In January, the Peeky Blinders Book Group read The Teacher of Auschwitz by Wendy Holden. The group awarded the book an overall score of 4 out of 5. While the subject matter made it a difficult and emotional read at times, every member agreed that it was a powerful and deeply impactful story that stayed with them long after they turned the final page.
What none of us expected was that the book would lead to such a remarkable personal connection.
In June, Peeky Blinders attended the HiVIS event, where we displayed a selection of books our members had recently enjoyed. Among them was The Teacher of Auschwitz, which tells the story of Fredy Hirsch, a charismatic Jewish educator who became a source of hope for children during the Holocaust.
As visitors browsed the stall, one book immediately caught the attention of Hunts Blind volunteer Helen Bosworth.
Granny’s Scrapbook (1918-1949)
Helen later shared her story with us:
“I was helping at the Hunts Blind coffee morning held in Huntingdon Library in June, where there was also an exhibition of help available for people with visual impairments. I noticed that Peeky Blinders had displayed a couple of books they had read. One caught my eye – The Teacher of Auschwitz.
The book was about Fredy Hirsch, a name I recognised immediately. My mother had spoken about him, and there were photographs of him in her photo album. Beccy very kindly gave me her copy of the book and, having now finished it, I feel it has filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge about this remarkable man.
Fredy was eight years older than my mother, Eva Gross (née Weiss). Both lived in Brno, Czechoslovakia, before the war. They were later transported to Terezin and then to the Auschwitz-Birkenau family camp, where Fredy worked with and cared for children.
Fredy was a very charismatic man who taught the children gymnastics, and my mother followed in his path. An uprising was almost organised in the camp, but Fredy took his own life in March 1944.
My mother survived and escaped during a death march. In her testimony, she said that without Fredy’s help she would not have survived.
Reading this book encouraged me to go back and re-read my mother’s story and listen again to her testimony, which she recorded for the Shoah Foundation. She speaks for more than three hours and mentions Fredy several times.
— Helen Bosworth, Hunts Blind Volunteer
For our book group, this was a moving reminder that history is often closer than we realise. What began as a discussion about a highly rated book became a connection to a real person whose life had touched one of our own volunteers’ family.
The Teacher of Auschwitz gave our members an insight into the courage, resilience and humanity shown during one of history’s darkest periods. Through Helen’s story, it also reminded us that the people in these books are not just names on a page. Their experiences live on through the memories, testimonies and families who continue to tell their stories today.
Source: The Teacher of Auschwitz by Wendy Holden and the testimony of Holocaust survivor Eva Gross.