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ISO more must-read Holocaust books...


tammyw
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I recently finished Elie Wiesel's Night and it has left me doing a lot of thinking. This is a subject I tend to revisit every ten years or so, but haven't read that many good books about the subject.

 

I read Anne Frank's Diary when I was in school. I'm thinking I want to read that again. I have The Book Thief for a fictional read.

 

I'd love to know if there are any others that I really should be reading.

 

And perhaps something that's written from the perspective of what it was like for Germans who didn't agree with what was happening, or from the perspective of how they "let" it happen (probably not expressing myself properly on that one).

 

I'd also love some more books for my dd10 to read. She has mostly read some fictional books on this subject, but I know she'd like more.

 

TIA for any advice. I've looked around on Goodreads, but haven't pinpointed anything that seems a must read or is telling different types of stories as Elie Wiesel's.

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Corrie ten Boom's biography, The Hiding Place, is well-written and interesting. She was part of the Dutch Resistance and she and her sister were sent to the camps. Her sister had a surprising vision for a place for soldiers and others to come after the war. ETA--oic someone posted this already while I was typing!

 

There's also a book written by a German who was a member of the Hitler Youth, and a Jewish woman who was sent to the camps. They ended up going on a speaking circuit together. Ah--Parallel Journeys, by Ayer.

 

Oh, and there's a book of poetry written by the children of Terezin (spelling?) called I Never Saw Another Butterfly. I couldn't get thru that one...

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All But My Life: A Memoir by Gerda Weissmann Klein. I read it a little over a year ago, when I found out that the author would be speaking at a local college. We took our daughter to see her and I'm so glad that we did. She hasn't read this book yet, but will one day.

Here's my blog post about it, and a photo.

http://thebugslife.blogspot.com/2011/10/gerda-weissman-klein.html

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Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - for you, not dd. Gives great insight as to what was going on with the German people in the years of Hitler's rise to power.

 

For another side of WWII - Stalin's murder of over 25 million of "his own people" - definitely read "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys. I don't think I'd have my 10yo read it, but I thought it was excellent. I had my teenagers read it this year during our study of WWII.

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Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz

 

I read Maus 1 and 2 about the same time as Survival in Auschwitz and Night. I read several others, but I can't seem to find them now.

 

I forgot about Maus. It's a graphic novel. My son had to read it for his freshman Eng class at VCU--they read it in the summer and had to talk about it the first week or so. It's...not what I expected. NOT a "comic book." lol--I hadn't read any graphic novels and I was a little disdainful until I picked it up and read it.

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Not a book, but the filmmaker had an interesting interview on NPR today.

 

http://www.pbs.org/w...-forget-to-lie/

 

Thank you. I will definitely put this in my calendar to DVR. My daughter today asked "why didn't they lie about being Jewish?" and I really couldn't answer very well. Did they try to lie? I'm not sure of that answer, and I'd love to get back to her, so this documentary might be a good start.

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For you - The Bielski Brothers, by Peter Duffy and The Mascot, by Mark Kurzem are fairly unique stories that we (Dh, Ds and I) all found interesting. I would say that the first half of Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, is a must-read.

 

For your Dd - Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, Daniel's Story and After the War, by Carol Matas are a good intro to the topic.

 

Ds has also read a book from the perspective of a member of the Hitler Youth, called I Was There, but he can't remember whether it would be appropriate for a 10yo.

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The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Man's search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Hidden in Silence - the true story of Stefania Podgorska - it's a dvd, don't know if there is a book.

 

 

this looked interesting

Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue (Women of Action)

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Thank you. I will definitely put this in my calendar to DVR. My daughter today asked "why didn't they lie about being Jewish?" and I really couldn't answer very well. Did they try to lie? I'm not sure of that answer, and I'd love to get back to her, so this documentary might be a good start.

 

 

 

This book http://en.wikipedia....d_the_Holocaust answers part of that question. It's difficult to lie when the government has this much data on your family, from generations back.

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Chiam Potok is a must read on this subject- The Chosen but many others deal with the aftermath of rebuilding after the war.

 

Also the play, Teresenstadt, along with the study guide- many original poems by children imprsioned and condemned to die at Teresenstadt (THE camp for European intellectuals- they formed classes for the children and a suitcase or two were saved). Very powerful drama. Our kids performed it a couple of years ago- even men in the audience were crying.

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I recently read The Plum Tree. It's historical fiction, but gives a good idea of the perspective of non-Jewish, non-Nazi German people and how they suffered through WW2. So much of what is out there is from the Jews' perspective, that I found it interesting to look at it from someone else's POV.

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For the 10 year old: The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss (autobiographical), Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan, Twenty and Ten by Claire Bishop.

I think I read As The Waltz Was Ending by Emma Butterworth around that age, but I'd suggest prereading that one for a ten year old, as there's a small amount of sex. I agree with the others that have been suggested, too.

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Two young adult/older child nonfiction books dd and I read this year are

 

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

 

and

 

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust

 

Both contain primary sources and survivor narratives. Both were stunning and shocking for dd. She would read a chapter from the Hitler Youth book one day and then a section from Beyond Courage the next day, both about the same time frame.

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No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War by Anita Lobel. She is the wife of Arnold Lobel of Frog and Toad fame. I had no idea she was a Holocaust survivor. She was five and living in Poland when the war began. Ms. Lobel writes in a very straight-forward voice without any self-pity and yet her story is beautifully told.

 

Oh, that reminds me! The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey.

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No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War by Anita Lobel. She is the wife of Arnold Lobel of Frog and Toad fame. I had no idea she was a Holocaust survivor. She was five and living in Poland when the war began. Ms. Lobel writes in a very straight-forward voice without any self-pity and yet her story is beautifully told.

