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CHILDREN S VOICES IN HOLOCAUST LITERATURE  

AMANDA SIEGEL ROCKY HILL SCHOOL

MS. BELINDA SNYMAN

ENGLISH 10 HONORS

MAY 2013

   

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Tab le of Contents

   Preface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3

Bearing Witness to Atrocity: Children’s Voices in Holocaust Literature ~~~~~~~~~~~ 4

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Lessons Taught Through the Lost Voice of a Child ~~ 6

The Diary of Anne Frank: The Spirit of a Young Girl ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11

The Poetry of Terezin: Children’s Lives Robbed of Hope ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 15

“The Lemon” by Arnost Lustig: Voices of Children Coping with Traumatic

Grief and Loss ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 20

Appendix A: Bibliography ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 23

Appendix B: Citations for Images ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 24

Jewish children in Soviet Russia shortly before their execution.

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Preface

Nearly one and a half million children perished in the horrific circumstances of the Holocaust. This fact so boggles the mind that we almost want to look away from it. Yet it is imperative that we don’t. In fact, it is crucial that the suffering of those children be understood to its fullest depth. It is a moral debt owed by mankind to those young victims to make certain that their lives were not lost in vain. But how? How can what happened to those children be best understood? Perhaps the key is through the written word. Their lives may have been lost, but their voices have been preserved through literature. Whether it be a novel, diary entry, poem, or a short story, works written in the voices of children can be found throughout the Holocaust genre. When we consider Holocaust literature written in a child’s voice, we are powerfully connected to that youngster in a way that transcends the factual documentation of the sociopolitical events of the era. For, when we look through the lens of a child, a state of empathy is created. In the case of child Holocaust victims, this leads to a deep and intimate understanding not just of the terrible circumstances they were made to endure, but to their most personal thoughts and feelings as they suffered. This project seeks to demonstrate that the youngest victims of the Holocaust were not the future generation of an inferior or subhuman race, as the ideology of Hitler and the Nazis held to with such passion, but rather children with the same ideas, emotions, and potential as any of their fellow human beings. The works analyzed in this project are proof of just how powerful a vehicle literature can be in the quest to ensure that a travesty such as the Holocaust never be repeated.

I have been very interested in both children and the Holocaust for number of years and this project provided a perfect opportunity to explore both these subjects, something I had not previously had the chance to do. I have learned the important lesson that often the victims with the most powerful messages were those who lived the shortest period of time. This project has allowed me to see that Holocaust from a new perspective, often embedded in a context of purity, innocence, and even naïveté. It has helped me acquire a poignant yet critically important and deep appreciation of the Holocaust. I hope my work will in some way similarly inform the understanding of those who read it.

~ Amanda Siegel, May 2013

   

Jewish captive children in Nazi occupied Europe.

Jewish children anxiously extending their arms, about to have their prisoner identification permanently marked.

Jewish children observing the world outside their concentration camp.

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Bearing Witness to Atrocity: Children’s Voices in Holocaust Literature

It is imperative that the Shoah be remembered, as forgotten history is a past bound for

repetition. The Holocaust – a horrific time of persecution and torment of the European Jewish population – demands that a representation of the evils committed be recorded for posterity. But how? How can the atrocities of the Holocaust be adequately conveyed? In what manner can that which is vulgar and inhumane, indeed indescribable, be recounted? Many authors of Holocaust literature have noted the inadequacy of words to portray the experiences of its victims. A descriptive account is insufficient. What is required to truly understand the brutal physical and psychological trauma experienced in the Holocaust is a state of empathy that allows a reader to feel squarely in the shoes of those who were victimized. The best way to comprehend the horrors of the Holocaust is to feel a direct connection to one who was there; to be put in the place of a fellow man as he suffers, to witness the events through the eyes of another – to experience a connection with the author’s voice. The abundance of Holocaust literature written in the form of survivor testimony speaks to just this point. Literature written in a survivor’s voice allows the reader to understand the Holocaust from that person’s perspective. While every survivor offers a point of view that is both valid and unique, the voice of a child provides an especially poignant view of the Holocaust. A child’s innocence, naïveté, and purity inevitably influence his perception of the world around him. When that which is experienced and recounted by a child is something as atrocious as the Holocaust, the perspective offered can have a profound impact, reminding us that the greatest crime was committed on the most innocent. The voice of a child has the capacity to touch a reader’s innermost core.

The Holocaust era, from 1933 to 1945, was a time of systematic persecution mandated by official German policy under the Nazis. It culminated in Hitler’s execution of the “Final Solution,” the massacre of six million Jews, over one and a half million of whom were children. In fact, as a group, Jewish children came the closest to the goal of complete annihilation of the entire race so vigorously pursued by Hitler and his regime. Nearly 90% of Jewish children alive at the start of the Holocaust perished. Children were victimized at the hands of the Nazis in a variety of ways: some were murdered in the infamous killing centers within concentration camps, while others were used as laborers or as subjects in medical experiments. Many children were killed immediately at birth. Yet others lived, for part or all of the Holocaust era, because they were hidden by non-Jews sympathetic to their plight. Often the instantaneous, instinctive decisions made by the head of a family determined the fate of everyone in it, including its children, swept along in the swirl of events surrounding them. Certainly, children were not spared any of the suffering of the Holocaust. Theirs was a vantage point of complete immersion in the most atrocious of circumstances and as a result, Jewish children were witness to the full range of violence perpetrated in the Holocaust. Sadly, they are highly qualified to offer first-hand testimony. Holocaust literature produced by child victims is particularly powerful, as these authors bring a special quality to the works created, namely that produced by the unique voice or perspective of a child. Whether it be through memoir, imaginative fiction, or their diaries and poetry, Holocaust literature produced by child victims is inherently jarring and disconcerting, for it seems that it would be taboo to juxtapose the pure innocence of childhood with the barbarism of the Holocaust. Non-Jewish children living in the Holocaust era also offer a perspective on this dark time that highlights the ignorance and indifference that can be the lifeblood of the type of

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prejudice on which the Holocaust thrived. In addition, authors with absolutely no connection to the Holocaust, regardless of age or religious persuasion, have composed works through a child’s narrative voice that match in insightfulness those of authors with firsthand knowledge of the horrific events of this era. As such, their work is noteworthy.

