Holocaust Literature

As a future educator, I think it is so very important to teach students about the past. It is important for people to see what others have done, and not to repeat it. The Holocaust is a major example of the harm prejudice can do to people. Over six million people died because of Hitler and the Nazi regime, and maybe if people did not turn their backs to the horrors of Hitler's plans and got involved much earlier, many more lives could have been saved. One of our goals as educators should be to teach our students what happens when people are not tolerant and allow power and charisma to rule our thinking.

Photograph from "Teaching About the Holocaust with Stamps".

*This resource book discusses how children’s literature presents the Holocaust, as well as how such books negotiate the tension between the desire to protect children, and the commitment to tell children the truth about this topic. I chose this particular book, because there are some great references to children’s resources and literature dealing with the Holocaust discussed in this book.

Kokkola, Lydia. Representing the Holocaust in Youth Literature. New York: Routledge, 2003.

*This resource book is similar to Adrienne Kurtzer’s book; it deals evaluating children’s literature, used in education, about the Holocaust. Eventhough it is similar, I thought that this is a very useful resource, and should be included.

Stephens, Elaine C. Learning About the Holocaust: Literature And Other Resources. 1995.

* This book, written for librarians, teachers, and others who work with children and young adults, can be used as a selection tool for materials about the Holocaust. It is a resource book that contains a compilation of annotated bibliographies of nonfiction, photo essays, personal narratives, biography and autobiography, historical fiction, plays, and contemporary fiction about the Holocaust. I particularly like this resource, because books that fall under these genres are arranged by grade levels: primary, elementary, junior high/middle school, and secondary, which are very helpful.

*This web site is an excellent source for books, plays, quizzes, and pictures, to name a few. It is very easy to follow and find different things on this site, which I really like.

Muller, Filip. Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years In The Gas Chambers. New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1999.

*Filip Muller came to Auschwitz with one of the earliest transports from Slovakia in April 1942, and began working in the gassing installations and crematoria in May. He was still alive when the gassings ceased in November 1944. He saw multitudes come and disappear; and by sheer luck he survived. Muller is a source--one of the few prisoners who saw the Jewish people die and lived to tell about it. Eyewitness Auschwitz is one of the key documents of the Holocaust, and is truly a great source.

Meltzer, Milton. Never To Forget: The Jews Of The Holocaust. Anti Defamation League of B'Nai B'Rith, 1983.

*Meltzer writes the story of the Holocaust from an interesting viewpoint. Because he is a young 15-year-old American Jew, watching the events of the war from afar, he brings a passion to the delivery of the historical information that makes it really engaging and powerful.

Warren, Andrea. Surviving Hitler: A Boy In The Nazi Death Camps. New York: Harper Trophy, 2002.

*This book provides the story of the Holocaust survivor, who at fifteen, was placed in a Nazi concentration camp. He was forced to overcome intolerable conditions in order to not become a victim of the genocide that was going on. This informational book is absolutely heart wrenching, but offers a non fictional approach to Holocaust Literature; I definitely recommend this book.

*Golem is the Hebrew word for shapeless man. According to Jewish legend, the renowned scholar and teacher, Rabbi Loew, used his powers to create a Golem from clay in order to protect his people from persecution in the ghettos of 16th-century Prague. There is a historical note on the last page that offers a broader context for the legend, which I love and is very helpful in order to fully understand this traditional Jewish story.

Photograph from "Teaching About the Holocaust with Stamps".

Bunting, Eve. Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust. New York: Jewish Publishing Society, 1996.

*In this allegory, the animals of the forest are carried away, one type after another, by the Terrible Things. The animals do not realize that if perhaps they would all stick together, and not look the other way, such terrible things might not happen. I picked this book to be put on this site, because it is a great book to introduce young children to the Holocaust.

*Since the Nazis have marched into Monique's small French village, terrorizing it, nothing surprises her. Until the night Monique encounters "the little ghost" sitting at the end of her bed. When she turns out to be—not a ghost at all—but a young girl named Sevrine, who has been hiding from the Nazis in Monique's own basement. Playing upstairs after dark, the two become friends until they are discovered. A great pictue book; Patricia Polacco is a wonderful author, and I love her style of writing.

*This picture book begins with the reminiscences of an old woman. It explains the horrors confronting Jews in Nazi occupied France. The story tells of two close friends that were separated by the events of the Holocaust. This book has wonderful pictures, and is written very well.

