As the child and grandchild of Holocaust survivors, it has become one of my missions to combat Holocaust denial. That’s why I work with many Holocaust survivors and help educate others on how to recognize racism, Holocaust denial and whitewashing. One of the most important things you can do is to read the facts from reputable sources, and that includes choosing the most highly recommended Holocaust books, some of which are listed below.
The Holocaust, also referred to as the Shoah (the Hebrew word for “catastrophe”), will always be known as one of the darkest periods of humanity. Because the news at the time was heavily censored, it was only years later that people were able to pick up nonfiction Holocaust books to learn about the horrors and the extent of the loss of human life. For many people, the Holocaust is past history, revisited only on significant anniversaries or when the headlines make it unavoidable. For other people, stories of the Holocaust impact their day-to-day lives as they share memories with younger relatives or students.
That’s why we connected with prominent individuals, educators, activists and organizations to find some of the best books about the Holocaust. Our experts include a historian and professor of modern Jewish history and the program director of Club Nissim, a recreational program for Holocaust Survivors—along with others who have experience in this space, including myself.
Keep reading for the Holocaust books our experts say everyone needs to read at least once in their lifetime.
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Nonfiction Holocaust books
Works of fiction are entertaining, but to truly understand the Holocaust, nonfiction tomes are your best bet—especially those written by Holocaust survivors who live with the history every day.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Viktor E. Frankl’s memoir of his experiences in Nazi death camps—including Auschwitz—from 1942 to 1945 describes his attempts to hold on to his humanity and find hope, even during the most horrific moments of his life. Though it was published in 1946, Frankl’s memoir remains a major influence to many.
“I’ve never read anything like it. It was visceral and extremely poignant,” says McKay Smith, an attorney with the Department of Justice, a law professor and a former staffer for Senator John McCain. Smith has been heavily influenced by his late grandfather’s experiences in occupied France during World War II and the way he was haunted by atrocities he’d seen committed by the Nazis.
But while all Holocaust stories are naturally steeped in sadness, Smith points to the sliver of hope that Man’s Search for Meaning offers. “Portions of the book almost took me to my knees,” he says. “Yet there was a seedling of hope there. Something to hang on to. A valuable lesson to be learned for all of human life.”
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Night by Elie Wiesel
An issue that is not often touched upon in Holocaust stories is the notion of survivor’s guilt, a topic Elie Wiesel (winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize) delves into in Night, one of the most well-known Holocaust memoirs. When asked about the best Holocaust books for teens, curators at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, pointed to Wiesel’s 1960 account of surviving Nazi death camps as a teenager. The museum even incorporates the book in its Echoes and Reflections unit, which provides educators with resources to teach about the Holocaust.
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If This Is a Man byPrimo Levi
In 1947, Italian chemist Primo Levi published one of the most well-known Holocaust survivor books of all time: his account of surviving a year in the Auschwitz concentration camp. From the logical mind of a scientist comes a history of the impossible-to-understand events of the Holocaust.
Deborah E. Lipstadt, a historian, author and professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University,says it’s hard to pick just a few great Holocaust books “when there are so many powerful ones,” but she recommends Levi’s, calling it a “powerful memoir.”
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Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered by Ruth Kluger
Another of Lipstadt’s recommendations, Ruth Kluger’s 2001 memoir tells the story of her and her mother’s deportation to a series of concentration camps, beginning at age 11 with Theresienstadt. Still Alive is an unflinching view of the Holocaust from both the perspective of a child going through the experience and an adult trying to make sense of her past.
“These are two great books,” says Lipstadt of Kluger’s and Primo Levi’s memoirs. “I teach them a lot. One’s a classic; the other should be.”
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Denial: Holocaust History on Trial by Deborah E. Lipstadt
In her 1993 Holocaust book Denying the Holocaust, Lipstadt took on a Holocaust denier she called “one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.” After her book was published in the United Kingdom, she was sued by the denier. Denial: Holocaust History on Trial, published in 2016, presents a riveting and detailed look into her exhaustive legal battle, which resulted in a formal denunciation of a Holocaust denier. You may recognize the story from the Rachel Weisz film Denial, a movie adaptation of Lipstadt’s book.
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The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eva Eger
Written by a respected psychologist and taking a different approach to trauma than other Holocaust books, Edith Eva Eger’s 2017 memoir tackles her struggle for survival in Auschwitz and, years later, her healing from the trauma she endured.
