The portrayal of Holocaust rescuers in children's literature

Abstract

This dissertation focused on the applicability of Fogelman's (1994) model describing the process of becoming a rescuer during the Holocaust (i.e., Awareness, Action, Rescuer Self, and Post War) to children's literature about the Holocaust. The study attempted to bridge a gap between what is known from children's literature about the Holocaust rescuers of Jews and what was hypothesized by Fogelman about the process whereby rescuers took action to rescue Jews. The researcher used content analysis to examine eight books about the Holocaust rescuers of Jews, and inferences were made from these texts about the four main categories of Fogelman's model. The findings revealed that the books analyzed demonstrated this model to a very high degree. The results suggest that young readers can learn from this literature about what it means to think for oneself and to be fair, kind, tolerant, and help others when needed. The findings hold significance for historians, teachers, and others, and suggest that when teaching about the importance of helping others and being tolerant, educators can choose books that display characters helping others.Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of San Francisco, 2010.School code: 6019