...the Jewish Holocaust 1939-1945

...our first reading adventure invites you... young adults... to join me on a memmorable journey to re-live history by reading novels and factual books about the tragic Jewish Holocaust during World War Two, 1939 to 1945. 

Each year this devasting moment in our history is commemmorated on the 27th of January... Holocaust and the United Nations

The United Nations promotes the following:

Holocaust Observance

"The International Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is thus a day on which we must reassert our commitment to human rights. [...]

We must also go beyond remembrance, and make sure that new generations know this history. We must apply the lessons of the Holocaust to today’s world. And we must do our utmost so that all peoples must enjoy the protections and rights for which the United Nations stands."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon


...lets begin our adventure by reading the following stories, each based on a true life event in our history The Jewish Holocaust...

Warning ...this is not for the faint-hearted...

...each of us must read this tragic and moving true story ...

The diary of a young girl : a definitive edition
by Anne Frank, 1929-1945
Edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler
Translated from the Dutch by Susan Massotty.

Published:  New York : Doubleday, 1995.  340 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

Emotionally intense                                        Compelling                                         Character-driven 

This true story is set in war torn Amersterdan, Netherlands.  World War II has ravaged Europe and the Germans have occupied the Netherlands.  The German Nazis are intent on eradicating all Jews from Europe by systematic placing them in concentration camps, death by starvation, brutality and the gas chamber.

Anne Frank, is a young Jewish girl living in Amsterdam when the Germans occupy the city.  Gentiles hide the Frank family in a secret compartment in an attic.  In this horrific and terrifying environment Anne pens her thoughts, feelings and daily happenings in a secret diary.

This diary survives World War II and has been published to tell the world of Anne Frank and her ordeal.

Strong sense of place                           Candid                               Heart-wrenching

Interesting titbit:  This publication is an uncut edition of Anne Frank's diary including entries originally omitted by her father and provides insight into Anne's relationship with her mother.

...it is important we all read Anne's Diary...lest we forget the Jewish Holocaust and those who lost their lives senselessly...

Link to Novelist

Anne Frank Musuem

...read this...as it is one of my most memorable time travel adventures into World War II and the Jewish Holocaust...


The Boy in the striped pyjamas
by John Boyne


Published:  New York: David Flicking Books, 2006    224 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

                Thought-provoking                                            Intricately plotted

This is a moving and haunting story set in Germany during World War II.  The year is 1942. 

The main character is a nine year old German boy called Bruno.  His beloved father, a Nazi Officer, is transferred to the country as the Commandant of the notorious concentration camp Auschwitz.  Bruno is constantly corrected by his mother and older sister Greta when he incorrectly pronounces the camp "Out-With".  
                                        Character-driven

Bruno is an innocent and naive young boy, but he is also extremely inquisitive and adventurous.  These character traits lead him to defy his parents wishes, continual disobedience and misadventures.  As a result Bruno becomes friends with a boy wearing striped pyjamas, called Shmuel, who lives behind the barb-wire fence of the camp.  Unfortunately, Bruno's misadventures place him and his friend Shmuel in extremely challenging and life threatening circumstances.

           Richly detailed                                                                Heart-wrenching

 This is a must... an unputdownable read... a historical fiction story that you will think about for days...

Link to Novelist

Author: John Boyne

...a moving reading adventure...time travel to Germany during World War II and read this haunting novel about a ...


The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

Published:  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.   552 pages
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult
    Haunting                                             Stylistically complex
This character-driven novel is narrated by Death.  The reader witnesses a world embroiled in war through the eyes of Death, an interesting character in the story.  Kindly and caring Death tells us about The Book Thief , who is a young orphan, a German girl called Liesel.


This historical fiction novel is set in a small German town, just outside of Munich, during World War II .  Liesel is fostered by the loving Rosa and Hans Hubermann.  Liesel suffers from frightening nightmares and Hans comforts her during these nightly ordeals by teaching her to read. 
          Coming-of-age                                 Lyrical                                         Moving
Hans, Rosa and Liesel save a Jewish man from certain death from the German concentration camps, by hiding him in their basement.  Rudy, a young boy next door, teaches Liesel to steal ... and the cycle of book stealing and daring adventures become a feature of Liesel's life in the midst of war-torn Germany...


...read this with focus and enjoy...


Novelist

Author: Markus Zusak

...another biography that is a truely memorable reading experience...


No Pretty Pictures : a child of war
by Anita Lobel

Published: New York : Collins, 2008.  239 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

...this is a true story
                    Narrative non-fiction                                                       thought provoking
...this is the autobiography of Anita Lobel who, from the age of 5 to age 10, lived a terrifying existence hiding from the Nazis. Anita tried to protect herself and her younger brother but was eventually captured and force marched from concentration camp to concentration camp.

Anita's story is a haunting memoir and unbelievably moving when you know you are reading of actual events that happened to a very young child.  Anita shares her experiences.  She tells us there are no pretty pictures remaining from her childhood.
      Moving                                        Biographical                                  Character-driven
It is amazing that Anita and her brother survived the ordeal of the Jewish Holocaust...and it is even more amazing that we are given the privilege of sharing Anita's experiences during World War II in this unforgetable book...

Interesting titbit:  Anital Lobel is an illustrator of childrens' books.

...an unforgetable and compelling read of a true life experience...

Mandurah Libraries

Author: Anita Lobel

...another reading adventure introduces us to ...


