THE WAR WITHIN THESE WALLS by Aline Sax ~ Culture 1

THE WAR WITHIN THESE WALLS

Author: Aline Sax

Title:  The War Within These Walls

Illustrator:  Caryl Strzelecki

Translated by: Laura Watkinson

Publisher:  Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 2013

ISBN:  9780802854285

Plot Summary

Misha and his family do their best to survive in the appalling conditions of the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, and ultimately make a final, desperate stand against the Nazis.

Critical Analysis

The second sentence of this young adult historical novel states the setting is in 1939 German-occupied Warsaw. Even then, today’s young adults might not know that Warsaw is in Poland, let alone be able to find Poland on a map. While readers might not to relate to Warsaw, Poland, they will relate to the hardships and the challenge to survive that the Jews faced during World War II. The white text on black paper/black text on white paper makes the reader long for color while subliminally understanding the bleakness of the story.

The War Within These Walls is translated from Dutch and was originally published in Dutch by De Eenhoorn in 2011 under the title De Kleuren Van Het Getto. The author is from Antwerp and writes historical fiction. While not Polish, Sax’s love of history shines through by making the reader feel as if they, too, were living in the Jewish Warsaw ghetto.

Strzelecki’s pen and Chinese ink illustrations relate the harsh, depressive and desperate reality the Jews were living in. The artwork looks as if Strzelecki was present during the Warsaw Uprising in the mid-1940s and sat down to sketch while the Jews were resisting. Some scenes reminded me of some Degenerate Art that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler hated so much.

Reviews

• Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices (2014): “A spare yet emotionally vivid account of life and death in the Warsaw Ghetto pairs an unflinching narrative that offers moments of heart-stopping honesty with black-and-white illustrations that are also evocative in a beautifully designed, arresting volume.”
• Kirkus Reviews (2013): “Misha takes part in the doomed Warsaw Uprising and survives to tell the world of this last act of defiance. Strzelecki's pen, ink and black-and-white pencil illustrations graphically depict pain and despair as they accompany text printed on stark white or black backgrounds. With the events of the Holocaust growing ever more remote with the passage of time, Sax gives modern readers an unrelenting, heart-rending insight into the hell that the Nazis created. Gripping, powerful, shattering.”

Awards

• 2014 Honor Book, Mildred L. Batchelder Award
• 2013 Winner, Children’s, National Jewish Book Award
• 2014 Notable Children’s Books

Connections

• Students could take a virtual tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. (https://www.ushmm.org/)
• Could be read as part of International Holocaust Remembrance Day activities (to be held Jan. 27, 2018).
• As an enrichment project, students could pack a suitcase that weighed only 15 kilograms. Discuss who brought what and why those items were selected. What was not selected and why?
• Readers can visit author Aline Sax’s website at www.alinesax.be

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 9, 2017.

Sax, Aline. The War Within These Walls. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2013. ISBN 9780802854285

Strzelecki, Caryl. 2011. The War Within These Walls by Aline Sax. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780802854285