Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children
Published October 1st 2019 by Sourcebooks Explore, Hardcover 96 pages
"Perhaps there is no simple, easy way to educate children about the Holocaust. Yet [this] new extraordinary work in the form of a nonfiction graphic novel for children is a valiant attempt to do just that. These testimonials... serve as a reminder never to allow such a tragedy to happen again."--BookTrib
Between 1933 and 1945, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were responsible for the persecution of millions of Jews across Europe. This extraordinary graphic novel tells the true stories of six Jewish children who survived the Holocaust.
From suffering the horrors of Auschwitz, to hiding from Nazi soldiers in war-torn Paris, to sheltering from the Blitz in England, each true story is a powerful testament to the survivors' courage. These remarkable testimonials serve as a reminder never to allow such a tragedy to happen again.
Features a current photograph of each contributor and an update about their lives, along with a glossary and timeline to support reader understanding of this period in world history.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
This graphic novel tells the stories of six Jewish children who survived the Holocaust during World War II. Some were evacuated to England...others were hidden....and some were sent to concentration camps. Most were separated from their parents and never saw them again. It is amazing what children can survive. They are often stronger and more resilient than adults.
This book is moving and meaningful. The stories are truthful, but not too graphic for children to read. The art is fantastic. Due to the nature of the stories, I do recommend parental guidance for younger children. Death, starvation, internment, separation from family.....the subject matter is dark. But I think it's important that the events never be forgotten.
Although we are not Jewish, several members of my extended family who stayed in Germany when the rest emigrated to America were killed by the Nazis during the war. Most were killed for being Catholics who refused to embrace the Nazi regime. The stories in this book left me thinking about what my own family members....and millions of others....endured. I can't even imagine how scared they must have been. It made for a very emotional reading experience for me. My children all grew up safe, well fed, loved and protected. A whole generation of children during the war did not. Bombs. Executions. Starvation. Gas chambers. It is important for there to be books like this, because if we don't allow it to be forgotten then maybe it won't happen again.
The artwork is fantastic. The stories emotional and hard-hitting. Wonderful book!
**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Sourcebooks via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
Rating: really liked it
A beautiful short graphic novel biography collection of six stories of Holocaust survivors with unique and necessary stories about how they were able to elude death at the hands of Hitler, Nazi Germany, and in one case, Mengele. In it's simplicity, it can be an introduction for younger readers but for older readers it was understanding the desperate measures certain families went to to allow their children a chance at survival-- like a neighbor (during a home raid) pretending that the young girl was her daughter and walked out of the apartment with her-- she never saw her parents again. Or being shipped off to strangers to live on farms without running water or electricity simply as a means of basic survival.
It demonstrates the harshness of the reality of the situation and how as young children, understanding was the last thing that came- survival came first. The graphic novelization of it reminds me of Hidden and is a perfect segue into framing the discussion for a younger audience but capturing the more stories for a group of survivors that are slowly disappearing.
Rating: really liked it
Graphic novels of all types are hugely popular with middle grade students making this the ideal time to publish a Holocaust account aimed at that age group. Inside this book are the brief accounts of six young Jewish children whose lives were turned upside down during WW II; yet they were all able to survive and go on to live productive lives and make significant contributions to society. The graphics remind me of those in "The Faithful Spy" by Jon Hendrix. Using proportion and spare lines and color, they communicate the gravity of the situation to the reader. Also included are present photos of the six survivors, a glossary, an illustrated timeline and additional resources. This would make a fabulous classroom resource for studying WW II.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Kids and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
A very good introduction of the Holocaust experience for children. The six stories were short, but impactful. I could quickly connect with each of the children in their individual stories. The graphics were really good as well. I highly recommend.
Quick thoughts
Thank you to Sourcebooks Explore for the advanced eARC of this book.
Rating: really liked it
This is an adaptation of a BBC program called "The Children of the Holocaust" wherein interviews of six Holocaust survivors now living in England are turned into animated stories. The visuals are striking, and the stories are varied though uniformly heartbreaking. It's a good introduction to an extremely heavy topic.
