Dita Kraus

Dita Kraus (born Edith Polachová) was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) on 12 July 1929.^[1][2] She was the only daughter of Hans Polach and Elisabeth Polach.^[3] Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a housewife. She and her parents lived in a rental apartment on U Smaltovny street in Holešovice. Due to the creation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia the family were forced to move out of their apartment.^[3]

In November 1942, Kraus and her parents were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. While there she met her future husband, Otto Kraus.^[1]

Dita and her parents were then transported to the East. Their final destination was to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in December 1943. From there, Dita and her parents were immediately separated.^[4] While in Auschwitz, she and her mother were sent to the women's barracks: her father died six weeks after their arrival.^[2] Upon arrival, her mother soon fell ill and had to be put into isolation. They were placed in the Theresienstadt family camp.^[4] The camp contained a children's block which was run by a young sports instructor and Zionist called Fredy Hirsch.^[2] Dita had met Hirsch while in Prague. She had also seen him in the Terezín Ghetto where he was running a section for young people and children at the Jewish ghetto management.^[5] Dita was responsible for organizing the borrowing and hiding of books; the knowledge of the books was kept a secret.^[4]

In 1944, Dita and her mother were sent to Hamburg where they were required to participate in a work camp. From there she was moved to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Kraus's mother died soon after Bergen-Belsen was disbanded, so Dita was left to return to Prague without either of her parents.^[5]

After Dita Kraus was liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, she returned to Prague where she met up again with Otto and they were married.^[1] They moved to Israel in 1949, where she taught English.^[5] They lived in Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer for one year before moving to a kibbutz where Dita worked in shoe repair and in the kitchen. After seven years, they moved to Netanya. She still lived in Israel, but often visited the Czech Republic.^[6]

Kraus died in Jerusalem on 18 October 2025, at the age of 96.^[7]

In 2017, Antonio Iturbe published The Librarian of Auschwitz which was based on Kraus' time at Auschwitz.^[8] Iturbe's book was based on interviews with Kraus.^[9] In 2020 Kraus published her own book, A Delayed Life, which presents her story from her own perspective.^[10]