Holocaust Literature

Amber Van Der Veen

Holocaust Literature Bibliography

Anatoli, A. Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel. Cambridge, Mass.: Robert Bentley, 1979.

As a Russian boy of 12, A. Anatoli used to play in the Babi Yar ravine near Kiev and was in earshot of the machine-gun fire that signaled the massacre by Nazi mobile killing units of about 33,000 Jews on September 29 and 30, 1941.  Babi Yar is an unforgettable account of the years of german occupation.

Summary taken from: Teaching about the Holocaust, A Resource Book for Educators. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., March 2001.

Bauer, Yehuda, and Nili Keren. A History of the Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982.

            Broader in scope than the title indicates, this work examines the origins of anti-Semitism and Nazism as well as the history of Jewish-German relationships.  Bauer also arranges material on the Holocaust by individual country; this is useful for the following events in each nation and for demonstrating the scope of the Holocaust.  One of the most readable general histories for high school students.

Summary taken from: Teaching about the Holocaust, A Resource Book for Educators. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., March 2001.

Brown, Robert McAfee. Elie Wiesel: Messenger to All Humanity. University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.

The work of a distinguished Protestant theologian, this eloquent book stresses the impact of Wiesel's work, and particularly Night, on Christians. McAfee agrees with Wiesel that the Holocaust is a problem for Christians as well as for Jews. There is a fine chapter on Christian responses entitled "Birkenau and Golgotha" as well as an excellent bibliography and useful summaries of Wiesel's major works

Summary taken from: Elie Wiesel, Gale, 2004. Reproduced in San Jose Public Library Resource Center: The Gale Group. 2004. 23 November 2004. http://0-galenet.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org/servlet/HistRC/

Druker, Jonathan. The shadowed violence of culture: Fascism and the Figure of Ulysses in Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz. Indiana University, Purdue University of Fort Wayne, 2004.

In many critical readings of Primo Levi's death camp memoir, Survival in Auschwitz, the short chapter titled "The Canto of Ulysses" has proved pivotal. (2) While most of the book records lucid, unflinching descriptions of death and life in the camp, this chapter, in contrast, focuses on Levi's struggle to recall and then recite Dante's Inferno XXVI to his French friend, Jean. Without a doubt, the terrain of epic poetry is familiar and uplifting to most readers, even though the menacing landscape of Auschwitz is always present in this narrative framed by an actual quest for food. The two prisoners' trip to the camp kitchen to fetch a kettle of soup for their Kommando provides a rare distraction from the everyday hunger, fatigue, and terror, and a moment when other, less obvious needs can be nourished: Jean wishes to learn some Italian and Levi needs, almost with the urgency of a fundamental physical need, to remember the verses of Ulysses's famous speech in Canto XXVI, and explain their beauty and meaning to Jean. The very act of retelling how Dante's Ulysses affirms his humanity by audaciously challenging irrational, inhuman forces greater than himself produces a momentary sense of liberation for Levi and Jean who, in their identification with the ancient hero, fleetingly resist the death camp's dehumanization. The brief journey for soup stages a scene of cultural memory and transmission that, in Levi's narrative, promises to give meaning to the two prisoners' pointless suffering. Language, literature, and rational thought are erected here as a putative bulwark against Auschwitz, that is, against all forces antithetical to "the human." In a modest but unmistakable fashion the chapter makes heroes of the resolute prisoners and affirms, in the guise of sublime poetry, the still vital redemptive power of culture.

Summary taken from: The shadowed violence of culture: Fascism and the Figure of Ulysses in Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz, Gale, 2004. Reproduced in San Jose Public Library Resource Center: The Gale Group. 2004. 23 November 2004. http://0-galenet.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org/servlet/HistRC/

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. Publisher: American Reprint Company; (1977)

            This book is the story of Anne Frank and her family as written in Anne's personal diary.  It tells the story of how her and her family, along with four others, spent 25 months during World War II in an annex of rooms above her father's office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.  After being betrayed to the Nazis, Anne, her family, and the others living with them were arrested and deported to Nazi concentration camps.

            Because Anne died while in the concentration camp, her family decided they wanted to publish her diary.  On June 3, 1945 Otto Frank arrived in Amsterdam and he went straight to the home of Miep and Jan Gies.  Almost two months later Otto received word that both his daughters had died.  As it was now certain Anne was dead, Miep got out the diaries and gave them to Otto.  Otto started reading them immediately and was moved and astonished.  He had never realized that Anne had recorded everything that happened in the Secret Annex so well and accurately.  Otto typed large parts of the diary in German and sent them to his mother in Switzerland.  Later he let other people read parts of the diary.  They urged him to look for a publisher, but no one wanted to publish the diary so soon after the war.  Anne Frank's diary was finally published in an edition of 1,500 copies in the summer of 1947.  Today, her diary has been translated into 67 languages and is one of the most widely read books in the world.

