Trapped - Youth in the Nazi Ghettos.

Byers, Ann. Trapped - Youth in the Nazi Ghettos.

Enslow 2010 128p 31.93 True Stories of Teens in the Holocaust(Enslow)

978-0-7660-3272-9 ms/hs VG-BN

Through diaries and interviews, teenagers recall life as a Jew during World War II. In particular, their life in the ghettos established by the Nazis. Black and white photos, and quotes make the events of the Holocaust come alive for today’s teens. Grades 7 up. Primary source quotations from diaries and interviews are interwoven into the text of the book. Black and white photographs capture the fear and blankness on the faces of those who were housed in ghettos and forced to work as slave labor in factories. In contrast, photographs of happy families before the Holocaust are shown for specific people who are interviewed or have their diaries excerpted. The harsh living conditions, meager food rations, and certain exposure to disease in the ghettos were in stark contrast to the lives lived prior to Hitler’s rise to power. The brutality of the Nazis is captured quite well through the text of the book augmented by research primarily from the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. The book chronicles the reason for ghettos being built, the sealing of the ghettos, life in the ghetto, what kept people alive both in body and spirit and the final solution as Hitler called the proposed extermination of the Jewish people. Those who survived either find it hard to speak out or have made it their life’s work to speak out so such an atrocity will be remembered and condemned. A timeline, chapter notes, glossary, further research sources and index complete the book. Because of the common meaning of ghetto, the lack of a definition of ghetto in the glossary is a glaring omission. Excellent reading for grades 7 and up. McNicol,Lois