Module 10 - The Devil’s Arithmetic

Summary:

This book is about a young girl is learning about the Holocaust.  Her grandfather was a part of it and has to hear about it often.  She is actually very embarrassed by all of it.  However, during a special Jewish ceremony, Passover Seder, Hannah gets to greet Elijah the prophet.  She is immediately thrown back into time in Poland during World War II.  She has a new identity and a new home.  It just so happens that she is then taken by the Nazis and placed in a concentration camp.  Rivka befriends Hannah, now Chaya, and tries to make her time at the camp as comfortable as possible.  Eventually Chaya is among those that will be put into the gas chamber.  As soon as the door closes on her she is transported back to her own family again.  She learned a very hard lesson and finally understood what her grandfather truly endured.


APA Reference:


Yolen, J. (1988). The devil’s arithmetic. New York, NY:  Viking Penguin Inc.

My Impressions:

This is an excellent story.  I can really appreciate this as a parent and as a teacher.  There is nothing harder than trying to explain something to a child that has no particular relevance in their life or they were not there so they don’t care.  I can remember when our middle school pulled out all the stops one year and even had us piled into “cattle cars” in the hallway marked by tape.  Some of us had paint on our face and could not speak the rest of the day.  These were the people that had been gassed, tortured to death or had died from some other unspeakable thing.  Even then it was hard to understand what these people had gone through.  It was not until I was an adult that I could truly appreciate what these people had faced.  This book allows the reader to identify with Hannah in that the Holocaust was just some time period that did not pertain to her and did not care to know about it.  Then you are thrown into this frightening and very real experience with her.  It makes you truly appreciate not only the people that suffered but your own existence.  It is a very powerful story.

Professional Reviews:

School Library Journal Review

Gr-4-8 – In this novel, Yolen attempts to answer those who question why the Holocaust should be remembered. Hannah, 12, is tired of remembering and is embarrassed by her grandfather, who rants and raves at the mention of the Nazis.  Her mother’s explanations of how her grandparents and great-aunt lost all family and friends during that time have little effect.  Then, during a Passover Seder, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah.  As she does so, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940’s, where everyone things that she is Chaya, who just recovered from a serious illness.  She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity.  When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead. As the door to the gas chamber closes behind her, she is returned to the door of her grandparents’ apartment, waiting for Elijah. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to the children’s understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow. – Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, Tex.

Harding, S. M. (1988). The devil’s arithmetic (Book). School Library Journal, 35(3), 114.

Library Uses:

a.        This is a great book to use while discussing the Holocaust.  We use this one.

b.      It can also be used to highlight the time period with discussions and activities pertaining to both sides of the war, the different countries involved and the culture surrounding the people involved.