Authors of Holocaust literature who were children during that era are among the most renowned of the time period. Works of Holocaust fiction narrated through the voice of a child are unique and poignant. For example, John Boyne’s fictional tale, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, is a touching story, told through the voice of a young German boy, the son of a Nazi officer. It is renowned for its portrayal of how the innocence of childhood can transcend hatred but at the same time lead to a dangerous naïveté and indifference. The typically simple and straightforward way in which children view and report on the world around them brings a certain raw and primal understanding of the evils committed by the Nazis and the deep internal conflicts that people faced during this dark time in human history. Anne Frank’s Dairy of a Young Girl, likely the best-known piece of Holocaust literature, chronicles the struggles of a Jewish family in hiding from the Nazis. As Anne develops psychologically, her analysis of the circumstances around her, both in the secret annex where her family is kept and in the broader outside world, deepens in parallel. The subsequent reworking of Anne’s diary into a play extends its impact by expanding its audience. A powerful anthology of poetry written by children deported to the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia has been assembled by editor Hana Volavkova in the book I never saw another butterfly…Children’s Drawing and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp 1942-1944. The works in this volume give a bird’s eye view of the experiences of the Shoah’s youngest victims. Finally, the short story, “The Lemon,” by Arnost Lustig, himself a teenage Holocaust victim whose parents perished in the death camps, provides a powerful and disturbing inside view into the experiences of children who suffered the loss of their parents in the Holocaust.

The literature of the Holocaust era serves the critically important function of bearing witness to the atrocities that were perpetrated against millions of innocent people. In the oft-quoted words of philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is imperative that the world understands and remembers what happened in the Holocaust, but yet mere words can be inadequate to convey what the Jews experienced during this time. The unique voices of children as victims and witnesses to persecution, torture, and murder lend a deeply moving quality to the literature they have produced. Seen through the innocent and pure eyes of a child, the evil of the Holocaust hits hard. The empathy generated when the Holocaust is seen from a child’s point of view lends a profound power to this subgenre of the larger Holocaust literature and promotes a deep understanding of what might well be the darkest period in the history of mankind.        

Families being forced to leave the ghettos in which they previously dwelled to be transported to the concentration camps.

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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Lessons Taught Through the Lost Vo ice of a Ch i ld

   

“An image came into my mind of two boys sitting on either side of a fence. I knew they had been taken away from their homes and friends and brought, separately, to a terrible place. Neither of them knew what they were doing there, but I did, and it was the story of these two boys that I wanted to tell…

It’s the responsibility of the [Holocaust] writer to uncover as much emotional truth within that desperate landscape as he possible can. The lost voices must continue to be recounted. For they represent the ones who didn’t live to tell their stories themselves.” ~ John Boyne, Author’s Note, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

When John Boyne set out to write The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, he felt inspired, indeed compelled, to tell a story about the Holocaust. It was a story about two young boys, from different backgrounds and places, yet who both paid the ultimate price for the evil and hatred of their time. This tale was too important to remain untold. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a work of fiction written in the omniscient third person point of view, from the perspective of its protagonist, Bruno, a nine-year-old German boy and son of the newly appointed commander of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. When Bruno’s father is assigned to this prestigious position by Adolf Hitler himself, the family must leave their home in Berlin and move to a house on the outskirts of the camp. Initially distressed and lonely for the company of friends in his new surroundings, Bruno eventually makes the acquaintance of Shmuel, a nine-year-old Jewish inmate of Auschwitz. Although separated by the fence that surrounds the camp, the boys form a fast friendship that deepens as they secretly rendezvous at the fence nearly every afternoon for the next year. The story reaches a poignant and shocking climax when one day, in an effort to help Shmuel search for his father who has gone missing, Bruno sneaks into the compound, disguised in a pair of striped pajamas, the garb that all the inmates wear. As the boys walk together in the camp, the soldiers abruptly round up all inmates in the vicinity, sending them on a forced march. Shmuel and Bruno are swept up in a sea of people and are unknowingly led straight into the gas chamber. The door is slammed shut and there is a gasp from the crowd, but the boys remain naïve to the situation they are in. They are put to death hand in hand, oblivious to the atrocity befalling them.

Boyne considers his work an “introduction” to the topic of the Holocaust and so it is a fitting way to commence a study of Holocaust literature. Rather than addressing the front line violence, chaos, and trauma of this period, this book instead speaks to the simple and basic kernels of malice which over a lifetime can gain strength and ultimately result in the type of inhumanity of man towards his fellow man so emblematic of the Holocaust. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is an imaginary tale with a profound message, a fable with an invaluable moral. The innocence, naïveté, and inexperience of a child have great potential to provide insight into the Holocaust and clarify its tragic enormity, and Boyne’s work exploits this fact. Through the unique perspective offered by a child’s voice, the novel teaches a lesson that is twofold: First, the story demonstrates how the natural tendency of a child, that by which his inborn moral compass is set, is to be accepting of others, to see points of commonality rather than difference, to seek affiliation and connection with others regardless of differences in race, ethnicity, or

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religion. The contrast created when the Holocaust is considered against this backdrop brings into sharp focus the fact that the prejudice spawned by the indoctrination of Nazi propaganda was the seed from which the wide-scale human tragedy of the Holocaust was planted and sown. Second, the book demonstrates that naïveté, whether the result of inexperience or denial, can lead to a blind trust and unquestioning obedience that can be dangerous, in fact fatal. The innocence of the novel’s protagonist leads to his heartbreaking death. Much in this way, the unwavering loyalty of Hitler’s followers and the blind eye that the world turned towards the Nazis were what allowed the perpetration of the Holocaust. The lesson the story delivers is empowered by its presentation through the eyes of a child.

The ingenuous point of view, voice, and linguistic style of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas allow the reader to identify with Bruno and to have an intimate connection with his thought process and way of perceiving the world. The point of view of the narrative is limited to Bruno’s consciousness for the majority of the novel, allowing the reader to understand the circumstances from a child’s perspective. This creates a stark contrast to reality, which serves to intensify the atrocity and heinousness of the Holocaust. Seeing the circumstances through a child’s eyes facilitates the novel’s teaching of its important lessons. Boyne uses a number of techniques and literary devices to create identification and empathy with a child’s point of view. For example, the narrative is written in simplistic child-like language, which fits with Bruno’s overly simplistic way of explaining the circumstances he encounters. This gives the story a certain childlike innocence and reminds the reader of the purity inherent to childhood. One of the most pervasive devices used in the narrative is Bruno’s repeated mispronunciation of key words. He says “Fury” for “Führer” and “Out-With” for “Auschwitz.” These mispronunciations remind the reader of the simplistic way that children try to make sense of that which they do not understand. And, their associated double meanings also lend depth to the text. Similarly, Bruno refers to the prison uniforms worn by the camp inmates as “striped pajamas.” It is almost as if his mind cannot conceive of the reality that is taking place right next door to his home, so he constructs his own explanation of his mysterious neighbors, assuming that for some unknown reason their community has the custom of dressing in comfortable garb. When Bruno finally gets his first close-hand view of the camp, he is surprised to find that it is not like the idyllic village of his boyhood home in Berlin, as he assumed it to be. “In his imagination he had thought that all the huts were full of happy families…He thought that all the boys and girls who lived here would be in different groups, playing tennis or football, skipping and drawing out squares for hopscotch on the ground. He had thought that there would be a shop in the centre, and maybe a small café like the ones he had known in Berlin” (Boyne 207). Bruno cannot admit into his consciousness the horrible things that happen in the camp just a short distance from his house, despite the fact that he has many clues that it is a dark place. Instead, he constructs a vision of the camp that borders on a fantasyland fit for a fairy tale.

