All summer, I’ll be sharing books for kids of all ages on topics that will interest them or offer them something new to learn about. Most of the time, these will be nonfiction books, but sometimes we can learn from fictional stories too.
I hope you will stay tuned to these posts. They will always have Summer Read-to-Learn in the title and the tags. There will be books from some of my favorite publishers like Feeding Minds Press, Chronicle Kids, Twirl, Templar Books, Candlewick Press, and others as well as books on all kinds of topics kids love to read and learn about.
To see all the books in the Summer Read-to-Learn series, click HERE.
WE SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST
The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story
By: Frank W. Baker
Also by: Esther Goldberg Greenberg, Karl Goldberg, & Henry Goldberg
Illustrated by: Tim E. Ogline
Published: September 1, 2022
Publisher: Imagine and Wonder
Non-Fiction/Graphic Novel
“The story of our parents, Bluma and Felix Goldberg, is a difficult one to tell. Our hope is that people, young and old all over the world, will be able to feel a personal connection to our parents by reading their story.”
Felix Goldberg handed Frank Baker his speech after he had told his story at a Day of Remembrance event. His appeal? “Do something with it”. Felix’s story completely changed Frank Baker’s life. Even though the speech sat on his desk for some time, he knew that he had to keep their story alive somehow. The story began as a website (www.StoriesofSurvival.org) and then later this graphic novel was created to get their story into as many hands as possible.
If you’ve read MAUS I or MAUS II, then you’ll understand how difficult it can be to read about the horrors of the Holocaust in a graphic novel format. Seeing the illustrated images of those suffering can be difficult but it also makes it so much more real. For this reason, I recommend this book for mature teens as some of the images can be hard for kids to see on the page. Unfortunately, these horrific images are realistic portrayals of what happened in the concentration camps and part of the retelling of this story. To make sure something like this never happens again, we need to keep telling and teaching about the Holocaust.
This is the true story of sisters Bluma and Cela who ran away from their home in Poland after being warned that the Germans were coming. Even though they eventually surrendered when they could no longer continue hiding in the woods, they never saw their family again. Bluma and Cela were forced to live in various concentration camps. Felix also lived in Poland and his family chose to hide the fact that they were Jewish to protect themselves. Eventually, Felix joined the military. When the Polish army collapsed, Felix was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. He never saw his family again.
Besides the personal stories of survival, a historical timeline of events is also included in the book. Beginning with WWI to the rise of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party to Hitler’s rise in power and finally through WWII, I appreciated learning how the failings of WWI led to Hitler’s powerful takeover during WWII. This book is as much a history lesson as it is a story of survival.
After years of being in concentration camps, Felix and Bluma faced numerous atrocities. But, throughout all the hardships they each found a way to survive. Knowing the two of them survive the camps and make it through the war makes this a bit easier to read. However, it is still unbelievable to me all of the absolutely unspeakable things they and the other prisoners had to go through. Every time I read a book about the Holocaust, I learn something new and am reminded to be so grateful for our freedoms.
The book is broken up into sections as the war begins and as they are moved to various camps. We read both Felix’s story as well as his friend, David Miller’s, and Bluma and Cela’s stories. Eventually, their lives intersect as you can imagine from the title of the book. Long after WWII, Felix and Bluma continued to share their stories of survival by speaking at schools, synagogues, and events. They believed the reason they survived was to tell their story so no one ever forgets what happened to the Jewish people.
I believe this is a critical book to add to a Holocaust curriculum. These types of first-hand stories are rare, and the details along with the illustrations paint a realistic picture of the Holocaust that you won’t soon forget. Every new generation needs to be taught about what happened during the Holocaust. Their stories must be told over and over again. One way is through this book. Baker’s research and compelling storytelling as well as Ogline’s illustrations would make the Goldbergs proud to see their story forever a part of history.
Frank W. Baker is an internationally recognized media literacy educator. He maintains the Media Literacy Clearinghouse and Close Reading the Media websites. His lifelong work in media literacy was recognized in 2019 by UNESCO. He is the author of Close Reading the Media and Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom.
Tim E. Ogline is a Greater Philadelphia-based writer and illustrator as well as a design professional. Ogline is an alumnus of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and has previously taught there as well as at Moore College of Art & Design. Ogline also holds an MBA from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. Tim is currently working on a new eBook version of Ben Franklin for Beginners as well as a graphic novel, Benjamin Franklin’s The Way to Wealth and Other Words of Wisdom.
Ogline’s illustrations have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Institutional Investor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Utne Reader, Outdoor Life, Philadelphia Style, Loyola Lawyer, How Magazine, and Mensa Bulletin among others. To learn more visit his website, www.timogline.com
To purchase a copy of WE SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST, click HERE.
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
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