Fritz and Kurt

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In 1938, the Nazis come to Vienna. They hate anyone who is different, especially Jewish people. Fritz and Kurt's family are Jewish, and that puts them in terrible danger. Fritz, along with his father, is taken to a Nazi prison camp, a terrible place, full of fear. 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. This book didn’t try to have a unique twist on the war or tell a story that hasn’t been told before because both Fritz and Kurt’s stories have been told very similarly before it just tried to tell the stories it was telling as well as it could and that it did. It was simple sand powerful and meaningful because of that. Throughout the book as well it showed different things that could have happened to Jews during this time, so you had some that managed to escape and become refugees, some that were killed or sent to ghettos and died as well as some being sent to concentration camps that proves the point that not everyone was sent to a concentration camp and that other things did happen to these people.

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield, David Ziggy Greene

The photograph at the beginning of this devastating book shows what may have been the last gathering of the Vienna-based family of Gustav Kleinmann, upholsterer. In 1938, during what Austrian Jews would later bitterly name “the November pogrom” – it began with Kristallnacht – peace-loving Gustav, a decorated war veteran, and his son Fritz, 15, were rounded up on the eager testimony of their non-Jewish neighbours. Jeremy Dronfield has re-written his book The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz for children. He has also added in further information that he found out after writing his first book, so Fritz and Kurt is an updated, simplified version. He has included explanations as footnotes of Jewish words and historical events to aid the reader.Dronfield does well to give his own thoughts on the family's experiences, and include a timeline of wider events. One thing I would have liked would have been teachers' notes, as I suspect this may be well read in school classrooms studying WWII, and discussion questions would have been one useful addition.

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield | Goodreads

Hitler and the Nazis marched into Austria with very little opposition. Any that they encountered was swiftly put down. We see how daily life altered rapidly for the brothers who lived with their parents and two sisters. Friends soon became informants to the Nazis. Avenues were sought to send the children to safety but it came too late for Fritz. This book follows two brothers Fritz and Kurt who get separated during the early years of WW2, going in different direcetions. Fritz gets sent to a Nazi concentrarion camp and Kurt goes to America to live with extended family as a refugee. 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. 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.Holocaust memoirs are many. Kurt Kleinmann makes it his business to lay his hands on every last one of them: “I have a need to not forget,” he states firmly.

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield – The Federation of Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield – The Federation of

Fritz And Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield is a powerful historical novel for children aged ten years and over. 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. 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. For three years, Jeremy used his experience as an academic researcher and writer to find out more. And make it accessible. As the research continued, he came to realise something. As far as he could tell, this is “completely unique in the whole history of the Holocaust.” A Jewish father and son “stayed alive together for five and a half years in concentration camps. And then leave a record.” It’s important to remember, too, that during those years, there were some “extremely dangerous brushes with death”. It was extraordinary that either survived, let alone both of them.It is not my place to give more importance to one historical event than another. There are those, however, that have caused more trauma, pain and suffering than anyone can possibly imagine. Talking about these in a classroom to young learners is a challenge. We need the combination of trust and due diligence more than ever. Meanwhile the family is trying to get the other children to safety. One sister did escape to a job in England and eventually papers are procured for Kurt to travel to the United States. For Kurt the trauma of leaving all his family behind to travel halfway across the world to a country with a different language and customs is considerable but the main focus of the story is on the plight of Fritz and his father. As the title of the adult novel indicates Fritz did indeed choose to follow his father on the transport to Auschwitz and to almost certain death, rather than be separated. The strength of their relationship is deeply moving and beautifully conveyed. The story of how they survived until war ended is completely remarkable and so although harrowing the book ultimately has a very positive and inspirational message about human resilience and courage.