International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Resources for Teachers and Students
Marking the day Auschwitz was liberated, International Holocaust Remembrance Day pays tribute to victims and survivors. This collection brings together a range of fiction and nonfiction for readers who wish to learn about and reflect on one of history’s darkest periods. Our vocabulary lists will improve comprehension of these difficult texts and help foster conversation.
The Diary of a Young GirlWhile in hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, 13-year-old Anne Frank kept a diary of her experiences. Published after Anne's death in a Nazi concentration camp, the diary remains a powerful testament to the everyday horrors of the Holocaust.
Number the StarsDuring World War II, ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her family take part in a courageous effort to protect the Jewish citizens of Denmark from the Nazis.
NightIn this unflinching memoir, Elie Wiesel describes his experience as a young man imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. 2006 Hill and Wang edition.
Prisoner B-3087Based on a true story, this novel tells the story of a boy who survived imprisonment in multiple Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
What the Night SingsThe only member of her family to survive the Nazi concentration camps, Gerta struggles to rebuild her life and rekindle her passion for music.
Maus I: My Father Bleeds HistoryA celebrated classic of the graphic novel form, Maus explores a man's relationship with his Holocaust-survivor father and with history itself.
Maus II: And Here My Troubles BeganIn the second part of his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, Art Spiegelman explores his strained relationship with his father and recounts Vladek's experiences in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
Code Name VeritySet during World War II, this historical novel tells the story of Julie, a British spy, and Maddie, a pilot. When the friends' plane goes down, Julie must fight to survive in Nazi-occupied France.
The Boys Who Challenged HitlerKnud Pedersen and the Churchill ClubIn 1940, a group of Danish teens formed a secret resistance group called the Churchill Club in order to oppose the Nazi regime. In this nonfiction account, Phillip Hoose traces the development and accomplishments of the club.
The Faithful SpyDietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill HitlerUsing both text and graphics, John Hendrix details the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a spy who attempted to bring down the Nazi regime.
The Boy on the Wooden BoxHow the Impossible Became Possible...on Schindler's ListIn this memoir, Leyson details how he and his family survived the Holocaust with the help of Oskar Schindler.
Surviving HitlerA Boy in the Nazi Death CampsThis nonfiction narrative tells the story Jack Mandelbaum, who was imprisoned in Nazi-led concentration camps during World War II.
The Devil's ArithmeticDuring a Passover Seder, 12-year-old Hannah is mysteriously transported from 1980s New York to Poland during World War II. When Hannah is forced into a concentration camp, her survival depends on understanding the depraved arithmetic the Nazis use to keep track of their prisoners.
Girl in the Blue CoatAs World War II rages, Hanneke is hired to find a Jewish teenager who disappeared from the house in which she was hiding. In the course of her search, Hanneke is drawn into the Dutch resistance movement secretly fighting the Nazis.
The Boy Who DaredThis novel, based on true events, recounts the story of Helmuth Hübener, a 16-year-old German boy who created and distributed leaflets to counteract Nazi propaganda.
The Book ThiefLiesel Meminger is a foster child living in Nazi Germany in 1939. Surrounded by violence, hardship, and war, Liesel is watched over by Death, who narrates her story.
Between Shades of GrayDuring World War II, a Lithuanian girl named Lina is detained by Soviet soldiers and taken to a work camp in Siberia, where she must fight to survive.
White RoseIn this historical novel-in-verse, German teenager Sophie Scholl joins a secret resistance group called the White Rose in order to oppose the Nazi regime.
Milkweed"Stop! Thief!" are the words often shouted at him, so a young orphan takes that as his name as he struggles to survive in Warsaw during World War II.
Projekt 1065A Novel of World War IIDuring World War II, thirteen-year-old Michael and his family infiltrate Nazi organizations to help the Allies defeat Hitler.
All the Light We Cannot SeeMarie-Laure is a blind French girl who flees the Nazi occupation of Paris. Werner Pfennig is a young orphan living in a German mining town. In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, their lives intertwine in unexpected ways as they try to survive the havoc of war.
White BirdA Wonder StoryIn this companion to Wonder, Julian's grandmother tells the story of her life in France during World War II.
The Boy in the Striped PajamasIn this novel, a boy imprisoned in a concentration camp and the son of a Nazi commandant develop an unlikely friendship.
The Plot to Kill HitlerDietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Unlikely HeroThis biography chronicles the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a clergyman who resisted Adolf Hitler's regime.
A Light in the DarknessJanusz Korczak, His Orphans, and the HolocaustThis biography details the life of Janusz Korczak, a Polish doctor who refused to abandon the orphaned children in his care during the Holocaust.
The Librarian of AuschwitzBased on a real-life events, this novel tells the story of Dita Kraus, who secretly ran a small lending library while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp.
ResistanceA Jewish teenager joins the resistance movement against the Nazis during World War II.
The Boy From BuchenwaldBorn Romek Wajsman in Poland's Skarżysko-Kamienna, an eighty-nine-year-old Canadian activist remembers how he survived the Holocaust, first as an eleven-year-old slave laborer in a German-occupied factory and later as a teenage prisoner in concentration camps.
The Hiding PlaceHolland native Corrie ten Boom had an unremarkable life until Nazi Germany invaded her family's world during World War II. Corrie became a Resistance heroine and survived Hitler's concentration camps in her true life story of faith triumphing over evil.
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