Tales of Atrocity and Resistance: First-Person Stories of Teens in the Holocaust

Though many teens and children did not fully understand what was happening in the early days of Adolf Hitler's reign, they certainly felt the effects of anti-Semitism. Students in Nazified schools were forced to perform the Hitler salute every day, and Jewish students were increasingly persecuted by teachers and peers alike. Friends turned against friends, and there was enormous pressure on young Gentiles to adhere to Hitler's racist policies, as Aryan teens were compelled and eventually forced to join the Hitler Youth or the League of German Girls. Students may find parallels between the pressure to conform in these groups and the echo chambers of social media. These stories of Nazi teens will spur discussion of the recruiting tactics and bonding rituals of racist groups in America today.

Both Jewish and Gentile teens played a key role in resisting the Nazi regime. Students will learn first-hand of the different resistance groups in Nazi Germany, from the anti-authoritarian pranksters Edelweiss Pirates to the communist Baum Group to the anti-fascist Christians of The White Rose. This book also examines resistance outside of Germany. While Western European countries focused on military resistance and rescuing children, resistance in Eastern Europe primarily meant survival, as Aryan-looking Jews became couriers carrying badly-needed food to those in need. Students may be inspired toward high-level ethical discussions of the role children played in certain resistance activities and the impossible choices faced by those embroiled in guerrilla warfare in the forests of Eastern Europe.

As Adolf Hitler's control over Germany became absolute, those Jews who could not run from the Nazis were forced into hiding. Readers will experience the harrowing first-hand narratives of those who concealed either themselves, in bunkers or attics or even the forest, or by their Judaism, relying on Aryan looks to hide themselves in plain sight. Some people tried to plan in advance, constructing secret rooms in which they hid, silently, relying on the kindness of trusted friends. Others hid wherever possible, building bunkers into the dirt floor of barns, in the ghettos in order to avoid being shot or deported to death camps, and even in the rubble of bombed out cities as the war progressed.

Nazi control of Germany was marked by the insidious escalation of anti-Semitic policies, as Jews were first forced to self-identify, then were violently pushed to relocate from their apartments to the poorest areas of town, where their movements and livelihoods were tightly controlled by German soldiers. The ghettos were isolated from the rest of the city and subject to ever-increasingly restrictions the resulted in overcrowding, disease, and starvation. Readers will also learn the terrifying aftermath of the liquidation of the ghettos, as it was revealed that they were primarily meant as holding cells on the way to death camps. These stories will not only open conversation into the horrors of anti-Semitism in Germany, but will also lead to discussions of anti-Semitism and Jewish ghettos elsewhere in history.

Of the estimated six million Jews who died during the Holocaust, it is believed that at least three million died in work camps, where Jews were forced on pain of death to work on behalf the German military or perform backbreaking labor, and death camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. Originally built as prisons for Adolf Hitler's political opponents, these camps became the last stop for those deemed unacceptable under the Nazi regime, whether because of their race, religion, sexuality, or other attribute. Readers will learn of the horrors of the gas chambers, which could kill hundreds at once, the countless crematoria for burning dead bodies, and the horrific experiments of the infamous Joseph Mengele. Survivors' accounts of these atrocities will spur student discussion of trauma and PTSD, while tales of resistance attempts will engender conversation about courageous action in the face of almost certain death.

By the time it became clear how horrific the situation in Germany would become for non-Aryans, many Jews had been rendered incapable of leaving by the slow acceleration of Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic policies. As more Jews were stripped of their jobs, homes, and basic rights, many lacked the resources to flee, and those that successfully escaped faced terrifying obstacles even after they left Germany. This book offers readers a first-hand look at the stories of teens who managed to escape the Nazi regime, surviving only through a combination of gut instinct and luck. Readers will also see parallels between the plight of those fleeing Germany and the refugees from Syria and other countries facing similar crises today and will discover the complex reasons some people simply didn't leave before it was too late.