*Art Spiegelman attempts to tell the story of his father's life in Europe during the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The book is a detailed, objective retelling of his Vladek's, his father's, story. However, as Art himself will realize, "I can’t even make sense out of my relationship with my father--how am I supposed to make sense out of the Holocaust?" and "Reality is much too complex for comics--so much has to be left out or distorted." Thus liberated from the impossible standard of complete objectivity, Art is free to insert two important subjective elements into the story--the depiction of different races as different species, and the insertion of himself as a character in MAUS. This is a real interesting book, and I like the way the book was written, in comic book form.

*When the German army occupied Holland, Annie de Leeuw was eight years old. Because she was Jewish, the occupation put her in grave danger; she knew that to stay alive she would have to hide. Fortunately, a Gentile family, the Oostervelds, offered to help. For two years they hid Annie and her sister, Sini, in the cramped upstairs room of their farmhouse.

* Eva Buchbinder, 12 years old in 1943, has recently been forced into the Jewish ghetto in Bedzin, Poland, along with her father and sickly older sister, Rachel. Soon Eva is transported to a slave labor camp in Czechoslovakia. The conditions are terrible: starvation rations, dangerous conditions at the textile factory where they work, rampant disease and, always, the threat of deportation to Auschwitz. This novel is a great and easy read; it would be recommended for studetns ages 10 and up.

*Ten-year-old Annemarie Hohansen and her best friend, Ellen Rosen, have to deal with the terrors and dangers associated with the Nazi Party, and food shortages. Ellen, a Jew, moves in with the Johansen family and pretends to be a part of the family, when the Nazis start "relocating" Jews in Denmark. Lois Lowry has been awarded a Newbery Medal for this novel, which is a major accomplishment. I remember reading this novel when I was in fifth grade, which was about twelve years ago. For me, this novel is still a great read, very compelling, and I will never forget this story. Everyone should read this novel!

*A Dutch Jewish girl survives W.W.II in hiding in the first of these novels; the second novel visits a young survivor after the war has ended. This is a very well written novel.

Drucker, M. and Halperin M. Jacob’s Rescue. New York: Dell Yearling Books, 1993.

*Filled with small but telling moments, this fact-based novel is about a courageous Polish family that hides two Jewish brothers during WW II. It’s a great novel, and I loved it because it is very historically accurate.

*In this novel, Yolen attempts to answer those who question why the Holocaust should be remembered. Hannah, 12, is tired of remembering, and is embarrassed by her grandfather, who rants and raves at the mention of the Nazis. During a Passover Seder, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah. As she does so, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children's understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history always.

*In this novel, Miriam, a young Jewish girl, is forced to leave her parents and hide with strangers in the country during the German occupation of Holland.

*In 1939, ten-year-old Korinna becomes a member of her local Nazi youth group. She believes that Hitler is helping the world by dealing with what he calls the "Jewish problem." When Korinna discovers that her parents are secretly hiding Jews in their house and helping them to escape the city, she is shocked. Her loyalties are put to an extreme test when a neighbor tips off the Gestapo. I really liked this novel, because it has an interesting viewpoint, which is unlike any of the other novels that are on this site.

Gotfryd, Bernard. Anton The Dove Fancier And Other Tales of The Holocaust. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2000.

*This book is made up of a collection of true stories gathered from the anguished memory of the author's years as a Jewish youth in wartime Poland.

*This book discusses the childhood influences and failures as a young adult (including an aborted painting career) that led to Hitler's destructive, racist personality. He also provides an accurate account of Hitler's heroics as a soldier in World War I, where he came to love war, and the qualities that helped him transform the Nazi Party from something small into a totalitarian movement.

*This is a great biography for anyone who wants to learn about Oskar Schindler. He was a successful business man, and despite the harsh consequences for hiding or helping Jews, he saved many of his Jewish workers from the Nazis.

*The journal of a Jewish girl in her early teens describes both the joys and torments of daily life, as well as typical adolescent thoughts, throughout her two years spent in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of Holland.

Alder, David. We Remember The Holocaust. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.

*This is an introductory description of the Holocaust that relies heavily on numerous interviews with survivors and the families of survivors. Although very sad, it is a powerful book.

*The biographies of two real-life Holocaust victims are told in this beautifully illustrated book. The story is set against a factual backdrop of Hitler’s rise to power, loss of civil liberties, and Nazi advances in Eastern Europe.

Web sites as Resources

"The Holocaust Project". Available online: Holocaust Project

*This site has a lot of information, and would be a good resource for pictures, timelines, and information about the Holocaust.

*A very helpful web site, especially for teachers doing a unit on the Holocaust. This site has tons of nonfiction and historical fiction novels to choose from. It contains annotated bibliographies of different books.

*This site is phenomenal! It has many links, such as: glossary, key dates, "The Final Solution", artifacts, and Nazi Camps to name a few. This site is sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, so this site is safe and has great information for students.