Holocaust Books

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 384 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

One of the best books I've ever read 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was an amazing story. Truly extraordinary. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars and I wish I could take the author aside, look him in the eye, and tell him how much I truly loved this book. It was haunting, stunning, sad, amazing and gripping. I didn't know it was a Young Adult book. It was so powerful. I sobbed and sobbed at the end. So beautifully written.

Editorial Review:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.


From the Hardcover edition.

Number the Stars

Lois Lowry

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 706 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Run Away 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Struggling through the ravages of World War II, Annemarie, her family, and her best friend Ellen wait in hiding until the Nazis retreat and let Denmark free once more. This wonderful story "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry, is about friendship, tragedy, and, love. It also integrates a lot of useful life lessons, such as: being brave and deciding what to do wisely.
This story really captured my attention because it made me inquire as I read along. It also gave me a perfect image of what Denmark was like during the Nazi invasion.
I recommend this story to children in the fourth grade or higher because it has strong vocabulary words that are worth learning.


By Teddy (soon to be in grade 5)

Editorial Review:

The evacuation of Jews from Nazi-held Denmark is one of the great untold stories of World War II. On September 29, 1943, word got out in Denmark that Jews were to be detained and then sent to the death camps. Within hours the Danish resistance, population and police arranged a small flotilla to herd 7,000 Jews to Sweden. Lois Lowry fictionalizes a true-story account to bring this courageous tale to life. She brings the experience to life through the eyes of 10-year-old Annemarie Johannesen, whose family harbors her best friend, Ellen Rosen, on the eve of the round-up and helps smuggles Ellen's family out of the country. Number the Stars won the 1990 Newbery Medal.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas

John Boyne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Problematic Holocaust Text 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

In 2009, I intend to teach John Boyne's "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" as part of an undergraduate Holocaust education class. However, I will be including the novel in the syllabus because it is an excellent example of a highly flawed Holocaust text, of which educators need to be wary. A text, by the way, that has been very well received by critics and the general reading public.

Boyne's "fable" is certainly well written, it is accessible (to both teenagers and adults), it is memorable, and it is even profound. But these attributes are overshadowed by Boyne's carelessness; the plot has problematic historical inaccuracies that are incredibly misleading and - I believe - damaging to the goals of Holocaust education.

(1) We discover that Shmuel, the title character and a prisoner at Auschwitz, is nine years old. However, it is extremely well documented that, upon arrival at Auschwitz (and other Nazi death camps), almost all children under 15 years old were sent immediately to be gassed, as the Nazis could not (or would not) use them as slave labor. The few exceptions to this rule were children who were either slightly younger than 15 and survived by lying about their age or children (of all ages) who were used in forced pseudo-medical experiments, confined to the camp laboratories, and rarely survived. Nine year olds did not wander around Auschwitz. And they certainly could not wander, "for several weeks... almost every afternoon" (p. 150), to the same place by the camp fence, to meet their new friend, who just happened to be the son of a high-ranking Nazi officer.

(2) Which brings us to Bruno, the protagonist, the son of the Kommandant of Auschwitz. Bruno is also nine years old (he and Shmuel, they discover quickly, were born on exactly the same day). Bruno's age is also highly problematic. We realize quickly that Bruno is naïve to what his father does for a living and where he and his sister have been brought to live. Bruno is also ignorant to the existence of the Jews - until he meets his new friend, Shmuel. Again, history - and common sense - would reveal this to be practically impossible. All German children were educated, from an early age, about the Jews. Children were taught - through carefully designed books and school lessons - that the Jews were the "parasites" of society; sub-humans to be loathed, oppressed, and discarded. Children joined youth groups and attended rallies that made the Nazis' perceptions of the Jews very clear. It is practically impossible for a nine year old German boy in 1940s Nazi Europe - the son of the Kommandant of Auschwitz, no less! - to have entirely missed what was considered a vital piece of German education.

