51
Middle School
Appleman-Jurman, Alicia.
Alicia: My Story.
New York: Bantam Books, 1988.
The autobiography of Alicia who at age 13 escapes her capturers, encounters other refugees and occasionally finds safe-
harbor. Alicia rescued other Jews, led them to safety and lent them her courage and hope. This is a tale not only of survival
but of active resistance to oppression. (Non-fiction)
Frank, Anne.
Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
. Ed. by Otto Frank & Mirjam Pressler. NY: Bantam Books, 1991.
The diary of a young girl through the darkest times in our history. In her diary, Anne documents her two years in hiding, her
first love, and her secrets. (Non-fiction)
Richter, Hans Peter.
Friedrich.
New York: Puffin Books, 1961.
Friedrich and his best friend were growing up in Germany in the early thirties. At first, Friedrich seemed to be more fortunate.
His father was well respected and prosperous, while his friend’s father had no job. Then Hitler came to power and things
began to change. Friedrich’s world was turned upside down – all because he was Jewish. (Fiction)
Rittner, Carol, and Sondra Myers, Eds.
Courage to Care.
NY: New York University Press, 1986.
Profiles of individuals who risked their lives and the lives of their families to save Jewish people during the Holocaust. (Non-
fiction)
Yolen, Jane.
Devil’s Arithmetic.
New York: Puffin Books, 1988.
Hannah, a 12 year old girl, is transported to a 1940’s Polish village during a Passover seder. She experiences the very horrors
that had embarrassed and annoyed her when her elders related their Holocaust stories. (Fiction)
High School
Blatt, Thomas Toivi.
From the Ashes of Sobibor: A Story of Survival.
Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1997.
This book is a glimpse of Jewish life through the eyes of a twelve year old boy. It details his separation from his family, six
months in the Sobibor death camp, taking part in a successful uprising and finally the five years eluding Nazis and anti-Semitic
nationalists. (Nonfiction)
Friedman, Ina R.
Other Victims:
First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis.
New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1990.
Friedman has compiled first-person narratives of survival and heroism, each of which is set into historical context by a short
preface. The stories show how the war machine singled out for persecution ethnic, racial, religious, and lifestyle groups such
as Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), blacks, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others. (Nonfiction)
Tec, Nechama.
Dry Tears: The Story of a Lost Childhood.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
A young Jewish girl is passed from one Christian family to another in wartime Poland. She must learn to “pass” as a Christian
herself. (Nonfiction)
Wiesel, Elie.
Night.
New York: Bantam Books, 1960.
A novel which more closely resembles an autobiography, traces the life of the author at the age of 15 through his year spent
in four concentration camps. A pious teenager racked with guilt at having survived while his family did not. (Nonfiction)
Weissmann-Klein, Gerda.
All But My Life.
New York: Hill and Wang, 1957.
A classic of Holocaust literature, this is the story of a young woman’s three years as a slave laborer of the Nazis and a three
month forced winter march from Germany to Czechoslovakia that ends in a miraculous liberation. The ultimate lesson in
humanity, hope and friendship. (Nonfiction)
