Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto

by Paul B. Janeczko, Various (Illustrator)

Paul B. Janeczko's stirring collection of poems goes inside the walls of the notorious camp to portray the indomitable spirit of those incarcerated there.

Hitler hailed Terez�n (Theresienstadt) as a haven for artistic Jews, when in reality the Czech concentration camp was little more than a way station to the gas chambers. In his second book inspired by devastating history, acclaimed poet Paul B. Janeczko gives voice to this heartrending creative community: its dignity, resilience, and commitment to art and music in the face of great brutality. The many memorable characters he conjures include a child who performs in the camp's now famed production of Brundib�r, a man who lectures on bedbugs, and a boy known as Professor, who keeps a notebook hidden in his shoe. Accented with dramatic illustrations by prisoners, found after WW II, Janeczko's spare and powerful poems convey Terez�n's tragic legacy on an intimate, profoundly moving scale.

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Holocaust, Historical Fiction, Historical, World War II, Jewish

102 pages, Hardcover

First published February 22, 2011

About the author

Paul B. Janeczko is a poet and teacher and has edited more than twenty award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including STONE BENCH IN AN EMPTY PARK, LOOKING FOR YOUR NAME, SEEING THE BLUE BETWEEN, and A POKE IN THE I, which was an American Library Association Notable Book.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like it was far too short and not nearly in-depth enough to warrant publication. It felt very under-developed and somewhat emotionally manipulative, given the subject matter. Perhaps I'm being a bit overly critical in light of an excellent and somewhat similar book, The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic, which, like this book, dealt with a terrible tragedy using poems from multiple perspectives. The biggest difference between the two, and the reason for my rating of this book, is that while Wolf's characters were heartbreakingly real, distinct people who I grew to genuinely care about and whose deaths I cried over, Janeczko's characters were fleeting glimpses of people. I wanted to care. I wanted to feel some sort of connection. However, the length of the book made such in-depth connection impossible with the number of people Janeczko tries to include. If he'd focused down to a few characters or made the book four times as long to develop his people, this book would have been stunning (the writing is promising and engaging). As is, I left this book feeling slightly depressed, but not the good kind of depressed where one feels awful for the depths of human emotion portrayed. I felt the unfulfilled, this-book-wouldn't-touch-me-except-it's-about-the-HOLOCAUST, this-could-have-been-so-much-better kind of depressed, and wouldn't recommend this book. Go read Night- of a similar length, but so much more powerful because it avoids the blunders this book is filled with.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book I read was Anne Frank a graphic biography. It was incredible, so when I spied this book on the store shelves, I eagerly nabbed it as my next read.

I realized that I didn't know much about the Terezin Ghetto, so I did a bit of research before beginning my read of the poems.

Terezin was originally a fortress town in Czechoslovakia. Hitler and his fellow Nazis turned it into a collection and transport camp for the Jewish people. How do you like the euphemisms collect and transport? The residents were basically kicked out, displaced in euphemistic terms and the transports began arriving.

The Nazi regime set this place aside as what they called a home for Jewish intellectuals and artists. In truth it was a propaganda tool. Something like, "We're good guys with a heart. Look at the kindness and encouragement we're handing out."

All right then. So in the midst of the horrors of captivity there were musical performances, lectures and other artistic endeavors.

The reality was a different tale, one of woe. "Musicians who performed beautifully one night were packed into cattle cars the next, transported to the gas chambers." So much for encouraging the arts.

By the time Terezin was liberated in 1945 140,000 European Jews had been through the camp, 35,000 never left but died of disease, starvation and brutality, and 87,000 were transported out to other camps.

The illustrations in the book are black and white sketches that survived the Holocaust. By themselves they speak volumes of heartbreak and fear. The last page of the collection is in shades of gray and shadowed forms. A lone man stands looking outward past a barbed fence. All we can see is the back of his body with arms spread wide reaching up toward the fence, his legs slightly bent appearing weakened and desperate. The simple poem on the opposite side reads

Blue sky
beyond
barbed wire.


I wish I were
sky.

Its poignancy and impact hit hard after reading the verses and looking at the original art on the previous 88 pages. The writing was by Janeczko. The art original work from the camp.

I read a few reviews that judged the book harshly because all of the poems except Valtr Eisinger/11956 on page 38 were the creation of Janeczko.

I shall always think of you.
Thoughts of you will be
my morning prayer when I get up
my evening prayer when I go to bed.
Memories of you will be a balm
to whatever blows fate deals me.