Now, you might ask: If the story is so compelling, accessible, and thought-provoking, then does it really matter that there are these inaccuracies? Yes. It does. It matters a great deal. If a goal of Holocaust education is to try to understand how and why the Holocaust occurred, so as to help us prevent current and future genocides, then we must try our best to understand how and why the Nazis did what they did to distinct groups of people that they considered "unworthy of life." To truly understand the Nazis' intentions and methods, it is imperative that we include in our considerations their policies of (a) gassing all Jewish children under 15 years old and (b) teaching all German children to hate Jews. If these two policies become distorted - or even ignored - when teaching about the Holocaust, then we might never learn the core lessons of these world-changing events.

It is important to point out that my problem is not necessarily with historical inaccuracies alone (Jane Yolen's time-travel fantasy "The Devil's Arithmetic" comes to mind as another impossible tale); my problem lies in an author's intentions and misadventures. Yolen uses time-travel as a tool to engage her young readers in Holocaust content, while keeping historical accuracy intact. But Yolen knows, just as well as her readers, that time-travel is entirely and so obviously unfeasible. Unfortunately, by the end of his fable, Boyne comes across just as unaware about the problems in his own writing as the naïve enthusiasts who claim that "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is an important Holocaust text. I still encourage adults (and only adults) to read this book, but to read it only because it reminds us to be wary of badly researched historical fictions that, in the end, teach us little about the true lessons of history.

Editorial Review:

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.


From the Hardcover edition.

The Devil's Arithmetic (Puffin Modern Classics)

Jane Yolen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 268 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Devil's Arithmetic 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hannah has better things to do that spend the annual Seder listening to her grandparents go on about the Holocaust. However, when she is chosen to perform the ritual of opening the door to welcome the prophet Elijah, she is transported back to Poland in the 1940s. Everyone calls her Chaya and she begins to forget about her life as Hannah. It isn't long before Nazis take the small community to a concentration camp. While there, Chaya/Hannah becomes friends with Rivka, a 10-year-old girl who has lost everyone in her family except her brother. Rivka teaches Chaya and her friends the best ways to survive the horrors of the camp. However, no one is ever safe in the camps.

Writing about the Holocaust for children is especially difficult, given the disturbing subject matter and lack of reason. Yolen's book is able to portray the insanity of life in the concentration camps while also showing how survivors maintained their individuality. Hannah/Chaya's voice is wellwritten and, by having Hannah lose herself in Chaya's life, Yolen creates a sense of suspense. Readers will learn about the Holocaust from Hannah's experiences, but will also learn about the importance of remembrance.

Editorial Review:

Hannah thinks tonight’s Passover Seder will be the same as always. Little does she know that this year she will be mysteriously transported into the past where only she knows the horrors that await.

I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In The Holocaust

Livia Bitton-Jackson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 162 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A First Holocaust Book for the Teen Reader 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

"I Have Lived A Thousand Years" is a personal and gut-wrenching story of how a 13-year old girl survived the German Holocaust in the death camp of Auschwitz. The book is fairly short with short chapters. It is obviously written for adolescent readers, but can certainly be appreciated by adults as well. This is a very good first book for teens to learn about the Holocaust. It is written in the first person, and we "see" the horrifying conditions through the author's sensitve eyes.

The story is gripping from page one to the last page. It should be read and then discussed with the adolescent reader, as many questions will be raised as to the horrific nature of the Holocaust.

There are many good Holocost books, but the stark reality presented in this book, along with the narrative style, makes this an excellent introductory first-person account to the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Jim Koenig

Shocking 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is so powerful. I have read many stories of Holocaust survivors, but few if any have presented such a vivid view of the horrors the Jews faced. Some parts were disturbing, but they describe true history, so they are definitely important to read. If you're interested in the Holocaust, this is a great read.

Summer of My German Soldier (Puffin Modern Classics)

Bette Greene

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 200 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An adult's review of an excellent book 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 7 people found this review helpful.

My daughter is now too older and far too accomplished a reader in her own right to need or want me to read to her, but I wish I had known of this when we were still reading together. I read this for a couple of reasons. As a native of Little Rock I wanted to read what is perhaps the most celebrated juvenile novel to have come out of my home state. Second, I have seen it highly praised and wanted to see if the praise was justified.

