Reading Lists
Anne Frank
Posted by Maria Harris on February 4, 2016
"While in hiding, Anne kept a diary in which she recorded her fears, hopes, and experiences. Found in the secret apartment after the family was arrested, the diary was kept for Anne by Miep Gies, one of the people who had helped hide the Franks. It was published after the war in many languages and is used in thousands of middle school and high school curricula in Europe and the Americas. Anne Frank has become a symbol for the lost promise of the children who died in the Holocaust." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Anti-Jewish Legislation
Posted by Maria Harris on February 10, 2016
"During the first six years of Hitler's dictatorship, from 1933 until the outbreak of war in 1939, Jews felt the effects of more than 400 decrees and regulations that restricted all aspects of their public and private lives... hundreds of individuals in all levels of government throughout the country were involved in the persecution of Jews as they conceived, discussed, drafted, adopted, enforced, and supported anti-Jewish legislation. No corner of Germany was left untouched." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Archives Unbound: Gale Research Databases
Posted by Maria Harris on March 14, 2017
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Collections in Archives Unbound cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Collections are chosen for Archives Unbound based on requests from scholars, archivists and students.
Archives Unbound databases are primary source digital collections provided by Gale. Digital collections are available for viewing on site at The Boniuk Library.
Bergen-Belsen
Posted by Maria Harris on February 5, 2016
"German military authorities established the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1940, in a location south of the small towns of Bergen and Belsen, about 11 miles north of Celle, Germany. Until 1943, Bergen-Belsen was exclusively a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. In April 1943 the SS Economic-Administration Main Office (SS Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt; WVHA) which administered the concentration camp system, took over a portion of Bergen-Belsen and converted it first into a civilian residence camp and, later, into a concentration camp." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Danish Rescuers
Posted by Maria Harris on January 27, 2016
"Denmark was the only occupied country that actively resisted the Nazi regime's attempts to deport its Jewish citizens. On September 28, 1943, Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, a German diplomat, secretly informed the Danish resistance that the Nazis were planning to deport the Danish Jews. The Danes responded quickly, organizing a nationwide effort to smuggle the Jews by sea to neutral Sweden. Warned of the German plans, Jews began to leave Copenhagen, where most of the almost 8,000 Jews in Denmark lived, and other cities, by train, car, and on foot. With the help of the Danish people, they found hiding places in homes, hospitals, and churches. Within a two-week period fishermen helped ferry some 7,200 Danish Jews and 680 non-Jewish family members to safety across the narrow body of water separating Denmark from Sweden." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
eBooks: The Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Posted by Maria Harris on March 14, 2017
This online encyclopedia spans the globe to explain the issues behind crimes against humanity and human rights issues as they relate to individual countries and the world at large. It traces the history of events that qualify as genocide and crimes against humanity, profiles perpetrators and heroes, and explains international laws and law proceedings aimed at ending genocide and crimes against humanity.
"The Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity" is an eBook provided by Gale. EBooks are available for viewing on site at The Boniuk Library.
eBooks: Understanding the Holocaust
Posted by Maria Harris on March 14, 2017
Ideal for middle school students, the "Understanding the Holocaust" series examines the people and events that lie at the heart of the Holocaust. With titles such as "Children of the Holocaust," "Holocaust Resistance" and "Nazi War Criminals,"students are sure to find answers to their research questions.
"Understanding the Holocaust" is a series of eBooks provided by Gale. EBooks are available for viewing on site at The Boniuk Library.
Eugenics
Posted by Maria Harris on January 27, 2016
"During the Third Reich, a politically extreme, antisemitic variation of eugenics determined the course of state policy. Hitler's regime touted the "Nordic race" as its eugenic ideal and attempted to mold Germany into a cohesive national community that excluded anyone deemed hereditarily 'less valuable' or 'racially foreign.' Public health measures to control reproduction and marriage aimed at strengthening the "national body" by eliminating biologically threatening genes from the population. Many German physicians and scientists who had supported racial hygiene ideas before 1933 embraced the new regime's emphasis on biology and heredity, the new career opportunities, and the additional funding for research." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Genealogy Resources - France
Posted by Maria Harris on February 17, 2016
Resources for studying genealogy and family history in France. Most resources are in French.
Genealogy Resources - General
Posted by Maria Harris on February 17, 2016
Resources for studying family history and genealogy at the Boniuk Library.
Genealogy Resources - Germany
Posted by Maria Harris on February 17, 2016
Resources for studying genealogy and family history in Germany. Resources available in both German and English.
Genealogy Resources - Lithuania
Posted by Maria Harris on February 17, 2016
Resources for studying genealogy and family history in Lithuania.
Genealogy Resources - Misc. Europe
Posted by Maria Harris on February 17, 2016
Resources for genealogy and family history research in the following countries: Belarus; Belgium; Czechoslovakia; Estonia; Greece; Hungary; Israel; Italy; Latvia; Moldova; Netherlands; Romania; Russia; Slovakia; Ukraine; United States.
