Annotated Bibliography
The Holocaust
by Katie Mikel

    The Holocaust is something that happened long ago, but that should never be forgotten.  I have read many books on the subject, but honestly don't recall how it was taught to me when I was young.  I believe it is important for students to know the details behind the Holocaust and to know that it happened.  This horrific event was the result of hatred, something that is still prominent in society today.  I think the only way to avoid a tragedy like the Holocaust is to make people aware of it.  Through the following books, younger students can learn about the Holocaust and the tragedies behind it.  The majority of the books are intended for older students, particularly junior high.  However, there are some books that are appropriate for children as young as third asnd fourth grade.

Adler, D. (1995). Child of the Warsaw Ghetto. New York: Holiday House.
The story follows a young man into the Warsaw ghetto. From the ghetto, young Froim is sent to Dachau. However, he was able to survive the camp until its liberation. The drawing help to bring the story to life, and it’s a more positive story for younger children. (picture book)

Adler, D. (1994). Hilde and Eli: Children of the Holocaust. New York: Holiday House.
The book tells the stories of Hilde and Elli, two young Jewish children who were killed during the Holocaust. The two children had never met, and yet they suffered the same fate. The story doesn’t go into details of the deaths, but rather focuses on the politics behind the Holocaust and the historical facts that are associated with the events. (picture book)

Adler, D. (1987). The Number on my Grandfather’s Arm. New York: UAHC Press.
The story is told from the viewpoint of a young girl. She describes her relationship with her grandfather and how she came to notice the numbers tattooed on his arm. When she asked him about the numbers, he then told of the time he spent in Auschwitz. (picture book- biography)

Auerbacher, I. (1986). I am a Star: Child of the Holocaust. New York: Puffin Books.
This book is an autobiography of Inge Auerbacher, who was a prisoner at Terezin from the time she was seven until the ago of ten. The book gives background information on the Holocaust and then tells of Inge’s story. Throughout the book there are also poems that pertain to the Holocaust. (chapter book-poetry)

Bat-Ami, M. 1999). Two Suns in the Sky. Chicago: Front Street/Cricket Books.
The novel takes place in New York during the final year of the war. A young American girl and a Jewish refugee meet and fall in love. It is set in the only refugee camp in American, giving it a different perspective than many Holocaust books. (novel-realistic fiction)

Boas, J. (1995). We are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust. New York: Scholastic Inc.
This book contains the diaries of five teenagers, all of who died during the Holocaust. One of the teenagers featured is Anne Frank. All of the diaries were from different parts of Europe and all the people lived in different circumstances, but all were Jewish and therefore perished under Hitler’s rule. (chapter book-biography)

Brooks, P. (1996). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. New York: Children’s Press.
The book combines information from the museum with historical fact from the Holocaust. The text is somewhat long, but it offers great information about the museum (it could then be combined with a virtual tour of the  United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ). (picture book-informational)

Brown, G. (1991). Anne Frank: Child of the Holocaust. Connecticut: Blackbirch Press.
The Diary of Anne Frank is a classic among Holocaust books. This book uses the diary of Anne to tell not only her story but the circumstances of World War II. It is basically a biography of Anne without being her actual diary. More information on Anne Frank can be discovered at  the official Anne Frank website .(picture book-biography)

Finkelstein, N. H. (1985). Remember Not to Forget: A Memory of the Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts.
The book tells a brief history of the Jewish faith and then historically recounts the Holocaust. It tells of the concentration camps, Hitler’s rule, and the numeric facts of the war. The book also tells of the years after the war. The research of the Holocaust is discussed along with the remembrance of the events. (picture book-historical)

Fisch, R. O. (1994). Light from the Yellow Star: A Lesson of Love from the Holocaust. Minnesota: University of Minnesota.
The book is a narrative biography of a concentration camp survivor. Each page recounts a different aspect of his life in the camps and is headed with a quotation from the camp itself. In addition, it includes drawings that help to retell the story. (chapter book-biography)

…I Never Saw Another Butterfly… (1978). New York: Schocken Books.
This is a collection of poems and drawings by children who were in the Terezin Concentration Camp. The most interesting part of the book is the information at the end. It goes through each poem and drawing and tells whatever is known about the author and their fate. (poetry)

Innocenti, R. (1985). Rose Blanche. Minnesota: Creative Education, Inc.
This is a fictional story about a young girl whose town is taken over by German soldiers. On a walk one day, she comes across a concentration camp. She begins sneaking food to prisoners. However, one day she brings food and there are no prisoners, only soldiers, and she never returned home after that day. (picture book)

Jules, J. (1993). The Grey Striped Shirt: How Grandma and Grandpa Survived the Holocaust. Los Angeles: Alef Design Group.
The book is about a young girl, Fannie, who finds a grey prisoner shirt in her grandparents attic. The shirt prompts Fannie to ask her grandparents about their experiences in the Holocaust. From there, she is told the story of what her family members endured. (chapter book-fiction)

Kallen, S. (1994). The Holocaust 1940-1944. Minneapolis, MN: Abdo Consulting Group.
The book is strictly an informational book about the Holocaust and the horrors of the death camps. It is a chapter book and each chapter is dedicated to a particular aspect of the Holocaust (ie. the ghettos, the Final Solution, the showers, etc.).  For more information on the Holocaust visit  http://www.remember.org/  (chapter book-informational)

Nolan, H. (1994). If I Should Die Before I Wake. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Hilary is an Anti-Semite who belongs to a neo-Nazi gang. When injured in a motorcycle accident, she is sent to a Jewish hospital. While lying in the hospital, Hilary recalls a life in Poland a later in Lodz ghetto. She has taken on another identity and must survive the horrors of the Holocaust. (novel-fantasy)

Pettit, J. (1993). A Place to Hide: True Stories of Holocaust Rescuers. New York: Scholastic.
This book offers a different perspective on the Holocaust. It doesn’t tell the story of a Jewish person, but rather the people who risked their lives to hide and save Jews during the war. Included in the book is the story of the woman who helped hide the Frank family, Oskar Schindler, a French town that helped to hide Jews, and a monastery who clothed Jews as monks to save them. (chapter book-informational)

Rubin, S. G. (2000). Fireflies in the Dark. New York: Holiday House.
The story tells of life in Terezin and includes much artwork from prisoners of the camp. It centers on a woman named Friedl Dicker-Brandeis who taught art while in Terezin. She was a Jewish prisoner who taught children as a way of preparing them for the world outside once they were out of the camp. (chapter book-picture book)

Welcome to Molly’s World-1944: Growing Up in World War Two America. (1999). Middleton, WI: Pleasant Company Publications.
The story uses the American Girl character Molly to tell, through pictures, what life was like for a young girl in the United States during World War II. The book consists of pictures from the war and simply captions explaining the pictures. (picture book-informational)