There are so many amazing works of fiction and non-fiction that help to bring to life the experiences of those affected by the Holocaust. Hundred of books have been written, from many different perspectives and help to provide some deeper understanding of the magnitude of what happened in Germany, in Europe, in the world in the 1930s and 1940s.
You can choose one of the books listed from the University of Florida list or if you have another book you would like to read you need to check with me first. This project will count for a test grade, to receive full credit you need to meet the following requirements:
- Write a ½ page summary of the novel, providing a general overview of the book. This should just give someone who hasn’t read the story a basic idea about what the book is about. Make sure you include the name of the book, the author, and the year it was published.
£ This must be typed.
£ It must also be sent to me via e-mail, as I plan on using these for future students. E-mail to John_Mullady@wellesley.k12.ma.us
- Connect the book to at least one of the following questions and complete a creative project based on the topics/ideas you think are most significant. Pick at least 1 of the question groups to address, and then select a medium to express your thinking (creative writing, reflection, painting, 2D or 3D art).
List compiled by University of Florida, College of Education: http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/
Boas, Jacob. We Are Witnesses. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.
* Abstract: A touching diary of five teenage victims of the Holocaust.
Flinker, Moshe. Young Moshe's Diary. New York: Board of Jewish Education, 1971.
* Abstract: This diary was written by a young teenager who fled from the Nazis with his family until they were all captured and sent to Auschwitz. The themes and issues touched upon in this victim's diary are more sophisticated than those in Anne Frank's journal.
Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Pocket Books, 1953.
* Abstract: Still one of the most read works in Holocaust literature, this classic account presents an eloquent picture of adolescence for a Jewish girl growing up during the Holocaust.
Fry, Varian. Assignment: Rescue. New York: Four Winds Press, 1968.
* Abstract: A dramatic story of how an American helped thousands of Jews escape from southern France.
Friedman, Ina R. The Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
* Abstract: Personal narratives of Christians, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, the physically and mentally impaired, homosexuals, and African Americans who suffered at the hands of the Nazis before and during World War II.
Hartman, Evert. War Without Friends. Translated from Dutch by Patricia Crampton. New York: Crown, 1979.
* Abstract: A young Dutch member of the Hitler Youth wrestles with peer pressure, parental influence, and his own conscience.
Kahn, Leora and Rachel Hager, eds. When They Came to Take My Father. New York: Arcade Publications: Distributed by Little, Brown and Co.,1996.
* Abstract: A poignant collection of fifty concise testimonials from Holocaust survivors illustrated with powerful black-and-white portrait photographs taken by Mark Seliger. The narratives emphasize the pain of their brutal experiences, and demonstrate how the combination of luck, courage, and determination allowed a few resilient individuals to survive the Holocaust and create new lives following the war.
Kerr, Judith. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan,1972.
* Abstract: A nine-year-old Jewish girl and her family travel through Europe in the early 1930s and encounter many conflicts.
Klein, Gerda Weissmann. All But My Life. New York: Hill and Wang, 1971.
* Abstract: A true story that tells about Gerda's experience as one of only 120 women who survived a three-hundred-mile march from a labor camp in western Germany to Czechoslovakia.
Koehn, Ilse. Mischling, Second Degree: My Childhood in Nazi Germany. New York: Puffin Books, 1990.
* Abstract: Ilse, a little girl with one Jewish grandparent, is six-years-old when the Nuremberg laws come into effect. Her world is suddenly turned upside down with the discovery of her non-Aryan roots.
Laird, Christa. Shadow of the Wall. New York: Greenwillow, 1990.
* Abstract: Set in 1942 in the Warsaw ghetto, this novel features a boy living with his two younger sisters in Janusz Korczak's orphanage. (Janusz Korczak was a Jewish educator and physician who refused to save his own life when the Nazis gave him opportunity. Instead, Korczak chose to die along with his children in the gas chambers of Treblinka.)
Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1989.
* Abstract: In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
Matas, Carol. Daniel's Story. Washington, D. C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1996.
* Abstract: In this novel, a young boy tries to remember what "normal life" was like before the Nazis came to power. The emphasis of the story is on how individuals struggled to survive in the midst of despair. Daniel takes his readers through a journey from his hometown, Frankfurt, Germany, to the Lodz ghetto, then to Auschwitz concentration camp. His story is the written version of the children's exhibit in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D. C.
Meltzer, Milton. Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews During the Holocaust. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
* Abstract: Milton Meltzer presents some exciting and interesting tales of how Righteous Gentiles, at enormous risk to themselves, saved the lives of people targeted by the Nazis. The stories of Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler are recounted.
Moskin, Marietta. I Am Rosemarie. New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1987.
* Abstract: Rosemarie, like Anne Frank, was deported with her family to the Westerbork transit camp and eventually to Bergen-Belsen. Unlike Anne, however, Rosemarie and most of her family survived. This novel is told in first person.