This stanza from Valtr Eisinger is part of a poem that covers two pages. It sings a song of love through the wire fences of the hell of the camp reaching through time to touch my heart.

I do not agree that the inclusion of Janeczko's original verses do not have the validity of the original art. Each is what it is for its time and place. The point made by Janeczko is that although the characters in the poems are fictional, many are composites based on his research while some individuals are his inventions. Many of the events in the poems did happen, such as the Red Cross inspection. He called upon his imagination and his humanity to conjure the emotions and feelings of those who lived through the horrors of the time.

Each poem is titled with a name and a number that would have appeared tattooed on one's arm. I think of these poems as historical verses. Another love poem touched my heart just as the original surviving one from the camp did.

My beloved,
I long
to know
the beat of your hear
again
and fill each
brief
silence
with a kiss
until
curved together
we sleep.

For me, the process of reading the imagined words from the camp, looking at the original found art, reading the verses and thinking about what happened is the point of reading the book. I am not saying that those who do not like reading historical fiction in the form of poems are wrong. I am saying that the book is heartfelt and deeply personal account of one specific camp and a whole generation of people. If it serves to develop greater depth of emotion and knowledge and more sensitivity, then so be it.

This is a fine book written with passion and emotion. Know that the poems come from facts, that they help us to imagine what lives were lived and lost. Lines such as music was "played as only the heartbroken can play" leave an indelible impression on the heart and on the mind.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice addition to any 8-10th grade Holocaust unit. Some really lovely, powerful poems in this small collection.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used in conjunction with art work done in the camp, these poems illuninate a variety of experiences. Sad and hard-hitting.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janeczko writes each poem from the point of view of a different person--mostly from the Jews who are imprisoned in the ghetto, but also from some of the Nazis. Together the poems describe what life was like in Terezin and the history of it, beginning with Kristallnacht and ending with the emptying of the ghetto. The poems are filled with such sadness that the reader is glad that the book is not a long one. In one poem, a girl talks about each of her friends, what made them special, and which transport they left on, never to be seen again. In another, a girl/woman dreams of hugs in a place where there are none. Before writing this book, Janeczko visited Terezin as well as read books about it, consulted web sites, and watched DVDs, all of which he lists at the back of the book. He certainly was well prepared to enter into the minds and emotions of these unfortunate people. The illustrations included are black and white sketches, presumably made by Janeczko himself. I didn't care for them, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5.

This would make a good book to use with a class studying the Holocaust, as it lends emotional authenticity to the bare facts of what happened. Highly recommended.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning, vivid collection of poems expressing the points of view of Jews sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and the Nazis who exterminated them. The poem about the crematorium is particularly chilling. The majority of voices are composites culled from Janeczko's research. An outstanding addition to Holocaust literature for young people.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small but powerful book. Chilling, haunting and deeply moving. Each poem was a reminder of the tragedies that occurred during the Holocaust. Each poem was the voice (even if the people were composites of real people) of a person who had lost their voice during this period of cruelty.

[Jamierin Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute Goosebumps!!

Reading this was absolutely eye opening and it was crazy to read these poems. At the top of each poem, it has the person’s name and their number. At first I did not notice this but when I did, I was shocked. But not only were there poems from the Jewish people’s point of view but also from the people that were a part of the SS. There were viewpoints from people who were not of the Jewish race but were mere townspeople who were not appreciating that the Jewish people were entering certain towns. It was crazy to find out that the Terezin Ghetto is located in what is now known as the Czech Republic. A majority of Jewish Czechs were sent to this particular concentration camp. It was interesting to learn and read this because I am actually part Czechoslovakian and I was told that I had family members sent to concentration camps during WWII.

[S Beckstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written very well. It went more into detail about what the Jewish people had to go through in the Terezin Ghetto. It captured what people thought better than any other book. It was never about one person's experience. He took a lot of different people and put them in so they could share how they felt about it.
He used a lot of imagery and feelings. He used imagery over and over but it a slightly different way so it didn't get boring. He also used a lot of hyperbole and similes. The way he used these was always different and would never get boring.
I really liked this book. It went farther into detail about how the people felt and what others had to go through. It also went into detail about what the people living there beforehand had to go through when the Nazis came through.

[Amy Allred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, heart-rending, nauseating...
Relatively short, but impossible to read through in one sitting. I found that I could only read a few at a time. All filled with unspeakable pain. Some, written from the perspectives of their Nazi captors, profoundly nauseating.
I read the book thinking all of the poems were written by actual survivors of the Terezin Ghetto and surviving Nazis. It was only when I reached the end that I learned only one poem was by an actual captive. The rest were written based on research of the Ghetto.
However, whether they be fictional poems or true should not diminish it's impact. I'm sure that words could not accurately paint the horrors and atrocities the victims were made to endure.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hard for me to rate. It is powerful poetry, voicing some perspectives that made my stomach sick.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful collection of poems about the Terezin Ghetto.

