Option 1: Poetry
Select any 2 poems about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of poets/poems on Holocaust poetry.
Link: List of Poets/Poems
• Bronislawa Wajs: Tears of Blood
• Primo Levi: Buna
• Chaim Nachman Bialik: After My Death; On the Slaughter
• Martin Niemöller: First They Came for the Jews
• Mary Elizabeth Frye: Do not stand at my grave and weep
• Carl Sandburg: Grass
• Miklós Radnóti: Postcard 1; Postcard 2; Postcard 3; Postcard 4
• Bertolt Brecht: The Burning of the Books; Parting; The Mask of Evil
• Ber Horvitz: Der Himmel [The Heavens]
• Yala Korwin: Passover Night 1942; The Little Boy with His Hands Up
• Michael R. Burch: Something
• Paul Celan: Death Fugue; O, Little Root of a Dream
Write an analysis of each poem, including the following information:
• Explain the background of the author, especially in relation to the Holocaust.
• Explain the content of the poem – what story or message is it trying to tell?
• How does the poem relate to the bigger picture of the Holocaust?
• How effective is the poem in relating the Holocaust to readers?
Option 2: Art
Select any 2 works of art about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of Holocaust art.
Link: List of Artists/Artworks
• Morris Kestelman: Lama Sabachthani [Why Have You Forsaken Me?]
• George Mayer-Marton: Women with Boudlers
• Bill Spira: Prisoners Carrying Cement
• Jan Hartman: Death March (Czechowice-Bielsko, January 1945)
• Edgar Ainsworth: Belsen
• Leslie Cole: One of the Death Pits, Belsen. SS Guards Collecting Bodies
• Doris Zinkeisen: Human Laundry, Belsen: April 1945
• Eric Taylor: A Young Boy from Belsen Concentration Camp
• Mary Kessell: Notes from Belsen Camp
• Edith Birkin: The Death Cart – Lodz Ghetto
• Shmuel Dresner: Benjamin
• Roman Halter: Mother with Babies
• Leo Breuer: Path Between the Barracks, Gurs Camp
• Leo (Lev) Haas: Transport Arrival, Theresienstadt Ghetto
• Jacob Lipschitz: Beaten (My Brother Gedalyahu)
• Norbert Troller: Terezin
• Anselm Kiefer: Sternenfall
Write an analysis of each artwork, including the following information:
• Identify the title, artist, date completed, and medium used.
• Explain the content of the artwork – what do the images show?
• How does the artwork relate to the bigger picture of the Holocaust?
• How effective is the artwork in relating the Holocaust to viewers?