Nolen, Han. If I Should Die Before I Wake. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1994.
* Abstract: Sixteen-year-old Hilary, a neo-Nazi initiate, lies in a coma in a Jewish hospital after a motorcycle accident. As she drifts in and out of consciousness, she finds herself transported back to Poland at the outset of World War II, where she become Chana, a Jewish girl who experiences the full range of Holocaust horrors. As Hilary lives Chana's harrowing journey, she starts to rethink her own life.
Orlev, Uri. The Island on Bird Street. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.
* Abstract: Forced to take refuge in an abandoned building in the Warsaw Ghetto, eleven-year-old Alex learns how to survive on his own. His father disappears one day, and Alex is left waiting for him. Winner of several awards.
Orlev, Uri. The Man from the Other Side. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
* Abstract: A non-Jewish boy living outside the Warsaw ghetto joins his stepfather in smuggling goods and people in and out of the Warsaw ghetto through the sewer system.
Ramati, Alexander. And the Violins Stopped Playing: A Story of the Gypsy Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts, 1986.
* Abstract: Mirga, a gypsy, tells of her experiences from 1942 to 1945, when she escaped from Nazis in Poland only to be caught in Hungary and sent to Auschwitz.
Reiss, Johanna. The Upstairs Room. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.
* Abstract: Reiss tells the story of the years she spent hiding with her sister in the farmhouse of a Dutch family who protected them.
Richter, Hans P. Friedrich. New York: Puffin Books, 1987.
* Abstract: This autobiographical novel describes the friendship between two German boys, one Jewish and the other not, during the Nazis' rise to power.
Richter, Hans P. I Was There. Fort Worth, TX: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972.
* Abstract: In this powerful book, Richter tells the story of how three German boys grow up under the dark shadow of Nazism.
Rittner, Carol, and Sondra Myers. The Courage to Care: Rescuers of the Jews During the Holocaust. New York: NY Univ. Press, 1986.
* Abstract: This collection includes stories, essays, and photos and provides readers with response questions.
Toll, Nelly S. Behind the Secret Window: A Memoir of a Hidden Childhood. New York: Dial Books, 1993.
* Abstract: This memoir is told through a child's perspective and tells of Toll's eighteen months in hiding with her mother. The novel is accompanied by twenty-nine watercolor paintings created by Toll while in hiding.
Treseder, Terry Walton. Hear O Israel: A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto. New York: Atheneum, 1990.
* Abstract: This book tells the story of how a family of Polish Jews lived in the Warsaw ghetto until they were deported to Treblinka.
Vos, Ida. Hide and Seek. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.
· Abstract: In this award-winning novel, the young heroine, Rachel, tells how her family hid from the Nazis during the German occupation of Holland.
More Advanced reading, some more mature topics.
Appleman-Jurman, Alicia. Alicia: My Story. New York: Bantam Books, 1988.
* Abstract: Alicia was thirteen when she escaped alone from a firing squad and, while hiding from Nazis and collaborators, began saving the lives of strangers. She states, "I believe that the book will teach young people what enormous reserves of strength they possess within themselves. "
Bierman, John. The Story of Raoul Wallenberg, Missing Hero of the Holocaust. New York: Viking Press, 1981.
* Abstract: This is the story of one of the most famous rescuers, Raoul Wallenberg, whose fate remains a mystery to this day. He is credited with saving the lives of close to 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.
Boas, Jacob. We are Witnesses. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.
* Abstract: A touching diary of five teenage victims of the Holocaust.
Borowski, Tadeusz. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. New York: Penguin, 1976.
* Abstract: Stories of daily life in Auschwitz describe the relations among the inmates, their various duties within the camp, and the hardships they endured.
Fink, Ina. A Scrap of Time. New York: Schocken, 1989.
* Abstract: This collection of short stories describes people that are placed in a variety of normal human situations that have been distorted by war.
Friedman, Philip. Their Brothers' Keepers. New York: Crown, 1957.
* Abstract: This classic volume contains the first documented evidence of Christian aid to the Jews during the Holocaust. Friedman has collected eyewitness accounts, personal letters, and diaries as source material. He also conducted interviews across Europe to discover and record stories of rescue.
Gies, Miep and Allison L. Gold. Anne Frank Remembered. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.
* Abstract: Miep Gies, along with her husband, were among those who helped the Frank family while they were in hiding. Her story is an important supplement to Anne Frank's diary as it adds historical background as well as an outside perspective to Anne's story. Gies enables the reader to understand what was happening both inside and outside the Annex.
Hersey, John. The Wall. New York: Knopf, 1950.
* Abstract: This fiction describes the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto, the building of the "Wall" around it, and the uprising and eventual destruction of the ghetto.
Kahane, David. Lvov Ghetto Diary. Amherst: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1990.
