to the Holocaust
by Lisa Silverman
War is a compelling subject for kids. For American children, who have not experienced the horrors of war up close, the subject fascinates. I know, for instance, a seventh-grade girl who wants to read everything there is about the Holocaust. Anne Frank's diary isn't enough; she wants to know more -- in fact, she needs to know more. After working for fifteen years in Jewish libraries, I have discovered a subculture of teens looking for moral clarity in a changing world. Jewish teens, especially, need answers, role models, and links to their remarkable and often tragic history.
Today, there are hundreds of memoirs and novels for young people on the subject of World War II or the Holocaust. This marks a distinct change from my days in seventh grade, when, on the same quest for answers, I found myself relegated to either Leon Uris novels or textbooks with little information about the Holocaust. In fact, the subject is becoming much more easily accessed -- there are at least thirty-five picture books now available that deal with the horror of the Holocaust in some way. At what point do we choose to read one of these books to our children? Moreover, is there really a compelling reason to do it?
Within the past two years, I have presented a lecture titled "Picture Books Dealing with the Subject of the Holocaust" to various librarians and teachers at children's literature conferences around the country. I hand out my annotated bibliography, read passages from books, and give general advice as to what is grade-appropriate. I make it a point to keep abreast of this growing genre, and I find that most of the publishers are responsible and caring.
I believe, as a mother, a Jew, and a librarian, that in most cases it isn't a good idea to delve into the details of this subject with children under ten years old. It is true that in the Jewish schools where I have worked, the Holocaust was touched upon for younger children, such as second and third graders. But in these schools, it is a natural outgrowth of the curriculum and due to the nature of the Nazi persecution of Jews, it seems that the subject can rightfully be discussed at simplistic levels to these young children.
I most often recommend the 1987 AJL Sydney Taylor Award winner* by David Adler, titled The Number on My Grandfather's Arm (UAHC Press, 1987), for the youngest age groups. This moving, photo-illustrated twenty-eight-page book tells the story of a young girl who asks simple questions of her grandfather about what he experienced. The girl in the story is seven years old, and her grandfather tells her just enough information to explain what he went through but not enough to frighten her. The book ends on the comforting photo of the relieved grandfather allowing the tattooed number on his arm to be in full view as he does dishes in the kitchen.
Two other picture books I recommend for younger children take an allegorical approach to this topic. Eve Bunting's Terrible Things (Jewish Publication Society, 1989) is a fascinating account of how the "Terrible Things" carry away each animal in the forest, until they finally come for the white rabbits who have been watching on the sidelines, certain that "it could never happen to us." There is no mention of the Holocaust, per se, within the book, but the famous words of Pastor Martin Niemoeller (German Protestant leader and concentration camp survivor) are quoted in full on the opening page: "First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist...". This book is an excellent jumping-off point for a discussion of the Holocaust for grades four and up. A good discussion leader can choose to impart a little or as much information as he or she wishes, and a history lesson can still be taught. I have often used this book with middle school children as an adjunct to their unit of study on the Holocaust. They invariably find its lesson of tolerance quite meaningful.
The other more direct allegory is titled Promise of a New Spring -- The Holocaust and Renewal (Rossel Books, 1982), by well-known concentration camp survivor and author, Gerda Weissman Klein. The book uses images of nature and nature's renewal of life after a forest fire, along with a few stark illustrations and photos to provide a child's first introduction to the subject. Again, it is an excellent book to use with fourth graders, especially when paired with The Number on My Grandfather's Arm.
Popular and prolific author David Adler is the author of a number of Holocaust-related picture books. In addition to The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, others include, Hilde and Eli: Children of the Holocaust (Holiday House, 1994), and Child of the Warsaw Ghetto (Holiday House, 1995). The latter two are incredibly bleak, with passages (from Hilde and Eli) such as, "Jews were shot, gassed, and tortured. By May 8, 1945, the day the war in Europe ended, some six million Jews had been murdered by the Nazis. One and a half million of them were children. Among those killed were Hilde Rosenzweig and Eli Lax." These books are clearly for older readers who have already been exposed to these facts and are interested in learning about specific real historical characters.
