To See Children in Auschwitz: A Testimony by Dita Kraus

Dita (Edith) Kraus (née Polach) was born in 1929 in Prague, a single child of law professor Dr. Hans Polach and his wife Elisabeth. Following the outbreak of the war in September 1939, Dita's parents sent her to the countryside, but in 1940 brought her back to Prague and set up private tutors for her. In November 1942, the family was deported to Theresienstadt. Dita was placed in a separate block for young girls and was assigned to agricultural labor. Despite extremely crowded living conditions, sparse food, and heavy workloads, the ghetto maintained a broad variety of educational and cultural activities, including lessons and lectures. Fredy Hirsch, an athlete, Zionist leader, and Jewish-German educator, was among the teachers who organized sporting events and educational activities. In December 1943, Dita and her parents were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of the second transport sent to the so-called "Family Camp."  Six weeks later, her father died. Dita served as librarian in the block set up for children in the "Family Camp, with only a handful of books. Fredy Hirsch also ran the children's block, creating a network of Zionist instructors who filled their young charges' time with educational and cultural activities. In May 1944, Dita and her mother were sent to Hamburg, Germany, where they were put to hard labor. From there they were transported to different labor camps, arriving in March 1945 at Bergen-Belsen, which was liberated several weeks later by the British Army. Dita's mother died about two months later. Following her death, Dita returned to Prague, where she was reunited with her aunt, her grandmother, and Otto Kraus, a former educator in the children's block. The two married and in 1949 immigrated to Israel. For some 30 years, both Otto and Dita taught at the Hadassim Youth Village. They raised three children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Dita resides in Netanya and shares her story in Israel and abroad. In 2012 the book "The Librarian of Auschwitz" by Antonio Iturbe was published based on her life story, becoming an international bestseller.