Staying Human Through The Holocaust

Ter z M zes was born in Romania in 1919 to a stable and loving family. Her idyllic life would eventually be shattered by the upheavals of the Second World War as the Nazis systematically undertook the destruction of the Jewish race. Starting with the insidious and menacing anti-Jewish laws and continuing with resettlement into cramped ghettos and finally deportation to the death camps, Ter z and her sister Erzsi would be thrust into a harrowing journey that would forever alter the course of their lives. In June 1944, Ter z and Erzsi were sent to the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, where they would fight for their survival in a traumatic ordeal of unimaginable horror. Liberation in February 1945 should have meant the end of their nightmare, yet their homecoming would be delayed by widespread confusion as the Russians swept through Eastern Europe crushing the Nazi regime. After internment in numerous Russian camps and an uncertain future, Ter z and Ezri finally returned to their shattered hometown of Oradea in August 1945. Staying Human Through the Holocaust, originally titled Beverzett kot blak ("Shattered Tablets"), was published in Hungarian in 1993 and in Romanian in 1995. Told in a direct and riveting style that will haunt the reader long after the story is over, this memoir is a glimpse of the darkest and most uplifting aspects of our humanity from both an individual and historical point of view.

Holocaust and Human Behavior uses readings, primary source material, and short documentary films to examine the challenging history of the Holocaust and prompt reflection on our world today

"Collected voices make clear why Holocaust, genocide, and human rights education are more crucial than ever. After the Holocaust brings together scholarship, activism, poetry, and personal narratives from some of the last living survivors of the Holocaust to tackle the changing face of genocide and human rights education in the 21st century. The collected voices draw on decades of research on the Holocaust and discuss how it can help us understand and educate about a range of human rights issues throughout history, and, in turn, that local histories of other human rights atrocities can shed light on the way the Holocaust is represented and taught. Advancing the dialogue between civic advocacy, public remembrance, and research, the contributors of this edited collection discuss Holocaust education's broad relevance in a human rights framework. 'The first- and second-generation survivor accounts are treasures--invaluable reflections that anchor this collection.'--David MacDonald, author of The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation"--

During World War II, Heinz Drossel saved Soviet prisoners of war and several Jews, including Marianne Hirschfeld. Again and again, he wasn’t afraid to risk his own life when others’ safety was at risk. Nearly all of Hirschfeld’s family members were murdered by Nazis; she survived in hiding—and met Heinz again by coincidence after the war was over. They married in 1946. At that time, starting over was difficult. In the judicial service, Drossel witnessed Nazis continuing with their careers. As a political prisoner, his father was sent to jail in the Soviet-occupied sector. Drossel and his wife felt like outsiders, but their plans to emigrate fell apart. Drossel first spoke about his brave deeds when he was honored in Yad Vashem in 2000 as Righteous Among the Nations. Author Katharina Stegelmann paints an honest view of Drossel and doesn’t idealize her protagonist. Her engaging portrait succeeds in its convincing depiction of individual fate and historical events.

The effects of the Holocaust on those who survived it are immeasurable. How can one experience the trauma of the concentration camps—being reduced to a helpless witness of the brutality of torture, medical experiments, and execution of those around you—how can one survive this and remain the same? In many ways the Holocaust has drastically effected those who survived, and in Holding on to Humanity Shamai Davidson explores the complex results of this dehumanizing experience. As a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst practicing in Israel, Davidson spent 30 years working with this special group, trying to understand the nature of their experience. Uniquely skillful in evoking from survivors their most silenced stories, Davidson concentrated on giving them voice and recorded memory. Davidson worked on this book for many years--since 1972 it was a dream of his to write an authoritative work on the life experiences of the Holocaust survivors and their families--but unfortunately Davidson died in 1986 at the age of 59. This book is the result of extensive effort by Israel W. Charny to complete the project at the request of Davidson's widow, Jenny Davidson. Shamai Davidson was born in 1926 in Dublin. In his youth he witnessed from afar the Nazi rise to power and the death of his aunts and cousins in the ghettos of Warsaw, Lodz, and the gas chambers of Treblinka. Davidson studied medicine at the University of Glasgow and completed his psychiatric residency at Oxford University Medical School in 1955, after which Davidson secured a position as a psychiatrist at Talbieh Psychiatric Hospital in Jerusalem. It is at this point that he encountered the subject that he would pursue for the remainder of his life. Davidson cofounded the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide along with Israel W. Charny and Elie Wiesel, and worked as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, treating Holocaust survivors, until his death.

