om det är titeln som gör att det var en riktig besvikelse, dålig översättning eller var det en dålig bok.
Den handlade ingenting om barnen i Auschwitz utan om några som ”jobbade” i barnbaracken.
Visst har inte tidigare hört att det fanns en sådan eller ett familjeläger. Så det var nytt.
Men den gav inte mycket mer.
Boken upprepade samma saker vid flertalet tillfällen, lite som utfyllnad.
Gav ingen känsla för personer eller platsen.
Ville helst sluta läsa boken men gick att ta sig igenom,

[Inês Pôças · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro muito bonito pela sua história que apresenta uma nova perspectiva sobre um tema de extrema importância.
O poder que as crianças têm apenas pela sua inocência é maravilhoso.

[Coley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my kind of book, I got it from the library just because the blurb caught my eye but I just couldn’t get into it! I think it’s a really special story but as soon as I knew it wasn’t a memoir and the charecters were fictional based on a true story it put me off, just don’t think it was what I was expecting but imagining it will be much loved by others!

[Federica Rampi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otto B Kraus attinge alla sua esperienza nel blocco per bambini nel campo di concentramento di Auschwitz-Birkenau per scrivere questa commovente storia che per protagonista Alex Ehren, che proviene dal ghetto di Tezerin, lo stesso di Kraus, che sogna di iniziare una rivolta e nel frattempo si prende cura dei bambini rinchiusi nel Blocco 31, mentre i loro genitori lavorano ad Auschwitz.
Sono piccoli gesti, ma sufficienti per ricordare che la quotidianità aiuta a rimanere in vita, a sopravvivere alla fame e al freddo. Era già qualcosa....

“Non c’erano abbastanza scodelle di cibo, ai bambini servivano scarpe, camicie, pezze da piedi e, siccome gli sgabelli scarseggiavano, molti bambini dovevano accovacciarsi sul pavimento di terra battuta.”

È vietato insegnare ai piccoli , ma Alex non si rassegna e insieme ai suoi compagni di prigionia si impegnano affinché a queste giovani vite venga il più possibile risparmiato l’orrore e lo spettro della morte, come Lisa Pomnenka, che dipinge di allegri colori una parte del muro del Blocco.

“Non parliamo di morte né del camino. Facciamo loro credere che resteranno qui fino alla fine della guerra e che poi torneranno a casa”

Le voci del diario segreto di Alex catturano la disperazione straziante e il pragmatismo del campo di concentramento: la sempre presente minaccia di morte per fame, malattia o camera a gas, i limiti umani, ma anche i desideri e quell’istinto di normalità a cui istintivamente ci si aggrappa.

“Gli inservienti rubano tutto. Perfino le poesie.”

È una storia potente, un capitolo della Memoria angosciante e drammatico che ho letto con il groppo in gola.

[el_paraiso_en_letras Fani. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hace unos días que terminé de leer este libro pero me ha costado ponerme a escribir la reseña.
No es un libro especialmente duro ya que está escrito de una manera muy sutil cosa que hace que se disfrute mucho más, ha sido el hecho de conocer aquel mundo con familias separas y niños lo que me ha hecho reflexionar mas de lo habitualmente lo hago.

Este libro se basa en hechos reales, el autor lleva a cabo una investigación a instructores supervivientes del campo Checo de Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Este libro de la luz gracias al diario de Alex Ehren, lo escribió gracias a que tenía acceso a papel y lápiz ya que era uno de los maestros para niños en este campo de concentración. Esta no es solo su historia si no la de todos lo que lucharon por ocultar este diario y relatar su vida en aquel lugar.
Una de las cosas que me marcó es como nos habla del miedo que produce la exposición diaria a la muerte.

Por otro lado, conoceremos lo que fue ser maestro en aquel lugar. Lo que Alex y todos los maestros hicieron por esos niños, creándoles ilusiones y esperanzas en aquellos momentos no se puede explicar con palabras.

Aquí dejo un texto del libro:
No hacemos que los niños tengan miedo. No les hablamos de un futuro; vivimos solo el aquí y ahora. Hacemos una isla en el mar. Fingimos que no estamos en el campo. Les hacemos olvidar la chimenea, el hambre y los alemanes. Creamos un mundo de fantasía.

