Survivors Of The Holocaust by Zane Whittingham & Ryan Jones (Franklin Watts)

‘Survivors of the Holocaust‘ is a hard-hitting and very necessary re-telling of a poignant and shocking time in our history.

In a clean and accessible graphic novel format, this book follows six young Jewish people who survived the Holocaust.

Each story features real-life eye-witness events of the horrors of war and recants experiences from those who witnessed it first hand.

Illustrated in predominantly sombre hues of blue, brown, and grey, the overarching despair is felt across every spread and exudes the woefulness of war through the blank eyes of each of the characters.

Bleak and bitter stories emerge from each of our very real story tellers and their heart wrenching versions of events can’t help to touch even the hardest of hearts.

From Germany and Poland to London and on to Leeds and Coventry, both the physical and mental journeys are witnessed through the eyes of these six Jewish children who narrowly escape persecution by the Nazis.

The visual narrative provided by strong, deceptively simple illustrations makes for a truly emotive and haunting read and one which must not be forgotten. This very accessible insight into a most piteous time in our history would be perfect for any school library or book shelf.

One of our favourite parts of this unfurling and sadly real story is that we get to see what happened next to each of the people we follow in this book. We get to see them as they look now and how they go on to create successful and happy lives once again.

We also love the simplicity of this illustrated timeline. A potted history of key events from January 1933 – August 1945 to remind readers of the major moments of World War II.