10 Holocaust Books You Should Read | My Jewish Learning

13 Important Books About the Holocaust | Hachette Book Group

Best Holocaust Books

Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Europa entre Hitler y Stalin

Bloodlands

Tierras de Sangre

Eye-Opening Books About the Holocaust Every Reader Should Explore

A Report on the Banality of Evil

Un informe sobre la banalidad del mal

Eichmann in Jerusalem

Eichmann en Jerusalén

10 Best Holocaust Books [2022]

A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz

La verdadera historia de una mujer superviviente de Auschwitz

Five Chimneys

Cinco Chimeneas

Man's Search for Meaning

La búsqueda de sentido del hombre

The Diary of a Young Girl

El Diario de una Joven

In her thirteenth year, a young girl started chronicling her life, discussing her schooldays, friendships, and crushes, all within the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam, where she, along with her older sibling, was forced to attend due to anti-Semitic laws. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, her family had relocated from Germany to the Netherlands to avoid persecution. However, the German invasion in 1940 necessitated their move into hiding. Together with another family known as the van Daans and a man called Mr. Dussel, they took refuge in a hidden annex above her father's office, relying on his employees for provisions and news from the outside world.

In the annex, war updates from the radio were followed keenly, with bits of information making their way into the girl's journal, serving as a historical backdrop for her personal thoughts. The mood within their hideout often swayed depending on the progress of the war. As the conflict escalated, Amsterdam's inhabitants faced hardship as resources dwindled and criminal activities spiked. Our protagonist often jotted down her personal feelings of seclusion and loneliness, struggling with her relationship with the adults in the annex, particularly her mother whom she thought lacked warmth. She was fond of her father but often came under criticism from the van Daans and Mr. Dussel. Despite admiring her sister, she didn't feel a close bond and refrained from writing much about her. She formed a tight bond with Peter van Daan, causing her father's disapproval, which subsequently lessened her infatuation.

Throughout her diary entries, the girl showed significant development, moving from mundane daily activities to more profound contemplations on human nature and her identity. She wrestled with the persecution faced by her people and her own personal identity, feeling a strong affinity with her aggrieved people but also desiring to be recognized as an individual. During her time in hiding, she grappled with confinement, deprivation, and the harsh realities of the Holocaust, striving to maintain her identity amid the oppressive climate. Her diary, brimming with the observations of an imaginative and normal teenager, abruptly ends on a seemingly ordinary day in August 1944. Only days later, they were betrayed, arrested, and tragically, only her father survived. He discovered her diary and decided to publish it, turning it into a testament of the unimaginable atrocities of the Holocaust, narrated from a child's perspective.

Anne Frank

In the Dutch city of Haarlem, in 1937, a celebration marks the centenary of a family-owned watchmaking business. This family, consisting of a father and his children Corrie, Nollie, Willem, and Betsie, are deeply religious and known for their benevolence. They are aware of the rising tension in Germany under Hitler but cannot foresee the looming horrors. The memoir follows Corrie's life from her sixth to twenty-first year, her unrequited love, familial losses, and the discovery of her nephew Peter's musical talent. They also hire a German employee, who is later dismissed due to his anti-Semitic views and disrespectful conduct.

In 1942, life changes drastically after the Dutch surrender to Germany in 1940. The family starts hiding Jews and other endangered individuals in their home, known as the Beje, even going as far as building a secret room for added safety. They find an ally in a police officer named Rolf. As the Nazi presence increases, the city's tension escalates, leading to the family's arrest and transportation out of Haarlem. In prison, the women are separated from the men. Corrie learns of her father's death and befriends a sympathetic lieutenant. During her time in prison, she carries a small Bible given by her sister around her neck.

The prison is evacuated, and Corrie is reunited with her sister, Betsie. They are sent to a camp for political prisoners where they endure atrocious conditions and inhuman treatment. Despite the adversity, their faith remains unwavering. As winter sets in, the already appalling conditions worsen. Betsie falls ill and is admitted to the hospital. Upon her return, the sisters are assigned to the knitting room, where they engage in prayer and Bible reading. Betsie has visions of a post-war life of service but sadly passes away before liberation. Corrie, who is released due to a medical condition, returns to Holland and continues to carry Betsie's vision of helping war-damaged people, eventually taking over a former concentration camp as a relief site. This memoir concludes with a brief account of Corrie's life after the war, her work with refugees, and her death in 1983.

The Hiding Place

El Escondite

How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List

Cómo lo imposible se hizo posible... en la lista de Schindler

The Boy on the Wooden Box

El niño en la caja de madera

The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto

La extraordinaria historia de la mujer que salvó a 2,500 niños del gueto de Varsovia

Irena's Children

Los Niños de Irena

Escape from Sobibor

Escape de Sobibor

The Human Tragedy

La Tragedia Humana

The Holocaust

El Holocausto

A Search for Six of Six Million

Una búsqueda de seis de seis millones

The Lost

Los Perdidos

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

Por aquí para el gas, damas y caballeros

A Memoir

Una Memoria

But You Did Not Come Back

Pero Tú No Regresaste

A Shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal, and Nazi Terror

Una impactante historia real de esperanza, traición y terror Nazi

Voyage of the Damned

Viaje de los Condenados

The Years of Extermination

Los Años de Exterminio

Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945

La Alemania Nazi y los Judíos, 1939-1945

Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne

Enfrentando la Masacre de Judíos en Jedwabne durante la Guerra

The Crime and the Silence

El Crimen y el Silencio

Badenheim 1939

A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder

Relato de un espectador sobre un asesinato masivo

Ponary Diary, 1941-1943

Diario Ponary, 1941-1943

A Novel

Una Novela

King of the Jews

Rey de los Judíos

19 Best Holocaust Books of All Time

Bloodlands

Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Eichmann in Jerusalem

A Report on the Banality of Evil

Five Chimneys

A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz

Man's Search for Meaning

Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl

The Hiding Place

The Boy on the Wooden Box

How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List

Irena's Children

The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto

Escape from Sobibor

The Holocaust

The Human Tragedy

The Lost

A Search for Six of Six Million

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

But You Did Not Come Back

A Memoir

Voyage of the Damned

A Shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal, and Nazi Terror

Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945

The Years of Extermination

The Crime and the Silence

Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne

Badenheim 1939

Ponary Diary, 1941-1943

A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder

King of the Jews

A Novel

Sources

What To Read Next

19 Best Holocaust Books of All Time

Bloodlands

Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Eichmann in Jerusalem

A Report on the Banality of Evil

Five Chimneys

A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz

Man's Search for Meaning

Anne Frank

The Diary of a Young Girl

The Hiding Place

The Boy on the Wooden Box

How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List

Irena's Children

The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto

Escape from Sobibor

The Holocaust

The Human Tragedy

The Lost

A Search for Six of Six Million

This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

But You Did Not Come Back

A Memoir

Voyage of the Damned

A Shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal, and Nazi Terror

Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945

The Years of Extermination

The Crime and the Silence

Confronting the Massacre of Jews in Wartime Jedwabne

Badenheim 1939

Ponary Diary, 1941-1943

A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder

King of the Jews

A Novel

Sources

What To Read Next

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