[Carrie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful poems that work together to tell the story of Terezin, the Jewish ghetto gifted to the Jews by the Nazis. This would be great to pair with a nonfiction Holocaust text like "Night."

[Rachel Oehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throws you to your knees on some poems. A must-read for an inside view on how this time in history panned out

[Constant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid & heartbreaking.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book but it was so short! I wanted more: more stories, more characters, more poems. Written in poetry form, the book seems to beautifully handle the weight of the topic.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Very moving; just a few words can convey so much about an experience.

[Samantha Pendleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book includes several stories told from inmates in Terezin, a holding tank in Czech during the Holocaust. These stories are told through short poems from several different inmates who experienced the inmate holding tank for Jews. These poems shed light to readers on how the Jews in Terezin were treated and how they lived. There are black and white illustrations spread apart throughout the chapter book. These illustrations are not very detailed but they give the reader insight to the conditions the inmates lived through and their day to day life within this holding tank. When reading this book I predicted that the author chose to include only the illustrations to be drawn in black and white because of the sadness the inmates experienced throughout their time in Terezin. These poems allow the readers to hear the voices of the Holocaust through these poems. The poems allow for students to become aware of what some Jews had to encounter through this horrible time. One of the poems that I feel captures Jewish culture the best within in this time period is Hilda Bartos poem on page 33, she writes about how her town was once a very quiet town until her town turned into a ghetto. After Hilda’s town was turned into a ghetto she could only think about her town as death. The book displays cultural treatment and real life problems that Jews faced throughout the Holocaust. This book is very simple but yet has many powerful messages about what the Jewish culture had encountered throughout this time period. This book does not only include poems about the Jewish people’s point of view but also some poems are written through the Nazi perspective. These two different cultural perspectives throughout the book it allows the readers to experience how these two cultural groups treated each other. Although these interactions between these two groups were not pleasant they are real life events that have happened in history.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume of poems written in several different voices describes briefly but powerfully some of the experiences of the inmates of Terezin, a Czech holding tank for Jews during the Holocaust. It was in Terezin where the prisoners were allowed to play music, providing a bittersweet distraction while all the while being aware that their time was running out. The stories and the voices are unforgettable, adding to the volumes of Holocaust literature already in existence. The author's poems seem torn from the heart and force readers to look between the lines to imagine the lives lost and possibilities ended. It will be hard for readers to forget Miklos, a young boy called the Professor because he is constantly writing in a notebook he hides in his shoe. Meanwhile, Sofie's heart breaks as she watches her husband, Samuel, board one of the transport cars. Josephine sees her friends leave her, one by one, transport by transport, until even she is also transported from the camp to almost certain death. One of the most powerful passages is written from the point of view of Franz Keller who describes the efficiency of the crematorium. Although his characters are created, the events described in the book are based on actual events. Back matter includes information on Terezin, details about how the author conducted his research and created the poems, and additional resources. The heart-rending words are given additional weight by the inclusion of artwork rendered by the prisoners during their captivity. The vignettes are brief, but pack such an emotional impact, nevertheless, that they are indelibly seared into a reader's heart. This book will be a welcome addition to any Holocaust unit, provoking questions about how these events could occur and forcing readers to ponder mankind's inhumanity to others.

[Makenzie Sliva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto, is filled with touching poems that tell the story of the Czech concentration camp in Terezin, Czechoslovakia during World War II. Each poem shares the experiences of the people at the concentration camp and paints a picture of what they went through during their time there. Each poem is told by a different person, some being Jews that were in the camp and some being guards and officers involved with the cruel practices. When the Danish Red Cross is expected to visit, the officials at the Terezin Ghetto transform the camp to make it seem as though the victims were being treated well. The Jews were allowed to compose music, make art, and practice their religion which made it appear that the camp was treating them fairly. However, the victims lived in very awful conditions and faced horrible executions. A poem that had significant impact on me was a conversation between SS Kommandant Manfred Brandt and SS Sergeant Dieter Hoffmann. When Dieter questions why they allow the Jews to compose music, the Kommandant explains to him that the music acts as a distraction which steers them away from thinking about rebellion or escape. He then proceeds to tell him not to worry, that the day will come for all of the Jews when there will be no music. This poem had a significant impact on me because of the shocking mindset that the Nazi guards had. Paul B. Janeczko compiled these poems based off of research and actual historical events, but most of the characters used throughout the story were fictional. Janeczko did an incredible job telling the story of the unfortunate victims at the Terezin Ghetto.

