The Holocaust
Literature Project
Social Studies & English Grade 9
Presentation by Crystal Flack & Christin Thorpe
Table of Contents
I . Introduction to Project
II. Book Choices
A. Night
B. Briar Rose
C. The Devil’s Arithmetic
D. We are Witnesses
E. Torn Thread
F. Number The Stars
G. The Cage
H. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
III. Project Choices
IV. Additional Book Choices
3/22/2016
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Introduction to Project
The following slides give you a sneak peek into the book
choices for this cross-curricular project. During the
presentation you should take notes on any books that
you may be interested in using for your project. After
discussing the books, we will provide you with a variety
of assignments. You will be asked to select one
assignment to complete along with reading your chosen
book.
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Night by Elie Wiesel
Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie
Wiesel was a teenager when he and his
family were taken from their home in 1944 to
the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then
to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record
of Elie Wiesel’s memories of the death of his
family, the death of his own innocence, and
his despair as a deeply observant Jew
confronting the absolute evil of man. This new
translation by his wife and most frequent
translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important
details and presents the most accurate
rendering in English of Elie Wiesel’s
testimony to what happened in the camps
and of his unforgettable message that this
horror must never be allowed to happen
again.
•
3/22/2016
Nonfiction, 120 pages
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Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
Ever since she was a child, Rebecca has
been enchanted by her grandmother
Gemma’s stories about Briar Rose. But a
promise Rebecca makes to her dying
grandmother will lead her on a
remarkable journey to uncover the truth of
Gemma’s astonishing claim: I am Briar
Rose. A journey that will lead her to
unspeakable brutality and horror. But also
to redemption and hope.
“Both heartbreaking and heartwarming,
Yolen’s novel is a compelling reminder of
the Holocaust as well as a contemporary
tale of secrets and romance.” – Booklist
•
3/22/2016
Fiction, 224 pages
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The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
When 12-year-old Hannah is
transported back to a 1940's Polish
village, she experiences the very
horrors that had embarrassed and
annoyed her when her elders related
their Holocaust experiences.
“The Schindler’s List for children”
•
3/22/2016
Fiction, 176 pages
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We are Witnesses by Jacob Boas
The five diarists in this book did not survive the
war. But their words did. Each diary reveals one
voice, one teenager coping with the impossible.
We see David Rubinowicz struggling against fear
and terror. Yitzhak Rudashevski shows us how
Jews clung to culture, to learning, and to hope,
until there was no hope at all. Moshe Ze’ve Flinker
is the voice of religion, constantly seeking answers
from God for relentless tragedy. Eva Heyman
demonstrates the unquenchable hunger for life that
sustained her until the very last moment. And
finally, Anne Frank reveals the largest truth they all
left for us: Hitler could kill millions, but he could not
destroy the human spirit. These stark accounts of
how five young people faced the worst of human
evil are a testament, and an inspiration, to the best
of the human soul.
•
3/22/2016
Nonfiction, 208 pages
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Torn Thread by Anne Isaacs
It is June 1943, and for four years the Nazi
armies have occupied the Polish town of
Bedzin. Twelve year old Eva, along with her
father and sister, have been forced to leave
their comfortable home and move into a tiny
attic in the Jewish Ghetto. But Eva’s life
takes an even more terrifying turn when she
and her sister are torn from their father and
imprisoned in a Nazi work camp. There, Eva
is forced to spin thread to make blankets and
uniforms for the German army. As she
struggles amid ever-worsening dangers to
save her life and that of her sick sister, Eva’s
world tears apart like the weak threads on
her spinning machine…
•
3/22/2016
Fiction, 192 pages
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8
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
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.
•
3/22/2016
Fiction, 144 pages
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The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender
This reflective Holocaust memoir
presents a series of brief scenes from
1939, when the author was 12 and
Hitler invaded Poland, through the
Russian liberation of the Mitelsteine
labor camp in 1945. Like many other
survivors of the Holocaust who have
written accounts, Sender presents
harrowing descriptions of life and death
in the ghetto and concentration camps
and gives fervent testimonials to the
love, strength, and dignity that helped
make her survival possible.
•
3/22/2016
Nonfiction, 256 pages
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10
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
by Judith Kerr
Among Hitler's other crimes, he stole Anna's pink
rabbit (when he confiscated all of her Jewish family's
property) and made her a refugee at the age of ten moving from Berlin to Switzerland, France, and
England in search of a new home. While she only
vaguely comprehends the events that worry her
parents so much (wondering what it means when
people say that Hitler will "get" the Jews and that her
father has "a price on his head"), Anna writes poems
about disasters and suffers from nightmares. Most of
the time, however, she is absorbed by the minor
difficulties of adjusting to expatriation - the awkward
attentions of Swiss boys, struggles with the French
language, brother Max's effortless adaptability - and
the adventure of newfound poverty.
•
3/22/2016
Fiction, 191 pages
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Project Choices
Once you read your selected book, choose from the
following project choices:
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Choose one of the historical figures from the book and research their life,
accomplishments, and role in the Holocaust.
Write a summary of the Holocaust highlighting key events and figures.
Create a mock concentration camp diorama.
Write a series of journal entries, putting your self in the place of someone
living during the Holocaust. Use actual dates and events to shape your
entries.
Complete an “Open Mind” activity, expressing the thoughts and feelings of a
character in your book through drawing.
Create an 8-frame comic strip summarizing the important events in your
book.
More specific guidelines for projects will be provided at a later date.
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Additional Book Choices
If none of the books presented appeal to you, feel free to choose another
book with teacher approval. The following websites list a variety of young
adult books on the Holocaust:
Classroom Help – Holocaust Books
TeenZone – Stories from the Holocaust
The Holocaust – Books for Children & Young Adults
The books and information presented were found on Amazon.com.
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