HOLOCAUST ATROCITIES

An overview that educates readers about the Nazis’ horrific efforts to eradicate Jews along with their targeting of Communists, the Roma, gay and disabled people, prisoners of war, and Polish civilians.

Nardo’s work is divided into a helpful introduction followed by five chapters: “Rise of the Nazi Death Camps,” “The Barest Existence,” “Processing Death,” “Resistance and Rebellion,” and “Downfall of the Camps and Liberation.” Quotes from eyewitnesses—such as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and an American soldier who helped liberate Buchenwald, as well as survivors of death camps, such as Edith Friedman Grosman, who said she believed she had survived because “one of us had to still be here to tell you what happened”—add vivid details about the appalling conditions. The author includes grim descriptions of the transit by train to the camps, the prisoners’ daily work schedule at Auschwitz, and the experiences of teenage Jewish girls who were kidnapped from Slovakia. The firsthand account of a German army officer and details about medical experiments done by Josef Mengele will have a strong impact on readers. Teens may be surprised to learn about the rebellions at Treblinka and Sobibor. Text boxes highlight quotations and provide additional context, supplementing the graphic archival photographs and adding to the immediacy of this short, accessible text. Nardo unfortunately repeats an outdated and offensive term for Roma people without providing sufficient context.

A powerful source for beginning to learn about the Holocaust.