 

Wow, thank you.

 

Oh, that reminds me! The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey.

 

 

Another good recommendation. This is all really surprising to me.

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Funny you should ask. This isn't exactly about the Holocaust, but it's a very very interesting book. It is definitely not typical of my reading material, even though I usually read biographies. "The Lost Life of Eva Braun" by Angela Lambert. I've always wondered about her. You know, what kind of woman was she. Who becomes mistress to a monster? There's not a ton of information about her, but I'm really enjoying the book. The author's mother was German and was born a month after Eva Braun was born and was born into a very similar socio-economic family, so a lot of the general information in the book regarding German society of the times the author got from her mother, but there's a lot of other info from interviews from family members, etc. It's pretty easy to read, and while I must not say it's an "enjoyable" read, it's very interesting.

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Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy - for you, not dd. Gives great insight as to what was going on with the German people in the years of Hitler's rise to power.

 

 

 

I second this. It took me some time to get through it. I'd read it then lay it down and move on to other things, then pick it back up again. :) How he handled the lies going on around him in his govt. and with the people and how he stood for truth was very inspiring. I also second the Hiding Place. I could read the Hiding place over and over. Corrie ten Boom is my hero, as well as her amazing sister!!

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I found Miep Gies' story amazing and a great companion to Anne Frank's diary.

 

http://www.amazon.co...words=miep gies

 

This was in the YA section at our library - I read it myself:

 

http://www.amazon.co...words=holocaust

 

 

 

Agree with the previously mentioned Maus and Survival in Auschwitz. I came across another at our library but I can't remember the title right now. Trying to find it...

 

I think this might be it. It's pretty graphic, so not for your DD.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Treblinka-Samuel-Willenberg/dp/0631162615/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362237190&sr=1-6&keywords=treblinka

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I have more reading material now than I could ever think of! Thank you all for the great recommendations.

 

Can anyone comment on Erik Larson's book In The Garden of Beasts? Is it a worthwhile choice as well? I've never actually read anything by Larson, yet.

 

I definitely think it is worth reading. It covers an earlier period of time than many Holocaust books focus on and has a very different focus. The pivotal event of the book is the Night of the Long Knives, which happened in 1934.

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These aren't books but I have to recommend a few things on Netflix:

Auschwitz Inside the Nazi State. This is a six part documentary and it is excellent. Not for kids though.

Life is Beautiful I saw this in the theater when I was a teenager and I absolutely love it.

The Hidden Child This is about Jewish children taken in and hidden by the Dutch.

Surviving Hitler Amazing story of love and survival.

Forgiving Dr. Mengele This holocaust survivor is so inspiring.

 

I have watched pretty much everything on there pertaining to WW2 and the Holocaust and these are my favorites.

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Can anyone comment on Erik Larson's book In The Garden of Beasts? Is it a worthwhile choice as well? I've never actually read anything by Larson, yet.

 

 

I read In the Garden of Beasts last year. I both liked it & didn't like it (which is how I also felt about Larson's book "The Devil in the White City").

 

What I liked: Learning details about people & events I didn't know that much about; more knowledge about history, esp. a closer look at Berlin & some of the people there, what the city was like, etc....

 

What I didn't like: The subtitle indicates that the book is about a family, but the book really focused on Dodd & his dd; his wife & ds were mentioned but often missing from the narrative. I don't know if that's because there was less documentation on them or just because the author felt they were less interesting to the story. Also, there were some things he mentioned that seemed relevant to the story (using a local Jewish doctor's home for their residence/office, while the dr. & his family resided upstairs) -- what happened to the family? Did the next ambassador continue to live in that location or not? Sometimes it seemed like a mish-mash of assorted facts, letters, and so on, but not necessarily connected or flowing together very well. Also, he did a year or so in depth, then had a couple of jumps in time to give short descriptions of later events. It made things feel very uneven, I think. Etc....

 

I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars. It was ok, but not a fave; I've read much better non-fiction.

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Etty Hillesum : An Interrupted Life" It has been called the adult counterpart to Anne Frank. There really are no words to describe the incredible humanity/intelligence/faith/beauty and love that Etty Hillesum demonstrated in the depths of hell.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just finished reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom. Such a powerful story, and I like that it was told from a different viewpoint.

 

I'm wondering if I should let my dd10 read this? I'm trying to think why she shouldn't? She often asks if she can read some of the non-fiction books I'm reading and I always say "when you're older". I'm thinking this is the first time I might allow it. Part of the reason is because it's not really so graphic. It's more emotional. I know growing up, I hated history. HATED it. It was boring. All very textbookish, blech. It took many, many years into adulthood for me to start wanting to learn history again. Now I love it.

 

Help me think this through, please!

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At 10 ds and I read books like that together. We haven't covered the Holocaust in depth, but we did study other emotional time periods. Reading together allows me to stop on those important points, stop if it becomes too much, censor on the fly if there is need. I tend not to censor, but timing is important to watch and I would gauge it it was appropriate to skip something for that moment.

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I love All But My Life. It is one of my favorite Holocaust resources. I found a study guide to go along with it here. But I don't know that I would do this book with a 10 year old. But definitely add it into the stack for the teen years.

 

Focus on the Family has an excellent audio book for Bonhoeffer. I think a 10 year old would find it interesting.

 

For that age I would go with: Number the Stars (Lowry), A father's Promise (Hess), Escape from Warsaw (Serrailler), Twenty and Ten (Bishop), Snow Treasure (McSwigan), Enemy Brothers (Savery), The Winged Watchman (von Stockum), The Borrowed House (von Stockum) - all of these were books my boys read around that age. I have had the boys do some sort of Holocaust reading every year even when it wasn't in the history sequence.

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