The praise was indeed justified. The novel is about a 12-year-old Jewish girl living in a small fictional town in northeastern Arkansas named Jenkinsville. As far as I can guess it is somewhere between Forrest City and Memphis. Wynne is mentioned as a nearby town. Looking at a map I would guess Jenkinsville is approximately where Parkin, Arkansas is. The protagonist of the novel is Patty Bergen, who is as isolated as a child can be. Her mother is unrelentingly critical of her while her father is both dismissive and physically abusive. At the time of the action of the novel she is virtually friendless as well, with most of her friends off at Baptist summer camp in the Ozarks (as any Arkansas Baptist would know, Siloam Springs). And as a member of the only Jewish family in town, she feels religious alienation as well. In the course of the novel only a few people seem friendly toward her at all. Her grandparents in Memphis give her a kind of love that her parents deny her. The black family maid and cook acts as a sort of real parent that her parents seem incapable of being. A Memphis newspaper reporter accords a level of respect to her that few others seem capable of. And, surprisingly, the town sheriff seems truly compassionate. But most of all a young twenty-year-old German prisoner of war helps her more than anyone else believe that she is "a person of worth." The book is filled with ironies as the two people who help her most with her sense of self-esteem are a black maid and a German prisoner, just as it is ironic that his is most aided by that same black maid and a young Jewish girl.

This is a deeply affecting, moving novel. Patty is a deeply flawed, yet wonderfully realistic character. She has a habit of telling petty lies that partly serve to garner her respect that others deny her and partly to force others to pay attention to her. The scene in which she is forced to go for a horrible perm on a blisteringly hot day is a chillingly vivid and realistic portrait of what would seem like hell to a small girl.

As others have noted, this is on many levels a sad book. But it is also, I think, an optimistic one. One can't help but believe that Anton, Patty's German soldier, was right: Patty is a person of worth. It is difficult to believe that she didn't turn out well after the events of the novel and that what made this possible for her was what others helped her realize about herself. In the short run, one imagines things got worse for her. As Ruth, the black maid, told her, her parents were "irregular" or "seconds," meaning that just as some pieces of clothing were sold cheaply because they didn't measure up, so Patty's parents never had and never would measure up. One can sense that Patty's home life remained bleak and unhappy, but that she still was going to turn out all right. She was, she had learned, a person of worth.

I recommend this to adults as well as younger readers, but I especially recommended parents reading it to their children. It isn't just a great read, it raises a host of difficult and fascinating questions.

Note: I was right! I just read an article about Bette Greene and learned that she was raised in Parkin, Arkansas. I think it is safe to assume that Parkin is the real Jenkinsville.

Editorial Review:

Minutes before the train pulled into the station in Jenkinsville, Arkansas, Patty Bergen knew something exciting was going to happen. But she never could have imagined that her summer would be so memorable. German prisoners of war have arrived to make their new home in the prison camp in Jenkinsville. To the rest of her town, these prisoners are only Nazis. But to Patty, a young Jewish girl with a turbulent home life, one boy in particular becomes an unlikely friend. Anton relates to Patty in ways that her mother and father never can. But when their forbidden relationship is discovered, will Patty risk her family and town for the understanding and love of one boy?

Letters from Rifka

Karen Hesse

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Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"America," the girl repeated. "What will you do there?"I was silent for a little time."I will do everything there," I answered.Rifka knows nothing about America when she flees from Russia with her family in 1919. But she dreams that in the new country she will at last be safe from the Russian soldiers and their harsh treatment of the Jews. Throughout her journey, Rifka carries with her a cherished volume of poetry by Alexander Pushkin. In it, she records her observations and experiences in the form of letters to Tovah, the beloved cousin she has left behind.Strong-hearted and determined, Rifka must endure a great deal: humiliating examinations by doctors and soldiers, deadly typhus, separation from all she has ever known and loved, murderous storms at sea, detainment on Ellis Island--and is if this is not enough, the loss of her glorious golden hair.Based on a true story from the author's family, Letters from Rifka presents a real-life heroine with an uncommon courage and unsinkable spirit.

Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust

Eve Bunting

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Allegory of the Holocaust 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This was a fabulous story to use to introduce my students to the Holocaust. Eve Bunting does a wonderful job telling this emotional story using an allegory of the Holocaust.

Review Terrible Things 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book tells about how the Holocaust could happen. So many times when things go wrong or don't look right, people have a tendancy to look the other way, not get involved, or "I better not help as I may have a problem too." In this book the different animals are removed one by one by the "terrible things." Everyone looks the other way- the only one to question why is a little rabbit and he is told not to get involved by his elders. In the end there is no one left,except the little rabbit who hid,- and the meadow is left silent and barren. Just as in the Holocaust years ago, if people had banded together, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I read this book to my LD 4th grade class. By the end of the book, outside of being able to hear a pin drop in the classroom, the kids asked "Why didn't anyone do anything?" I guess the author really got her point across!

Editorial Review:

In this unique introduction to the Holocaust, Eve Bunting encourages young children to stand up for what they think is right, without waiting for others to join them.

The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia

Esther Hautzig

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent book! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The story of a young girl and her family's trials of living in Siberia during WWII. It is an excellent book to include with a unit study of the Holocaust. The author weaves the truth along with some humor. Excellent!

HORROR HAS MANY FACES 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

An amazing and brave book, worthy of greater publicity. For many years during and just after WWII it was politically incorrect (to say the least) to indicate that Hitler was not the only monster in the 20th century. At the time when the USSR was still more or less our ally it was indeed a brave act for Ms. Hautzig to point out that the dealings of the Soviets were just as dark as those of the Nazis. By recent estimates at least 60 million people died during the Stalinist dictatorial rule, but it is seldom that one sees a memorial dedicated to these victims. Many Americans cannot believe even today, that these horrors actually happened.
While I was teaching in a US Department of Defense School in Germany, my class read the Diary of Anne Frank. We even traveled to Amsterdam, and visited the home, where she and her family were hiding. It was a never to be forgotten, poignant experience; my students were deeply touched.
During this time I happened to come across Esther Hautzig's The Endless Steppe, and made it a point that my class read that too, in order to see the parallel. Stalin's monstrosities do not diminish those of Hitler, or Mao, but a cultured person has a need to perceive all events in balance, without the distortions or exclusions dictated by a current political posture.

Editorial Review:

Exiled to Siberia

In June 1942, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are "capitalists -- enemies of the people." Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia.
For five years, Ester and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.

Escape from Warsaw (Original title: The Silver Sword)

Ian Serraillier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Children of War 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

"Escape From Warsaw" is a unique find, a tale about children separated from their parents during WWII. Unlike many young adult novels about WWII, this one doesn't center around the Holocaust. Rather, it reads more like an adventure novel as the three Balicki children try to stay together and make their way to Switzerland where they're certain their father is waiting for them.

The Balicki family is first torn apart when Joseph, the father, is sent off to a prison camp, from which he later escapes. Shortly after his arrest, the mother is sent to a work camp. The only son, Edek, tries to fight his mother's arrest by shooting at the Nazi soldiers who came to take her away, causing him and his sisters to run off into the night. For the next two years, they spend their lives scrounging for food (resorting to thievery if they have to) and living in the cellar of a bombed out building in Warsaw. There seem to be guardian angels watching them at every turn - someone is always willing to help them out, even when they take up with the impish Jan, a troublesome boy who met their father after he escaped from prison.

"Escape From Warsaw" was originally entitled "The Silver Sword", which is the more appropriate title since the sword acts as a talisman of the Balicki family's fourtunes. By knowing that the treasured sword is safe, the children know that they will be reunited with their parents. The novel is a fast-paced adventure story with an almost too cutesy happy ending, but war stories often don't have happy endings and this one is fitting.