[Becky Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of poems are all told from the point of view of people who experienced life in the Terezin ghetto. Each poem is titled after the name of the author, and they are told from the point of view of the author. While many of the poems are told from the point of view of Jewish residents in the Terezin ghetto, a few poems are told from the point of view of some SS Officers. I believe this is a great way to see the history of this ghetto. As the Jewish culture was not restricted in this ghetto, the Nazi's used this as propaganda for themselves. Also, the book contains short poems that are told from a third person point of view that show suffering. While there is no happy ending to this book of poems, the book works to show readers the culture that these people lived in and how it shaped the rest of their lives.

[Tillie Torpey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janeczko, P. (2011). Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto. Candlewick.

Theme/Topic: Experiences of Holocaust victims and Nazi soldiers throughout WWII.

Critique (comments, observations, questions):
I really enjoyed reading this book because one of my interests is learning about different genocides, but as well the different perspectives of experiences and thoughts Jewish survivors might have during this difficult time. Some perspectives I would never think of, such as bed bugs. Reading this book gives me more respect for other peoples because we never know what another may be experiencing.

Various Teaching Ideas:
I would teach this in my class to teach about the experience of Holocaust victims and not just the event during WWII. Shedding light on the perspective of victims’ emotions and thoughts, makes the story more meaningful in caring for each other.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words can't express the impact of this collection of poems from Terezin, Czechoslovakia during the German ghettoization of WWII. It became a collection and transport town for Jews destined for the gas ovens in concentration camps. Many of its temporary residents were noted intellectuals and artists, with some of their works tolerated as a propaganda tool by the Nazis. Although based on extensive research, the "poets" cited are generally fictional composites. The reality of their situations and feelings throbs not only in the words of the poems, but in the author's pairing of names with tattoo numbers in many cases.

[Andrea Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection about an event that is hard to fathom. The poet takes us into the heart of one of the many ghettos that were set up by the Nazis during World War Two. He has shared the possible thoughts of the prisoners and those who knew they were going to die. Their stories, their journeys and those who were left behind. I still do not think we can fully comprehend the horrors that they faced. Yet there was beauty to be found in the simplest things of everyday. That beauty is captured too. I would like to purchase this particular book and to reread the poems.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nazis promoted Terezin as a haven for artistic Jews, but in reality it was merely a lay-over for those headed to the extermination camps. In this free verse novel, Janeczko gives voice to all the players—the imprisoned Jews, the commandant and his soldiers, and the townspeople. The poems are illustrated with artwork by the Jewish artists, found after the war. Both words and pictures are stunning and chilling. (Originally written for and posted on Mackin Books in Bloom at http://mackinbooksinbloom.com)

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holocaust books tend to be difficult to read. This was no exception.

I saw Paul B. Janeczko when he was a featured author at TCTELA (Texas Council of English Teachers) at Houston. I bought this book there.

It's a thin book of poetry, haunting in its simplicity. The art truly sets off the poems.

In April the 8th graders are going to do a Holocaust unit. I'm thinking of adding this to my class novel set to support my 8th grade struggling readers.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of brief poems that describes how the Nazis herded Jews into the Terezin ghetto before shipping them off to the death camps. The poems show the view point of the Jews, as well as the SS guards and the non-Jewish people who were removed from their homes in order to build the ghetto. It’s a slim collection of poems, but it’s definitely moving, showing lost love, broken lives, and more.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who is already quite familiar with the subject, these poems of the Terezin Ghetto are quite poignant. I worried though that other readers might need more background knowledge. I would have liked to see the Afterword as an Introduction for the young adult reader who might not know this history as well as I do. I hope this book finds an audience with adults, too. Its contents are just as appropriate for an adult publisher as a children's, maybe even more so.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of poems for young/inexperienced poetry readers. This book is a fictional collection of poems from people involved in a Holocaust ghetto. It provides several different perspectives, although the German ones were, as you would expect, shallow and rather one dimensional. There was some good imagery and figurative language, but it lacked the depth and complexity of more sophisticated poetry.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed at: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2012/...

Paul Janeczko has written such a haunting book of poetry. It is as if he transported himself to Terezin and lived the life of these people who he has created to tell us the story of the ghetto. Combined with the all too real artwork from Jewish artists from Terezin, Requiem is a brilliant collection of poetry.