Holocaust Resources: Holocaust: Books

The definitive edition of the graphic novel acclaimed as "the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust" (Wall Street Journal) and "the first masterpiece in comic book history" (The New Yorker) * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * One of Variety's "Banned and Challenged Books Everyone Should Read" A brutally moving work of art--widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written--Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author's father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats.  Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author's account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history's most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.

A PEN America Literary Award Finalist A Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee An Amazon Best of the Year Selection The untold story of some of WW2's most hidden figures and the heartbreaking tragedy that unites them all. Readers of Born Survivors and A Train Near Magdeburg will devour the tragic tale of the first 999 women in Auschwitz concentration camp. This is the hauntingly resonant true story that everyone should know. On March 25, 1942, nearly a thousand young, unmarried Jewish women, many of them teenagers, boarded a train in Poprad, Slovakia. Believing they were going to work in a factory for a few months, they were eager to report for government service and left their parents' homes wearing their best clothes and confidently waving good-bye. Instead, the young women were sent to Auschwitz. Only a few would survive. Now acclaimed author Heather Dune Macadam reveals their stories, drawing on extensive interviews with survivors, and consulting with historians, witnesses, and relatives of those first deportees to create an important addition to Holocaust literature and women's history.   "Intimate and harrowing. . . . This careful, sympathetic history illuminates an incomprehensible human tragedy." --Publishers Weekly "Against the backdrop of World War II, this respectful narrative presents a compassionate and meticulous remembrance of the young women profiled throughout. Recommended for all collections." --Library Journal "Staggering . . . profound. [Macadam's] book also offers insight into the passage of these women into adulthood, and their children, as 'secondhand survivors.'" --Gail Sheehy, New York Times bestselling author of Passages and Daring: My Passages "Heather Dune Macadam's 999 reinstates the girls to their rightful place in history." --Foreword Reviews "An important addition to the annals of the Holocaust, as well as women's history. Not everyone could handle such material, but Heather Dune Macadam is deeply qualified, insightful, and perceptive." --Susan Lacy, creator of the American Masters series and filmmaker "The story of these teenage girls is truly extraordinary. Congratulations to Heather Dune Macadam for enabling the rest of us to sit down and just marvel at how on earth they did it." --Anne Sebba, New York Times bestselling author of Les Parisiennes and That Woman "An important contribution to the literature on women's experiences." --Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel, founder and executive director, Remember the Women Institute    

Olga Lengyel tells, frankly and without compromise, one of the most horrifying stories of all time. This true, documented chronicle is the intimate, day-to-day record of a beautiful woman who survived the nightmare of Auschwitz and Birchenau. This book is a necessary reminder of one of the ugliest chapters in the history of human civilization. It was a shocking experience. It is a shocking book.

The five diarists in this book did not survive the war. But their words did. Each diary reveals one voice, one teenager coping with the impossible. We see David Rubinowicz struggling against fear and terror. Yitzhak Rudashevski shows us how Jews clung to culture, to learning, and to hope, until there was no hope at all. Moshe Ze'ev Flinker is the voice of religion, constantly seeking answers from God for relentless tragedy. Eva Heyman demonstrates the unquenchable hunger for life that sustained her until the very last moment. And finally, Anne Frank reveals the largest truth they all left for us: Hitler could kill millions, but he could not destroy the human spirit. These stark accounts of how five young people faced the worst of human evil are a testament, and an inspiration, to the best of the human soul.

When Chiune Sugihara was growing up in Japan, he had never even met a Jewish person. There was no way Chiune could know that he would one day save the lives of thousands of Jews - and become a great hero to the Jewish people. Chiune Sugihara was a diplomat who left Japan to work in Lithuania, a small country in Eastern Europe. Part of his job there was to give people permission to leave the country. At the time, Lithuanian Jews were suffering under Nazi rule, and many hoped to escape before they could be taken to concentration camps. Chiune knew he had to help. Going against the wishes of his boss, Chiune allowed nearly 6,000 Jews to leave Lithuania and escape the Nazis.