Week 4 Assignment: Essay – The Holocaust

Instructions
For this assignment, select one of the following options.

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?