* Abstract: This rabbi's memoir sheds light on the relatively unknown ghetto Lvov. Kahane also investigates a still disputed Holocaust theme: the attitudes of Ukrainians towards European Jews.
Keneally, Thomas. Schindler's List. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.
* Abstract: Thomas Keneally's famous novel tells the story of a remarkable man, Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of thousands of Jews by harboring them in his factory during the Holocaust.
Klein, Gerda Weissmann. All But My Life. New York: Hill and Wang, 1971.
* Abstract: A true story that tells about Gerda's experience as one of only 120 women who survived a three-hundred-mile march from a labor camp in western Germany to Czechoslovakia.
Kosinski, Jerzy. The Painted Bird. New York: Modern Library, 1982.
* Abstract: A young boy abandoned by his parents in Eastern Europe during World War II encounters terror and brutality. For mature readers only.
Leitner, Isabella. Fragments of Isabella: A Memoir of Auschwitz. New York: Dell, 1983.
* Abstract: A survivor of Auschwitz recounts the ordeal of holding her family together after her mother is killed in the camp.
Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. New York: Collier, 1973.
* Abstract: This memoir of a young Italian chemist describes life inside Auschwitz in a direct yet sophisticated manner.
Meed, Vladka. On Both Sides of the Wall. New York: Holocaust Publications, 1979.
* Abstract: A young smuggler from the Warsaw ghetto maintains contact between the ghetto and the Aryan side of the city.
Miller, Arthur. Playing for Time. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
* Abstract: This is the dramatic version of Fania Fenelon's story of her days as a musician at Auschwitz.
Ozick, Cynthia. The Shawl. New York: Random House, 1990.
* Abstract: A book of short stories. The title story tells of a mother witnessing her baby's death at the hands of camp guards. Another story, "Rose," describes that same mother thirty years later, still haunted by the event.
Sender, Ruth M. The Cage. New York: Macmillan, 1986.
* Abstract: This novel begins just before the Nazi invasion of Poland and continues through life in the Lodz ghetto and finally, at Auschwitz.
Siegal, Aranka. Upon the Head of a Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-44 New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1981.
* Abstract: In this award-winning book, Aranka Siegal tells the story of her family and her life in Hungary as a child. In 1944 she and her family were taken to Auschwitz.
Steiner, Jean-Francois. Treblinka. New York: Bard/Avon, 1975.
* Abstract: A powerful novel about the Treblinka extermination camp and a revolt by the prisoners there.
Wiesel, Elie. The Gates of the Forest. New York: Schocken, 1982.
* Abstract: A young Hungarian Jew escapes to the forest during the Nazi occupation, and assumes various roles in order to stay alive. He later joins a partisan group to fight against the Nazis.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam, 1982.
· Abstract: Wiesel, one of the most eloquent writers of the Holocaust, is known best for this novel. A compelling narrative, Night describes Wiesel's own experiences in Auschwitz.
·
Zar, Rose. In the Mouth of the Wolf. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1983.
· Abstract: A young girl in Poland during the Holocaust secures a job working in the household of an SS officer and his wife, using her false papers.
List compiled by University of Florida, College of Education: http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/
We are witnesses : five diaries of teenagers who died in the Holocaust
920 WE [edited] by Jacob Boas ; foreword by Patricia C. McKissack.
The hidden children
940.53 Gre Greenfeld, Howard.
Sky : a true story of resistance during World War II : illustrated with photographs, documents, and letters from the author's collection 940.53 IPP Ippisch, Hanneke.
Memories of survival
940.53 K Krinitz, Esther Nisenthal.
A friend called Anne : one girl's story of war, peace, and a unique friendship with Ann
940.53 L Lee, Carol Ann.
No pretty pictures: a child of war
940.53 Lob Lobel, Anita.
In my hands : memories of a Holocaust rescuer In
[ Book ] 940.53 Opd Opdyke, Irene Gut. 1921-
Four perfect pebbles : a Holocaust story In
[ Book ] 940.53 Per Perl, Lila.
Published 1999
Thanks to my mother In
[ Book ] 940.53 Rab Rabinovici, Schoschana, 1932-
Published 1998
Hiding to survive : stories of Jewish children rescued from the Holocaust In
[ Book ] 940.53 Ros Rosenberg, Maxine B.
Published 1994
Bearing witness : stories of the Holocaust In
[ Book ] 940.531 BEA selected by Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell.
Published 1999
Reading Level: 7.0
The cage In
[ Book ] 940.5315 Sen Sender, Ruth Minsky.
Published 1986
Child of the holocaust In
[ Book ] 940.54 Kup Kuper, Jack.
Published 1993
Night. In
[ Book ] 940.54 Wie Wiesel, Elie, 1928-
Published 1960
A hero and the Holocaust : the story of Janusz Korczak and his children In
[ Book ] 943.8 ADL Adler, David A.
