The Holocaust
Through Literature
By Richard A. Gair
Professor of Reading and Holocaust Literature
Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida
Sources
 3 Books by Samuel Totten, et.al
 Arthur & Rochelle Belfer National Conferences
(1 & 2) for Educators, U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum, Washington, DC
Literature of Genocide Seminar, NJ Council for
the Humanities, Monmouth University,
Monmouth, NJ
Pennsylvania Task Force on Holocaust Education
Statements like these must have meaning. What do they really mean?
Without further thought they are meaningless. Fact is that genocide has
occurred, time and again, since 1945. Does “Never Again” mean just the
Jewish people or that no genocide should ever take place again? We need
to put these seemingly simplistic statements into a historical context.
Rationale…Why
Teach The Holocaust?
• Comprehension of a million of anything is
difficult
• Distance from events…new century
• To create an impact students’ beliefs and feelings
• To affect the cognitive and affective domains
• To foster contemplation of significance of the
Holocaust as a historic unprecedented event
Rationale continued
• Students must feel the tragedy as a personal
event in individual lives
• One feels the tragedy; one is moved to
anger, indignation, compassion.”
• Generates intense self-questioning and selfsearching
• Touches students on deeply personal levels
Rationale continued
• “Reading, studying, and discussing literature helps
students make connections between one’s life and
those of others.”
• “Literature is a powerful entry point for
attempting to appreciate another’s experiences,
insights, sorrows, pain, and hope.”
• What lessons does the Holocaust teach us for
today’s world?
Good Holocaust
Literature Can…
• Help students understand “deep truths”
about…
– Motivation of the perpetrators
– Cataclysmic impact of the daily incidents upon
victims
– Varied reactions of victims (emotional,
physical, psychological, delayed, lasting)
– Motivation of bystanders and rescuers
Literary Responses to
the Holocaust Can
Assist Students To…
Confront the extent of
injustices and murderous
acts of the Nazis
Recognize the acts of
resistance and heroism in
ghettos and concentration
camps
Explore spiritual resistance in
various forms…in the face of
murder (lighting Sabbath candles,
secret religious schools, religious
services, etc. in the ghetto)
Recognize various
roles…victim, oppressor,
bystander, rescuer and their
choices or lack of choices in
many of their actions
Analyze the corruption
of language cultivated
by the Nazis…such as…
• Emigration for expulsion
• Evacuation for deportation
• Deportation for transportation to a place
that often resulted in death
• Aktions for roundups that lead to mass
murder
• Final Solution for systematically planned
annihilation of every single Jew!
High Quality
Literature
• Avoids stereotypes
• Portrays people in a way that is
“true” to life
Holocaust
Literature Should
• Give insight in the devastating reality
• Show the unbearable and horrific injustices
• Show the cruelty and hatred of the
perpetrators
• Show the fear, anxiety, and loss experienced
by the victims
• Show the horrors touched all aspects of life
Students Must Develop
An Understanding
• “The Holocaust was not simply another
human rights infraction but rather
something cataclysmic in the annals of
humanity.”
• And examine their own lives and think
about what it means to be “just,” to be
prejudiced, to discriminate and hate, and to
be a bystander, a perpetrator, or a victim
Literature Will
• Help students consider
– Serious moral and ethical issues &
dilemmas
– Complexities and ambiguities in
human behavior…which they often
see in terms of black and white
But…
• To gain a clear understanding of the
Holocaust, students must understand the
history of the event…therefore
• Teachers must teach a substantial amount of
history so that students develop a sense of
the “whos,” “whens,” “hows,” and “whys,”
of the Holocaust
Teaching this material should
NEVER simply result in
another English or history
lesson.
Selection of
Holocaust
Literature for the
Classroom
• 10 Key Issues to consider prior to
selecting Holocaust literature
Historical
Accuracy
Readability
Engaging and
Thought-Provoking
• Elie Wiesel…
• “The student of the Talmud (Jewish Law),
the child I was, had been consumed in the
flames”
• “A dark flame had entered into my soul and
devoured it.”
Not too long or complex
that there is no time for
adequate discussion
Literature that
romanticizes
should be avoided.
Literature should present
“true to life” characters
as opposed to stereotypes.
• Elie Wiesel…
• “…with needles in their hand, they
engraved a number on our left
arms, I had become A-7713. After
that I had no other name.”
Use sound judgment in selecting works that have
horrifying images, scenes, incidents, and
events..avoid bombarding students with one
horrific image after another. However, these
images cannot be avoided if one is truly studying
the events that occurred. They help develop a
true understanding of the events when used in
moderation.
Literature should offer
readers stimulus to
draw their own
conclusions.
Literature should challenge
students to examine their own
lives and world.
• Elie Wiesel on Yom Kippur, The Day of
Atonement in the camps…
• “I did not fast, mainly to please my father, who
had forbidden me to do so. But further, there was
no longer any reason why I should fast. I no
longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed
my bowl of soup, I saw in the gesture an act of
rebellion and protest against Him.”