The overarching style and perspective of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, couched in simplicity and innocence, creates a contrast that heightens the heinousness of the Holocaust and intensifies the severity of its injustices. Explaining atrocity in the context of atrocity can lessen the intensity of the experience because we become desensitized to its traumatic nature. However, juxtaposing something so horrible next to the background of a child’s purity and innocence creates a point of contrast that serves to magnify the evil of the Holocaust. The enormity of this malevolence is sharply snapped into its proper perspective, arousing even greater anger and indignation. Extreme innocence viewed next to extreme evil shows how irrational and unnatural the Holocaust and its associated prejudices and bigotry were. For example, consider Bruno’s

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view of the Jews compared to that of Father, who dehumanizes the concentration camp inmates. Of them, Father tells Bruno, “’Those people … well, they’re not people at all,’” adding, “you have nothing whatsoever in common with them’”(Boyne 53). Father’s statement is sharply offset by Bruno’s natural curiosity about and compassion towards his Jewish neighbors. In fact, Bruno automatically sees them as “people” – people with whom he has, in fact, a great deal in common. Bruno’s instinctive sense of justice and compassion for others is seen time and time again in the story. For example, when Bruno witnesses the harsh treatment of Pavel, an inmate who serves as the family’s house servant, he is touched deeply, literally brought to tears (Boyne 149).

A child naturally sees beyond the differences that lead to discrimination, and instead notices commonality. For example, when Bruno discovers the camp, he wonders who the people there are, and why they are put there (Boyne 100). These simple questions are quite compelling in that they challenge Hitler’s arbitrary hatred of the Jews, not founded on any rational basis. Bruno also sees all people as equal and is genuinely perplexed by how the Jews and the Germans are so different in class and status. He simply cannot grasp what would differentiate one human being from another, since to him all people are essentially the same. When Bruno and Shmuel first meet, each finds the other’s name foreign and unusual, however despite the strangeness they initially feel towards one another, each decides the other’s name is appealing (Boyne 108). This stands in contrast to the way that adults tend to look at others who are different with suspicion and distaste.

The Holocaust was possible because Hitler and the Nazis were able to convince people that the Jews were different, that they were an inferior and dangerous people. The justification for the attempted annihilation of an entire race of people rested on this basic premise; however The Boy in the Striped Pajamas shows how on the deepest level people are all the same, with the same feelings, needs, and desires. A child’s honesty is a powerful vehicle to tell the world how wrong the Holocaust was. If all Germans had been in touch with the clarity afforded by a child’s unadulterated view of the world, then it may well have been impossible for Hitler to perpetrate the atrocities of the Holocaust, since in order to carry them out he had to indoctrinate his followers to accept his malicious view of the Jews. As Bruno puts on the “costume” of a Jew, he is almost immediately treated like one; Bruno himself was no different just because he had donned the pajamas, yet he was treated differently because he was seen differently.

In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the theme of naïveté, whether due to inexperience or being shielded from the truth, plays a prominent role in defining the story. Bruno is completely ignorant to Father’s position and the heinous obligations required of his father’s job (Boyne 89). Some, including Boyne himself, have asserted that the world’s apparent indifference to the Holocaust was in fact due to a complete ignorance of what had taken place in the concentration camps, for when they were liberated by the Allied Forces, the world was shocked and appalled at what had happened in those dark places. Denial, which can give the appearance of indifference, is also a prominent theme in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Bruno has some glimpses into the reality of the situation that surrounds him, but he seems unable to allow the facts to penetrate his consciousness. When Mother is distraught about the family’s impending move to Auschwitz, Bruno does not understand her distress and furthermore seems to not want to understand it. “Bruno didn’t know what she meant by that, so he pretended she didn’t say it at all” (Boyne 14). This situation is too much for Bruno to handle, so he lapses into denial and indifference. Or, consider how Bruno is trained to salute, imitating his father’s example, but completely oblivious to the ominous meaning of the words he utters: “‘Heil Hitler,’ he said, which, he presumed, was another way of saying, ‘Well, goodbye for now, have a pleasant afternoon’” (Boyne 54).

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Bruno’s inability to appreciate the circumstances that surround him may well symbolically represent the denial and apparent indifference shown by the world towards Holocaust victims. This is a central message of Boyne’s story: Naïveté, whether through inexperience or being shielded from the truth, leads to blind trust and a false sense of security that can be extremely dangerous. The naïveté of a child is representative of the naïveté of nations and the adult society in general.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a story about a touching friendship between two nine-year-old boys who come from different places and live in different circumstances, yet who have so much in common. Boyne’s highly effective use of a child’s point of view creates a contrast that puts the atrocity of the Holocaust into sharp perspective. The book highlights a child’s natural tendencies to be open and accepting of others, to see points of similarity rather than difference, and to seek connection and affiliation with others, regardless of superficial dissimilarities. Furthermore, this work demonstrates how, regardless of its origin, naïveté – whether of an individual or a nation – can have tragic consequences. Although children are often marginalized in society, they have a lot to teach the adult world. Bruno’s life was sacrificed, but his legacy was a profound and invaluable lesson, available to anyone with the willingness to receive it. The characters in this novel are fictional, but certainly they represent real-life counterparts. Bruno’s experience is a microcosm of that of nations. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not simply a story with an interesting plot -- it is a fable that dispenses a moral to its readership: If you build an enterprise based on hatred of your fellow man, your creation will ultimately destroy you yourself. Analysis of this novel is an apt starting point in the study of children’s voices in Holocaust literature because it offers a broad philosophical perspective on the matter. It focuses on the deep issues that are the essence upon which this crime against humanity was based. The novel teaches that the power of a child’s point of view should not be overlooked by adults, who so often take the attitude that children are to be seen and not heard. In this story, father ultimately “hears” Bruno loud and clear, but sadly it takes Bruno’s destruction for this to occur. Perhaps that is the ultimate message of this book, that the destruction of the Holocaust itself could be what ultimately saves mankind from repeating this cataclysm, but only if it is understood through the legacy of testimony. The shocking climax of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas occurs in a sudden and swift confluence of events so jarring and disturbing that it leaves the reader almost dumbfounded, like an unexpected punch in the stomach that takes a person’s wind away. Bruno sneaks under the fence and enters the camp. He is disguised in striped pajamas that Shmuel has brought him. His head is freshly shaven because Father had thought this was the most expedient remedy for a recent infestation of lice in the family’s household. As Bruno and Shmuel walk through the camp, they are suddenly swept in a sea of confusion into a throng of human beings marched into the gas chamber. The young boys are led like lambs to the slaughter, unaware of their dreadful imminent fate until their last moments on earth, but nonetheless bonded closely in the fellowship they feel for one another.

Bruno receives the outfit that allows him to enter the camp unnoticed.

