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A thoughtful and age-appropriate introduction to an unimaginable event—the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps—six million of them Jews. Gail Herman traces the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, whose rabid anti-Semitism led first to humiliating anti-Jewish laws, then to ghettos all over Eastern Europe, and ultimately to the Final Solution. She presents just enough information for an elementary-school audience in a readable, well-researched book that covers one of the most horrible times in history. This entry in the New York Times best-selling series contains eighty carefully chosen illustrations and sixteen pages of black and white photographs suitable for young readers.
A thoughtful and age-appropriate introduction to an unimaginable event—the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps—six million of them Jews. Gail Herman traces the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, whose rabid anti-Semitism led first to humiliating anti-Jewish laws, then to ghettos all over Eastern Europe, and ultimately to the Final Solution. She presents just enough information for an elementary-school audience in a readable, well-researched book that covers one of the most horrible times in history. This entry in the New York Times best-selling series contains eighty carefully chosen illustrations and sixteen pages of black and white photographs suitable for young readers.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the coverWhat Was the Holocaust?
May 1945: Volary, a small town in what is now the Czech Republic
Gerda Weissmann stood outside an old bicycle factory. She weighed sixty-five pounds. Her hair was white, although she was not even twenty-one.
Inside the empty building, dozens of women lay on straw. Most were sick. Many were dying. Like Gerda, they were all Jewish. For many years they had suffered under the rule of Nazi Germany.
For Gerda, the horror had begun six years earlier.
It was late summer. She was fifteen years old. And she had just come home from vacation. On September 1, 1939, the weather was glorious, the sky a bright blue. Suddenly, German airplanes blocked the sun. They roared over Gerda’s home in Bielsko, Poland. Tanks rolled down the streets. The German army was invading Poland.
It was the start of World War II, which lasted in Europe until May of 1945.
Many local people waved Nazi flags. They cheered for their new leader, Adolf Hitler. They were glad Hitler had taken over Poland. Hitler hoped to take over all of Europe.
The Jews of Bielsko were not happy at all. They knew of the Nazis’ hatred for Jews.
Gerda and her family were told to leave their home so local German-Poles could move in. Gerda’s garden was fenced off with a sign that read: “No dogs or Jews allowed.” They lived in a basement, with no water or electricity.
After a while, all Jews in Bielsko were rounded up. Trucks took them to different prison camps. Gerda was separated from her mother. She never saw her again. She never saw anybody else in her family again, either. Through the rest of the war, Gerda was moved from one concentration camp to another. She labored in Nazi-run factories. She hauled coal onto trains. By 1945, she was half-dead.
And yet Gerda was one of the more fortunate ones. She survived.
Six million Jews did not. They were killed by the Nazis in concentration camps. About six million other victims were also led to their deaths: gay people, the Roma, disabled people, and people from certain religious and political groups.
That day in 1945 at the factory, Gerda saw a car approach. Two men—United States soldiers—jumped out. One came over. He was big and strong. To Gerda, he looked like a god.
“Does anybody here speak German or English?” he asked in German.
“I speak German,” Gerda answered. Then she added, “We are Jewish, you know.”
“So am I,” the man said. His name was Kurt Klein. “May I see the other ladies?” he added. Then the man held the door for Gerda to go inside the factory. It was a simple, polite thing to do. But it made her feel human again.
One year later, Gerda and Kurt Klein were married.
Gerda Weissmann’s wartime story ended on a note of hope. That was rare for the millions who suffered during the Holocaust.
The word holocaust—rooted in Greek—means a “sacrifice by fire.” But it also means any great destruction and loss of life.
From 1939 to 1945, all across Europe, Jews and people from other groups were murdered simply because of who they were.
How did this happen?
Chapter 1: Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism is the hatred of Jews. It goes back thousands of years to ancient Rome.
When Christianity took hold in the world,...
About the Author-
GAIL HERMAN has written several biographies and nonfiction books, including Who Was Jackie Robinson? and What Is the World Series?
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