In this part of the contribution, we present a proposal for work with the mentioned publication in the teaching of Literary Education. The main goal of this lesson is to find out (1) How accurately the book The Boy from Block 66 depicts daily life in a concentration camp and what are the key historical facts that the author includes and (2) What symbolic meanings and themes appear in the book and how they contribute to understand the Holocaust experience?
2.1.2. Interpretation of the Book
The title of the publication can have a symbolic meaning that reflects the specific experiences and sufferings of the protagonists. Block 66 may have been a place of a special kind of pain or resistance. Consider what the title means in the context of the story and how it may symbolize the general theme of survival and identity.
Sample:
Jews were given a yellow triangle, while the uniforms of political prisoners were marked differently. Polish prisoners, for example, had a red triangle behind their number. We didn´t know it at the time, but at the end of 1944, when the concentration camps in Eastern Europe began to be evacuated and the German army was withdrawing on all fronts, the leaders of the Buchenwald underground prison resistance decided to focus on rescuing the children who were coming to the camp. The main supporters of this idea were Antonín Kalina, a Czech of non-Jewish origin, and Jack Weber, a Polish Jewish prisoner. Both were active members of the resistance. Kalina and his comrades were able to convince the Germans to place the child in a special block. The Germans wanted to prevent riots, so they finally agreed and set up a separate barrack for children between the ages of twelve and sixteen. It was called Kinderblock 66. Kalina asked to be put in charge of Block 66 and arranged for all the children and teenagers from around the camp to be moved there. (Regev 2023: 102)
Possible questions about the passage:
• How does the book depict the theme of survival in extreme conditions?
• What survival strategies and defense mechanisms do the characters use?
• How does the Holocaust affect the identity of the characters?
• How does the book depict the loss of identity and its consequences?
• Find out what the narrator´s point of view is. Is the story told from the point of view of a child, an adult, or in retrospect?
• What effect does this perspective have on the interpretation of events?
• How does the book evoke emotional reactions and how does it try to approach the psychology of survivors?
• What techniques does the author use to achieve this goal?
• How does the book depict suffering and trauma without slipping into sensationalism?
• What lessons can we draw from the book?
• How can the book contribute to the understanding of the Holocaust and to the promotion of historical awareness?
2.1.4. Literary Genre and Comparative Analysis
Pupils can compare the sample from the mentioned publication with excerpts from other works. Here is an excerpt from Transport for Eternity (2017). Transport for Eternity František Tichý focuses on the fate of Petr Ginz, probably the most prominent boy figure among the internees in the Terezín ghetto. This is a fictional story, based on Peter´s diaries and the narration of his sister, who survived the Nazi extermination machinery.
Sample:
“Good morning! So, let´s be quiet... Sit down.” The cantor took a few steps between the desks and looked around the class. “Who has an interesting thing planned today? You Ginzi? So come forward for all to see.“
Petr stood up and mysteriously showed his invention: a glass tube on one side sealed and coated with wax. It was fixed in a simple wooden stand, on which a small candle was stuck.
“This is a cannon, or rather a small but functional model of it,“ he began to explain. “In the back the incendiary substance is placed in the part, and there is a wooden charge on it, and it is sealed a little with paper in front, so that there is more pressure inside.“
It could be seen that the whole class was following his explanation with interest, even Láďa, who was mostly sleeping, annoying or secretly trying to have a snack.
“I´ll heat it up over a candle here at the end,“ continued Petr. Then he struck a match, the candle slowly lit up. The teacher was obviously getting nervous.
"The incendiary ignites at a certain temperature and the expanding hot gases shoot the charge..."
"Peter, what kind of incendiary substance is this? Can´t the glass break?” asked the cantor
after a few seconds of heating the mixture.
“Professor, it´s completely safe. We tried it with the boys.“
Whoa! It hissed, a short flame shot out of the barrel, the wooden cartridge was replaced by an elongated one arc and hit a window more than three meters away.