 

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“Bruno took hold of Shmuel’s tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly. ‘You’re my best friend, Shmuel,’ he said. ‘My best friend for life.’

Shmuel may well have opened his mouth to say something back, but Bruno never heard it because at that moment there was a loud gasp from all the marchers who had filled the room, as the door at the front was suddenly closed and a loud metallic sound rang through from the outside.

Bruno raised an eyebrow, unable to understand the sense of all this, but he assumed that it had something to do with keeping the rain out and stopping people from catching colds.

And then the room went very dark and somehow, despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel’s hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go” (Boyne 213).

 

The young Jewish prisoner, Shmuel, whom Bruno befriends. Bruno looking in despair as his new friend, Shmuel, details life on his side of the fence that separates them.

New friends, Bruno and Shmuel, play a game of checkers, looking past the differences in their physical appearances.

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The Diary of Anne Frank: The Sp i r i t o f a Young G i r l

“This is a remarkable book. Written by a young girl – and the young

are not afraid of telling the truth – it is one of the wisest and most moving commentaries on war and its impact on human beings that I have ever read.”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt, Introduction to The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank is said to be the most widely read piece of Holocaust literature in existence. This personal journal has had a profound impact on its readership since it was penned by teenager Anne Frank. This impact has been magnified by the presentation of Frank’s diary in the form of a dramatic production. It was adapted for the stage, as an original play of the same title, by the team of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The play had its debut in 1955 and won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1997, it was revived in a new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman, who received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play. The play enhances and extends the influence of the book in two ways: First, the play’s characters are portrayed in a manner that allows the audience to connect intimately with each and to experience great empathy with not just the characters on stage, but also with the countless other Jews they represent. Second, beyond the dialogue through which the plot of the play unfolds, Kesselman employs dramatic techniques and devices that very effectively create a constant awareness that the story is being told through the voice of a young girl. Through Anne’s own words, the audience gains direct insight into her extraordinary and determined spirit – one that, quite remarkably, was neither degraded nor compromised by the horrible circumstances of the war that ultimately took her life.

The piece is set in Amsterdam, Holland, in July of 1942, just three weeks after Anne Frank’s thirteenth birthday. Anne has been given a diary as a birthday present, and in it she documents the events that unfold around her as she chronicles her deepest thoughts and feelings. The Frank family consists of Anne, her 16-year-old sister Margot, and her parents Otto and Edith. Jews originally from Germany, the Franks had moved to Holland in 1933 to escape the growing oppression they experienced at the hands of the Nazis in Germany. After the Nazi invasion and German occupation of Holland beginning in 1940, the situation there deteriorated for the Jews and the Franks eventually decided to go into hiding. It is at this point that the play begins. The family secretly moves into the upper floors of a secret annex apartment adjoining the office building which houses Otto Frank’s business. The Franks share these quarters with the family of Otto Frank’s business partner Hermann van Daan, Hermann’s wife Petronella, and their 16-year-old son Peter, as well as a local dentist, Mr. Dussel, Jews who have all gone into hiding for the same reasons as the Franks. The occupants of the annex have suffered increasing persecution and threat from the Nazis and have reached a point of fearing for their lives, prompting them to go into hiding. They are helped by Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler, Christian employees of Otto Frank who risk their own lives to aid the occupants of the annex, serving as their lifeline to the outside world, and providing food, supplies, and news

The annex above Otto Frank’s office in which the Franks, the van Daans, and Mr. Dussel hid.  

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of the war while the Jewish families are in hiding. The secret annex is dark and cramped, almost claustrophobic. All doors and windows must remain sealed. During the hours of operation of the adjacent factory, the annex occupants must remain completely silent, walking in stocking feet only, unable to use running water or flush the toilet, so that none of the factory workers become suspicious of their presence. Their only connections to the outside world are through the regular visits of Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler and via a radio that they have in their possession. The Franks, the van Daans and Mr. Dussel remain in hiding for nearly two years.

The majority of the play occurs in this time frame, allowing the audience to gain a close view into the challenges that the characters must face in coping with their difficult situation. Tensions in the annex run high, and its occupants live in constant fear that they will be discovered and meet a terrible fate. While in hiding, the characters are aware of the situation that transpires in the outside world, and they are terrified at the news of Hitler’s efforts to annihilate the Jews throughout Europe. Nearly two years after they have come to the secret annex, with the stress level seeming to have reached a climax, Miep arrives with the news the characters have longed to hear: the allied forces have invaded Europe and their liberation may be likely imminent. The occupants of the annex are elated. They experience their first real worry-free day since their ordeal began, and joyfully they look to the future with great anticipation. Tragically, the peacefulness of that day is abruptly shattered when Gestapo forces break into the annex, savage screams on their lips. The annex occupants are rounded up and swept out at gunpoint in a whirlwind of jarring confusion. It is assumed that the characters’ whereabouts have been revealed to the Gestapo by an informant, perhaps a worker in the factory. The play’s final scene occurs right after the annex occupants are taken away. Otto Frank, the only one of the annex’s eight occupants to have survived, returns to the hiding spot. He delivers a moving monologue in which he describes the fate of the other occupants, each of whom has met a horrific demise at the hands of the Nazis, who went on a frenetic mass killing spree as their defeat drew near. Otto Frank stands, alone, clutching Anne’s diary. It is the diary that he refers to as he delivers the moving last line of the play, “All that remains.” The production closes with the words from the diary projected onto the stage, ceiling and walls of the theatre.

The dialogue that constitutes the core of the play portrays the ordinary, almost mundane existence of the characters. This has the effect of making the characters very real. The audience sees that these are people very much like any others, subject to the same wishes and behaving in a manner that is familiar and predictable. Far from being the aberrant and sinister figures that Hitler would have the world believe the Jews were, the audience sees that these are ordinary people, much like any others, including themselves. There are numerous examples in which the audience sees the characters trying desperately to maintain some semblance of the normal life they had before going into hiding. The occupants of the annex are often unable to access fresh or varied food supplies, at one point eating pickles, kale and rotten potatoes for weeks on end. However, despite this hardship, meals are prepared daily, the table is set, and they all come together to eat. Every effort is made for the children to continue their schoolwork, tutored by Mr. Frank. In an especially memorable scene, the occupants celebrate Hanukkah, using a menorah Mr. van Daan has carved out of a block of wood. Anne surprises everyone by her ingenuity and thoughtful imaginativeness as she presents each person with a gift that she has crafted from found objects and meager supplies. The two married couples in the group bicker on occasion, around things that spouses often disagree about. As parents, they are desperately worried for the health and safety of their children.

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In particular, Anne is portrayed as a normal and typical young girl. Despite the terrible situation she is in, her development as a young teen proceeds in a very normal and familiar manner. She develops a crush on Peter, visiting him in his room wearing her first pair of high-heeled shoes, provided by courtesy of a thoughtful Miep Gies. The play teaches that the victims of the Holocaust were fallible and imperfect. It demonstrates clearly that the Jews were real, thinking and feeling human beings, with the same needs, desires, and hopes as anyone else. It teaches that all people share a universal humanity, a notion in direct opposition to the propaganda and dogmatism of Hitler and the Nazis. This presentation of the play’s main characters makes the ending of the piece even more jarring. When the audience learns of the ultimate fate of the characters, there is a sense of almost personal loss.

