The Girls of Room 28

The Girls of Room 28: Friendship, Hope, and Survival in Theresienstadt by Hannelore Brenner is a remarkable memorial to girls who lived together in one room, in one building at the children's camp at Theresienstadt, a "model" transit camp a short ride from Prague. While this was not a death camp, many died there or left there by rail to their deaths in Auschwitz. This is a story of their lives in the ghetto and often how they arrived there at the hands of the Nazis. They were young, mostly 12-14 during their stay in Room 28. They were trying to grow up in the worst of times. Today fifteen or so of the women who survived meet yearly to remember and share the best of times they have had as survivors.

The book is filled with primary sources: photos, journal entries, drawings, copies of documents. It is an amazing resource even beyond the tribute the materials pay to friendship and love. In the beginning, one of the survivors remembers what the young girls had promised one another as they were forced to leave Room 28:

"On one of the first Sundays after the war we shall wait for each other under the Bell Tower in the Old Town Square in Prague." This is what Flska and her comrades had promised one another when they had to say goodbye in Theresienstadt. They reinforced their promise with words that resonated like an incantation and a secret password.

You believe me, I believe you.

You know what I know.

Whatever may happen,

you won't betray me,

I won't betray you.

These women carry all of the young girls with them, even today, until the last one is gone. Throught their mutual experiences, they are bound to those who are no longer alive and to each other. Theirs is an intimacy that goes beyond space and time.

One experience that binds these women and many others from the Children's Home in Theresienstadt was the children's production of Brundibar. On July 7, 1943 there was a transport of children from the Prague orphanage. After a performance of The Bartered Bride in their honor, Rafik Schachter and Rudolf Freudenfeld decided they would cast and perform the children's opera Brundibar at Theresienstadt. This process was magical and as many children as possible participated. This is an opera of triumph, of good over evil. Young children won out over an evil adult. The first performance was on September 23, 1943 and there was an audience of over three hundred. It was magical and the performances continued weekly until the last performance in August 1944.

Read an excellent article on the opera here. According to the article, the cover of the book The Girls of Room 128 shows the original cast of the opera. There are many videos of new performances of the opera Brundibar which brought joy and hope to those who lived under the oppression of the Nazi hatred. Also, please see my next review of the children's book Brundibar.

TITLE: The Girls of Room 128: Friendship, Hope, and Survival in Theresienstadt

AUTHOR: Hannelore Brenner

TRANSLATED BY: John E. Woods and Shelley Frisch (from German)

COPYRIGHT: 2009

PAGES: 320

TYPE: non-fiction

RECOMMEND: A wonderful resource for middle and high school students interested in the Holocaust.

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki, illustrated by Dom Lee, with an afterword by Hiroki Sugihara is a beautiful book which shows that the actions of one person, supported by their family, can make a huge difference.

The opening page of the book contains the following two proverbs, which serve as starting places in ones thoughts for reading the book:

If you save the life of one person,
it is as if you saved the world entire. -- Jewish proverb

Even a hunter cannot kill a bird
that comes to him for refuge. -- Japanes proverb

This beautiful story is told through the voice of a five year old boy, Hiroki Sugihara, who lived with his mother and father and other family members in Lithuania in 1940. His father was the Japanese diplomat to Lithuania. One morning in July, the family awoke to see hundreds of Polish Jews standing outside their front gate. These people were refugees who begged Mr. Sugihara to issue them Japanese visas so they could escape through Russia to Japan and avoid certain death at the hands of the Nazis. Mr. Sugihara asked his country if he could issue these visas and was repeatedly told no. After asking his family, including the young boy and his siblings, Mr. Sugihara decided to issue as many visas as he could before he was stopped by his government or the Nazis. In doing so, he put his family in the line of danger as well.

Passage to Freedom is a very moving story and the illustrations are beautiful - according to the book they are "rendered by applying encaustic beeswax on paper, then scratching out images, and finally adding oil paint and colored pencil." The result is an image in monochromatic tones of brown with haunting clarity. The cover brings forth an interesting thought - I had passed this book a number of times, wondering what in the world a Japanese father and son could possibly have to do with the Jewish Holocaust in Europe. Certainly the Japanese were involved with World War II, but not to liberate the Jewish people. After reading the short book, I am fairly ashamed of my own ignorance, and perhaps my bias. Still, an unusual link which is further highlighted in the Afterword, with Sugihara stating, In 1969, my father was invited to Israel, where he was taken to the famous Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem. In 1985, he was chosen to receive the "righteous Among Nations" Award from Yad Vashem. He was the first and only Asian to have been given this great honor. (Afterword)

The publisher, Lee & Low Books provide a Classroom Guide for the book. Here is another lesson plan for conflict resolution. And another guide for students who are a little older - 6th grade lesson plan. The book is versatile in that it is writtten at a lower reading level, but the story itself transcends age.

