Betrah's Key Characters

Leona Tamarkin’s Dear Lizzie: Memoir of a Jewish Immigrant Woman showcases the experiences of Leona when she was a young girl and woman, growing up in World War I and the later on the Great Depression. Leona wrote this piece for her family, as a testament of the story that was so hard for her to describe verbally without being visibly shaken, as well as the young girl that she once was, and had to grow up too fast. This can be said for any child or young person at that time, but Leona’s experience is unique in respect to her being female. Her experience will be vastly different than that of a young man in Eastern Europe, who is more than likely fighting on the front lines. Or that of a young boy or older man, trying to hold their homes together while the soldiers are away.

Kristof introduces his essay with the story of a middle aged woman named Martha Sharp. During the Nazi Holocaust, Martha left her two children and the comforts of her own home to travel and sneak into Prague and help prominent Jewish leaders, doctors and journalists sneak out of the country. Often times she would pretend they were her husband or domestic servant to elude Nazi authorities. Kristof utilizes this story to establish his argument because it creates emotional appeal to the reader and hooks the reader into reading the rest of the text. Additionally, the reader starts to notice the parallels between the Jewish and Syrian crisis. This comparison is

In The Journal of Hélène Berr, we are given the first hand account of a young Jewish woman in Paris during the German occupation. This primary source provides a strong insight into how Paris was changing before Hélène’s eyes. Hélène started keeping a journal to preserve memories, but over time, as the German occupation started to change her life, it became something more. Her writing became darker, because so did her outlook. For one, towards the end of the

The Vel’ d’Hiv is a sensitive topic for many individuals. In the book Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, the stories involved in the novel are associated with the Vel’ d’Hiv. The novel tells the story of a Jewish child in 1942 during the time of the Vel’ d’Hiv and of a journalist in present day eager to find out more about the child. The characters in the book Sarah’s Key either want to remember or forget the dark times of the Vel’ d’Hiv.

“Hana’s suitcase”, written by Karen Levine, records a painful memory of a Toronto resident, Gorge Brady, to his lost younger sister in the World War II (WWII), Hana Brady. This memory is provoked by an unexpected package from Japan. Which tells him they are exhibiting his sister’s suitcase as well as her drawing photographs in Tokyo Holocaust Center for a purpose of education about the Holocaust to the Japanese children. And they hope to get more information about his sister, Hana Brady’s life. In the continuing communication with the Japanese children, Gorge gives them all the details about Hana’s short life, and what happens to her in the WWII.

The novel “Daniel’s story” takes place in the devastating time of the Holocaust. Daniel was a 17 year old boy , who kept his happiness photographed. His life has been a catastrophe being a jew in the times of the world war 2. As he takes us through his atrocious past , we have come to known a new character named Rosa. Rosa had pale skin, bright red hair, freckles,bold blue eyes thin lips which wore an awkward smile.

World War II is known as one of the most horrific events in history that resulted in a mass killing of millions, yet it is also considered to be beautiful at the same time. A paradox is where two different things happen at the same time. This occurs when both beauty and ugly are shown in World War II and in the novel, “The Book Thief.” During the time of World War II and “The Book Thief” a man named Hitler and his allies went to war with the rest of the world to make his country great again. The novel “The Book Thief” is a story told by Death about a young girl, Liesel Meminger, a book thief, who has to start a new life with her foster parents because of the war going on. As she continues her life of stealing books she learns and sees both

Life is a precious thing, and it is so precious that some people will undergo severe anguish to hold on to it. During the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany, people of the Jewish religion were diabolically oppressed and slaughtered, just for their beliefs. Some Jews went to extreme measures to evade capture by the German law enforcement, hoping to hold on to life. Krystyna Chiger was only a small child when her family, along with a group of other desperate Jews, descended into the malignant sewers to avoid the Germans. After living in the abysmal sewers for fourteen months, her group emerged, and when she became an adult, she authored a novel about her time in the sewer. When analyzing the literary elements utilized in her novel, The Girl in the Green Sweater, one can determine how tone and mood, point of view, and conflict convey the message of struggle and survival that was experienced during the Holocaust, and how they help the reader to understand and relate.

Growing up in a wartime environment affects the identities, confidence and adolescence process for many people. In the books, The Diary of A Young Girl, Farewell to Manzanar, and Night, World War II accelerates Anne’s, Jeanne’s and Elie’s precious maturity and coming of age process. World War II, the Nazis and their identity of being Jewish forces Anne and Elie to grow up and mature much sooner than expected. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, World War II have a negative impact on Jeanne’s confidence and she starts to lose respect towards her Japanese heritage. All three of them are struggling to find out who they truly are. Anne Frank, Jeanne Wakatsuki and Elie Wiesel all are greatly affected by the war, but in different milieus and in

Many are familiar with Anne Frank's diary and have even sat down and watched the movie The Diary of Anne Frank. With her diary we learn a lot about Anne and her family, as well as the tragic story of their life, and the lives of many other Jews. However, this is not the only movie that gives us an insight in the life of a young girl during World War II. The Book Thief is in many ways similar to The Diary of Anne Frank in which the viewer is provided the experiences of the war between two very different young girls that have to adapt to a new home and possess an increasing hunger for knowledge.

In the short story “The Key Game” the author appeals to the readers’ sense of emotion (pathos) because of the in-depth description of the Jewish family’s unfortunate living arrangements, and because of the method the author uses to explain the various character descriptions, emotions, and dialog throughout the story. This story takes place at some point during the Second World War. The author, Ida Fink, introduces the reader to a small Jewish family consisting of a wife, husband, and their three year old son. They live in a small apartment which she describes as poor, urban, and gloomy. The situation with the war can be shown with the frequent changes in apartments. The purpose of the story is in a “game” made by the parents to prepare the child for his reaction in case the Germans ever come knocking at the door. The author introduces the emotion in this story from the very beginning, when she starts to describe where the story takes place.

“The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance” (Socrates). In Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, it is determined that this quote is in fact true. In the novel, Sarah a ten year old girl is introduced. Sarah lived in Paris during 1942 when Hitler demanded that all Jews be arrested and sent to concentration camps. Most of the Jews had no information on what was going on, especially in France where the French police rounded up all the Jews and brought them to concentration camps. Major conflicts arise in the novel because of character’s lack of knowledge. Sarah’s innocence created her lack of knowledge leading to her brother Michel's death additionally, William’s lack of knowledge created a conflict within himself, and finally

In William Styron’s book Sophie’s Choice Styron explains the effects of World war 2 on an American, a Polish person and a Jewish person. Sophie, the polish women, who is forced to make a very difficult decision during the war, a choice that, affects her mental state of mind for the rest of her life. Stingo, the American and narrator of the story struggles to find inspiration for his writing career while also discovering his families past. Nathan, the Jewish man who is hopelessly in love with Sophie a holocaust survivor, lashes out in anger and questions her about her past. Sophie’s Choice uses three characters guilt to portray the hardships of World War 2 and the mental instability it has caused.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is mainly set in a small Nazi-occupied French town during World War II. The novel follows two sisters, Isabelle Rossignol and Vianne Mauriac, as they each fight back against the oppression they are facing. Hannah uses flash-forwards periodically to give the reader insight into one of the sister’s lives many years after the war. Both Isabelle and Vianne undergo dramatic character development throughout the course of the war. The main themes of this novel are gender inequality, self-discovery, and the humanity of foes. The elements of structure, character development, and theme are predominant in this novel.

Thesis: Today I will discuss the young and short life of one of the most well known Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Anne Frank was acknowledged for her quality of writing. Her diary is one of the world’s most widely read books and there has been many plays and films written on the basis of her story.