Kesselman employs a number of dramatic and literary devices that amplify the impact of the play. There are frequent points in which highly contrasting elements are placed in direct juxtaposition. For example, consider the point where Anne’s elation at the first kiss she and Peter have shared is placed directly before a radio voiceover of the Netherlands SS Chief announcing the mandated cleansing of the Jews from German-occupied regions. Or, the very powerful moment in which Anne’s famous quote is delivered, again via voiceover, just moments before she is discovered by the Gestapo. The audience hears, “It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, people are truly good at heart” (Kesselman 61). With barely the last word uttered, the Gestapo officer emits a piercing, almost barbaric scream, “RAUS!! … SCHNELL!!” (Kesselman 61). The juxtaposition of these elements heightens the horrible nature of the victimization that occurs. Similarly, Kesselman uses the device of foreshadowing to enhance the impact of the production. For example, near the end of the play, Anne engages in a soliloquy in which she recounts a recent nightmare about the demise of her close friend Hanneli. Her usual state of emotional denial and guardedness is momentarily dropped and she says, “What will we do if we’re … no, I mustn’t write that down. But the question won’t go away. It looms before me in total absolute horror” (Kesselman 59). This is followed directly by a radio broadcast of Mahler’s Kindertotenleider (Songs on the Death of Children), foreshadowing the horror that is soon to fall upon the occupants of the annex. Finally, Kesselman incorporates frequent voiceovers into the text of the play. In many of these, Anne Frank’s disembodied voice is heard reading from her diary. This gives the audience direct insight into Anne’s deepest and most private thoughts and feelings, almost lending a sense that the audience can read her mind. This technique creates a very close understanding of Anne Frank, one that highlights the resiliency of her spirit. And, it serves as a frequent reminder of the basis on which the play was created and of the fact that the play presents a view into the events from Anne’s unique perspective. At other times, Anne “breaks the fourth wall” and addresses the audience directly, acting as a narrator. Again, this serves as a highly effective reminder that the narrative proceeds from Anne’s point of view.

Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of Goodrich and Hackett’s play The Diary of Anne Frank is a powerful presentation of what is often considered the most famous piece of Holocaust literature. This dramatic production provides an intimate view into the day-to-day existence of its Jewish characters, enabling the audience to appreciate just how much they were like any other people. A strong sense of empathy and connection, both to the play’s characters and to the countless other Jews they represent, is created. In addition, Kesselman very effectively uses a number of literary and dramatic devices and techniques to intensify the impact of the work. Perhaps the most lasting message of the play is this: While the Nazis were able to murder

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millions, they could not annihilate the Jewish people as a whole. For, while they forced Anne and the others into hiding and brought about their eventual demise, they were unable to quell her inner spirit or silence her powerful voice. Both live on in the compelling testimony of her diary.

Anne Frank, age 15, photographed shortly before her incarceration by the Nazis.

Anne Frank’s diary.

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The Poetry of Terez in : Ch i l d ren ’s L i ves Robbed of Hope

Between the end of World War I and the execution of the Final Solution, the Nazi regime utilized many devices to carry out its systematic persecution of the Jews. In those years, the road that led ultimately to the gas chambers was paved with other stops along the way: the denial of civil rights brought about by the Nuremberg Laws, the destruction of property and places of worship in the state-sponsored pogrom of Kristallnacht, a persistent campaign of propaganda designed to promote the public perception of the dominance of the Aryan race. A critical act in the process leading up to the Holocaust was the segregation of the Jews, removing them from their previously well-integrated positions in European society in an effort to leave Europe populated by a pure Aryan race. This segregation was largely accomplished by deporting Jews to ghettos, communities that served to isolate them from the surrounding general population. Between 1941 and 1945, one such ghetto was created when the Nazis took control of the small town of Terezin, nestled in the spot where the Elbe River joins with the Ohre in Czechoslovakia.

In the years following World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire collapsed and the Republic of Czechoslovakia was created. The country experienced tensions among the myriad minority groups that lived there, and Hitler exploited this first by gaining control of the German-speaking border region called the Sudetenland, and later by conquering the remaining Czech lands, establishing a protectorate there. Terezin was a walled city and fortress built in the late 18th century by the Hapsburg emperor Joseph II, and the Nazis considered it an ideal location for a ghetto. Under the control of the Gestapo, Terezin became a location for segregating and concentrating Jews from Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Terezin, or Theresienstadt in German, was first a ghetto, and later a transit camp – a way station en route to the ultimate destination of the killing centers. Conditions in the camp were dire. Inmates were compelled to provide forced labor and endure a starvation diet. Even the smallest of transgressions was punishable by death. The small town was intended for 6,000 occupants but at times housed a population of 50,000.

Beyond the overcrowding, the conditions at Terezin were unhygienic, and sweeping epidemics of fatal disease were common. Although it was one of many such places in Europe during the Nazi regime, what was unique about Terezin was that it was presented by the Nazis as a “show camp,” a place designed to trick the world by hiding the horrific conditions that its inhabitants were forced to endure. Terezin was labeled by the Nazi propaganda machine as a camp for Jews of privilege – special cases such as intellectuals, artists of all sorts, Jews married to Aryans, or war veterans. It was described as “the Führer’s gift to the Jews.” Hitler and his regime maintained the mistruth that Terezin was an idyllic place where Jews were treated humanely. A Jewish Council of Elders, a body which ostensibly governed the camp, was created. In reality, the Nazis issued orders daily that council members were forced to follow blindly or else risk severe punishment. The threat of transport to the death camps was constant and hung over the inhabitants of Terezin like an ominous black cloud. Through the perspective of an outsider, life in Terezin appeared to be one of contentment and privilege, even happiness, but to those detained in the camp, it was like living a nightmare.

Initially, inmates of Terezin were forbidden from engaging in cultural or artistic endeavors, but eventually the Nazis took advantage of their prisoners’ special talents. For example, in 1944, yielding to pressure following the deportation of Danish Jews to Terezin and

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mounting reports world-wide about the mistreatment of the Jews, the Germans allowed representatives of both the Danish Red Cross and the International Red Cross to inspect the camp. Shortly before the visit, large numbers of inmates were transported out of the ghetto to address its overcrowding, and a program of beautification took place in order to deceive the inspectors. Buildings were renovated, gardens planted, and cultural events such as artistic and musical exhibitions were staged during the visit, in an act of propaganda designed to fool the world. Once the inspection was concluded, conditions at Terezin rapidly declined to their previous atrocious state.

