Encourage the exploration of history!
When I was a child history was something that happened a long time ago, what could it possibly have to do with today. I’m sure many of you have discovered as I have that the future is intertwined with our past. Patterns emerge because governments have developed a pattern of operations.
In case you were wondering, our government is a hot mess and while they can collect all the data in the world, it takes time and money to analysis the data. I think half the time they are bluffing the citizens with their show of power and might. It’s important to understand our past so that we can understand where we are and what to expect in the future.
I would encourage you to explore the holocaust, there are some really good diaries that just might convince your boy or girl that history isn’t all that boring. I made sure I exposed my son to:
- The Hiding Place — The book is good but I love the movie, do consider watch it.
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Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl — A beloved classic since its initial publication in 1947, this vivid, insightful journal is a fitting memorial to the gifted Jewish teenager who died at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945. Born in 1929, Anne Frank received a blank diary on her 13th birthday.
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The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna — Nonna Bannister carried a secret almost to her Tennessee grave: the diaries she had kept as a young girl experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust. This book reveals that story.
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Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz — This is the story of a woman who spent about seven months in Auschwitz and survived to tell the tale. She wrote this book shortly after her ordeal, while her horrific experience was still fresh in her mind.
- Alicia — After losing her entire family to the Nazis at age 13, Alicia Appleman-Jurman went on to save the lives of thousands of Jews, offering them her own courage and hope in a time of upheaval and tragedy.
You will find so many really good books out there on the holocaust. Encourage your children to explore history from all angles.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Here are some excellent movies. These are among my favorite that I enjoy watch time and time again.
- Miracle at Midnight — I’ve only seen the movie. A family helps their neighbors escape the Nazi’s.
- Jacob the Liar — In Nazi-occupied Poland, poor Jewish cafe owner Jakob Heym (Robin Williams) accidentally overhears a forbidden radio news bulletin. Jakob invents fictitious news bulletins about Allied advances against the Nazis. These lies keep hope and humor alive among the ghetto inhabitants. [Read the book]
- The Devil’s Arithmetic — The film proved to be the most riveting and attention-holding movie I can ever recall showing. In it are contained superb acting, eerie (and effective) musical interludes, and a suspense of time-travel that will hold teenagers absolutely spellbound!
- Hidden in Silence — Przemysl, Poland, WWII–the city comes under Nazi control. The Jews are sent to ghettos. Catholic teenager Stefania Podgorska (ER’s Kellie Martin) sneaks 13 Jews into her attic.
