7 Historical Fiction Books About the Holocaust Based On True Stories

Historical fiction has the unique ability to bring history to life.

It helps us to connect deeply with events that must never be forgotten. When it comes to Holocaust books, choosing ones based on true stories, I believe, makes them particularly impactful.

My grandfather was an American solider during WWII who was at a concentration camp when they were freed. He would not talk about it. It was a part of his history that he kept lock inside because the horrors were too great to talk about. And, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like.

But, we must be reminded of these dark times in history, and historical fiction provides us a way to do so. To have empathy and help us see a glimpse of life from the character’s perspective.

Here are seven historical fiction works that are based on true stories. I’ve tried to include a mix of indie and traditionally published authors in this suggested reading list.

The Librarian of Auschwitz

Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.

Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.

Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.

Click HERE to check it out.

The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz

Where there is family, there is hope

In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholster from Vienna, and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz are arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Germany. Imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, they miraculously survive the Nazis’ murderous brutality.

Then Gustav learns he is being sent to Auschwitz—and certain death.

For Fritz, letting his father go is unthinkable. Desperate to remain together, Fritz makes an incredible choice: he insists he must go too. To the Nazis, one death camp is the same as another, and so the boy is allowed to follow.

Throughout the six years of horror they witness and immeasurable suffering they endure as victims of the camps, one constant keeps them alive: their love and hope for the future.

Based on the secret diary that Gustav kept as well as meticulous archival research and interviews with members of the Kleinmann family, including Fritz’s younger brother Kurt, sent to the United States at age eleven to escape the war, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is Gustav and Fritz’s story—an extraordinary account of courage, loyalty, survival, and love that is unforgettable.

Click HERE to check it out.

Escaping Budapest

Budapest, winter 1944: As Nazi occupation brings terror to Hungary, one family's fight for survival becomes a harrowing journey to escape Budapest, through the darkest chapter of human history.

When a drunken neighbor brings the ruthless Arrow Cross gendarme straight to their front door, the Levy family realizes their days in the city they once called home are numbered. After years of loyalty and community, a Christian neighbor's kindness saves their lives. Yet even simple kindness does not last long in Budapest.

In this gripping historical novel based on true events:

• Young newlyweds Magda and János face starvation and death as they hide from Arrow Cross patrols

• Magda's parents, Miriam and István, are torn apart, each facing their perilous path to survival

• The brave members of the Jewish underground resistance risk everything to save their fellow Jews

• A ruthless Arrow Cross priest leaves a trail of unimaginable cruelty in his wake

From the Jewish ghetto to the shores of the Danube, from secret shelters to the halls of justice, "Escaping Budapest" weaves together the fates of ordinary people caught in extraordinary times. This unforgettable tale of love, courage, and the indomitable human spirit in the face of unspeakable evil will stay with you long after the last page.

Click HERE to check it out.

The Butterfly and the Violin

Based on the real orchestra comprised of prisoners at Auschwitz, The Butterfly and the Violin shows how beauty and hope can penetrate even the darkest corners.

Present day: Manhattan art dealer Sera James watched her world crumble at the altar two years ago, and her heart is still fragile. Her desire for distraction reignites a passion for a mysterious portrait she first saw as a young girl—a painting of a young violinist with piercing blue eyes.

In her search for the painting, Sera crosses paths with William Hanover—the grandson of a wealthy California real estate mogul—who may be the key to uncovering the hidden masterpiece. Together Sera and William slowly unravel the story behind the painting’s subject: Austrian violinist Adele Von Bron.

1942: A darling of the Austrian aristocracy, talented violinist, and daughter to a high-ranking member of the Third Reich, Adele risks everything when she begins smuggling Jews out of Vienna. In a heartbeat, her life of prosperity and privilege dissolves into a world of starvation and barbed wire.

As Sera untangles the secrets behind the painting, she finds beauty in the most unlikely of places: the grim camps of Auschwitz and the inner recesses of her own troubled heart.

Click HERE to check it out.

I Have to Save Them

Auschwitz, 1942: The nurse’s entire body trembles as she watches the doctor guide the beautiful twins with chestnut curls into the infirmary. Everyone thinks he’s helping these innocent souls, but she knows the truth…

Betrayed by her own husband for being a German resistance fighter, Orli has no one left in the world as she stumbles from the cattle truck onto the frostbitten grounds of Auschwitz. She has arrived expecting to be sentenced to certain death. Instead, as a trained nurse, she is assigned to work in the infirmary to assist Dr Josef Mengele.

Soon, Orli learns Mengele is known as the Angel of Death, and is the most feared man in Auschwitz. At his hands, thousands of healthy inmates are cruelly killed and experimented on: and Orli is expected to assist him. She realises that her resistance work is not over. From inside the infirmary, she will secretly try to save as many souls as she can.

Orli starts to smuggle medicine to the most desperate of patients. But when Mengele instructs her to find children, she knows it isn’t enough… she has to keep him away. With the help of her fellow nurses, Orli plans to fake a typhus outbreak.

But can Orli really fool one of the most powerful men in Auschwitz? And if Mengele discovers her plan, will the cost of saving others be her own life?

Inspired by the incredible true story of Orli Reichert, this unforgettable World War Two novel brings to life the powerful tale of a woman who risked everything to fight against evil.

Click HERE to check it out.

The Girl from the Resistance

1941, Nazi-occupied Holland. Trudi can hear the muffled sobs of two heartbroken little girls as they peer wide-eyed from their hiding place behind the bookcase. Rosy and Louisa’s parents have been dragged away by soldiers. Now Trudi is the only one who can keep them safe…

When Nazis break down the front door of eighteen-year-old Trudi’s home and seize the Jewish couple hiding in her attic, she’s devastated, and is suddenly solely responsible for their two innocent children. The whispered rumours about the resistance are her only hope. A man called Frans and his cousin Piet risk their lives every day, helping scared and abandoned Jewish children escape into the countryside. Under the cover of night she races to beg for their help.

When the girls are offered a safe house, Trudi is relieved. But with soldiers on every corner of the cobbled streets, getting there will be extremely dangerous… Trudi must dress up in a German nurse’s uniform and convince anyone who asks that she is transporting two children to hospital.

Trudi will have to give up everything to protect Rosy and Louisa. She will have to lie to her friends and family, and learn to fire a weapon that could take someone’s life. The only consolation is Piet’s dark eyes and handsome face as he stands beside her helping to plan her next steps.

But Trudi suspects someone close to her told the Nazis about the hiding place in the attic, and they’ll stop at nothing to make sure the girls do not escape…

A heartbreaking, inspiring and uplifting tale about the sacrifices we’re prepared to make for innocent people. Fans of Mandy Robotham, The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See will love this unforgettable historical series based on true stories of the heroic women of the Dutch resistance.

Click HERE to check it out.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

Click HERE to check it out.

These books do more than share historical events in fictionalized form – they humanize the statistics and remind us why we must continue to read, remember, and learn from this many periods in human history. Each story represents thousands of others that were lost, making these books necessary reading for us to keep talking about.

Remember that while these are historical fiction they are all based on historical events and real people's experiences. These stories serve as both a memorial to those who lived through or perished in the Holocaust and a reminder of why we must remain vigilant against hatred and persecution in all its forms.

Books keep history alive.

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