International Holocaust Memorial Day: Book List I

During World War II, the Nazis persecuted and killed millions of people belonging to groups they deemed inferior or dangerous.  Six million victims of the Holocaust were Jews and an additional eleven million victims were Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Romas, the mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals and transexuals, and religious dissidents.

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  January 27 coincides with the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. To help enlighten young Canadian readers to the nature of the Holocaust, for the sole purpose of preventing such bigotry and hatred from ever occurring again, I offer two book lists to support the teaching of the tragedy of the Holocaust.

As we often note on Remembrance Day (November 11), let us support this very simple but profound intent:

   Never again.   

Picture Books

The Secret of the Village Fool
Written by Rebecca Upjohn
Illustrated by Renée Benoit
Second Story Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-10
2012

Poland, kindness, hiding, courage

Juvenile Fiction

After the War
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
144 pp.
Ages 12-14
1996

Post-war migration

Clara's War (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
198 pp.
Ages 12-14
2001 

Terezin

Daniel's Story
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
144 pp.
Ages 9-12
1993

Germany, Poland, resistance

The Diary of Laura's Twin (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
202 pp.
Ages 11-14
2008

Poland, bat mitzvah, memories

Goodbye, Marianne: A Story of Growing Up in Nazi Germany
Written by Irene Watts
Tundra Books
105 pp.
Ages 9-12
1998 

Berlin, Kindertransport, Hitler Youth

Goodbye, Marianne
Written by Irene N. Watts
Illustrated by Kathryn E. Shoemaker
Tundra Books
128 pp.
Ages 9-12
2008

Graphic novel, Berlin, Kindertransport, Hitler Youth

Greater than Angels
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
144 pp.
Ages 11-14
1998

France, deportation, refugee camp

Guardian Angel House
Written by Kathy Clark
Second Story Press
228 pp.
Ages 10-14
2009

Budapest, refugees

Hero
Written by Martha Attema
Orca Book Publishers
131 pp.
Ages 7-10
2003

Netherlands, refugees

Honey Cake
Written by Joan Betty Stuchner
Illustrated by Cynthia Nugent
Tradewind Books
92 pp.
Ages 8-10
2007

Denmark, resistance, Underground

In My Enemy's House
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
168 pp.
Ages 11-14
1999

Poland, disguise

The Night Spies (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
197 pp.
Ages 10-13
2003

Czechoslovakia, resistance 

The Old Brown Suitcase: A Teenager's Story of War and Peace
Written by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz
Ben-Simon Publication
148 pp.
Ages 10-15
1994

Poland, post-war migration to Canada

The Orphan Rescue
Written by Anne Dublin
Illustrated by Qin Leng
Second Story Press
124 pp.
Ages 9-12
2010

Poland, orphans, factory work


Pieces of the Past : The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1948 (Dear Canada)
Written by Carol Matas 
Scholastic Canada
168 pp.
Ages 9-12
Feb 01, 2013 

Memories, refugees, Poland

Remember Me
Written by Irene Watts
Tundra Books
184 pp.
Ages 10-15
2000 

Kindertransport, England

The Righteous Smuggler (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Debbie Spring
Second Story Press
160 pp.
Ages 10-12
2005

Netherlands, deportation, smuggling, resistance

The Secret of Gabi's Dresser
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
128 pp.
Ages 9-12
1999 

Czechoslovakia, memories, hiding

Stolen Child
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic Canada
154 pp.
Ages 8-12
2010

Ukrainians, Lebensborn, memories

Making Bombs for Hitler
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch 

Scholastic Canada

186 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

Ukrainians, Ostarbeiter, persecution

Tell No One Who You Are: The Hidden Childhood of Régine Miller
Written by Walter Buchignami
Tundra Books 
185 pp.
Ages 9-13
2008

Belgium

Turned Away: The World War 11 Diary of Devorah Bernstein, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1941 (Dear Canada)
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
199 pp.
Ages 10-14
2005

Escape, immigration to Canada

We Are Their Voice: Young People Respond to the Holocaust (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Edited by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
232 pp.
Ages 10-13
2012


 

Young Adult

Kanada
Written by Eva Wiseman
Tundra Books
264 pp.
Ages 13 +
2006

Auschwitz

My Canary Yellow Star
Written by Eva Wiseman
Tundra Books
232 pp.
Ages 14+
2001

Hungary, Raoul Wallenberg

Flames of the Tiger
Written by John Wilson
Kids Can Press
176 pp.
Ages 11-17
2003

Germany, Hitler Youth, propaganda

The Thought of High Windows
Written by Lynne Kositsky
Kids Can Press
175 pp.
Ages 11-14
2004

Germany, escape, Underground



A second book list  for International Holocaust Memorial Day will be posted tomorrow.