Erika's Story

I was born sometime in 1944.

I do not know my birthdate.

I do not know my birth name...

What I do know is that when I was just a few months old, I was saved from the Holocaust. (p. 1)

This is the beginning of Erika's story. She was thrown from a train to by her parents to escape the Holocaust. Author Ruth Vander Zee was traveling in Germany in 1995 when she met Erika sitting outside a tornado demolished building. Vander Zee allows Erika to tell her story through this book - with words and pictures. Erika wonders how her parents felt as they threw her to an uncertain future, hopefully to live instead of to die. As she ages, Erika marries and has children of her own. She reminds us that it was once said that my people would be as many as the stars in the heavens. Although six millions stars fell during the Holocaust, Erika's star is still shining and I am glad she shared her story with first Vander Zee and the now the world.

The illustrations are beyond wonderful. In fact, all but a few resemble photographs, although one can see that they are not. These "photographs" are all black and white or muted blue tones. The only colors are the yellow stars worn on the chests of the people in the cattle car and the pink blanket wrapped around the young baby girl. The emphasis created with this use of color is haunting. The cover (seen above) is also quite interesting with a black and beige background with a cut out star in the center which has a yellow background. Behind the star is a fence with the German word VERBOTEN, which means forbidden. A very powerful mental picture.

The author provides a Teachers' Resource Guide with a very nice assortment of materials for use with students.

TITLE: Erika's Story
AUTHOR: Ruth Vander Zee
ILLUSTRATOR: Roberto Innocenti
COPYRIGHT: 2003
PAGES: 24
TYPE: Holocaust narrative
RECOMMEND: The book is so simple, yet powerful in its simplicity. The illustrations alone are stunning and combined with the narrative the book is an excellent resource.

Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust

Terrible Things: An allegory of the Holocaust written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Stephen Gammell is a very unusual book. First, if you look at the age range posted here, do not be fenced in by the ages listed because I think the book could be used by a much broader group. This is the first unusual aspect. The second unusual aspect is the use of a children's allegory to ask a question which is often considered but rarely asked.

Eve Bunting is a prolific writer I have read many of her children's books, and while they cover a wide range of topics - even difficult topics, I did not know until recently that she had this book on the Holocaust. Terrible Things is in many ways a very simple tale, as are most allegories or parables which are defined as "short moral stories." In her introduction to Terrible Things, Bunting explains the moral of her story better than I could:

In Europe, during World War II, many people looked the other way while terrible things happened. They pretended not to know that their neighbors were being taken away and locked in concentration camps. They pretended not to hear their cries for help. The Nazis killed millions of Jews and others in the Holocaust. If everyone had stood together at the first sign of evil would this have happened?

Standing up for what you know is right is not always easy. Especially if the one you face is bigger and stronger than you. It is easier to look the other way. But if you do, terrible things can happen. -- E.B.

The allegory is set in a forest with animals of all types. Our narrator seems to be a rabbit who with the other animals looks up to see a terrible shadow which blocks the sun. From the shadow comes a loud voice saying they have come for all animals with feathers. The other animals are happy that they do not have feathers and do nothing to help the birds. Then the shadows come for animals with bushy tails, then animals that swim, then animals with quills, and finally for all animals that are white. Suddenly the rabbits are no longer safe and wonder if they could have stopped the Terrible Things in the beginning by standing up for the birds. Have you ever asked yourself the same question? Was there a time when you could have stopped a bully? Or even stopped something that was wrong from being done? I think we all must answer yes. This is, of course, the power of the story.

The illustrations, by award winning illustrator Stephen Grammell, are very powerful. The cover above shows the rabbit running from the Terrible Thing and shows the style of illustrations inside the book. I like that they are in a simple black and white, with shadows used for things we might not understand but intuitively know are bad. I think the technique is excellent in that it allows for a wide use of the story - nothing that would terrify a younger child, but detailed enough to be readily understood by an older child.

The Mandel Fellowship Teaching Resources site contains a very nice lesson plan for Terrible Things. The actual web site contains other very interesting and informative links. Check it out if you have the time.

TITLE: Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust
AUTHOR: Eve Bunting
ILLUSTRATOR: Stephen Gammell
COPYRIGHT: 1989
PAGES: 32
TYPE: Holocaust fiction
RECOMMEND: I loved this little book. This book asks the question I, along with many other people, have asked so many times. Why did no one stop the madness? Why did so many people turn a blind eye? This book helps explore this topic and what can happen when no one stands up for what is right.

The Cat with the Yellow Star

Fate is an interesting thing. I ordered this book from our Interlibrary Loan department without really knowing the story. Of course, I knew it was a Holocaust book for children, but I was wonderfully surprised when I realized that this book was written by one of the Girls of Room 28. (I reviewed this book a short time back.) Room 28 was a room at the Children's Home at Terezin, a holding camp or ghetto in Czechoslovakia. A key element in both books is the children's opera Brundibar. I also reviewed a children's book retelling the opera Brundibar. But back to fate, when I got the book, I flipped through the 40 pages and found a page of photographs - the page looked almost like a yearbook page with fourteen photos of young girls - Handa, Eva, Hanka, Marianne, Lenka, Anna, Helga...I knew them all! It was like seeing photos of friends from middle school. I was elated to know these women through these stories. And very excited to read another book about their blessed experience during the Holocaust.

In some ways, Cat with the Yellow Star, written by Susan Goldman Rubin with Ela Weissberger, is a more intimate look at the experiences of the girls of Room 28. Maybe it feels that way because the words are crafted for a younger audience and therefore feel like a story shared by only a few. I am so thankful that Ela shared her story and photographs with Susan. It was interesting to learn that the women who were caretakers for the girls of Room 28 made sure the children learned their manners and kept clean in an easily overwhelming environment.

Ela starred as the cat in the children's opera Brundibar. She talks, as did the previous author, about the importance of these artistic endeavors for the children of Terezin. I knew that the Nazis had promoted Terezin as a model camp and invited the International Red Cross to view how well the Jewish people were taken care of. I did not know that the children performed their opera for the Red Cross in June 1944. Apparently the Red Cross believed what they saw in 1944. They learned the truth about Terezin when the camp was turned over to them by the Nazis on May 3, 1945. This is when Ela was liberated.

Still this was not the end of Brundibar. Fifteen of the children of Room 28 survived the war and since 1986 they have joined one another once a year to enjoy talking about their lives. Ela continues to hear her beloved opera - performed by children all over the world. After one such performance on December 7, 2003 at the Simon Wiesenthal Center - Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, Ela spoke to the audience:

Sixty years ago we performed this opera at Terezin. Only a few of us survived. I lost many of my friends. But when we were performing Brundibar, we forgot where we were, we forgot all our troubles. Music was part of our resistance against the Nazis. Music, art, good teachers, and friends meant survival. (p. 35)

Holiday House provides a wonderful Educator's Guide for this title.

TITLE: The Cat with the Yellow Star: Coming of Age in Terezin
AUTHOR: Susan Goldman Rubin with Ela Weissberger
COPYRIGHT: 2006
PAGES: 40
TYPE: Holocaust narrative, non-fiction
RECOMMEND: I learned a lot from this small book and the images included are very interesting. It certainly could be used in conjunction with Brundibar. I really liked this book.