Este libro ha sido diferente, una historia sobrecogedora pero escrita de una manera muy delicada.

[Misfits farm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A work of fiction based on fact. Cold hard fact that the author lived through. Fact that every man woman and child should know and learn about until the ends of time. The Czech edition was entitled “Smoke is my brother”. Says so very much…..I read this having previously read “ The Tattooist of Auschwitz” so knew what I was in for…. so I thought. Alex is a teacher and undercover he teaches the children in their block in Auschwitz, never knowing what the next day let alone hour may hold. He keeps a diary that is carefully concealed. Whether it will ever be found or who by he does not know. If found by the guards it will be burnt to yet more smoke. I learnt so much. That when Germany first took rule there were lots of things that the Jewish were not allowed. To even buy fresh fruit or to listen to music. Strange rules hidden amongst the things we know about clothes and doors being marked to make them stand out. That in the camps there were often ten thousand a day sent to the gas chambers. This is a disturbing read but as I mentioned beforehand one that should be read so that is can never ever happen again. As I write this, I learnt of the camps around today where we really don’t quite know what is going on. How can mankind be so very unkind? A read to remember.

[booksbytheboats · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Yet as long as they believe in miracles, they weren’t entirely lost’ - The Children’s Block - Otto B Kraus.

I mean, the introduction and prologue to this book where enough to break your heart. However, there wasn’t a great deal of detail about the lives of the children - it talked about their day to day activities but not about their feelings or how/why they got there - I don’t necessarily want to read about the hardships they went through but I had expected this to be more of an insight.

An adaption of the lives of adults who worked on the children’s block and how they enriched their lives by teaching them and showing them how to find the best in truly awful situations. Although this is a piece of historical fiction, I feel like it read more like non-fiction.

Nevertheless, an important read to make people aware that it wasn’t just adults within Auschwitz. If you’re a fan of historical fiction and finding out about Auschwitz then you’ll probably enjoy this. If you’re looking for something along the same lines as The Tattooist of Aschwitz, this isn’t it.

A good read but not what I expected. Thanks to @netgalley and @eburybooks for my copy.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is haunting and harrowing in its graphic detail but simultaneously it fills one with wonder and inspiration at the hope and unbelievable strength of heart and soul, to be found within a human being. It is a testimony to the will to survive and believe in the good of mankind.
Reading this story and knowing that it is one man's a life story makes it all the more poignant...

I share here now, a review by Maddie on the book blog, Jen Meds Book 'Reviews, with thanks.
https://jenmedsbookreviews.com/2019/1...

[Manuela Menna · Rating 2 out of 5]

In realtà sarebbe due e mezzo.
Non si può dire che sia un libro bello o brutto. Kraus ci riporta la realtà dei fatti. Descrive l’atmosfera che si respirava nel Campo di concentramento. Ciò che si percepisce in questa storia sa molto di “rassegnazione”; questi ragazzi sono lì ad attendere la morte. Quello che manca è invece il coinvolgimento emotivo. Personalmente non ho provato nulla. Ho letto in modo asettico.

[Hannah Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel awful about this rating but I couldn’t connect with the plot. There were characters being brought in with no explanation of who they were, the order in which the story was written was mismatched and both factors made the plot difficult to keep up with. I was left not caring for what was happening because I couldn’t remember the character it was happening to. A great and terrible story full of hope in a place full of sorrow but the writing did not mesh well with me.

[Nissa]

A must-read for a better understanding and the senselessness that occurred at Auschwitz. This book is a fast-paced and sobering account of the depth to which man's inhumanity can sink, and also of the strength which man can gain from hope and faith. I was captivated by the simplicity of the writing and the horror of the story. An honest and easy read that I highly recommend anyone to read.

[Bram · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging glimpse into one of the strangest anomalies of the Nazi death machine. There's a degree of kitschness to it that, I suspect, might have been shaved away in a more imaginative or skilful writer's hands. But still worth a read if you can get your hands on it.

[Matthew Carrolan-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best

A good book to read, if you haven’t read others around the same subject. If you have read other books then this one didn’t give you much more information about the period, but is always good to read as other books do mention about the children’s camp.