Books about the Holocaust for Children and Teens

“Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers Who Resisted the Nazis(This link opens in a new tab)” by K.R. Gaddy

The true story of working-class teenagers who fought the Nazis by whatever means they could.

“I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived Auschwitz(This link opens in a new tab)” as told by Eva Mozes Kor; written by Danica Davidson

A memoir of a young girl’s childhood in wartime Romania, her unlikely survival as a “Mengele twin” subjected to cruel Nazi medical experiments in Auschwitz, and her postwar journey to forgiveness.

“The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II(This link opens in a new tab)” by Michael Rosen

The former UK Children’s Laureate and award-winning author traces the losses of several relatives during the Holocaust and his adult search for information about their stories.

“Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued(This link opens in a new tab)” by Peter Sís

This picture book tells the story of Nicholas Winton, who saved the lives of almost 700 children trapped in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938.

“We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance(This link opens in a new tab)” by Deborah Hopkinson

In this thoroughly researched narrative nonfiction for upper middle-grade readers, critically acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson allows the voices of Holocaust survivors to live on the page, recalling their persecution, survival, and resistance.

Books about the Holocaust for Adults

“My Name Is Selma: The Remarkable Memoir of a Jewish Resistance Fighter and Ravensbrück Survivor(This link opens in a new tab)” by Selma Van De Perre

A memoir from a ninety-eight-year-old Jewish Resistance fighter and concentration camp survivor tells the story of how she took on an assumed identity, fighting Nazi occupation in the Netherlands before being sent to a women’s prison camp.

“The Auschwitz Photographer: The Forgotten Story of the WWII Prisoner Who Documented Thousands of Lost Souls(This link opens in a new tab)” by Luca Crippa & Maurizio Onnis

In 1939, after Germany invaded Poland, photographer Wilhelm Brasse was sent to Auschwitz to record the camp’s atrocities where he faked documents for prisoners and smuggled photos to the outside world. When the war ended, he refused to destroy his records so we might never forget.

“The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive(This link opens in a new tab)” by Lucy Adlington

Drawing on a vast array of sources, including interviews with the last surviving seamstress, this powerful book tells the story of the brave women who used their sewing skills to survive the Holocaust, exposing the greed, cruelty and hypocrisy of the Third Reich.

“The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World(This link opens in a new tab)” by Jonathan Freedland

Tells the incredible story of Rudolf Vrba, a brilliant, yet troubled young man who became the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world.

“Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph, and Love(This link opens in a new tab)” by Rebecca Frankel

The inspiring story of a Polish family who narrowly escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to the Bialowieza Forest, surviving two years of brutal winters, disease, and Nazi raids until their 1944 rescue by the Red Army.