Between 1942 and 1944, some 150,000 Jews were sent to Terezin. Of those, 33,000 died in the camp itself due to the harsh conditions there, and 88,000 were sent on to killing centers where they met their demise. Of those imprisoned in Terezin, 15,000 were children. And of those children, less than 100 survived. Although they were forbidden from doing so, most of the children at Terezin were schooled, secretly taught by the adults there, who in doing so defied camp rules at considerable risk to all involved. To the thousands of children abruptly plucked from their homes and transported to the Terezin ghetto, writing short stories and poems was one way to express their feelings and temporarily escape from the harsh reality of their circumstances. At the time when these works were written, it is unlikely that their child authors conceived of them as someday being published for the world to read. However, unlike most of their creators, the poems of Terezin survived, found in a hidden cache of writings recovered at the end of World War II. Very little information is available about the authors of the poetry. In many cases, the most that is known is the author’s name, age, and ultimate fate, mostly deportation to the death camps such as Auschwitz or Treblinka. However, through their writings, the voices of these children live on, bearing witness to what they and so many others endured. As the motto of the artists of Terezin states, “I live as long as I create.” It is as if the poems reveal the truth about Terezin, a truth that the Nazis went to great lengths to hide from the world. But, beyond this legacy, the poems offer a unique view into a child’s perspective and way of coping with trauma. They offer a frank and honest appraisal of a horrible situation – one that is at some times filled with hope and optimism and at others racked with despair and anguish. The impact of these poems is heightened by the knowledge readily available to the reader that their authors virtually always met an untimely and wholly unjustified death.

Perhaps one of the most famous poems retrieved from Terezin is one written by a seventeen year old Czechoslovakian Jew named Pavel Friedmann just weeks after his arrival there on April 6, 1942. On September 29, 1944 Friedmann was deported to Auschwitz where he perished. The work, written on a thin piece of copy paper, is entitled simply, The Butterfly. The complete verse is as follows:

The last, the very last, So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow. Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing against a white stone… Such, such a yellow Is carried lightly ‘way up high It went away I’m sure because it wished to kiss the world good-bye. For seven weeks I’ve lived in here, Penned up inside this ghetto. But I have found what I love here.

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The dandelions call to me. And the white chestnut branches in the court. Only I never saw another butterfly. That butterfly was the last one. Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

The work consists of four stanzas, of three and six lines each and is written in an open

form. Overall, it reflects Friedmann’s experience of living in Terezin, his characterization of that place as one void of hope, as well as his attempts to cope with his surroundings and life in the ghetto. The poem’s opening stanzas describe a vivid, almost brilliantly yellow butterfly, ascending into the sky, drifting away from the speaker. The butterfly is recognized across cultures as a universal symbol of hope. Yellow symbolizes joy and delight, although in this context yellow is also associated with the Star of David marked Jude that Jews were required to wear to publicize their ethnic identity. As such, it is ironic that the butterfly in this poem is yellow. The speaker appears to be reflecting on how his own sense of hope has left him. This section of the poem may represent Friedmann’s life and that of the Jews more generally prior to Terezin and the more general culture of persecution that German Jewry was subjected to. Prior to that time, Friedmann’s life was one of brightness and light, of hope and happiness, a stark contrast to his new reality. The speaker states however, that the butterfly has left, “It went away I’m sure because it wished to kiss the world good-bye.” This might reflect Friedmann’s sense that the end of his own life was near. Through the honest simplicity of a child, it appears that Friedmann was sure of the fate that awaited him. The speaker acknowledges that he is losing hope in his earthly life, and perhaps looking forward to death as a form of release.

In the next stanza, the poem’s longest of seven lines the speaker turns his attention to the present reality of the camp where he is imprisoned. The use of the words “penned up” in this context reflect a sense of confinement, invoking an image of cattle tightly herded in an enclosed space, representative of the crowded conditions in Terezin. However, in contrast to the loss of hope shown in the poem’s beginning, in this middle section evidence of the resilience and resourcefulness of a child is shown. “I have found what I love here,” reflecting his efforts to cope with his surroundings. The speaker states that he has found happiness in nature’s simplest gifts – a chestnut tree, or even the dandelions, the latter being weeds considered by some a nuisance to be destroyed, but ironically to the speaker a thing that “calls to” him. This stanza concludes with the speaker’s poignant statement, “Only I never saw another butterfly.” With this simple statement, the reader is confronted with the harsh reality that hope does not exist in the ghetto.

The concluding stanza of the poem, written from an omniscient point of view, reiterates that the butterfly referred to in the poem’s opening, the one that has drifted away, is in fact the last one to ever exist in the ghetto. This stanza reflects the notion that hope cannot survive in the ghetto. In this stanza, the speaker’s frame of mind seems to move back to the perspective taken in the poem’s opening lines. Looking at the poem as a whole, the speaker’s fading innocence of youth can be seen. It is as if the speaker is revealing how he has been forced to grow up all too fast, to confront miseries and indignations that no child should ever experience. The Butterfly shows clearly the hopelessness felt by children in Terezin.

Another of the Terezin poems is called The Garden, written by 11 year old Franta Bass, a young boy who was deported to Terezin in 1941 and who died in Auschwitz in 1944. It is a short piece, but it has a powerful impact nonetheless. The full work is as follows:

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A little garden, Fragrant and full of roses. The path is narrow And a little boy walks along it. A little boy, a sweet boy, Like that growing blossom. When the blossom comes to bloom, The little boy will be no more.

In this poem, Bass may well be writing about himself. In the first stanza, the speaker, who appears to be watching the action from afar, describes a small, likely simple, rose garden, passed by a little boy walking along an adjacent path. The rose is considered in many cultures to be a symbol of love and beauty. One can easily imagine an innocent young boy strolling by the garden, partaking of its pleasant aroma. In the second stanza, the speaker refers to the boy’s sweetness, and compares him to a growing rosebud. It seems that both have great potential. However, as the poem comes to its closing lines, it is revealed that the flower and the young boy are, sadly, destined for very different things. The rosebud will live on, developing normally, blooming into a flower, but sadly the boy will experience a most unnatural death, cut down in his prime. The haunting last line of the poem states that – “the little boy will be no more” – described this way, it is as if the boy will vanish into thin air, the reader left to imagine what happened to him. It begs the question as to how much Bass knew about the death camps, the gas chambers, the crematoria. This short but poignant poem with its jarring ending, would seem to suggest that Bass intuitively knew of the horrible fate that awaited him. It is as if Bass was devoid of hope, resigned to the terrible fate that awaited him. Another poem written by Bass shows at once both the resignation he must have felt regarding his fate, but also his determination to remain loyal to his Jewish identity. The poem, entitled I am a Jew, reads:

I am a Jew and will be a Jew forever. Even if I should die from hunger, never will I submit. I will always fight for my people, on my honor. I will never be ashamed of them, I give my word. I am proud of my people, how dignified they are. Even though I am suppressed, I will always come back to life.

