Are you looking for literature to support classroom instruction about the Holocaust? Check out Our Editors’ Choices for titles recommended by the Education World team. Then it's your turn to share books that you enjoy or use in your classroom in the Our Readers’ Voices section below. With your help, we will build the best list on the Internet of Best Books for teaching about the Holocaust.
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story
by Ken Mochizuki If you save the life of one person, it is as if you saved the world entire. This was the exact sentiment of the Japanese diplomat, Sugihara, and his family in Lithuania in 1941. Contrary to government orders, he issued thousands of visas to Polish Jews who became Sugihara survivors and kept their worn pieces of freedom papers as family treasures. For his selfless acts of kindness, Sugihara received the "Righteous Among Nations" Award; and in Yaotsu, Japan, the Hill of Humanity is named in his honor. The Sugihara story is brief and concise, but strong and emotional. It is a story of strong belief in doing what is compassionate and right regardless of the consequences. (School Library Journal)
Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.
Now It's Your Turn!
We've shared a few Editors' Choices for teaching about this theme. Now it's your turn to contribute to the Readers' Voices section below. Do you have a book related to this theme that you and your students enjoy? Just click here to share it!
Don't miss our Editors’ Choices for Teachers and for Parents. We're waiting for you to add your Readers' Voices there too.
Memories of Survival
by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz, Bernice Steinhardt
In this stunning collection of embroidered panels lies Esther Krinitz's remarkable journey of living through the Holocaust in Poland. At the age of 15, she and her 13-year-old sister separated from their family and went into hiding. Forced from the homes of their friends and neighbors, they sought refuge in the depths of the forest. With no place left to turn, they disguised themselves as Catholic farmhands and lived for years in fear as the war raged on. The eventual end of the war brought with it a heartbreaking discovery: while Esther and her sister survived, their parents and siblings -- and millions of other Jews -- did not.
Nine Spoons: A Chanukah Story
by Marci Stillerman, D. L. Rosenfield
As her grandchildren cluster around Oma on the last night of Chanukah, she tells them about a long-ago celebration when she was a young woman in a Nazi concentration camp. Her bunkmate, an artist named Raizel, declared that she could make a menorah for the children in the barracks if only she had nine spoons. Such utensils were a rare and precious commodity, but the interned women took risks and made sacrifices to obtain them. By twisting and bending the spoons together, Raizel fashioned a menorah, and the children experienced their own Chanukah miracle. This moving story, based on a real incident, is told in a simple and straightforward manner. The horrors of the camp are not graphically depicted, but even young children will gain an understanding of the deprivations faced by the inmates. (School Library Journal)
Erika's Story
by Ruth Vander Zee
Ruth Vander Zee narrates this true story in the voice of Erika, a woman she encountered in a German village, who, as a blanket-wrapped infant, was thrown from a cattle car bound for a concentration camp in 1944. A German woman risked her own life to raise Erika, who eventually married and had children of her own. Compelling and powerful in its simplicity, Erika's story proves that determination, hope, and goodness can overcome evil. (School Library Journal)
Add your voice to our list of books for teaching about the Holocaust.
The Education World Editors’ Choices above represent just a handful of the fine books that might be used to support classroom instruction about the Holocaust. Now we’re waiting for you to add to our list! Simply send us your review of a favorite book in 100 words or fewer and we will add it to the Readers’ Choices below.
Memories of Survival