Children naturally have the desire to adhere to high moral standards
and know immediately when things are "unfair." Therefore, I have
found that the easiest way to expose most children to this sensitive subject
without causing undue fear is to concentrate on the righteous Gentiles
and sympathetic rescuers. These courageous people serve as moral
guides for the young people of today. Author David Adler also contributes
to this category with his book, Hiding From the Nazis (illustrator
Karen Ritz - photo at left - Holiday House, 1997), a fascinating, true account
of a four-year-old Dutch girl named Lore Baer who was hidden on a farm for
the duration of the war and eventually reunited with her parents. The
events are not fictionalized and, therefore, much more dramatic. One
of the most heart-wrenching pages shows Lore at age eight, cowering behind
her "new mother" and fearing the "old" one, whom she hardly remembers. This
is an excellent book to be read aloud to a class in order to elicit discussion
on its many issues.
The other book from this group that makes a great read-aloud to older children and teens is Roberto Innocenti's Rose Blanche (Creative Education, 1985). Every class to whom I have read it has told me how it touched them. This one does not have a happy ending, but it does portray the innocence of youth and the moral character of a young Gentile rescuer in Germany. The illustrations are Caldecott Medal caliber and hide many enigmatic messages that kids love to try to figure out.
The most heart-warming of this type of story is a recent publication titled The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy (Peachtree, 2000). The famous tale of King Christian and all his subjects wearing yellow stars in response to the Nazi directive that all Danish Jews wear them, turns out to be a legend, but this wonderfully illustrated book captures the dignity of the Danish people and their legendary resistance to the Nazis. In Denmark, almost every Jew was saved from the Holocaust terror, so this book becomes a gentle story of historic justice that can be used in any area of teaching tolerance.
The other approachable book for a younger audience from this category is The Lily Cupboard by Shulamith Levy Oppenheim (HarperCollins, 1992). A young Jewish Dutch girl is hidden from the Nazis by strangers and, although she misses her parents and fears a visit from the soldiers, she is treated kindly, is well-fed, and gets a special pet rabbit from the farm. The book has a sort of open ending -- the reader never finds out if she reunites with her parents -- but it is easy to identify with the kindly Dutch farmers who are risking all by taking in the little girl. Patricia Polacco's The Butterfly (Philomel, 2000) is a French version of the same rescuer theme. The girl is older, the book longer, and the plot more convoluted, so it doesn't particularly lend itself as a read-aloud, but the sentiment is the same.
Publishers of children's literature have bravely tackled some of the most sensitive subjects of our times. Young adult and middle grade novels on the subject of war abound, and now it seems that there is a trend to also tackle these subjects at the picture book level. There are picture books dealing with the Civil War, some on Hiroshima, and most recently we have seen books relating touching stories of the Japanese relocation camps in the United States. But books dealing with the Holocaust are too numerous to mention all of them in one article.
It has become clear that picture books aren't just for the very young, nor are they just for reading by Mom or Dad before bedtime. The genre has matured, and it should be stated that this is a genuinely positive thing for both parents and educators. We have the power and responsibility to use these wonderful books to expose past atrocities that we have every expectation will never be repeated. Children can handle it, and for many reasons, they need to know.
[*AJL Sydney Taylor Award winner is an annual children's book award issued by the Association of Jewish Libraries.]
Lisa Silverman is the Director of the Blumenthal Library at Sinai Temple, a large conservative congregation in Los Angeles. She has previously worked as a school librarian for twelve years, and serves on the Board of the Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California. Lisa lives in North Hollywood with her husband and their four children.
This article was originally published in The Five Owls, Volume XVI, No. 4, 2002; pp. 38-39 (recopied with permission), and reprinted in Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter, May/June 2003, Volume XXII, No. 4, page 1ff.