The class roared in appreciation and someone called to show it again.
"That´s interesting, Peter. Thank you, you may sit down. Could you tell us more about the composition of the mixture?“
"Professor, I´m sorry, but it's a secret," answered Petr uncertainly.
I pointed at them, "Look, he's definitely home," I pressed the button and the bell jingled. Nothing. We repeated this for a little longer, and when nothing happened again, they knocked we are.
"Who is it?" said an unpleasant voice from inside, and someone uncovered the peephole on the door.
"Hello, can Tomáš go out?" greeted Matouš loudly and smiled. Door they opened a little and the face of Tomáš's mother appeared in the narrow slit. She looked very stern. You could see that she hesitated for a few seconds, but then answered firmly: "It's not at home!"
"But Mrs. Blah..." I stopped her before she could close the door again. Then I did he got stuck for a moment and finished the sentence differently than I originally wanted, "When will he come back?"
"He wasn't well," she answered again in that unpleasant voice, but you could tell she was eating it doesn't come from the heart at all. “He certainly wouldn't go with you. Goodbye."
Bad luck! Matouš and I looked at each other and it was only at that moment that dawn began to dawn on both of us. Tomáš was like a little fish at school and cheerfully flirted with Anička. Not him, but we were not well.
"He wasn't home for us," I commented in a low voice, and Matouš added sadly: "That you are right Also, Petr didn't go with us. We can easily make fun of it, but no one will steal the star from him in the evening..."
I said nothing and headed downstairs. It wasn't easy for me.
"He can't," I replied briefly to Peter's questioning look. "So where are we going?"
"Matthew was talking about Hagibor, so if you wanted to? It's pretty fun there. Such a Jewish oasis…” suggested Petr and we agreed.
Hagibor was one of the few places where Jews could gather in Prague. They had clubhouses, a theater, a playground, and in the winter they even went skating there. How many times have we thought that we would went there with Petr to have a look, but we always gave up in the end - without the star we would have looked rather strange and nothing at all... Today, however, Matouš solved it elegantly, and what's more with a touch of adventure.
"What dad?" Peter asked after walking for a while.
"He is still in prison in Munich, sometimes we get a letter from him. He writes that it's not that bad there..."
"Hmm... who knows what, let him write," commented Matouš. "They must be checking the letters."
"Yes, but sometimes we get a slob and..." I stopped in mid-sentence and casually looked around. A young couple was walking a little behind us, on the opposite sidewalk an elderly man in a winter coat was looking at the shop window, approaching from the intersection cyclist. But none of them seemed to care.
"Mom went to see him the day before yesterday," I continued when we were alone again.
"He is allowed to visit, so hopefully he will tell me more. Maybe he'll allow a visit next time
me too...
"And how long will it actually be closed?" Matouš continued to wonder.
"He's just awaiting trial, no one knows anything," I answered tersely, and I was starting to feel sick annoying how they ask.
We went out onto the main street and stopped at a bakery window. “Guys, the smell!” he snapped I squinted my eyes and breathed in. “If you wait for me, I'd jump in and buy a piece bread. Mom is coming back today and there is nothing to eat at home.“
I was already taking the handle when Petr stopped me in a calm voice: "Wait, John, there
we must not now.“
I turned to him, “What? Then they will certainly have nothing.“
Without saying a word, the friend pointed to a small sign on the glass door:
BY REGULATION OF THE PROTECTORATE AUTHORITIES, HE IS JEWISH ALLOWED TO SHOP EACH WEEKDAY ONLY FROM 3 TO 5 PM IN THE AFTERNOON
At first I wanted to argue that it didn't concern me, but then it did happened Without saying a word, I turned and asked, "Which way?"
Petr grinned almost apologetically and pointed to the nearest tram stop.
This can be followed by a discussion about the extent to which the sample of the novel The Boy from Blolo 66 fits into the literary genre of memoir, historical novel, or autobiography.