Holocaust Memorial Day: Stories from World War II
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place every year on 27 January.
It is a day for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust under Nazi Persecution.
We have put together this list to honour those who lost their lives and to tell the stories of those who survived.
The Dressmakers of
Auschwitz
L.J. Adlington
A powerful chronicle of the women who used their sewing skills to survive the Holocaust, stitching beautiful clothes in one of the most notorious death camps.
The Light of Days
Judy Batalion
This previously untold story of women resistance fighters in Hitler’s ghettos gives a searing account that brings to light the extraordinary feats of the brave Jewish women who became resistance fighters.
The Fighter of A
uschwitz
Erik Brouwer
A true story of astonishing resilience and compassion, The Fighter of Auschwitz is a testament to the endurance of humanity in the face of extraordinary evil.
The Choice
Edith Eger
Dr Eger weaves her remarkable personal account of surviving the Holocaust and overcoming its ghosts of anger, shame, and guilt with the moving stories of those she has helped heal.
Time’s Echo
Jeremy Eichler
A remarkable and stirring account of how music acts as a witness to history and a medium of cultural memory in the post-Holocaust world.
The Cut Out Girl
Bart van Es
An astonishing, moving reckoning with a young girl’s struggle for survival during war.
The Umbrella
Mouse
Anna Fargher
A tale of courage, resistance and friendship, this novel is a heart- stopping adventure drawing on the true stories of animals caught in the conflict of WWII.
Man’s Search for
Meaning
Viktor Frankl
A Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl observed the way that he and others in Auschwitz coped with the experience. Frankl came to believe man’s deepest desire is for meaning and purpose.
The Escape Artist
Jonathan Freedland
A book with universal and timely lessons about the power of information - and misinformation. Is it possible to stop mass murder by telling the truth?
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah
Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann is content with life in the French countryside. But when the Second World War strikes, Viann finds herself isolated and Isabelle is sent to help her.
The Librarian of
Auschwitz
Antonio Iturbe
The award-winning The Librarian of Auschwitz tells the incredible true story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.
The Happiest Man on
Earth
Eddie Jaku
In his inspiring memoir, Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku shares how he found gratitude, kindness and hope in the darkest of places.
Schindler’s Ark
Thomas Keneally
This is the extraordinary story of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life to protect Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland and who was transformed by the war into a man with a mission, a compassionate angel of mercy.
When Hitler Stole
Pink Rabbit
Judith Kerr
This semi-autobiographical classic, written by the beloved Judith Kerr, tells the story of a Jewish family escaping Germany in the days before the Second World War.
Reparation
Gaby Koppel
The story of Hungarian emigree Aranca who is determined to get compensation for what was done to her and her family during the war. It considers themes of justice and intergenerational trauma that are as relevant and powerful today as ever.
Invisible Ink
Martha Leigh
Martha Leigh presents a memoir drawn from the large archive of her Jewish family from all over Europe in the twentieth century. In discovering the truth about her family, Martha has also taken a journey towards understanding herself.
If This Is a Man
Primo Levi
The account of Levi’s arrest as a member of the Italian anti-fascist resistance during the Second World War, and his incarceration in the Auschwitz concentration camp from February 1944 until the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945.
But You
Did Not Come Back
Marceline Loridan-Ivens
Marceline Loridan-Ivens’ memoir of being arrested in occupied France and sent with her father to Auschwitz-Birkenau is exquisitely written and unwaveringly honest.
The Tattooist of
Auschwitz
Heather Morris
The story of how Slovakian Jew Lale Sokolov, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz in 1942, fell in love with a girl he was tattooing at the concentration camp.
A Gypsy in
Auschwitz
Otto Rosenberg
The incredible true story of how a young Gypsy boy miraculously survived the unimaginable darkness of the Holocaust.
The Librarian of
Auschwitz
Salva Rubio
Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this graphic novel tells the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.
Maus
Art Spiegelman
Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story.
The Pianist
Władysław Szpilman
Night
Elie Wiesel
As a child, Elie Wiesel was sent to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. This is his account of the horrors he endured, the loss of his family and his struggle to survive.
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.