War is a compelling subject for kids. For American children, who have not experienced the horrors of war up close, the subject fascinates. I know, for instance, a seventh-grade girl who wants to read everything there is about the Holocaust. Anne Frank's diary isn't enough; she wants to know more -- in fact, she needs to know more. After working for fifteen years in Jewish libraries, I have discovered a subculture of teens looking for moral clarity in a changing world. Jewish teens, especially, need answers, role models, and links to their remarkable and often tragic history.
Today, there are hundreds of memoirs and novels for young people on the subject of World War II or the Holocaust. This marks a distinct change from my days in seventh grade, when, on the same quest for answers, I found myself relegated to either Leon Uris novels or textbooks with little information about the Holocaust. In fact, the subject is becoming much more easily accessed -- there are at least thirty-five picture books now available that deal with the horror of the Holocaust in some way. At what point do we choose to read one of these books to our children? Moreover, is there really a compelling reason to do it?
Within the past two years, I have presented a lecture titled "Picture Books Dealing with the Subject of the Holocaust" to various librarians and teachers at children's literature conferences around the country. I hand out my annotated bibliography, read passages from books, and give general advice as to what is grade-appropriate. I make it a point to keep abreast of this growing genre, and I find that most of the publishers are responsible and caring.
I believe, as a mother, a Jew, and a librarian, that in most cases it isn't a good idea to delve into the details of this subject with children under ten years old. It is true that in the Jewish schools where I have worked, the Holocaust was touched upon for younger children, such as second and third graders. But in these schools, it is a natural outgrowth of the curriculum and due to the nature of the Nazi persecution of Jews, it seems that the subject can rightfully be discussed at simplistic levels to these young children.
I most often recommend the 1987 AJL Sydney Taylor Award winner* by David Adler, titled The Number on My Grandfather's Arm (UAHC Press, 1987), for the youngest age groups. This moving, photo-illustrated twenty-eight-page book tells the story of a young girl who asks simple questions of her grandfather about what he experienced. The girl in the story is seven years old, and her grandfather tells her just enough information to explain what he went through but not enough to frighten her. The book ends on the comforting photo of the relieved grandfather allowing the tattooed number on his arm to be in full view as he does dishes in the kitchen.
Two other picture books I recommend for younger children take an allegorical approach to this topic. Eve Bunting's Terrible Things (Jewish Publication Society, 1989) is a fascinating account of how the "Terrible Things" carry away each animal in the forest, until they finally come for the white rabbits who have been watching on the sidelines, certain that "it could never happen to us." There is no mention of the Holocaust, per se, within the book, but the famous words of Pastor Martin Niemoeller (German Protestant leader and concentration camp survivor) are quoted in full on the opening page: "First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist...". This book is an excellent jumping-off point for a discussion of the Holocaust for grades four and up. A good discussion leader can choose to impart a little or as much information as he or she wishes, and a history lesson can still be taught. I have often used this book with middle school children as an adjunct to their unit of study on the Holocaust. They invariably find its lesson of tolerance quite meaningful.
The other more direct allegory is titled Promise of a New Spring -- The Holocaust and Renewal (Rossel Books, 1982), by well-known concentration camp survivor and author, Gerda Weissman Klein. The book uses images of nature and nature's renewal of life after a forest fire, along with a few stark illustrations and photos to provide a child's first introduction to the subject. Again, it is an excellent book to use with fourth graders, especially when paired with The Number on My Grandfather's Arm.
Popular and prolific author David Adler is the author of a number of Holocaust-related picture books. In addition to The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, others include, Hilde and Eli: Children of the Holocaust (Holiday House, 1994), and Child of the Warsaw Ghetto (Holiday House, 1995). The latter two are incredibly bleak, with passages (from Hilde and Eli) such as, "Jews were shot, gassed, and tortured. By May 8, 1945, the day the war in Europe ended, some six million Jews had been murdered by the Nazis. One and a half million of them were children. Among those killed were Hilde Rosenzweig and Eli Lax." These books are clearly for older readers who have already been exposed to these facts and are interested in learning about specific real historical characters.