This two-stanza poem conveys a powerful message: that despite being resigned to the fact that he and other Jews will likely lose their physical lives, that their oppressors cannot rob them of their honor, pride, and dignity. The opening line of the work is one of defiance. As the first stanza continues, the speaker asserts that even if the harsh conditions he is subjected to kill him, he will not forsake his cultural identity as a Jew, and his inner will cannot be broken. He pledges his loyalty to his fellow Jews – “I give my word” – and shows the fellowship he feels for them. In the second stanza, the speaker shows his ability to see that despite the degradation and humiliation his people have been made to endure, that they are “dignified” and strong. He declares, defiantly, “I am proud of my people.” In the poem’s closing statement – “I will always

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come back to life” -- the speaker’s assertion is again defiant. Bass’s message seems to be that even though the Nazis had cost so many their lives, they would not be successful in their goal of annihilating the Jewish race. The Jewish people would live on.

The confinement of Jews in the ghettos of the Holocaust era was a significant step towards the ultimate goal of annihilating the Jewish race. It was critical milestone along the bleak path to destruction. Ghettos such as Terezin served as way stations of sorts, places between the comfort, stability, and happiness of home and a previously normal life, and the horrible final destination of the death camps. Terezin was a place of uncertainty and fear for all who entered its walls, but particularly so for the 15,000 children who inhabited this awful place. Some of them found solace in the poetic expression of their terror and anguish. It was a way to channel their anxiety and cope with their gradually evolving understanding of the horrible fate that awaited them. It is a form of communication to the world, left behind in a hidden legacy that transcends even death. As an artistic medium, poetry has the capacity to stir a reader’s emotion. As such, children’s poetry such as The Butterfly recovered from Terezin after its liberation has a deep capacity to convey to the world the inner emotional experience of these youngest victims of the Holocaust.

An artistic interpretation of “The Butterfly.”

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“The Lemon” by Arnost Lust ig : Vo ices of Ch i ld ren Cop ing w i th Traumat ic Gr ief and Loss

The Holocaust is a phenomenon that raises myriad questions. Scholars often seek to

document and analyze the sociopolitical events that would allow such a travesty to occur. However, equally compelling are questions which examine the human psyche and how an individual, in particular a child, would be able to endure the psychological trauma experienced by those persecuted in the Holocaust. The study of literature, especially works by authors who were child victims of the Holocaust, offers a unique window into this type of inquiry. The thoughts and behaviors of characters created by authors who were also victims have an enhanced ability to shed light on these psychological factors. Thus the examination of historically accurate Holocaust fiction allows insight into the human impact of the tragedy of mass destruction. The short story can lend it well to this type of literary analysis, as it tends to center around a particular self-contained event and is designed to evoke a certain mood. Arnost Lustig’s short story, “The Lemon,” focuses on the theme of coping with death during the Holocaust. Three of its central characters are children, and their voices allow an understanding of the ways in which a child can be impacted by and deal with the trauma of grief and loss, particularly the loss of a parent. The child characters in “The Lemon” all experience enormously painful psychological trauma. A close analysis of their behaviors and thoughts, reflected in both internal and external dialogue, reveals their deep mental suffering and turmoil, as well as the ways in which they attempt to cope with circumstances that no child should ever endure. As such, the voices through which the story is told provide a rich and intimate understanding of the emotional trauma suffered by child victims of the Holocaust.

Born in Prague in 1926, award-winning writer Arnost Lustig was a Jewish boy living in Czechoslovakia during World War II. In 1942, at the age of 16, he was sent to the Terezin ghetto, then to Auschwitz, where both of his parents perished, and later Buchenwald. In 1945 while on a freight train transporting Jews to Dachau, Lustig was able to escape when the engine was destroyed by an American fighter-bomber. He returned to Prague. After the war ended, he studied journalism at Charles University in Czechoslovakia. Lustig worked as a journalist in Israel, where he met his wife, Vera Weislitzova, who had also been imprisoned in the Terezin ghetto. Lustig became renowned for his literary works, including a number of novels, short stories, and plays, which often focus on the Holocaust.

Lustig wrote the historically accurate short story, “The Lemon,” based on his real life experiences in the concentration camps. The story is told through the perspective of a narrator with limited omniscience. It is set in the Lodz ghetto, two years after the protagonist, Ervin, and his family have been deported there. The narrative contains a balance of overt dialogue spoken between various characters, commentary from the narrator, and interior monologue reflecting Ervin’s inner thoughts and memories around his father. The story begins in medias res, as Ervin, the story’s protagonist, approaches his friend Chicky with a worn pair of trousers, demanding that Chicky find out what the trousers can be traded for. Chicky is a street-smart boy who will serve as the middleman in the deal. It is later revealed that the trousers belonged to Ervin’s father, who has just died, seemingly from tuberculosis. Ervin’s sister, Miriam is gravely ill with the same symptoms as their father, and she is lingering on the edge of life. In a desperate attempt to save his sister, Ervin has stripped the trousers off his father’s corpse, hoping to trade them for a lemon, which he believes will help Miriam survive. Chicky insists that it is unlikely that the

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pants will bring even a portion of a lemon, let alone a whole lemon, and asserts that if the boys are lucky, the pants will be cashed in for a piece of bread. Ervin urges Chicky to get the lemon, and then returns to his home to await Chicky’s return.

At Ervin’s home, the other characters, Miriam and Mother, are introduced. Miriam lies curled in a fetal position on a dirty mattress, critically ill and too weak to speak, plagued with an incessant cough. Mother lies next to Miriam on the mattress. She is also ill, and has been bedridden for weeks. The interactions of Mother and Ervin reveal a role reversal: Mother is week, dependant, and almost childlike in her incessant neediness, while Ervin has been thrust into the role of head of the family, responsible for ensuring the survival of its remaining members. A short time later, Chicky returns. The trousers have proven worth a hunk of bread but no more. Chicky splits the bread with Ervin, and Ervin gives the remaining half to Mother, who instead of gratitude expresses a suspicion that Ervin has taken more than his fair share of the loaf. Chicky cautiously hints around that his contact has suggested a way that the boys might obtain the lemon that Ervin so desperately needs: If Father’s teeth have any gold crowns, this would then be of sufficient value to be traded for a lemon. Ervin is at first so taken aback at this suggestion that he lashes out physically at Chicky and the boys engage in a brief fistfight. A crowd breaks them apart, and Ervin returns home. He settles himself and seems to realize that he must follow Chicky’s suggestion if there is to be any chance of obtaining the lemon for Miriam. After gathering his courage, he goes about the gruesome task of removing the one gold crown that is in the mouth of Father’s corpse. Ervin rushes to turn the crown over to Chicky and implores him to return quickly with the lemon. But even has he does so, both Ervin and Chicky seem to know deep inside that the lemon will not be gotten. The story ends as Ervin, awaiting Chicky’s return, breaks down and weeps for the first time since his father’s death.

