We Are Their Voice : Young People Respond to the Holocaust

"Journal entries, letters, drawings, and descriptive passages created by students throughout Canada, with some added entries from other countries as well, are brief but thoughtful, showing clarity of feeling and understanding of the role of memory in giving meaning to sacrificed lives."

"At times, the students’ writings become historically impossible, but excellent editing points out the anachronisms and allows the synthesis of the time to be interesting rather than distracting...This is an innovative way to have young people process and respond to historical events."

"The question, Do young people find meaning in the Holocaust? prompted a writing project in Canada, the United States, Australia, and Italy that generated responses from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, both Jewish and Gentile. In a collection of essays, stories, letters, poems, and drawings, they lend their voices in ways that go beyond expectations."

"These child-authored stories are testimonies to the skill of each author to place himself or herself in the minds of Holocaust survivors."

"On the back cover of the book the question Do young people find meaning in the Holocaust? is asked. This collection of writings, as well as all the other pieces submitted in response to the project, shows us emphatically that they most certainly do."

"The volume, edited by Kathy Kacer, describes the impact of the Holocaust on the lives of the children, each entry marked by a determination to speak for those whose voices were stilled and to confront a painful past with hope and compassion."

"These students' reactions help to make this piece of history come alive for young readers. Their interpretations may help other middle school students clarify their own understanding of the Holocaust, with the hope that history might never repeat itself."