Children naturally have the desire to adhere to high moral standards
and know immediately when things are "unfair." Therefore, I have
found that the easiest way to expose most children to this sensitive subject
without causing undue fear is to concentrate on the righteous Gentiles
and sympathetic rescuers. These courageous people serve as moral
guides for the young people of today. Author David Adler also contributes
to this category with his book, Hiding From the Nazis (illustrator
Karen Ritz - photo at left - Holiday House, 1997), a fascinating, true account
of a four-year-old Dutch girl named Lore Baer who was hidden on a farm for
the duration of the war and eventually reunited with her parents. The
events are not fictionalized and, therefore, much more dramatic. One
of the most heart-wrenching pages shows Lore at age eight, cowering behind
her "new mother" and fearing the "old" one, whom she hardly remembers. This
is an excellent book to be read aloud to a class in order to elicit discussion
on its many issues. The other book from this group that makes a great read-aloud to older children and teens is Roberto Innocenti's Rose Blanche (Creative Education, 1985). Every class to whom I have read it has told me how it touched them. This one does not have a happy ending, but it does portray the innocence of youth and the moral character of a young Gentile rescuer in Germany. The illustrations are Caldecott Medal caliber and hide many enigmatic messages that kids love to try to figure out.
The most heart-warming of this type of story is a recent publication titled The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy (Peachtree, 2000). The famous tale of King Christian and all his subjects wearing yellow stars in response to the Nazi directive that all Danish Jews wear them, turns out to be a legend, but this wonderfully illustrated book captures the dignity of the Danish people and their legendary resistance to the Nazis. In Denmark, almost every Jew was saved from the Holocaust terror, so this book becomes a gentle story of historic justice that can be used in any area of teaching tolerance.
The other approachable book for a younger audience from this category is The Lily Cupboard by Shulamith Levy Oppenheim (HarperCollins, 1992). A young Jewish Dutch girl is hidden from the Nazis by strangers and, although she misses her parents and fears a visit from the soldiers, she is treated kindly, is well-fed, and gets a special pet rabbit from the farm. The book has a sort of open ending -- the reader never finds out if she reunites with her parents -- but it is easy to identify with the kindly Dutch farmers who are risking all by taking in the little girl. Patricia Polacco's The Butterfly (Philomel, 2000) is a French version of the same rescuer theme. The girl is older, the book longer, and the plot more convoluted, so it doesn't particularly lend itself as a read-aloud, but the sentiment is the same.
Publishers of children's literature have bravely tackled some of the most sensitive subjects of our times. Young adult and middle grade novels on the subject of war abound, and now it seems that there is a trend to also tackle these subjects at the picture book level. There are picture books dealing with the Civil War, some on Hiroshima, and most recently we have seen books relating touching stories of the Japanese relocation camps in the United States. But books dealing with the Holocaust are too numerous to mention all of them in one article.
It has become clear that picture books aren't just for the very young, nor are they just for reading by Mom or Dad before bedtime. The genre has matured, and it should be stated that this is a genuinely positive thing for both parents and educators. We have the power and responsibility to use these wonderful books to expose past atrocities that we have every expectation will never be repeated. Children can handle it, and for many reasons, they need to know.
[*AJL Sydney Taylor Award winner is an annual children's book award issued by the Association of Jewish Libraries.]
Lisa Silverman is the Director of the Blumenthal Library at Sinai Temple, a large conservative congregation in Los Angeles. She has previously worked as a school librarian for twelve years, and serves on the Board of the Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California. Lisa lives in North Hollywood with her husband and their four children.
This article was originally published in The Five Owls, Volume XVI, No. 4, 2002; pp. 38-39 (recopied with permission), and reprinted in Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter, May/June 2003, Volume XXII, No. 4, page 1ff.