From the Lampert Library
(Editor’s note: Yom Hashoa is commemorated this year beginning on the evening of May 4, 2016 and ending the evening of May 5. More info about the Montclair community’s interfaith commemoration on May 5th, 7pm can be found here.)
Barely a week after celebrating Passover, the Festival of Freedom, one of the highs for the Jewish people, we commemorate one of the lowest points in the Jewish experience. Yom Hashoah ve-Hegevurah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day recalls that period in Jewish and modern worlds history where humanity seemed to lose its soul and hatred overcame even “decent” people’s instincts.
Established in Israel in the early 1950s, Yom Hashoah occurs on the anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. On April 19, 1943, on the eve of Passover, German troops entered the Warsaw Ghetto intending to deport all remaining 42,000 residents and then destroy the ghetto area. The Germans expected this task to take three days. Instead the remaining Jewish residents held out until May 16 after which the survivors were sent to extermination camps.
Even then, individuals who had escaped this last round up continued to harass the Germans.
Though ultimately the uprising was unsuccessful, this first major urban Jewish resistance inspired other uprisings in ghettos and killing centers and provided literary fodder for scores of books that showed Jews not as meek but as strong , resourceful, stalwart fighters.
Today, Yom Hashoah is commemorated in synagogues and community centers, in public and private. A liturgy has developed. It is a day for Jews to come together across religious lines and also to celebrate those sparks of goodness that flashed here and there during that dark time.
The following is a list of Yom Hashoah related resources in the library:
NOTE: When looking for material about the Holocaust for children, be aware of the maturity level of the child. Often a book will look suitable for a young reader, but the content will be disturbing or inappropriate.
Ackerman, The Zookeeper’s Wife is the story of the director of the Warsaw Zoo who saved hundreds of Jews. A great story that will keep the reader intrigued.
Adler, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto focuses on one real child who lived in and survived the Warsaw Ghetto.(J)
Bauman, Winter in the Morning: a young girl’s life in the Warsaw Ghetto and beyond.
Hesse, The Cats in Krasinski Square, based on a real incident, tells of a plan to smuggle food into the Warsaw Ghetto. Hesse is an award winning author. (J)
Laird, Shadow of the Wall is the story of Mischa who is befriended by Dr. Janusz Korczak. (J)
Lipton, The King of Children: a biography of Janusz Korczak, director of the Jewish orphanage in Warsaw.
Orlev, The Island on Bird Street is the story of a young boy left on his own in a ruined Warsaw Ghetto house. Orlev, an Israeli author, is winner of many international prizes for his children’s books. which are often inspired by his own experiences as a child in the Warsaw Ghetto. His books have been translated into almost 40 languages. Also, Run, Boy, Run is based on the true story of a nine-year-old boy who escaped the Warsaw Ghetto (J)
Ringelblum, Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto: the journal of Emmanuel Ringelblum
Samuels, God Does Play Dice: the autobiography of a Holocaust survivor
Sax, The War within These Walls is a dramatic, emotionally affecting story of a family’s last desperate stand against the Nazis. (YA)
Shepard, Book of Aron is an understated and devastating novel of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation, as seen through the eyes of a street-wise boy.
Stein, The Warsaw Ghetto tells of life in the Ghetto from its inception to its destruction. (J)
Uris, Mila 18, a novel, is set in the midst of the ghetto uprising.
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