The Teacher of Auschwitz - Wendy Holden - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Wendy Holden

NARRATOR: George Naylor

GENRE: Historical Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: June 17, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A WWII fiction based on the inspiring life of Fredy Kirsch, a homosexual German Jew. Could have done better on a couple of factors, but overall, it was exactly as you would expect from this kind of book: heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure. I avoid WWII fiction these days, but this one was worth a pick just to know Fredy. Recommended.

Plot Preview:

"I'm a teacher. I'm a dreamer. I'm not just a number."

Fredy Kirsch was a twenty-seven-year old teacher with a passion for teaching, music, sports, and children. He used all of these attributes when he was forced into a Jewish ghetto in Czechoslovakia. His main aim was to ensure the welfare of children, and to not make them feel the pain of their living conditions. However, things were soon going to get worse. Would it even be possible to keep children safe in Auschwitz?

The story comes to us in the first-person perspective of Fredy over multiple back-and-forth timelines, spanning 1924 to 1944.

After having burnt myself out on WWII fiction a couple of years ago, I diligently avoid picking up books where the blurb even mentions any year between 1939 to 1945 as all these novels have started blending into each other. Another thing I am fed up of is books with a mention of Auschwitz in the title. After ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ became such a bestseller a few years ago, there came a spate of books using similar titles: ‘The Sisters of Auschwitz’, ‘The Brothers of Auschwitz’, ‘The Redhead of Auschwitz’, ‘The Midwife of Auschwitz’, ‘The Dressmakers of Auschwitz’, ‘The Violinist of Auschwitz’, ‘The Child of Auschwitz’, and so many more. It felt like originality had been lost. Why then did I choose a book with a title in the same mundane structure? Simple. The word ‘teacher’ intrigued me, and the blurb stressed on how much Fredy loved children. I have a soft spot for kids, so I knew I had to read the story of a man who did his best to keep children happy even in such miserable conditions.

Bookish Yays:

👌 Fredy Kirsch. The man and the character. Loved him and everything he stood for. A bit too idealistic and impulsive at times, but also utterly selfless and inspiring. It is good to know that the kids around him had someone like Fredy to care for them.

👌 The depiction of the struggles faced by children in the ghetto and the concentration camp and how Fredy and his ragtag group kept the children motivated. Not that I didn’t know about such atrocities before, but their stories still broke my heart. Reading about human unkindness towards children never becomes easier. 😢

👌 The plot development, with the story beginning at the deep end and then moving across timelines to offer a back-perspective of Fredy’s life. An interesting structural choice, it worked well for me as it revealed Fredy’s character and the influential moments of his life in an orderly manner. (Slightly tricky to follow on audio, though.)

👌 The two divisions of the plot: pre-Auschwitz (which itself has two subdivisions – Fredy’s past and the ghetto years) and Auschwitz. Not many WWII novels focus on the ghetto experience in such detail. So it’s like reading Jewish persecution at two levels: brutal (ghetto) and deadly (Auschwitz camp.)

👌 The research, be it into Fredy’s life or socio-political circumstances or the cruelties against the Jews (including but not restricted to German Jews) or Nazi wickedness or the actual camp conditions. Impeccable! I never thought I still had new facts to learn about Auschwitz.

👌 The character-focussed writing, which helps us understand key characters even when we see them only through Fredy’s eyes. The description of the places is understandably limited, but the details about the human experiences are brilliant.

👌 The ending. Well, it was what I expected and it also wasn’t. Not at all an easy scene to get through, but given the facts, I guess I understand why the book ended that way.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🤔 The use of the first-person point of view to tell this story. While I loved hearing the story from Fredy’s direct perspective, it was still awkward at times as the first-person voice tends to make everything seem intimate and factual. Listening to Fredy’s sentiments towards children and his confusion over his sexual identity feels genuine, but hearing him voice his attraction and physical stirrings for some male characters feels invasive. I wish the romance-related aspects of Fredy’s life had not been written in detail. (The scenes are closed-door, but still…) I always find it awkward to read about intimate relations between people who actually lived in the past. Would Fredy have liked to see that part of his life become public knowledge? I think not.

🤔 At times, facts are casually thrown into verbal conversations, possibly to educate the reader about what was happening outside. Most of the times, this is smoothly done, but sometimes, it is quite distracting, as it feels like the character is spouting a fact at random even though the character he is speaking with might already know the situation.

🤔 The preface, which makes clear right at the start the true basis of this semi-biographical story. And the author’s note at the end, offering details of Fredy’s life and her research. I just wish there had been some clarity on which parts of Fredy’s life had been fictionalised and where his direct quotes were taken from.

Bookish Nays:

👎 The title – boring and overused. Moreover, thanks to the title (and the blurb), we know beforehand that Fredy will end up in Auschwitz. A major chunk of the book is NOT set in Auschwitz.

👎 A few scenes, especially connected to the random interactions between known people at new locations, felt a bit serendipitous. Given the number of Jews in the ghetto and the concentration camp, this was too fortuitous to accept.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 9 min, is narrated by George Naylor. He does a commendable job and I absolutely loved his powerful performance. I also appreciate that the author’s note is included in the audio version; we audiobook listeners are often bereft of this chance. Do note that with the back and forth across multiple timelines from multiple locations and numerous overlapping characters, the audiobook is better suited to experienced listeners.

All in all, as expected, this wasn’t an easy read. Many of the scenes are not just sad but also traumatising. This book depicts the true picture of Auschwitz, not the romanticised version sold by Heather Morris in ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’.

On an aside, due to my narrow-minded approach towards ‘The ----- of Auschwitz’ titles, I missed out on another WWII semi-biographical novel: ‘The Librarian of Auschwitz’, based on the life of Auschwitz survivor Dita Kraus. Fredy had an important role to play in her life, so if you have read that novel, you might already know a little about him. Dita has a small appearance in this latest novel celebrating Fredy.

Definitely recommended to historical fiction fans. Even if the writing choices could have done better to some extent, the overall book is still worth a read to commemorate Fredy and his sacrifices.

My thanks to Bonnier Books UK and Zaffre for providing the DRC, and to HarperAudio Adult and Harper Perennial for providing the ALC of “The Teacher of Auschwitz” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.