The voices of the three child characters in “The Lemon,” have much to reveal about the emotional suffering and turmoil they face as well as their attempts to cope with their psychic pain. Analysis of these characters shows that they all suffer deeply and each attempts to cope in his or her own way. In a sense, the simplest character to analyze is Miriam. Hanging in the balance between life and death, her physical pain is almost palpable. However, her psychological pain is also clear. Her character does not utter one word in the entire story. Yet, it is precisely the absence of Miriam’s voice that conveys how she copes. Her silent voice shows that she is withdrawn from the material world, perhaps retreating into an inner world of fantasy. Her death seems imminent and as such she seems to move into a primitive, almost infant-like state as she lies in a fetal position facing the wall throughout the entire narrative. There are subtleties of the narrative that give glimpses into Miriam’s vulnerable emotional state. For example, the narrator comments on Ervin, stating, “From his sister’s bed he heard a stifled cough. (She’s probably ashamed of coughing by now)” (Lustig 192). And, aside from her persistent coughing, the only verbalization Miram makes is to shriek out reflexively when a mouse scurries over the bed where she lies. Even on the edge of death, the self-consciousness and reflexive pulling away from a scurrying rodent typical of a young adolescent girl is shown.

Chicky’s voice reveals much about his emotional distress and the manner in which he attempts to cope with it. Through the diction used to form his dialogue, Chicky is presented as a cocky and street-smart hustler. But, his words also reveal that he has suffered unspeakable trauma. For example, consider the passage: “’I haven’t got a dad or a mother even,’ Chicky said suddenly. A grin flickered. ‘That’s my tough luck. They went up the chimney long ago’” (181). Chicky uses humor, albeit black humor, to cope with the loss of his parents, killed in a most barbaric manner. Overtly, Chicky is tough, taking a strongly sarcastic and hostile tone with Ervin

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most of the time. However, Chicky also seems to know, in only the way that someone who has suffered the same deep emotional pain as Ervin, just how far he can push his friend and when he needs to tread lightly and respond with support. Chicky and Ervin are able to converse in incomplete sentences and shorthand phrases, yet understand each other fully. For example, consider the point in the story when, after the boy’s fistfight, Ervin returns with the gold crown he has pried from his father’s mouth:

“No hard feelings,” Chicky said. “I have it.” “I was sure you’d manage…” (194).

The misery that Chicky and Ervin share makes them perfectly attuned to each other as revealed by the dialogue between them.

The voice of Ervin, the central character in “The Lemon,” reveals much about his inner turmoil and efforts to cope. His overt spoken words are blunt, almost matter-of-fact, and are generally devoid of emotion – a style often typical of adolescent boys. He flatly states things such as “My dad died,” or “If [Miriam] doesn’t get a lemon, she’s finished” (178, 180). But yet the text that reflects Ervin’s inner thoughts shows how emotionally scarring his experiences have been. For example, as Ervin recalls stripping the trousers off his father’s corpse, he thinks, “His father’s body had begun to stiffen and it felt strange. He kept telling himself it was all right, that it didn’t matter. Instead, he kept reciting the alphabet and jingles. This was your father, a living person. And now he’s dead” (181). Despite his almost blasé tone as he speaks about his father’s death, Ervin’s inner thoughts show that he is so shaken that he can barely grasp what has happened and needs to distract himself with mindless mental tasks in order to keep his composure and stick to the gruesome task of handling his father’s dead body. In conversation with Chicky, Ervin presents himself as indifferent, almost cavalier, yet inside he is crumbling. The contrast between the diction and style of Ervin’s dialogue and the language of his inner thoughts reflects the psychological defense mechanisms that allow Ervin to cope with the terrible trauma he has to endure. Arnost Lustig was a gifted writer whose real life experiences in the Holocaust brought a striking authenticity to his work. His acclaimed short story, “The Lemon,” is focused on the theme of death. It portrays, in graphic detail, one type of psychological trauma that children suffered in the Holocaust, namely the loss of their parents. The voices of the child characters in this short story reveal in an intimate and palpable way both their inner anguish and their efforts to cope with almost unimaginable circumstances. The defense mechanisms at work within each of the characters are revealed in both spoken dialogue and inner thoughts. “The Lemon” is rich with nuances that reveal much about the suffering of children in the Holocaust. As such, it reflects one of the hallmarks of great literature, namely the ability to create empathy for the plight of others.

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Append ix A : B ib l i ography Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. New York: Random House, 2006. Children During the Holocaust. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Webpage.

www.ushmm.org. Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Bantam, 1952. Heberer, Patricia. Children During the Holocaust. Lanham, MD: Alta Mira Press, 2001. Kesselman, Nancy, Frances Goodrich, and Albert Hackett. The Diary of Anne Frank. New

York: Dramatists Play Service, 1997. Lustig, Arnost. “The Lemon,” in Children of the Holocaust. Evanston, IL: Northwestern

University Press, 1996, pp. 177-196. Sieminski, Inga Bunsch. Voices of Terezin: The Theresienstadt Ghetto, A Study Guide.

Accessed March 6, 2013 at www.american.edu/cas/terezin/upload/Terezin-study-guide.pdf.

The Holocaust: An Introductory History. Jewish Virtual Library. Webpage.

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/history. Thompson, Ruth. Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust. Somerville, MA: Candlewick, 2011.

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Append ix B : C i tat ions for Images

Page 1: http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/wlc/image/06/06546.jpg   Page 1: http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/jrFgBLDnQJU/mqdefault.jpg Page 2: http://library.thinkquest.org/12663/media/img/children.jpg Page 3: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/about/institute/images/children/152DO9_.jpg   Page 3: http://israelsmessiah.com/holocaust/children/tattoos.jpg Page 3: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3575/3461462649_94a1b68016.jpg   Page 5: https://pages.psdr3.org/groups/mswillensholocaustwiki/wiki/81b97/images/  82e2c.gif Page 9: http://ilarge.listal.com/image/3219369/936full-­‐the-­‐boy-­‐in-­‐the-­‐striped-­‐pajamas-­‐screenshot.jpg Page 10: http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/6115/776970_121.jpg   Page 10: http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/spotlights/2008/rtuk_news_boy.jpg   Page 10:http://images1.variety.com/graphics/photos/reviews/rstripedpajamas.jpg Page 11: http://www.inaresort.com/images/anne-­‐frank-­‐house-­‐amsterdam-­‐anne-­‐frank-­‐houseamsterdam-­‐attractionsamsterdam-­‐tourist-­‐information-­‐53665.jpg Page 14: http://www.thegalleryofheroes.com/wp-­‐content/uploads/2009/10/Anne-­‐Frank.jpg Page 14: http://www.ritewhileucan.com/wp-­‐content/uploads/2013/04/anne-­‐frank-­‐diary-­‐open.jpg Page 19: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/UKUfq9rScJ0/UJq_j44zGI/AAAAAAAAAv8/  Wn0V9EH8_T0/s1600/butterfly-­‐poster1.jpg