TITLE: Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story

AUTHOR: Ken Mochizuki

ILLUSTRATOR: Dom Lee

COPYRIGHT: 1997

PAGES: 32

TYPE: non-fiction

RECOMMEND: A very unusual Holocaust book, with a strong moral story.

Thanks to My Mother

Thanks to My Mother by Schoschana Rabinovici (translated from the German by James Skofield) is startling in its brutality. The book is narrated by a young Jewish girl, Susie Weksler. Susie was only eight years old when the Nazis came to her city of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is interesting that the perspective provided is from Susie's young eyes. The fact that we have a very young narrator (who wrote the book after the fact) makes the narrative even more compelling - I wondered throughout how such a young girl could have coped with the events she describes in great detail. I know that having her mother with her, to protect her and encourage her were key. The two were first moved into a ghetto, then to labor camps. Raja, Susie's mother, who had disguised Susie to look much older, worked hard to ensure that Susie had extra food and clothing. In the midst of cruelty and murder, Raja also found ways to help the other women in the camps. At the end, only Raja, Susie, and one other family member survived the Holocaust.

I was unable to locate any specific lesson plans for this title. I suspect the detailed horrors will be difficult for some children, so it might be best for it to be an individual read. If you locate any teaching materials to go with this work, please include a link in your comments.

TITLE: Thanks to My Mother
AUTHOR: Schoschana Rabinovici (translated from the German by James Skofield)

COPYRIGHT: 1998

PAGES: 246

TYPE: non-fiction, Holocaust narrative

RECOMMEND: A very brutal account of one Jewish family and their experiences during the Holocaust. This book covers the horrors of the ghettos, camps, and marches.

AWARDS: 1999 Batchelder Award winner

The Secret of Priest's Grotto

The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story by Peter Lane Taylor with Christos Nicola is a different sort of Holocaust story. Two stories are told together and one supplements the other. Chris Nicola is an American caver and has traveled all over the world looking at and crawling into caves. In 1993, he was exploring the Gypsum Giants, a large cave system in the Ukraine, when he heard about the special use of one small part of the cave. Legend had it that a number of Jewish families survived in the cave throughout 18 months of the Holocaust. Through the magic of the Internet, Nicola was able to connect with survivors of this amazing Holocaust story. Luckily Esther Stermer, one of the Jews in hiding in the cave, wrote her memories in a book titled: We Fight to Survive. Through interviews with the living survivors, Stermer's memories, and an extended visit to the cave, Nicola produced The Secret of Priest's Grotto which is informative and amazing. One main idea through the book is that the cave provided the Jews a freedom the outside world could not. Esther wrote: We were masters of our own fate in the cave. There was no one to whom we owed our safety or upon whom we depended. After our men came in from the outside and scraped off the mud which would cling to their clothing as they slid through the entrance, and they had washed, they were free men. (p. 59)

To view some pictures of the cave, click here to visit the Ukranian American Youth Caver Exchange Foundation. Or visit the Priest's Grotto Heritage Project.

Another excellent article about the research and expedition can be found at the National Geographic Adventure Magazine.

TITLE: The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story

AUTHOR: Peter Lane Taylor with Christos Nicola

COPYRIGHT: 2007

PAGES: 64

TYPE: non-fiction

RECOMMEND: An exceptional book telling two stories. Both are stories of persistence, one an unimaginable story of survival.

Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939 - 1944

Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944 by Aranka Siegal is an amazing story which completes the story of the Holocaust which began in Poland. The author's beautiful dedication sets the frame for her narrative: This book is dedicated to those who did not survive. They are deathless and timeless. Auschwitz could not sever the bonds of love and friendship which contributed to my survival and which will live within me to the end of my days.

The author, known as Piri in the book, lived in the area Hungarian town of Beregsaszy near the Ukraine. As the war began, 9 year old Piri was visiting her Grandmother in Komjaty in the Ukraine. She remained there as the Jews began to feel the restrictions throughout many parts of Europe. Piri was able to return to her home in 1941, but then was faced with curfews and even more restrictions. Ultimately Piri and her mother and siblings must move into a ghetto and finally to Auschwitz in May 1944. Piri and her sister Iboya were separated from their mother and other family members. They never saw them again. The girls worked in the kitchen at a munitions plant and were forced on a death march in early 1945 when the Russian army came closer. The girls were liberated on April 15, 1945. Piri immigrated to the United States in 1948. The author provides wonderful detail about each of the situations.

I found this book very informative and was drawn to the author's story for a number of reasons. When I completed my MA in History, my final paper was entitled Intimacy in the Holocaust Camps and looked at how friendship, love, forced relationships, false relationships, etc assisted the Jews prisoners in survival. This intimacy lies at the heart of Siegal's narrative. Additionally, I have a special place in my heart for the Hungarian Jews who were among the last to be rounded up in Hitler's final solution. These people could have been saved - by people, nations, religious figures, who knew that the Nazi machine was systematically murdering the Jews of Europe. I mean in no way to say the Hungarian Jews were more important - it should have been stopped from the beginning, but as an American and a Catholic, I still feel somewhat sad that nothing was done sooner.

