THE HOLOCAUST AND THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC Historical Fiction Novel by Jane Yolen

BACKGROUND Hitler came to power in He wanted to reestablish Germany’s status and boost morale after they were blamed for starting WWI. Hitler was a dictator. He believed Germans were the perfect humans and wanted to create the “Aryan” race (“pure” German people). He targeted Jews, blacks, homosexuals, Asians, and mentally and physically disabled people. Hitler blamed Jews for Germany’s problems and began to target them and others by taking away their rights. In 1935 Hitler made Jews wear identification, moved them to ghettos, shipped them like cattle to concentration camps, and proposed the “Final Solution” to kill all Jews and exterminate their race.

BACKGROUND AND DEFINITIONS: The German people loved Hitler because they believed he would restore their country to greatness. The Nazi regime is held responsible for killing over 12 million people, 6 million of whom were Jewish. Definitions: Nazi Party: The dictatorship under Adolf Hitler’s rule that lasted from Nazi’s advocated for Aryan supremacy and anti-Semitism. Ghettos: Part of the city where Jews were made to live in order to be segregated from the rest of society. They were not allowed to leave the area and they were not supplied with enough food or heating. Auschwitz: The largest concentration camp, located in Poland. Hannah, from TDA, is taken here. Historical Fiction: A story that is made up but is set in the past and sometimes borrows true characteristics from the time period in which it is set.

JANE YOLEN “THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC” Born in NYC in 1939 died in Her father was a soldier in WWII She wrote over 300 books and specialized in science fiction. She had three children and six grandchildren. She was Jewish and wrote this book as a memorial to all those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. Refer to the “Dedication” page of the novel. Notice how Yolen is thankful for her family immigrating to America before WWII, why she says she wrote the book, and how she obtained first-hand information about the concentration camps.

DRAMATIC IRONY AND THE DEVIL’S ARITHMETIC Dramatic Irony is when you know something that another character, or characters, does not know. This is significant to The Devil’s Arithmetic because we know that Hannah travels back in time to relive the Holocaust and concentration camp journey of the Jews. So while we see Hannah struggling with her heritage and the “annoyance” of remembering, we know that she’s about to venture back in time and witness the horrors of the holocaust firsthand. Hannah also experiences dramatic irony for herself when she finds out the year is 1942 (this happens in chapter 8) and she realizes that the Nazi regime was taking over Eastern Europe at this time.