We’ve just come through an intense period of reflecting on our freedom as a people. Passover and the birth of the Jewish nation are intimately entwined. What a feeling. Free at last!
But we are part of the seesaw of history. On our Jewish calendar, just a few days after Passover ends, we celebrate Yom Hashoa commemorating the lowest event in our long history as a people.
Monday, April 24 is Yom Hashoa. Around the world, synagogues, Jewish organizations, academic institutions, political entities, and more will recognize the terrible loss and unspeakable horror of the Holocaust.
To commemorate this cataclysmic effect on the Jewish people, if you cannot attend an official event, why not read one of these recent books with a Holocaust theme.
Children, by the way, are often fascinated with the Holocaust. But please consider a child’s age before sharing books, movies or personal stories. While children can relate to tales of deprivation and bravery, they often are not emotionally or developmentally mature enough to understand when information is too graphic or beyond their experience.
The following are recent Holocaust themed books available in our library. J indicate books for children; YA indicates books for young adult readers (generally 12 years old and up)
026 Stolen Words: the Nazi plunder of Jewish Books by Mark Glickman tells of the plunder of the soul of the Jewish people through the looting of millions of Jewish books.
940.4 Why? Explaining the Holocaust by Peter Hayes, chair of the academic committee of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, expertly answers commonly fielded but complex questions about the Holocaust.
940.432 Adolfo Kaminsky: a forger’s life by Sarah Kaminsky shares the details of the life-threatening work he did on behalf of people fighting for justice and peace throughout the world.
FIC Among the Living by Jonathan Rabb is a moving novel about a Holocaust survivor’s unconventional journey back to a normal life in Savannah, Georgia.
FIC The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah shows through fiction the devastating effects of the Holocaust and the choices individuals, both Jews and non-Jews, made
FIC The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard is an award winning story of the hunted and the hunter as a handful of boys and girls risk their lives trying to smuggle food into the Warsaw Ghetto.
FIC The Kaiser’s Last Kiss by Alan Judd shows what can happen when history and emotions conflict in this novel set in occupied Netherlands.
YA940.44 We Will Not be Silent: the White Rose student resistance movement that defied Adolf Hitler by renowned writer Russell Freedman tells the true story of this student resistance group.
YAFIC Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott is based on the true story of a friendship that flourishes in Auschwitz and gives hope where hope is almost absent.
YAFIC Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit focuses on seven-year-old Anna’s travels through the Polish countryside with the mysterious Swallow man.
YAFIC N4mbers by David Poulsen explores a topic not often covered in teen fiction, critical thinking, when a popular teacher reveals his Holocaust denying in this thought-provoking book.
JFIC The Bicycle Spy by Yona Zeldis McDonough tells the story of 12-year-old Marcel who has unwittingly been a courier for the French Resistance.
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