Genealogy Resources - Poland
Posted by Maria Harris on February 17, 2016
Resources for studying genealogy and family history in Poland.
German Language Resources
Posted by Maria Harris on October 6, 2016
Books and audiovisual materials in the German language.
Germany: Moral and Ethical Aspects
Posted by Maria Harris on February 4, 2016
Provides information about the German people during World War II. Books in this list examine ethics, the bystander effect, and the lives of ordinary people before, during and after the war.
Holocaust Denial
Posted by Maria Harris on February 5, 2016
"Holocaust denial is an attempt to negate the established facts of the Nazi genocide of European Jewry. Key denial assertions are: that the murder of approximately six million Jews during World War II never occurred; that the Nazis had no official policy or intention to exterminate the Jews; and that the poison gas chambers in Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp never existed." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Holocaust Survivors of Houston
Posted by Maria Harris on February 5, 2016
Materials that contain information about Houston-area survivors of the Holocaust.
Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust
Posted by Maria Harris on January 29, 2016
"Nazi-sponsored persecution and mass murder fueled resistance to the Germans in the Third Reich itself and throughout occupied Europe. Although Jews were the Nazis' primary victims, they too resisted Nazi oppression in a variety of ways, both collectively and as individuals." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Juvenile Selections
Posted by Maria Harris on January 30, 2017
Of interest for students grades 4-8, these books go beyond research and provide narratives, fiction and nonfiction, about the Holocaust. This list may help students choose a book for an independent reading assignment.
Kindertransport
Posted by Maria Harris on February 5, 2016
"Kindertransport (Children's Transport) was the informal name of a series of rescue efforts which brought thousands of refugee Jewish children to Great Britain from Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1940." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Liberators
Posted by Maria Harris on February 8, 2016
"The liberating units encountered deplorable conditions in the camps, where malnutrition and disease were rampant, and corpses lay unburied. The soldiers reacted in shock and disbelief to the evidence of Nazi atrocities. In addition to burying the dead, the Allied forces attempted to help and comfort the survivors with food, clothing and medical assistance." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Minority Victims of the Holocaust
Posted by Maria Harris on January 29, 2016
"Although the Jews were their primary targets, the Nazis and their collaborators also persecuted other groups for racial or ideological reasons... Nazi ideology identified a multitude of enemies and led to the systematic persecution and murder of many millions of people, both Jews and non-Jews." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Non-Jewish Holocaust victims included:
-The disabled and mentally handicapped
-Homosexuals
-Jehovah's Witnesses and other religious minorities
-People of African descent
-Roma Gypsies
Oskar Schindler
Posted by Maria Harris on February 5, 2016
"Beyond this day, no thinking person could fail to see what would happen. I was now resolved to do everything in my power to defeat the system." ---After witnessing a day of Nazi roundups of Jews in Krakow, as quoted in Schindler's List (1982) by Thomas Keneally, Ch. 15.
Picture Books
Posted by Maria Harris on March 15, 2018
These books are specifically chosen for young children and do not always directly deal with the Holocaust. Instead, their themes include family, friendship, dealing with bullies, and being yourself. The Boniuk Library's picture book collection serves Holocaust Museum Houston's mission of teaching the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy in a way that's age-appropriate... and fun!
Poetry
Posted by Maria Harris on March 3, 2016
Poetry about the Holocaust and/or written by Holocaust victims and survivors.
Propaganda in World War II
Posted by Maria Harris on February 5, 2016
"Nazi propagandists drew upon the successful techniques and strategies used by the Allies, Socialists, Communists, and Italian Fascists to advance their political campaigns, win public support, and to wage war. Once in power, the Nazis eliminated the 'marketplace of ideas' through terror and media manipulation and mobilized propaganda as a weapon to unite the German people around a 'leader' and to facilitate aggression, mass murder, and genocide." ---United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Righteous Gentiles and Rescuers
Posted by Maria Harris on February 9, 2016
"In a world of total moral collapse there was a small minority who mustered extraordinary courage to uphold human values. These were the Righteous Among the Nations. They stand in stark contrast to the mainstream of indifference and hostility that prevailed during the Holocaust. Contrary to the general trend, these rescuers regarded the Jews as fellow human beings who came within the bounds of their universe of obligation." ---Yad Vashem
Testimonies from the Holocaust Oral History Collection
Posted by Monica Rose on August 24, 2012
First person testimony from Houston-area survivors, liberators, and witnesses of the Holocaust.
Young Adult Selections
Posted by Maria Harris on January 30, 2017
Of interest for students grades 9-12, these books go beyond research and provide narratives, fiction and nonfiction, about the Holocaust. This list may help students choose a book for an independent reading assignment.
Youth Diaries
Posted by Maria Harris on January 29, 2018
Diaries of children and teens living through the Holocaust and other atrocities.
