Heroes of the Holocaust

Children's Literature

Focusing on six complex individuals who took a stand during the growth of Hitler's Nazism, author Susan Glick tries to show readers that "to be human means to care about people in danger." A first chapter places the Holocaust in historical context. Succeeding chapters show how different heroes can act—each person uses his own talents to realize his convictions. Oskar Schindler, a Nazi himself, used his business talents to protect his workers. Raoul Wallenberg employed his diplomatic skills to slip many Jews out of Nazi-run Hungary and into free states. As a teenager, Vladka Meed began to lead a double life; she pretended to be an Aryan and slipped out of the Polish ghetto as a courier and smuggler, persuading Aryan families to foster Jewish children. These stories and those of pastor Andre Trocme, who created a safe haven for Jewish families in France, partisan fighter Hannah Senesh who was executed at 23, and Jan Karski who tried to waken the Western world to the death of Jews in Poland, hold forth an ideal for students: each person can make choices that change his or her world. 2003, Lucent Books/Thomson Gale,
— Elisabeth Greenberg

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-Glick begins with an overview of the Holocaust and then profiles six heroes, both Jewish and Gentile, including Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, Vladka Meed, Andr Trocm , Hannah Senesh, and Jan Karski. The introduction in the second title explains Hilter's need for assistants and his careful selection of individuals whose particular character suited his dark overall plan. A short but coherent first chapter provides the background of Hitler and World War II, and ends with his death. The succeeding five chapters profile the henchmen, arguably in order of level of criminality, in clear and chilling detail. The individuals include Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hess, and Baldur von Schirach, leader of the Hitler Youth. This is an optional purchase for collections already owning Earle Rice, Jr.'s Nazi War Criminals (Lucent, 1997). Both volumes use primary-source documents extensively, and include annotated bibliographies, lists for further reading, and average-quality black-and-white photos. Serviceable offerings demonstrating the best and worst of human choices.-Paula J. LaRue, Van Wert City Schools, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.