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Here’s a follow-up to a previous post on Diaries of the Holocaust which shared the translated diary of Renia Spiegel, a 17-year-old girl who spent her final days imprisoned in a ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland. The November 2018 issue of Smithsonian featured an article about Renia and included primary source diarist entries and photos.
We’re now fortunate to have access to actual teenage Holocaust diarists in graphic novel format.
When I Grow Up: The Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teenagers is New Yorker cartoonist Ken Krimstein's new graphic nonfiction book, based on six of hundreds of newly discovered, never-before-published autobiographies of Eastern European Jewish teens on the brink of WWII-found in 2017 hidden in a Lithuanian church cellar.
These autobiographies, long thought destroyed by the Nazis, were written as entries for three competitions held in Eastern Europe in the 1930s, just before the horror of the Holocaust forever altered the lives of the young people who wrote them.
A CBS New broadcast provides background on the fascinating diaries along with archival film footage and meaningful connections to our own day.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers supporting curricular material including a lesson on Exploring Holocaust-era Diaries. A unit on Teaching Salvaged pages : young writers' diaries of the Holocaust is available from Facing History As Ourselves.
I’ve purchased a copy of When I Grow Up for our library’s Holocaust collection and look forward to hearing from TPS Teachers Network members with your suggestions for additional recommended titles. Thanks very much!
Holocaust Diaries Graphic novels Teenage Diarists Krimstein, Ken bestof
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I had not heard about this new graphic novel, but it seems perfect for students both young and old as an entry point into the study of the Holocaust. I was particularly struck by the words of the author and illustrator, Ken Krimstein, when the interviewer on the CBS News broadcast asked him, "What grabbed you?"
"There were little details in there...this one listened to records, this one went ice skating, and I was like, these are real people!"
Real people, real lives, real stories...the stuff of primary sources. Thank you for bringing this set of resources to our attention, 
Margaret Lincoln
.
Thank you, 
Mary Johnson
, for pointing out the value of this graphic novel as an engaging entry point for students both young and old studying the Holocaust. The portrayal of real people doing ordinary things bridges the 80-year period separating our generations as these primary sources bring the history 'alive' for us today.
I was reminded of an outstanding lesson developed by Aimee Young, a USHMM Museum Teacher Fellow back in 2003: Pre-World War II European Jewish Life Photo Project. The lesson can be accessed here. As part of the lesson (see example below), students shared a personal photo that paralleled the activities depicted in a photo from the Pre-World War II era of European Jewish life.
Wonderful lesson! And so compelling to students. Thanks
Margaret Lincoln
!
Ooooh,
Margaret Lincoln
, would you share this with the Arts and Primary Sources group?
Thank you, 
Cate Cooney
, for your suggestion to share this post with The Arts and Primary Sources
The Holocaust has been an important topic for the graphic novel genre with Maus by Art Siegelman being the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer prize.
The Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages exhibition at the Library of Congress references Art Spiegelman's very notable work.
Yes! Thank you so much.
Ken Krimstein's new book is ground breaking in its format and accessibility for younger readers. The broadcast link and curricular materials you have posted are powerful and offer a complete unit of study. This is so helpful as teachers have so much to prepare, and this is so beautifully laid out. Thank you,
Margaret Lincoln
, for this comprehensive post in support of the content and teachers who will use these resources.
As an extension for a Holocaust unit focusing on teenage diarists, students may read Salvaged pages : young writers' diaries of the Holocaust by Alexandra Zapruder.
A companion made for TV Movie "I'm Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust" based upon Zapruder's book is available through Facing History As Ourselves or on YouTube
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