Fritz and Kurt

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The rest of the Kleinmann family in Vienna, meanwhile, were arranging their own survival. Kurt's oldest sister, Edith, fled to England in 1939 to work as a maid, while their mother, Tini, had managed, via a well-connected associate, to acquire a permit for Kurt to escape to the US. The arrangement couldn't have happened at a better time. These reservations aside, the narration is extraordinarily touching. The child’s perspective is believable and Dronfield is skilled at using small details to bring a scene home.The book is appealingly and appropriately illustrated by David Ziggy Greene. In the words of Dronfield - “ it is vitally important to remember what happened in those terrible years, and to do whatever we can to make sure nothing like it never occurs again […] we have to begin with memories and knowledge of what happened in the past, with understanding, and with compassion for our fellow human beings – all of them, not just the ones who look like us to share our beliefs.” When his father is sent to a certain death, Fritz can't face losing his beloved Papa. He chooses to go with him and fight for survival. Meanwhile, Kurt must go on a frightening journey, all alone, to seek safety on the far side of the world. In this extraordinary true story, Fritz and Kurt must face unimaginable hardships, and the two brothers wonder if they will ever return home . . . The Kleinmann family in 1938 featuring Gustav (second left) and Fritz (fourth left). Photograph: Peter Patten

Fritz and Kurt : Dronfield, Jeremy, Greene, David Ziggy Fritz and Kurt : Dronfield, Jeremy, Greene, David Ziggy

Fritz and his Papa were sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in 1939, the beginning of a five-year struggle of loss, endurance, resistance and escape. The diary tells how, in 1942, when Papa was transferred to Auschwitz, Fritz volunteered to go with him. Fritz knew they would probably die there, but he couldn’t bear to be without his beloved Papa. When I read the diary’s account of that decision, I knew I had to tell this phenomenal story. The diary is too patchy and difficult to understand in itself (unless you’re a Holocaust historian), so I researched around it, found archived interviews left behind by Fritz (who died in 2009), and located Fritz’s brother, Kurt, who was still alive and living in America. I do remember a few tough situations [in Vienna] with a kid from the Hitler Youth,” he recalls. “Another kid injured me so badly that I ended up in hospital, but when we went to the police, I had to apologise to him as he was Aryan.” 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.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. About This Edition ISBN: 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. The story of the two Kleinmann brothers was first told in the best-selling The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz, but this edition has been especially written for younger readers more like the age of the boys themselves and also contains some additional material discovered since the first publication.

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

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. My new book, Fritz and Kurt, tells the extraordinary true story of two Jewish brothers in the Holocaust. It’s been nearly ten years in the making. I first discovered the story in 2013, when I learned of the existence of a secret concentration camp diary written by Gustav Kleinmann, the father of Fritz and Kurt.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. 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. Incredible is the tale of Fritz, his Papa and what they went through, and just how they survived. It's moving and had me in tears several times. I was very relieved to see that readers will not be spared the truth, but are not subjected to more graphic scenes than I as a parent would want in their heads. It is enough.

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

I spent many hours interviewing Kurt, and we became friends. He told me all about their family life in Vienna in the days ‘before Hitler came’ and about his special childhood bond with Fritz. He also told me about his own story of life in Vienna under the Nazis, and how he escaped to America in 1941, all alone, aged only eleven. 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. Mauthausen was the destination towards which father and son were going when Gustav persuaded his son to leap from a speeding train of starving men and corpses, out into a snowdrift. If there are moments when Dronfield’s extraordinary book sounds more like a peculiarly gruesome thriller, readers should remind themselves that none of this is fiction. These horrors happened. Witnesses such as Gustav and Fritz survived and told their tales to ensure that their past should never be repeated. The rest is up to us. Gustav died in 1976, aged 84; Fritz died in 2009 at the age of 85. Kurt’s surviving sister, Edith, lived until the age of 96.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). 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. After that book came out, many people who had been moved and inspired by the Kleinmann family’s story told me that they wished their children could read my book. At its core, it’s a story about children living through one of history’s greatest tragedies; it’s about children’s courage, love, and resilience. Young readers should be able to read it for themselves. My conversation with Jeremy Dronfield made me think deeply on many things. For example, no one can argue that books aren’t tools for learning. Not every book, of course. And even those that we might think are, may not be suitable for your needs as an educator. Or the needs of a child’s as a learner. But, do we consider that some books might not be in the best interests of the topic you are teaching? 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.

Fritz and Kurt | BookTrust

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.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.