Ota B. Kraus Book order

Set in a cramped bunk meant for four, the narrative explores the deep bonds formed among individuals during overcrowded times, where they often share the space with up to eight people. The physical closeness leads to an intimate connection, both bodily and mentally, as they navigate their shared existence. The characters reflect on their intertwined lives, recognizing that despite their different origins, they are united in their shared fate, evoking themes of camaraderie and the human condition.

'We lived on a bunk built for four but in times of overcrowding, it slept seven and at times even eight. There was so little space on the berth that when one of us wanted to ease his hip, we all had to turn in a tangle of legs and chests and hollow bellies as if we were one many-limbed creature, a Hindu god or a centipede. We grow intimate not only in body but also in mind because we knew that though we were not born of one womb, we would certainly die together.' Alex Ehren is poet, a prisoner and a teacher in block 31 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the children's block. He spends his days trying to survive while illegally giving lessons to his young charges while shielding them as best he can from the impossible horrors of the camp. But trying to teach the children is not the only illicit activity that Alex is involved in. Alex is keeping a diary... Originally published as THE PAINTED WALL, Otto Kraus's autobiographical novel, tells the true story of 500 Jewish children who lived in the Czech Family Camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau between September 1943 and June 1944.

Kreationismus ist ein sowohl subtil als auch militant vertretener Glaube an die unbedingte Wahrheit biblischer, aber auch anderer Schöpfungsberichte. Deshalb fordern Vertreter evangelikaler und neuerdings auch islamistischer Richtungen eine entsprechende Unterordnung oder zumindest Umdeutung wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis. Inzwischen glaubt die Mehrheit der US-Amerikaner an Kreation. Die Entwicklung hat aber längst auch Europa und damit Deutschland erreicht. Die zunehmende Ausbreitung des Kreationismus gefährdet die Akzeptanz wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis und nimmt zunehmend Einfluss auf das Bildungswesen. Die Akademie gemeinnütziger Wissenschaften zu Erfurt hat deshalb Evolutionsbiologen, Islamwissenschaftler, Wissenschaftshistoriker, Soziobiologen, Theologen und die zuständige Vertreterin der parlamentarischen Versammlung des Europarats zu einem Symposium eingeladen, dessen Vorträge dieser Band präsentiert.