Literature that enlightens
and encourages further study
of the Holocaust, thus helping
to ensure remembrance
Using Poetry
• Causes one to ponder long and hard
• Encourages us to view the human
scene with a fresh eye
• It is brief, succinct and fits well into
curriculum time constraints
Methods & Activities for
Incorporating Holocaust
Literature into the
Classroom
Anticipatory Set
• Assess student prior knowledge by
– Having them write down all they know about
the Holocaust
– Assess what they already know about
totalarianism, fascism, anitsemitism
– Develop a cluster or mind map with students or
as a group
Establish Basic
Understanding of the
Holocaust
• Begin with a chronology or timeline of the
events taking place in Europe before the
Holocaust
– There are many good timelines on the World
Wide Web such as…
– The History Place Holocaust Timeline
– Illustrate through art and poetry from the camps
– Establish the context of World War II
Reader Response
Theory
• Provide literature that allows students to begin to
examine the literature from their own unique
perspective, without other peoples’ interpretation
• Allow students to respond intellectually and
emotionally
• Spark lively discussion (quotes work well here)
• No so-called single correct answer
Quotes like…Gerda
Weisssman Klein in “A
Memoir..All But My Life”
• As she left home being deported…” I bade
farewell to my childhood” (She was 15)
• “That night I felt so close to death that I wanted it
desperately. It seemed an easy solution, a quick
way out. We had heard of a family who
committed suicide together. I half wished my
parents had suggested it. It seemed almost a
luxury to die, to go to sleep and never wake up
again.”
Reflective Journals
• Keep response / reaction journal for all readings
• Journals can be used to…
– Examine new knowledge of the Holocaust
– Raise questions and concerns
– Ponder the meaning of how it relates to their own
lives
– Serve as a two-way communication between student
and teacher responses written in journal
Reflective Writing
• Require students to analyze and synthesize
• Have students write a letter to a character in
the piece, commenting on the insights,
ideas, concepts they gained.
• Have students write letters to the characters
telling them what part they will never forget
and why.
• Let the author’s voice emerge in the writing
Use Individual Poems as
Lesson Introductions
• Use a poem to introduce a particular theme
such as…
–
–
–
–
–
–
Bystanders
Loss
Remembrance
Life in the Ghetto
Deportations
Mass murder of the Jews
Outside Reading
• Students select a book from a teacher prepared
list…examples…
– Friedrich
– I Was There
• Two weeks later students write teacher a letter
telling about the main characters, plot or theme.
• Two weeks later students write another letter to
the teacher telling how the completed book
enhanced their knowledge and understanding
Compare and Contrast
• Comparison and contrast of a fictional work
and a first person account
An In-Depth Study of
an Author-Survivor’s
Life and Works
Highlight Certain
Topics and/or Themes
• Discrimination of
Jews
• Bystanders
• Life and death in the
Ghettos
• Death Camps
• Resistance
• “Choiceless choices”
•
•
•
•
•
•
Other Victims
Hope against hope
Fear
Loss
Mourning
Aftermath of the
Holocaust
Compare and Contrast
Literary Works on the Same
Subject and/or Theme
Unit Introduction
• Oral reading to the class from
Holocaust memoirs, diaries, poetry
and novels
Examine
“Choiceless Choices”
• Literary critic and Holocaust
historian Lawrence Langer refers
to “choiceless choices” that the
Nazis’ victims were forced to make
on a daily basis (people plunged
into life and death decisions
imposed by others.)
Respond to New
Knowledge
• Write poetry expressing thoughts,
feelings and new insights from
reading.
Focus on the Fate of
Children via Poetry
Written by Children
During the Holocaust
Example: “I Never Saw Another
Butterfly”: Children’s Drawings
and Poems from Terezin
Concentration Camp
Explore & React to
Images & Phrases
• Gripping Images
• Extraordinary quotes and phrases
• Class Activity: Keep a running chart of various
lines, phrases, and images that stand out and make
them see the Holocaust through “different eyes.”
Across from each listing, briefly comment on
student perception of the image or phrase. Follow
with class discussion.
Why Did People Write
Poetry During the
Holocaust?
• Explore poetry and art as…
–
–
–
–
–
–
A form of resistance
A way to break out of the forced isolation
A way to assert one’s humanity
A way to commemorate other victims
A form of remembrance
A unique form of testimony
Combine a Study of a Poem
with the Study of a
Museum Artifact
Combine a Photo and Poetry on the
Same Topic for Discussion of Reflective
Writing…
“The Little Boy With His Hands Up”
By Yala Korwin
Anthologies
• Students can create a class anthology of
poetry, short stories, and artwork that left an
impression on them.
• Bind these into permanent anthologies
• Entire class anthology or small groups of
students
Book Reviews
Examine Use of
Language
• Compare normal
words and new
meaning the Nazis
gave them…
–
–
–
–
Starvation
Resistance
Camps
Resettlement
• Euphemisms…
– Resettlement for
deportation
– Emigration for expulsion
– Evacuation for deportation
– Special Treatment for
gassing
– Final Solution for mass
murder of every Jew