Fritz and Kurt

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Of necessity, some of the brutality of concentration camp life has to be greyed out for this age group (it’s aimed at nine plus). But what information needs to be told, and what are young readers not ready to learn about? Unsurprisingly, “anything essential to the story” is the short answer. Although, how do we decide what is essential? Jeremy explained that a lot was left out, especially those things which “would be too upsetting”. For example, Jeremy did learn of the fate of the mother and eldest daughter, actually discovering this in his research. Jeremy also had to find ways to tell essential events in a way that weren’t too graphic and “age appropriate”. A process which included the “writing, rewriting and scrapping and rewriting” of one scene in particular. Other scenes were left in because they had been “imprinted” in the memories of those involved. The story follows both brothers – Kurt to America who bravely voyaged alone aged just eleven years old. And Fritz who was old enough to be sent on the transport to the concentration camps with the men. It was a truly harrowing and awful time. The reader sees the close bond between Fritz and his father as they try to help each other and keep hope alive that there will be better days ahead.

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield, David Ziggy Greene

I haven't read Dronfield's book about the Jewish family split by the second world war, but I was fascinated to hear that the author has retold it for a young audience. It wouldn't be the first book out there telling of Holocaust atrocities. While we try to protect our children from some of the worst of humanity, it is also important that they learn history, what intolerance and hatred can become, or how can we ever hope to stop it happening again? He got food from civilians and shared it with his friends, and then was able to convince civilians to bring guns into the camp,” says Kurt. “Eventually, he survived by swapping identities with a dead man. Some of these stories are almost incomprehensible to me.” Survival in Vienna I feel like starting this book review with a review of me, if you don't mind. I have been to Auschwitz and Birkenau, and Dachau, and the Nazi camp in Poznan, Poland. I have a fairly wide reading history when it comes to the Holocaust – certainly greater than the average man you could point to on the generalised commuter bus. However, a few years ago I fell into the Heather Morris trap. For I thought The Tattooist of Auschwitz was a well-made book, which it is, and somehow multiple thousands of copies were printed with a quote from my review in them. They don't print like them like that these days, however, probably due to a regular refresh, and possibly because I tried the sequel and found it unreadable – the amount of barrels in Donkey Kong nothing like the risible amount of sharks jumped, and people knowing the reality behind the characters demanding legal settlement over it all for it being errant fiction. This, and the fact The x of Auschwitz has been one of the most common publishing formats over the last years, has put me off reading much Holocaust literature. Hence my ability to read this junior retelling of The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz in full ignorance of the original, adult version. The ironies continue. Gustav’s new ally at Monowitz was an ex-soldier and co-worker who simply couldn’t credit that Hitler would imprison Jews without cause. But neither could Gustav credit the number of closed trains he saw carrying thousands of Hungarian Jews to their deaths. “And all this in the 20th century,” he wrote with disbelief. A year later, starving at Mauthausen, a camp in Upper Austria, Gustav barely escaped being massacred by ferociously antisemitic Hungarian guards. (The Russians, by contrast, treated all camp inmates with respect.)

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Jeremy Dronfield has written a powerful tale that is horrifying and harrowing, probably more so to older readers who have knowledge of just what really happened. Jeremy Dronfield says just enough to tell the true story without giving young children nightmares with graphic details. My granddaughters are very sensitive but I am letting them read this book because they need to know what happened, as does all the next generation, in the hope that never again will the innocent be slaughtered in such a way. Unfortunately, we see that many do not learn the lessons from history. Fritz And Kurt is a read suitable for any age, not just children. You will be full of admiration for the bravery of the brothers who lived through a time of great evil. It certainly opened my eyes, just months after John Boyne did an adults-only sequel to his different covers for different ages The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, to see this be a junior rewrite of a mass market adult Holocaust book. I was left with the feeling this felt the need to be more educational than the adult equivalent. I also was left with the feeling that, in being so repetitive, the author did not have a firm grasp on his target audience's intelligence before he started. But I may have been wrong in seeing that as an issue. And so I started this with trepidation, knowing what was likely to be forthcoming. And yes. It was upsetting, especially to a parent with children not far from the ages of Fritz and Kurt. But yes, it was also well-told.