A trailer for the show is available here:
http://fettleanimation.com/portfolio/...
More information about the program is available here (but the clips don't work in the U.S.):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z...
Rating: really liked it
Presenting six tragic stories of the Holocaust through the memories of six people, then children, who experienced first hand has (to my knowledge) rarely, if ever, been done in the form of a graphic novel and I think it really works. Whilst the illustrations are particularly basic and could benefit from being less so in order to capture younger readers, the stories and the illustrated version of the children are really compelling.
The book is divided into six sections, one for each child, and showcase the events starting with the Nuremberg Law in 1935 legalising anti-Jewish measures, Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass, various concentration camps including Dachau and Auschwitz-Birkenau, air raids in the Blitz and Mengele's cruelty. I was really impressed with the scale of this and what this novel achieves in fairly few words. Many of these terms may be unknown to younger readers, for whom I think this text is best intended, and for this reason the author has helpfully included a simplified glossary of terms to help familiarise or explain such terms. Equally there is a nice addition at the end of the book detailed what happened next to each of the children.
The scale of the destruction is uncomfortable but important to share: 6 million people died during this time, but over one and a half MILLION of those people were children. The six voices speaking into the dark here, the six children featured in this story, are now adults who not only want their voices heard, their stories told but want texts like these to be popular choices on the shelves of schools to help educate a younger generation to learn from the mistakes of some of their predecessors. It's easy to think that something like this, of such a magnitude, would never happen again; books like this hopefully contribute to making that a reality. I love that the author has thought to put this into graphic novel form - it works, it's original and I think it will certainly resonate with young readers without causing too much distress or being too dense in the way that a heavier novel might do.
ARC provided free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
This amazing book takes complex stories of children surviving the holocaust, and tells them in simple, easy to read and understand form. Even if you didn't know what happened with the nazis and the jews, this book would explain enough about it that you could understand.
These children all survived, of course, to tell their stories, but each one survived in a different way. One child, who hid in the countryside of France didn't even know the war was over for two years, as she basically lived as a indentured servant.
The pictures are stunning, and simple at the same time.
Highly recommend this to libraries and schools. It is a good starting point to learn about what happened in World War II.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Horrifying.
Rating: really liked it
Even though this is about Holocaust survivors, the six stories within this graphic novel will break your heart.
Rating: really liked it
So sad this happened to poor innocent children.
Rating: really liked it
What stands out to me about these stories is how most of them don't involve experiences in concentration camps. It is important that the world knows that Jewish people had many, many different kinds of harrowing experiences even if they didn't end up in a concentration camp (which, of course, is horrible). It isn't clear exactly who the audience is, as the artwork and narration style are fairly simplistic but there are concepts presented that would definitely go over the heads of younger readers. It's not anything that can't be remedied by an adult helping them to process the information, but it is worth noting nevertheless.
The use of symbols (particularly the swastika) is particularly powerful in the artwork.
Rating: really liked it
This book did what it did well. It is just not the best time for me to read it. When we are living in a moment when every news stories brings grim news, it hard to be reminded of the very worst of what humanity has done. There is little to no joy in each of the stories. The reader only gets the satifaction that each of children survived. There will be readers for it, but I do think there is plenty out there for the young holocaust reader. If your library collection needs more it is a good addition, but I wouldn't shelve it among the graphic novels rather with the war histories.
Rating: really liked it
I feel like this is a beautiful introduction for children. Obviously, you never want kids to see the worst of humanity, but it's very important that we prevent things like the holocaust from happening and to do that we can NEVER forget it. These six children didn't understand what was happening to them either, but it happened.
The holocaust shows us the worst of humanity, but through brave people that resisted we can see some of the best of humanity.
Rating: really liked it
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a review copy. Review to come.
Rating: really liked it
I think most Jewish kids growing up in WW2 would experience most of these stories, but overall good book.
