Triptych: A look at the Holocaust

“In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,

and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me — and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
By: Pastor Martin Niemöller

In Europe during the 1930’s and 1940’s a cruel dictator, Adolf Hitler, rose to power. In 1933 he was elected Chancellor of Germany and carefully began to execute his malicious plan – exterminate the Jews, and other lesser beings.

World War II bore witness to some of the most horrific crimes against humanity. Unfortunately, history is condemned to repeat itself if current and future generations don’t listen and learn from our past. As a seventh grade social studies teacher it is my job to explain the gravity of the Holocaust, draw comparisons between it and events like the Rwandan Genocide, Darfur in Sudan and other events. I researched and found children’s stories that take this ominous topic, and in just a few pages with a smattering of words, take middle school students and their teacher back to an era we must never forget. The Children We Remember written by Chana Beyers Abells collected actual black and white photographs from the Archives of Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Hero’s Rememberance Authority, Jerusalem, Israel and used these images to show the anguish humans put other humans through. This book asks readers to look into the eyes of innocence - the eyes of children. Readers are asked to view the destruction individually, not on the whole. It’s easy to say millions were killed, pause for a moment of remembrance, and then move on, but when you know these individuals all had lives, hopes, dreams and aspirations – it becomes heartbreakingly catastrophic.

My Secret Camera – Life in the Lodz Ghetto written by Frank Dabba Smith, Photographed by Mendel Grossman is similar in the sense that both books use actual photographs to tell their story. Mendel Grossman looked around himself in the 1940’s and amid the tragedy in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland photographed the people. By all accounts Mr. Grossman took thousands of pictures documenting the horror, humanity and lives. This book is a collection of surviving photos from the time period and while Smith narrates through the photographs they certainly speak for themselves. Mendel Grossman gives a voice to those whose lives have been lost.

Children want to know the truth, adolescents hunger for the adult truth. The texts I am collecting are in no way embellished story retellings or vague accounts. Each text collected is slight in size and immense in its message. Erika’s Story by Ruth Vander Zee and illustrated by Roberto Innocenti moves away from actual photographs, but maintains its honesty. This is a true story about a young girl and how her courageous and loving parents sparred her life as they hurled their newborn daughter to safety from the moving cattle car bound for one of Hitler’s concentration camps. “On her way to death, my mother threw me to life” (Zee 14). Her carefully wrapped, flying body was discovered by a woman who risked her life to raise her.

Each of these stories renders tears to my eyes, and in many cases, down my cheeks. The honesty and power each story brings will prove to be vital in my WWII unit with my upcoming seventh graders. The illustrations Erika’s Story are on par with the photographs in the other two books – the images were done in black and white. Innocenti also drew each picture with immense detail and realism.

I believe these three texts are joined together through content and honesty. Real people are telling each story. Within these texts these people are survivors. I found other stories that I would like to use in my WWII unit such as A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children by David Adler, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, Hiroshima No Pika by Toshi Maruki, and a few others. I believe that to truly teach a topic to students many modalities need to be used. Children need to hear about, feel, relate, express and recount it to really learn. The prospect of using children’s stories in class will reach all students on their level. Between the texts and images students, regardless of ability, will walk away with an understanding of this tragic time in history. I am hopefully that these generations will be the answer to future Bosnia’s, Rwanda’s and Darfur’s. With a little luck these generations will abolish the possibility of genocide through their understanding of history, growing levels of tolerance and boundless love. “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” –John W. Whitehead

Works Cited
(2006). Children Quotes for Scrapbooking. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from ThinkExist Web site: http://thinkexist.com/Children_Quotes_for_Scrapbooking/

Abells, C. B. (1983). The Children We Remember. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Adler, D. A. (2002). A Hero and the Holocaust: The Story of Janusz Korczak and His Children. New York, NY: Holiday House.

Maruki, Toshi (1980). Hiroshima No Pika. New York, NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

Pastor Martin Niemöller. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Serendipity Web site: http://www.serendipity.li/cda/niemoll.html

Smith, F. D. (2000). My Secret Camera : Life in the Lodz Ghetto. San Diego, CA: Gulliver Books.

Zee, R. V. (2003). Erika's Story. Mankato, Italy: Creative Editions.