The Book of Life has an interview with the author who discusses her books and her life. It is inspiring to hear her speak about her life. She has a number of other books which I plan to locate and read, including a sequel to this book, Grace in the Wilderness, After the Liberation 1945 - 1948.

TITLE: Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939 - 1944

AUTHOR: Aranka Siegal

COPYRIGHT: 1981

PAGES: 214

TYPE: non-fiction, Holocaust narrative

RECOMMEND: This was an exceptional book in that it shows the progression of the Holocaust for the Hungarians who were among the last to be rounded up during the war. Excellent book.

AWARDS: 1982 Newbery Honor Book

Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust

Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust by Elly Berkovits Gross is a different sort of Holocaust narrative. The main body of the book is written in short, repetitive chapters. As I first read the book, I was mystified by reading the same story and words over and over. Then I decided to think about it a little more and realized that the chapters were like memories. When I think about something that might have been disconcerting to me, the memories of the event come back to me in waves. And certainly, anything I might have been through is nothing compared to the experiences of the author. Thinking about how memories are manifested, I read many of the chapters again. I realized that the repetitive parts were the hard parts, the parts most difficult to remember yet impossible to forget. Perhaps this is the power of this narrative.

Elly lived in Hungary and while before the war she felt the sadness of anti-Semitism, she and her family were not moved into the ghetto and camps until 1944. The most difficult memory for Elly is her arrival at Auschwitz when she was sent one direction while her mother and brother were sent the other direction. She never saw them again. Guilt and sadness have followed Elly through liberation, immigration and her life. Why did she live? Why did she not call to her mother to join her on the other side? Elly was liberated from the camps on April 14, 1945.

At the end of her narrative, the author includes her works of poetry and an afterword written by her daughter. Although the book was only recently published, the author has shared her story with 60 Minutes and Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation Institute.

In the author's final note, she tells us why she wrote her book:

We hope for a better world. People should live in peace and harmony; there shouldn't be bloodshed between nations. It is very sad that innocents, especially children, suffer because of war. People must learn that hatred and prejudice create only destruction; at the end, there are no winners, only losers. I hope people will take my message to heart.

As I read each Holocaust narrative, it is hope which comes through so strongly that it changes my soul. I wonder what more has to happen for people to learn Elly's lesson?

Scholastic Books provides a Book Talk for Elly.

TITLE: Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust

AUTHOR: Elly Berkovits Gross

COPYRIGHT: 2009

PAGES: 125

TYPE: non-fiction, Holocaust narrative

RECOMMEND: I really liked this book and it made me think about how memories are reconstructed and the power of writing these memories down for others to consider in their own lives.

The Lily Cupboard: A Story of the Holocaust

The Lily Cupboard: A Story of the Holocaust by Shulamith Levey Oppenheim and illustrated by Ronald Himler is a very short children's story which introduces one aspect of the Holocaust. I was learning to read in the late 1950s and the illustrations in this wonderful book remind me of my early reading experiences. At only 32 pages The Lily Cupboard can be easily read by young readers or read to a group of children by the teacher.

Miriam is a young Jewish girl living in Holland in 1940. When the Germans invade the country, many Dutch Jews were sent to camps where they were killed. Miriam's parents arrange for her to go live in the country with a non-Jewish family. Although Miriam is very frightened, she finds some comfort in her friendship with Nello, the young son of the Gentile family. Nello allows Miriam to select a rabbit to care for on her own. The family tells Miriam that if they warn her that the Germans are coming by whistling Frere Jacques she must go hide in the cupboard which had a lily on its front. She will be safe in the cupboard. Miriam does go hide from the German soldiers. She takes her rabbit with her and vows to keep him safe just as her Jewish family and her Gentile family will keep her safe.

The open-ended nature of the book allows for as much discussion as is desired or needed by the children who read it. Was Miriam reunited with her family? How many children were hidden with other non-Jewish families? Why did brave Dutch families take in Jewish children? Why did the children, and adults, have to hide?

The book was awarded the Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. Here is an excellent lesson plan, created by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology.

TITLE: The Lily Cupboard: A Story of the Holocaust
AUTHOR: Shulamith Levey Oppenheim
ILLUSTRATOR: Ronald Himler
COPYRIGHT: 1995
PAGES: 32
TYPE: fiction, Holocaust
RECOMMEND: The Lily Cupboard is a very short book that seems to be perfectly suited to introduce that while a great many Jewish people did not survive the Holocaust, some did survive with the help of brave friends.