|
Recommended Books
Kathryn Berman
A Teenager in Hitler’s Death Camps
Author Benny Grunfeld, in collaboration with Magnus Henrekson and Olle Hager.
Translated by Ken Schubert.
Benbella Books Edition, August 2007.
115 pages.
Benny and his brother Herbert survived the horrors of Auschwitz death camp, a gruelling death march, the labor camp Dora-Mittelbau (Nordhausen), and finally
the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, from where they were liberated.
Translated from the original Swedish, this autobiography tells the story of Benny, a Hungarian teenager swept into the horrors of the Nazi death camps in 1944.
A 16 year old growing up in a happy Jewish family in Kolozsvar, Transylvania, (now Cluj, Romania), he and his family are torn from their home and deported to Auschwitz.
Upon arrival, he and his brother are separated from their father, little brother, mother, grandmother, and aunt. They never see them again.
The author then reveals the details of Auschwitz as well as the other camps in which he was incarcerated, including the misery and cruelties that encompassed daily life,
and how he and his brother undoubtedly helped each other to survive, which he sees as nothing short of a miracle.
Together they went to Sweden in July 1945. In 1948, Benny volunteered to fight alongside Israel’s armed forces in Israel’s War of Independence. He was one of the
3,500 members of Machal (Mitnadvei Chutz L’Aretz, Volunteers from Abroad).
The book is illustrated throughout with paintings by Benny Grunfeld, some of which can be seen today at the Ghetto Fighter’s Kibbutz in Israel, and also at the
Auschwitz Museum. One of the paintings was done by his brother Herbert. There is a glossary of terms relating to the Holocaust, together with an historical background
by Olle Hager at the end of the book.
Written from the perspective of a 16 year old teenager, this book is suitable for use in high schools. Some of the illustrations are quite graphic and may not be suitable
for younger children.
Today Benny Grunfeld lives in Sweden with his wife and family, where he spends much time speaking to groups of school children about his Holocaust experiences.
The Underground Reporters
by Kathy Kacer.
Published by Second Story Press, Toronto, Canada.
156 pages
This book presents the true and moving story of a group of young children and adults living under Nazi occupation in Budejovice, Czechoslovakia.
As their freedom becomes increasingly curtailed under the Nazis they are no longer able to go out to play, swim, go to the cinema, or lead a normal life. Fifteen-year-old
Ruda Stadler decides to start a newspaper that would prove that Jewish youth could do more than just play. This would encourage the community to band together
and use their imagination.
Using an old typewriter he wrote the first edition of the newspaper, which was called “Klepy” (gossip). The newspaper was circulated to several families and became
quite popular. Four additional young people were added to the team of writers, which increased the amount of articles and illustrations. The newspaper became a
lifeline for Jewish youth and the entire Jewish community of Budejovice.
Ruda believed that Jews could resist the Nazis through articles and poetry that talked about strength and unity as Jews. In fact, the newspaper also became a form
of resistance, and through its articles, the Jewish community retained their freedom.
This is an example of one of Rudy’s poems that was printed in the newspaper:
After a Snowstorm in January
Today the Jews went to work,
Looking strained, they cleared the snow….
Some were ashamed to be seen.
Embrace your work,
So that we can show them our strength!
Finally, in April 1942 the Jews of Budejovice were deported to the ghetto in Theresienstadt. Not knowing if or when he would return, Rudy gave all twenty-two
editions of “Klepy” to a former housekeeper, who kept them throughout WWII.
In 1989, John Freund, the only survivor from the group of young friends returned to his native village and recovered copies of “Klepy” from Rudy’s sister. They
are now on display at the Jewish Museum in Prague. It is through his testimony and that of Frances Neubauer, who also survived, that we know this fascinating story.
The Underground Reporters contains a lot of information from which students and teachers can glean much about Jewish life before the war in Budejovice, and
during the Nazi occupation. There are many illustrations from “Klepy” which can be used in the classroom and many photographs of life in the village before WWII,
which can promote and initiate discussion. Cultural resistance and life in Theresienstadt is also addressed.
The book is suitable for junior and high school students.
Janusz Korczak’s Children
by Gloria Spielman.
Illustrations by Matthew Archambault.
Kar-Ben Publishing, Minneapolis, USA. 2007.
40 pages
“Children are not the people of tomorrow, but are the people of today. They are entitled to be taken seriously. They have a right to be treated by adults
with respect as equals. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be – the unknown person inside each of them is the hope for the
future.” – Janusz Korczak
In this book, Gloria Spielman tells the moving and true story of Janusz Korczak (Henryk Goldszmidt), the Polish-Jewish champion of children’s rights.
Korczak saw, from a very early age, the dichotomy between the privileged children, and those who came from disadvantaged backgrounds, and wanted to help to
make a better world for children.
He became a doctor, writer, and educator, and eventually opened his own orphanage in 1912 at 92 Krochmalna Street, Warsaw.
He was so dedicated to his children, that when the Nazis sent them to their deaths, he chose to go with them, teaching us those human values that still existed whilst
surrounded by hatred in the Shoah years. This is considered to be the highest form of unarmed resistance.
The text and rich illustrations in this short book are suitable for children between the ages of 8-12. Teachers can use the true values Korczak left behind – caring for
others, and remaining a good human being in the face of evil, as an early learning tool for young children being introduced to this difficult subject.
A short chronology of important dates can be found on the last page of the book.
▲ Top
|
Print View
