Otto B. Kraus (1921–2000)

Otto B. Kraus was born to a Jewish family in Prague, Czechoslovakia. His parents were Richard Kraus, a wealthy factory owner, and his wife Marie. He had a younger brother, Harry. They lived in a spacious house near the factory building where some 50 seamstresses produced nightgowns, embroidered silk underwear, and dressing gowns. He played tennis and swam, was a Boy Scout, and won a championship in table tennis. But mostly he read books. His literature teacher became aware of his writing talent and encouraged it. After Nazi Germany invaded his country in 1939, Otto became an active member of the Zionist movement. For two years, he worked on farms in preparation for emigration to Israel. However, in 1942, he and his family were deported to the Nazi camp at Terezin (Theresienstadt), and in 1943 to the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He became one of the counselors on the Kinderblock (children's barracks). Their camp was liquidated after six months and Otto was among the men sent to the Schwarzheide concentration camp in Germany. Towards the end of the war, as the Allied armies advanced, the camp was evacuated and those still alive were forced on a death march west. Otto survived to be liberated and returned to Prague, where he learned that neither his parents nor his brother had survived. He enrolled at the university to study literature, philosophy, English and Spanish. He met Dita Polakova, whom he remembered from the Kinderblock. They married in 1947 and the first of their three children was born later that year. In 1948, Otto published his first novel, Země bez Boha (Land Without God), which was very successful. Otto had inherited his father’s factory, but it was seized by the Soviets who then occupied the country. Otto and Dita decided to realize his Zionist dream to live in Israel, and obtained permission to leave in 1949. From 1950 to 1957, they lived and worked on Kibbutz Givat Chaim and later moved to Netanya on the Mediterranean. Both he and Dita became English teachers. In the evenings, after work, he wrote books, including a memoir called The Painted Wall about his experiences at Auschwitz. In 1986, he retired from teaching and started a new career as a graphologist.