Someone named Eva
by Joan Wolf


Published:  New York : Clarion, 2007.  272 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

Eye-opening                          Heart-breaking 

This moving and haunting story is about an 11 year old girl called Milada, who grew up in a small village called Lidice, Czechoslovakia.  Milada's family is torn apart when the German Nazis attack her village in 1942.
 Milada is selected for the Lebensborn program by the Nazis because she has blonde hair and blue eyes, the much admired Aryan features that Hiltler promotes as the "proper German" features.  Milada is kidnapped and transported to a school in Poland.  Her named is changed to Eva, she is taught to speak German and groomed to be adopted by a German family.  However, Milada/Eva is a clever young girl and she despite her traumatic experiences she never forgets her true name and her family history.
   Masterfully written                       Fascinating                            Memorable


...I guarantee this fast paced novel will keep you glued to the pages from beginning to end...


Novelist

...time travel to experience historical flashbacks in...


Angel's Fury
by Bryony Pearce

Published: London : Egmont Books, 2011.  304 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult


Is this a historical story or a ghost story...or a terrifying dream!
    Chilling                                                  Character-driven                          Desperate

Every time Carrie Farrier tried to go to sleep she has horrific nightmares of death.  A little girl called Zillah appears in her nightmare and Carrie discovers Zillah is a victim of the Jewish Holocaust, in Europe during Wolrd War II.

Carrie's nightmares are getting out of control and in desperation she is sent for medical help to an old manor house.  Carrie meets children just like herself, who are troubled by nightmares and visions.  One of the children is called Seth and Carrie is sure she has seen him before...he looks so familiar.
                    Flashback                                                      Frightening

...and suddenly Carrie's nightmares become reality.

...this novel is so fast-paced you will be reading the last page before you know it...

Author: Bryony Pearce

...read the experience of young girl falling in love with ...

The wrong boy
by Suzy Zail

Published:  Newtown, N.S.W. : Black Dog, 2012.  256 pages
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

Can you image finding some-one to love in a world ravaged by hatred and war?  Is this a love story...

       Coming-of-age                                                           Character-driven
The novel is fiction but is rooted in history.  It is the story of a young Jewish girl, aged 15, who is sent to Auschwitz with her family. Her name is Hanna and she is a talented pianist.
                                                          Love story
Hanna is desperate to live, as she daily witnesses the madness and death of those living in the concentration camp.  She sees an opportunity to survive through her music, by playing the piano to the camp commandant. Hanna meets the commandant's handsome son Karl and falls in love with the wrong boy.  The wrong boy is Karl, a German...
      Moving                                                                             Memorable
Interesting titbit:  Suzy Zail, the author, is the daughter of an Auschwitz survivor.
...this story is steeped in history and true romance...you won't be able to put this down...

Mandurah Libraries

...read this novel and time travel to a reading adventure in Poland, 1939...

Yellow star
by Jennifer Roy

Published:  London : Frances Lincoln Children's, 2009
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

The facts behind the title of this novel:  During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, the Nazis forced the Jewish population to wear a yellow star on their clothing to indicate to everyone they were Jewish.
       Thought-provoking                         Moving                                        Memorable
This is a fictionalised true story based on factual information about the life of Sylvia Perlmutter.  After the war Syliva moved to the United States, married and after a number of years recounted her story to her neice, the author Jennifer Roy.

This is her story...in 1939 the Germans invaded the town of Lodz, Poland, and moved the Jewish population into a small part of the city called a ghetto. As the war progressed, 270,000 people were forced to settle in the ghetto under impossible conditions.

At the end of the war, there were about 800 survivors. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. This is the story of one of the twelve.
                                        First-person narrative                Courageous
Sylvia entered the ghetto when she was 4 years old and was liberated when she was 10 years, surviving the ordeal for almost six years.

...you have to read this to experience the courageous spirit of survival in one so young...

Jennifer Roy

...relive the adventures of a small orphan in this gripping read...


Run, Boy, Run
by Uri Orlev
Translated from the Hebrew by Hillel Halkin


Published:  Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2003.  192 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult


This moving story is written by Uri Orlev, a Holocaust surviver, who now lives in Israel.  He based this novel on a young boy's true life experience.
       Faction (based on a true story)                                   Heart-wrenching
The main character in this tale is a young, orphaned Jewish boy, aged 8.  He is named Srulik.  He is trapped in the Warsaw Ghetto, in Poland, during World War II.  Amazingly, this young boy escapes to the Polish countryside at the height if the Jewish Holocaust, where Poland is ravaged by war and Nazi occupation. 
                                          Authentic
Srulik's greatest challenge is to survive the war, in a country where he is surrounded by anti-semitism and little food.  Finding a safe refuge is his only hope...


...this award winning story is a haunting tale set in a world gone mad...   


Chat to Uri Orlev on Facebook

...adventurous reading into the world of love and war...

Annexed
by Sharon Dogar

Published:  London : Anderson, 2010.  329 pages.
Reading Appeal:  Young Adult

On the front cover of the novel it states:
"The incredible story of the boy who loved Anne Frank".

Do you know the true story of Anne Frank?
Anne Frank was Jewish and she was hiding from the Nazis during World War II.  Did you know she wrote a diary about her life while she lay hidden in a secret annexe? And she was not alone in the annexe....this novel retells Anne's story from Peter's perspective.
             Reflective                                Intimate                                  Moving
Peter van Pels and his family are locked away in the annex with the Franks, and Peter sees it all differently. Peter shares Anne's story with feeling.  He's a boy, and for a boy it's just not the same...
                             character-driven                             coming-of-age

...read this tale and you will experience a truely tragic love story... 

Postscript:  Please refer to the blog "The Diary of a young girl" by Anne Frank . 

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