Through Our Eyes: Children Witness The Holocaust - Itzhak B Tatelbaum

Through Our Eyes presents the Holocaust from its ideological conception in the pre-war period to the present. It consists of twelve study units, compiled in chronological order. It includes children's diary entries and survivor testimony, representing the various countries throughout Europe in which the events took place.

It is recommended for the middle school age child (ages 12-15).

Each unit develops a specific topic, thus preparing the reader for the next chapter in Holocaust history. Together, the units provide both an overview and an intensive examination of the process as it unfolded from the early 1930's through 1945 and its aftermath.

Through Our Eyes is devoted solely to the Holocaust as it was perceived by children ages 10-17. It examines the experiences of the one and a half million children who perished, as well as those young victims who survived. Through this focus on Holocaust children, the reader will gain a genuine and empathetic comprehension of the destruction of the six million Jews who perished.

Sensitivity to this tragic era is heightened by the eyewitness accounts of children, confronted by death and destruction, who were approximately the same age as the readers themselves. The essence of Through Our Eyes reveals what they perceived and subsequently recorded in their poems, diary entries, and testimonies. Their first- hand report of daily events represents a primary source of Jewish history. The candor and variety of their words disclose their personalities and inner-most feelings, challenging the readers to empathize and identify with their story.

When people understand and emotionally connect to historical events by entering wholeheartedly into the lives of others, the historical data becomes more meaningful and unforgettable.

Published by Yad Vashem International School for Holocaust Studies 2004

Soft cover