Published 2002
Anne Frank In
[ Book ] B FRA Poole, Josephine.
Published 2005
Reading Level: 3.8 Interest Level: 3-6
Anne Frank and children of the Holocaust In
[ Book ] B FRA Lee, Carol Ann.
Published 2006
Reading Level: 6.6 Interest Level: 5-8
Anne Frank: The diary of a young girl In
[ Book ] B Fra Frank, Anne. 1929-1945.
Published 1952
Anne Frank : the young writer who told the world her story In
[ Book ] B FRA Kramer, Ann, 1946-
Published 2007
Reading Level: 5.9 Interest Level: 3-6
Anne Frank: A hidden life In
[ Book ] B FRANK Pressler, Mirjam
Published 2000
Anne Frank, beyond the diary : a photographic remembrance In
[ Book ] B FRANK Rol, Ruud van der.
Published 1993
Memories of Anne Frank reflections of a childhood friend In
[ Book ] B Frank Gold, Alison Leslie.
Published 1997
I have lived a thousand years : growing up in the Holocaust In
[ Book ] B Friedmann Jackson, Livia Bitton.
Published 1997
I will plant you a lilac tree : a memoir of a Schindler's list survivor In
[ Book ] B HIL Hillman, Laura.
Published 2005
Interest Level: Young Adult
Clara's story In
[ Book ] B Isa Isaacman, Clara.
Published 1984
FICTION
Parallel journeys In
[ Book ] B AYE Ayer, Eleanor H.
Published 1995
October 45; childhood memories of the war. In
[ Book ] B BESSON Besson, Jean-Louis.
Published 1995
The journey that saved Curious George : the true wartime escape of Margret and H.A. Rey In
[ Book ] B BOR Borden, Louise.
Published 2005
Reading Level: 4.9 Interest Level: 3-6
Margaret Bourke-White : her pictures were her life In
[ Book ] B BOURKE- WHITE Rubin, Susan Goldman.
Published 1999
Hana's suitcase : a true story In
[ Book ] B BRADY Levine, Karen.
Published 2003
Reading Level: 5.3 Interest Level: 5-8
Anne Frank and children of the Holocaust In
[ Book ] B FRA Lee, Carol Ann.
Published 2006
Reading Level: 6.6 Interest Level: 5-8
Anne Frank: The diary of a young girl In
[ Book ] B Fra Frank, Anne. 1929-1945.
Published 1952
Anne Frank : the young writer who told the world her story In
[ Book ] B FRA Kramer, Ann, 1946-
Published 2007
Reading Level: 5.9 Interest Level: 3-6
Anne Frank: A hidden life In
[ Book ] B FRANK Pressler, Mirjam
Published 2000
Anne Frank, beyond the diary : a photographic remembrance In
[ Book ] B FRANK Rol, Ruud van der.
Published 1993
Memories of Anne Frank reflections of a childhood friend In
[ Book ] B Frank Gold, Alison Leslie.
Published 1997
I have lived a thousand years : growing up in the Holocaust In
[ Book ] B Friedmann Jackson, Livia Bitton.
Published 1997
The endless steppe : growing up in Siberia In
[ Book ] B Hau Hautzig, Esther Rudomin.
Published 1987
The endless steppe : growing up in Siberia In
[ Book ] B HAU Hautzig, Esther Rudomin.
Published 1987
Reading Level: 6.8 Interest Level: Young Adult
I will plant you a lilac tree : a memoir of a Schindler's list survivor In
[ Book ] B HIL Hillman, Laura.
Published 2005
Interest Level: Young Adult
Heinrich Himmler : murderous architect of the Holocaust In
[ Book ] B HIM Worth, Richard.
Published 2005
Interest Level: Young Adult
The life and death of Adolf Hitler In
[ Book ] B HIT Giblin, James.
Published 2002
Interest Level: Young Adult
Clara's story In
[ Book ] B Isa Isaacman, Clara.
Published 1984
My Bridges of Hope In
[ Book ] B Jackson Jackson, Livia Bitton.
Published 1999
Hiding in Plain Sight The incredible true story of a German-Jewish teenager's struggle to survive in Nazi-occupied Poland In
[ Book ] B Lau Lauer, Betty
Hidden child In
[ Book ] B MIL Millman, Isaac.
Published 2005
Reading Level: 5.8 Interest Level: 5-8
The beautiful days of my youth : my six months in Auschwitz and Plaszow In
[ Book ] B NOVAC Novac, Ana.
Published 1997
Forging freedom: a true story of heroism during the Holocaust In
[ Book ] B PENRAAT Talbott, Hudson.
Published 2000
The upstairs room. In
[ Book ] B Rei Reiss, Johanna.
Published 1972
We're alive and life goes on In
[ Book ] B Rou Roubickova, Eva
Published 1998
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