Primarily a piece of creative writing and autobiographical literature of a very distinctive Central European kind, this detailed and imaginative short memoir is also an important document of the Holocaust in Hungary in 1944. Written by a master of twentieth-century Hungarian literature, it describes life for the Jewish population of German-occupied Budapest—the constant fear of deportation overshadowing the daily trials of living in the ghetto—before concentrating on the writer's own internment in a labor camp during the first weeks of rule by the extremist Arrow Cross regime. The experiences of those nineteen days spent in the camp are both harsh and disturbing, yet throughout his memoir Szep manages to maintain an extraordinary degree of compassion and detachment, even humor. Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the events described, this is the last of Szep's many literary works to appear in English."

Shortlisted for the 2018 RBC Taylor prize for literary nonfiction “A riveting tale of the previously unknown and fascinating story of the unsung angels who strove to foil the Final Solution.”—Kirkus starred review On November 25, 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz heard a deafening explosion. Emerging from their barracks, they witnessed the crematoria and gas chambers--part of the largest killing machine in human history--come crashing down. Most assumed they had fallen victim to inmate sabotage and thousands silently cheered. However, the Final Solution's most efficient murder apparatus had not been felled by Jews, but rather by the ruthless architect of mass genocide, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. It was an edict that has puzzled historians for more than six decades. Holocaust historian and New York Times bestselling author Max Wallace--a veteran interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation--draws on an explosive cache of recently declassified documents and an account from the only living eyewitness to unravel the mystery. He uncovers an astounding story involving the secret negotiations of an unlikely trio--a former fascist President of Switzerland, a courageous Orthodox Jewish woman, and Himmler's Finnish osteopath--to end the Holocaust, aided by clandestine Swedish and American intelligence efforts. He documents their efforts to deceive Himmler, who, as Germany's defeat loomed, sought to enter an alliance with the West against the Soviet Union. By exploiting that fantasy and persuading Himmler to betray Hitler's orders, the group helped to prevent the liquidation of tens of thousands of Jews during the last months of the Second World War, and thwarted Hitler's plan to take "every last Jew" down with the Reich. Deeply researched and dramatically recounted, In the Name of Humanity is a remarkable tale of bravery and audacious tactics that will help rewrite the history of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust—one of the most horrific examples of man's inhumanity to man in recorded history—resulted in the genocide of millions of people, most of them Jews. This volume explores the daily lives of the Holocaust victims and their heroic efforts to maintain a normal existence under inhumane conditions. Readers will learn about the effects of pogroms, Jewish ghettoes, Nazi rule, and deportation on everyday tasks like going to school, practicing religion, or eating dinner. Chapters on life in the concentration camps describe the incomprehensible conditions that plagued the inmates and the ways in which they managed to survive. Soumerai, a survivor herself, offers a unique perspective on the events. Coverage also includes accounts of resistance and the role of rescuers. Four new chapters explore current human rights abuses, including Holocaust denials, modern genocide, and human trafficking, enabling readers to contrast present and past events. In addition to a timeline, a glossary, and engaging illustrations, the second edition also features an extensive bibliography and resource center that guides student researchers toward web sites, organizations, films, and books on the Holocaust and other human rights abuses. Primary source testimonies from survivors provide powerful insight into the devastating effects of Nazi rule on people's lives. Soumerai, a survivor herself, offers a unique perspective on the events and insight into the persecution of non-Jews: Gypsies, gays, clergy who protested or protected victims, Communists, Jehovah's Witnesses, the mentally ill and handicapped. Readers will explore the effects of pogroms, Jewish ghettoes, Nazi rule, and deportation on everyday tasks like going to school, practicing religion, or eating dinner. Chapters on life in the concentration camps describe the incomprehensible conditions within the camps, including the ways in which inmates managed to survive: avoiding the infirmary, rationing food, utilizing the market system to trade for goods and clothing. Four new chapters shed a modern light on the events of the Holocaust, exploring human rights abuses that continue even today, including Holocaust Denials; genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Sudan; and child slavery and human trafficking. The new material allows readers to compare and contrast present and past human rights abuses, exploring what lessons we have learned, if any, from the Holocaust. An expanded bibliography and resource center guides readers toward related web sites, organizations, films and books related to the Holocaust, modern-day slavery and genocide, child soldiers, and related human rights topics. Illustrations, a timeline of events and a glossary of terms are also included, making this a comprehensive resource for student researchers.