The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz by Thomas Geve is one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. Geve’s ability to  observe and recall the details of his experience  is remarkable: the day to day existence, the instances of humanity and kindness amongst unimaginable darkness, the ability of the young to live in the present and endure… But words weren’t enough for Geve and so  he drew many moments and the strength of his illustrations lie in their simplicity.

It’s all there, in The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz: words, illustrations, the sum of 22 months in this boy’s life and should be required reading in every educational establishment.

Geve was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau at the age of 13. He was selected on arrival to go right, as whips cracked over the confused terror stricken families. So he went right to where the able bodied men stood. His mother was not selected to go right but to … Thomas marched away with the men, five abreast – to live – for now. Then the ‘prick of a thousand pins’ as the six numbers were tattoed on his arm. They added up to 13. Lucky or unlucky?

Geve had to fend for himself in the men’s camp of Auschwitz 1, surviving for 22 months in the unimaginaable world of 3 Nazi concntration and death camps. He was liberated on 11 April 1945 from Buchenwald.

But this youngster’s work was not finished on liberaton. He made over 80 drawings capturing day to day life inside the camps which, combined with his written testimony, bear witness to the lives of those deemed sub-human by this monstrous regime. But the extraordinary fact is that the humanity of these young people survived within them, they were invincible. as they continued day to day, staying in the present.

As he says on page 199 –  the adults were concerned with the past, their losses, and the future and their fears, but for the young the present was what was of concern though they were strangers from different cultures grouped together, with their different norms, and backgrounds. For instance, as Geve recalls, his  thrice weekly 1-5 ounce stick of margaring was sparingly spread on what bread there was. For the Russian country boys it was gulped down, on its own.

For Greek boys hitting was a game, for Thomas hitting signified  anger. But he played their game of Klepsiklepsi. A playmate was blindfolded, slapped. Then the blindfold removed and all others did their best to look guilty as the victim tried to guess who had actually hit them. He remembers a Jewish boy from Belgium who had never made a bed,  his mother had always brushed his hair. Geve helped him with the bed in the morning, but questions if he was right to do so, because perhaps hthe lad would have become independent more quickly. But would Auschwitz have allowed him the time to learn? Geve remarks. Suddenly one is back in what resembles Dante’s inferno. Thomas worked – bricklaying was his mechanism. Thomas survived

Read it, remember it, as anti-semitism rises in the UK.

The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz by Thomas Geve pb £8.99  Also in ebook and audio