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Authored by First Book Staff on June 2, 2023
Posted in: Our Bookshelf, Our Partners
In collaboration with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), we have curated a diverse collection of historically accurate and relevant books for educators to utilize in their classrooms. This collection, tailored for high school students, encompasses a variety of genres, themes, topics, and reading levels to meet a range of individual and classroom needs. Within this thoughtfully designed selection, you will find a blend of well-known and lesser-known high-quality titles.
Our work with the USHMM extends beyond book curation. Together, we have developed a Holocaust education resource called "Getting Started Guide: Teaching About the Holocaust." This unique resource equips educators with guidelines, lesson plans, videos, and more, empowering them to incorporate Holocaust education into their students' learning experience. Additionally, the Museum has provided a lesson plan that can be adapted to any work of Holocaust literature, along with a selection of resources for each book featured in our collection.
It's important to note that the nine books included in this particular selection do not constitute an exhaustive or definitive list. There are many other age-appropriate books that could also help students develop an accurate understanding of how and why the Holocaust happened. We encourage exploration beyond this collection. We hope these resources will support accurate, meaningful teaching about the Holocaust in classrooms nationwide.
Recommended for grades 7-12
Gerda Weissmann Klein describes her experiences as a young Jewish woman during the Holocaust. Her memoir details the German invasion of Poland, and how Nazi German authorities persecuted her family and other Jewish people. She recounts the deprivation and loss she endured in the Bielsko-Biała ghetto, in forced labor camps, and on a death march. Gerda’s poetic and heartbreaking memoir allows students to better understand the impact of the Holocaust on an individual life.
Recommended for grades 6-12
Anne Frank’s diary details the thoughts of a Jewish teenager during the Holocaust. Anne began her diary at age 13, just before she and her family went into hiding in German-occupied Amsterdam. Anne describes the realities of life in hiding in the secret annex, including fear, hunger, and boredom. The Spanish translation ofDiary of a Young Girlbrings Anne’s documentation of her life—and the enduring themes of family, love, and the complexities of human nature—to Spanish-language speakers and learners.
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Recommended for grades 7-12
This is the compelling true story of basketball’s official debut at the 1936 Summer Olympics, hosted in Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. The book tells the history of basketball from its invention in 1891 to its growing popularity in the early 20th century.Games of Deceptionalso introduces readers to American responses to the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, and early anti-Jewish laws in Germany in the 1930s. Utilizing fascinating photos and exciting stories, the book chronicles the experiences of Olympic athletes and Jewish Germans. It addresses the themes of propaganda, prejudice, and racism, and the power of sports to both unite and divide.
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Recommended for grades 9-12
In her memoir, Livia Bitton-Jackson describes her experiences as a young teenager during the Holocaust. When she was just 13, Hungarian authorities, collaborating with the Nazis, forced Jews in her community to move into a transit ghetto, stripping them of their property and their freedom. She recounts in powerful language her subsequent deportation to Auschwitz and the dehumanization she and her mother experienced as prisoners in Nazi camps. Livia’s unflinching account introduces readers to the stark realities and devastating effects of violence and deprivation during the Holocaust.
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Recommended for grades 9-12
Leo Bretholz’s memoir describes the immense risks he took to escape the Nazis and their collaborators on multiple occasions during the Holocaust. After fleeing antisemitic persecution in Nazi Vienna in 1938, Leo made his way through western Europe, ending up imprisoned in France. In November 1942, he jumped off a train bound for Auschwitz and then joined the underground French resistance using a false identity. Leo’s dynamic memoir shows the limited options for Jews desperate to escape German-occupied Europe. It teaches students about resistance during the Holocaust and the strength of the human spirit.
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Recommended for grades 9-12
This Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel is a memoir by Art Spiegelman, the son of two Holocaust survivors. The first of two parts,Maus Itells the story of Art’s parents, Vladek and Anja, beginning with their lives in prewar Poland and the couple’s struggle to survive during the German occupation, concluding with their arrival at Auschwitz. The graphic novel uses animals to represent people, portraying Jews as mice and Germans as cats. The author alternates between describing the Holocaust and depicting his family’s post-war life in America, including Anja’s suicide. This work captures both the horrors of the Holocaust and its lasting impact on survivors and their families.
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Recommended for grades 9-12
In his memoir,Night, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel describes his experiences as a teenage boy during the Holocaust. He recounts how his family’s lives were upended after the German invasion of Hungary in 1944. They were soon imprisoned in a transit ghetto and then deported to Auschwitz. Using poetic language, Elie starkly depicts his struggle to survive the difficult forced labor, his transfer to Buchenwald concentration camp, and his ultimate liberation. Elie describes the mental and physical anguish, as well as his crisis of faith, as he and his fellow prisoners, including his father, experienced brutal conditions.
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Recommended for grades 5-12
A Newbery Award-winning historical fiction novel,Number the Starsis a story of rescue and resistance in Denmark during the Holocaust. The heart of the story is the friendship between fictional ten-year-old girls: Annemarie, who is Christian, and Ellen, who is Jewish. When it becomes clear that Ellen and her family are in danger from the German occupiers, Annemarie and her family work with the Danish resistance to help their friends reach safety in neutral Sweden.Number the Starsoffers a fictionalized account of the actual rescue of thousands of Jews from Denmark and an introduction to the history of the Holocaust suitable for younger students.
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Recommended for grades 9-12
This novel is the fictionalized version of the true story of Polish Catholic teenager Stefania Podgórska and her younger sister Helena. During World War II, the sisters smuggled food to Jews imprisoned in the Przemyśl ghetto in German-occupied Poland. They eventually risked their own lives to hide 13 Jewish people in their home for almost a year. This engaging novel introduces readers to the history of the brutal German occupation of Poland, including the mass murder of Jews in the Holocaust, while asking important questions about the choices that individuals can make even in the face of danger.
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