Summary taken from: Araujo, Angela, Book Talk Presentation, SJSU English 112B, Professor Warner. Fall 2004. In-class Handout.

Katzenelson, Yitzhak. The Song of the Murdered Jewish People. Haifa, Israel: Ghetto Fighters House, 1980. 133 pp.

            Originally published in 1945, a year after the murder of Katzenelson in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, this book of poetry is comprised of fifteen cantos that lament the murder of the Warsaw Jews.  The scenes and events (Aktions, deportations, the agonizing decisions made by the Judenrat, the fate of the children) described in the poems were well known by Katzenelson as he was a member of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Summary taken from: Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades 9-12: Essays and Resources. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English

Kovner, Abba. A Canopy in the Desert: Selected Poems. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburg Press, 1973. 222 pp.

            This volume includes such poems as "My Little Sister," "A Parting from the South," and "A Canopy in the Desert." All, in various ways and to different degrees, address the tragedy of the Holocaust by a poet/survivor who was the leader of the Vilna Ghetto resistance group, the United Partisan Organization.  The introductory essay by poet/translator Shirley Kaufman is both interesting and informative.

Summary taken from: Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades 9-12: Essays and Resources. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books; (1989)

            It's 1943 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hitler's soldiers are making their presence felt everywhere.  The Danish people are determined to resist their Nazi occupation by helping the country's Jews escape to neutral Sweden.  Annemarie Johansen and Ellen rosen are ten-year-old best friends and neighbors.  When the Rosen family is selected for "relocation," Annemarie's family offers to help by hiding Ellen.  Annemarie discovers reserves of adult strength and courage in herself as she learns, little by little, that what's at stake is far bigger than either her or Ellen.

Summary taken from: Sime, Elisabeth, Book Talk Presentation, SJSU English 112B, Professor Warner. Fall 2004. In-class Handout.

Nolan, Han. If I should die before I wake. Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.; (1994)

Hilary Burke, a sixteen year old Neo-Nazi, has been severely injured in a motorcycle accident while riding with her boyfriend, Brad, the leader of the local neo-Nazi gang.  The closest hospital is a Jewish hospital and Hilary is taken there, Nazi armband and all.  Her roommate is Chana, an elderly Holocaust survivor-the only member of her family to live through the horrors of World War II.  In a strange twist of fate, Hilary is transported back through flashbacks to the German occupation of Poland where she becomes Chana.  While unconscious, Hilary begins to relive Chana's wartime experiences.  The story flips back and forth between Chana and Hilary with one major plot in each girl's life.  In Chana's story she endures the full horror of being Jewish under Nazi rule which includes the complete dismantlement of her family, the horrors of the Lodz ghetto, and ultimately the hell of Auschwitz.  Before her accident, Hilary helped to kidnap her Jewish neighbor, Simon, and he is trapped inside his locker at school.  There is a large search underway to find him.  Hilary also is wrestling with her relationship with her mother, who has a long history of nervous breakdowns and abandoning Hilary.  Her mother sits by Hilary's bedside most of the story.

Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed. Publisher: Alfred A. Knoff: (September 2003)

            This is an intense novel about an orphan living on the streets of Warsaw, Poland during the Nazi occupation of WWII.  Misha tells the story as he makes friends unselfishly, makes a living of stealing, and becomes very attached to a family.  The experiences Misha must endure are emotional; he escapes the Nazis again and again, he embraces the Jewish culture only later to be warned to give it up, he loses his close friends, he must survive the most extreme circumstances and the most terrible conditions.

Summary taken from: Byers, Emily, Book Talk Presentation, SJSU English 112B, Professor Warner. Fall 2004. In-class Handout.

"The Hangman." (12 minutes, color. Available from Contemporary Film/McGraw Hill, Princeton Rd., Hightstown, NJ 08520 and Facing History and Ourselves Foundation, 16 Hurd Road, Brookline, MA 02146).

            This film, which is based on a poem written by Maurice Ogden, relates a parable in which the citizens of a town are hanged, one by one, by a stranger who has built a gallows in the town square.  Hanging after hanging is met by one rationalization after another by the people.  This is an excellent film to use in conjunction with the poem of the same title.  Librarian Margaret Drew (1982) has noted that "The [film's] theme is complex and rich with symbolism; [and in light of that,] it should probably be shown more than once to be effective with students, but it can be an excellent film for discussion with good teacher preparation" (p. 78).

Summary taken from: Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades 9-12: Essays and Resources. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English

Van der Rol, Ruud, and Rian Verhoeven. Anne Frank beyond the Diary: A Photographic Remembrance. New York: Viking Press, 1993.

            Compelling photographs from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and private collections provide a moving portrait of Anne Frank.  Facts about Anne's life before and after her stay in the annex and the larger historical context constitute the text.