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield - LoveReading4Kids Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield - LoveReading4Kids

Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his... Careful consideration and due diligence are parts of the good practice of anyone doing their job properly. This applies to choosing texts for the classroom – it is one of the main reasons Just Imagine exists. When it comes to the well-being of individual children in the classroom, the teacher will ultimately know what is suitable. When it comes to factual and accurate information, we place trust in the authors (including illustrators), editors and publishers to carry out due diligence.

Classrooms have to ultimately be places of hope. So, can reading about an event like the Holocaust be a positive experience? The feeling Jeremy has is “positive in the sense that it is a story of survival, hope, love and courage.” Although, one thing that perhaps does not come across so explicitly in this version, because of the child’s viewpoint, is “their father’s determination to survive. How firmly he believed he was going to survive.” Even when the worst things are happening around him, Gustav was writing “I will not let these SS murderers grind me down.” Which Jeremy thinks “was a big part in what enabled Gustav and Fritz to survive.” Gustav never lost his faith or devotion to his son. It’s part of the positivity that comes through. Determination, courage, faith, belief, hope. Knowing these exist, Jeremy continues, through all of life’s challenges and difficulties, is inspiring. The story begins in Vienna just before the German invasion, and soon takes young Kurt out of the country, alone, to America. With only a few chapters of his story once he reaches a new home, it mainly then pushes the reader on to concentration camps with the older Fritz and his father, arrested for nothing more than their Judaism. It explains well what the Nazis thought of Jews, and allows readers to see for themselves the inhumanity inflicted on so many.

Fritz and Kurt – Books For Keeps Fritz and Kurt – Books For Keeps

A story based on real-life. A narrative on harrowing events: The Holocaust. Fritz and Kurt is a story about a Jewish family, The Kleinman's, living in Austria during the 1930s; a time when their world was seemingly changed overnight and ripped apart. Hitler invaded, blaming Jewish people for the demise of Germany: they are sent to concentration camps or executed. Jewish residents are sought out, humiliated and bullied - once friends but now enemies. Ultimately, if this book's older relative did for its target audience what this has the ability to do for its own, it's easy to see why the first book was such a success. (And I can't ignore the mention late on of facts that came to light after the first book was presented.) I wish this a similar impact, and I'm grateful for the publishers sending me a review copy. A strong four stars, if not more, from me. Fritz and Kurt lived in Vienna and as Jews they were in terrible danger when the Nazis came. Fritz, the older brother, and his father do indeed get taken to Buchenwald as the concentration camp is newly developed and we are left in no doubt about the conditions they suffered both there and in subsequent camps. The careful attention to detail certainly gives a real insight into the realities of how the Holocaust progressed.

As well as simple words telling the story, the whole book is powerfully and yet simply illustrated by Ziggy Greene. Jeremy embarked on a mission to write a different version. Readers of the original wanted to share the story with their children. A version written in a way children will be able to “relate to and understand”. But what is it we are asking children to understand when it comes to the Holocaust? This story is “about children”, and Jeremy mentions that a child’s experience is often overlooked. Other books might only give a “small narrow window” into their lives in the Holocaust. In Fritz and Kurt, we have the experiences of a concentration camp and being a refugee. These can provide the reader with a “deeper and broader insight into what children experienced”. Jeremy would like children to understand that because “it’s so beyond what children can imagine from their own experience”. And not just how it happened but why it happened too. In an introduction, the author sets the story of Fritz and Kurt in its historical context, explaining what the Holocaust was, how it came about and who was affected. There are also notes for parents, guardians and teachers who may wish to understand how the story is being presented. In this extraordinary true story, Fritz and Kurt must face unimaginable hardships, and the two brothers wonder if they will ever return home... A retelling of the Sunday Times bestselling The Boy Who Followed his Father into Auschwitz, a Daily Mail and Sunday Express book of the year. 'Extraordinary' - Observer. I felt strongly that it had to be a new book, written specially for children – not just an abridged or simplified edition of the original. Brothers Fritz and Kurt would be in the foreground, the story told from their viewpoints. And while some harrowing events would have to be either omitted or written in a way children could cope with, it mustn’t downplay the realities of the Holocaust. Writing Fritz and Kurt has been one of the greatest creative challenges I’ve ever faced. Discovering David Ziggy Greene’s art was a major step – his beautiful touch with stark, angular figures is perfect, with a charm and humour that help make the subject accessible for kids.