Summary taken from: Teaching about the Holocaust, A Resource Book for Educators. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., March 2001.

Volavkova, Hana...I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944. New York: Schocken Books, 1993. 106 pp.

The poems and drawings in this volume were created by children incarcerated at Theresienstadt. A note at the end of the volume reports that of the 15,000 children under the age of fifteen who passed through Terezin, "only 100 came back."  As mentioned in the body of the above essay, prior to reading these poems, students need to have learned about the facts of life and death in Terezin; then and only then will they be able to begin to fully appreciate the sense of anxiety, longing, want, sadness, hope against hope, loss, and unintended irony that clearly come through these poems.

 Summary taken from: Teaching for a Tolerant World, Grades 9-12: Essays and Resources. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.

Wiesel, Elie; Fran�ois Mauriac. Night. Trans. by Stella Rodway. Bantam Books, 1986. Preface for the twenty-fifth anniversary edition by Robert McAfee Brown.

The story begins in 1941, when Elie is twelve years old, growing up in a typical, pious Jewish household in Eastern Europe. His mentor, Moche the Beadle, tells him that he must ask the right questions of God and that he must find the answers only within himself. This sets the stage for the spiritual struggles Elie will undergo during the Holocaust.

In 1944, the Nazis and the Hungarian fascist police descend on the village of Sighet, and some Jews are taken away, among them Moche. Moche escapes and returns with tales of horror, but the villagers do not believe him.

Soon Elie and his family are told that they must leave, that they will be "resettled." With diabolical cleverness, the Germans have concealed their murderous plan. The Wiesel family is crammed into a cattle car with the other Jews of Sighet. The unforgettable terror of the journey is conveyed in a few short pages. When they arrive at the death camp of Auschwitz, the family is separated. Elie's mother and his youngest sister are immediately sent to the gas chambers, while he and his father are spared for slave labor. Brutal guards, dogs, flames, the smell of burning flesh, and the sight of burning babies and children greet the prisoners on their first day in the camp.

The rest of the book describes Elie's unbearable physical and spiritual struggle in the camps and his constant efforts to help his father. In 1945, the two are marched west to Buchenwald. Elie's father dies of mistreatment and fever shortly before liberation. The story ends as Elie looks into the mirror after liberation: "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me."

Summary taken from: Night, Gale, 2004. Reproduced in San Jose Public Library Resource Center: The Gale Group. 2004. 23 November 2004. http://0-galenet.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org/servlet/HistRC/

Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose. Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC; (1992)

            Becca begged Gemma to tell the story of Briar Rose and the castle, and Gemma never refused; in fact, she relished telling the story.  On her death-bed, Gemma says that her dying wish is for Becca to "find the castle, the prince, and the maker of spells" (Yolen 16).  Her mysterious request launches Becca into an all-consuming search for the truth behind Gemma's perplexing last words, and leads to the truth hidden within her grandmother's tale.  After discovering Gemma used to be known as "Princess," Becca traces what few clues her grandmother left behind to a castle in Poland that was used as extermination camp during World War II, and a Polish man named Josef Potocki, whose nickname used to be "Prince."  Josef tells Becca his story of survival, and through his story, she discovers the truth about her grandmother's mysterious past: Gemma had survived the Holocaust.

Summary taken from: Guzman, Rachel, Book Talk Presentation, SJSU English 112B, Professor Warner. Fall 2004. In-class Handout.

Van Der Veen, Amber. "Holland." Leaf by Leaf 2004. Publisher: Pearson Custom Publishing; (2004): 18.

Holland

May 1940

Diamond skies

Warm kisses from the afternoon sun

Sweet moisture from the earth, blanketed by tulips

Rich, vibrant colors

Natural beauty

 

Tomorrow brings forth another day

Different

Change

 

Eerie silence

Uneasy tension

Bombing of our own bridges

Flooding of our own levees

Postponing the inevitable

 

Dutch Navy leaving with the country's riches

Joining Europe in the fight

Hitler

Declaring to take Holland in 2 days...

it takes him longer

 

Lies of peace

He is "nice" to the Dutch, they are cousins to the Germans

The problem?

We do not agree

 

Our church bells melted for his bullets

Our land destroyed for his profit

Our food given to his soldiers

My family hid many people

SS officers searched their farm

Threatened their lives

 

Do not breath under the hay

It will be your last

Do not look inside the dog house,

my Grandfather does not want to join your army

 

Holland remained defiant

They stayed strong

Saved the Jews, the Polish, their friends, neighbors, fellow citizens

Did not conform

 

Tomorrow brings forth another day

Different

Change

 

D-Day

The Battle of the Bulge

Liberation

All worth while

 

May 1945

Freedom

Laughter in the streets

Beauty brought back home

White linens flying in the wind

Dutch flags adorned the villages

 

Tomorrow brought another day

Life

 

~Amber Van Der Veen