Simonne Hirschhorn, the program director of Club Nissim, a recreational program for Holocaust Survivors, says she was struck by Eger’s ability to find choices in life and to come up with a different treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Hirschhorn, who spends nearly every day with Holocaust survivors, says this book stays with her and inspires her daily.
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An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin by Gad Beck
While there are many incredible stories of heroism during the Holocaust, there aren’t many from an LGBTQ+ perspective. Gad Beck’s 1999 memoir is a must-read, says Yuval David, the queer grandchild of Holocaust survivors who advocates for both communities. He teaches Jewish and queer audiences (and other minority communities) how to embrace who they are and how to combat Holocaust whitewashing and misinformation. David recommends this moving portrait of a gay teenage leader in the resistance.
“Gad Beck was one of the very last gay Jewish Holocaust survivors,” he says. “He was born in Berlin and came of age during Nazi rule. He used his connections in the gay underground movement to help other Jews hide and escape during the Holocaust.”
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999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadam
A finalist for the Pen America Literary Award for biographies, Heather Dune Macadam’s Holocaust book chronicles the previously untold story of the 999 young, unmarried Jewish women who, on March 25, 1942, were tricked into boarding the train that became the first official transport to Auschwitz. As part of her painstaking research for the book, Dune Macadam personally met and interviewed the survivors whose tales she tells in this story.
The book was published in 2019, a full 74 years after the Holocaust ended. Part of the reason this story took so long to be revealed, Dune Macadam tells me, is that for a long time, tales of teen girls weren’t considered important enough to highlight.
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Living a Life That Matters: From Nazi Nightmare to American Dream by Ben Lesser
Many Holocaust books concentrate on events that occurred during the war, but in his memoir, Ben Lesser highlights his liberation and the aftermath of the Holocaust. The 93-year-old Holocaust survivor doesn’t just want to tell his story, though; he aims to educate others and make sure the world never forgets what happened during this most horrific time. “History that is not taught is history that is repeated,” he says. “Holocaust education is a great way to help defeat racism, discrimination and bullying.”
This 2012 memoir is a good place to start, and you can supplement your reading with the educational curriculum from the Zachor Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, which Lesser founded. It’s a great way for younger people to understand the full horrors of the Holocaust and the importance of anti-racism.
“Sadly, there are not many survivors left to tell their story,” Lesser says. “That is why it is imperative that the information students learn is factual. When we educate, we prevent and ultimately prevail.”
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Fiction Holocaust books
Before reading any novels about the Holocaust, remember that they may not be factually accurate. In fact, Dune Macadam says there are “huge inaccuracies” in many popular fiction books about the Holocaust. It’s important to do your own research before believing that the histories shared in novels are true.
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson
In this compelling legal thriller, published in 2013, a well-respected philanthropist is accused of having been a former Nazi SS officer. The charges are bunk—or are they? Once We Were Brothers pits two former friends against each other in a fight for truth and redemption.
Danielle Praport, a former Young Friends Member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, recommends this extremely readable and compelling story, which is the first in a series.
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The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Many people use this graphic novel as a way of telling children about the Holocaust. The anthropomorphic cats and mice represent the Nazis and Jews. It’s a harrowing way to soften the story of the son of a Holocaust survivor coming to grips with his family history.
Maus was published in 1991, and the following year, it became the first graphic novel to claim the Pulitzer Prize. It’s still the only graphic novel to win the prestigious award, and it remains one of the most well-recognized and essential Holocaust books ever written.
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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Though I’m not normally a fan of fictional Holocaust books, I couldn’t put down Mark Sullivan’s 2017 novel, Beneath a Scarlet Sky. It’s based on the true story of Pino Lella, an Italian teenager who helped Jews escape across the Alps. Forced by his parents to join the German army as a way to stay safe, Lella becomes a driver for a member of the German high command and witnesses some of the atrocities of the Holocaust. It’s at turns inspiring, heartbreaking, hopeful and perfectly ordinary. As far as fiction Holocaust books go, this one is truly worth a read—as its more than 166,447 five-star reviews can attest.
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FAQs
What is Holocaust literature?
Holocaust literature encompasses a wide array of works that delve into the Holocaust and its effects on individuals. This genre includes fiction, poetry, drama and memoirs, and it examines the intersection of history and Jewish identity.
Why is it so important to read Holocaust books?
Reading Holocaust books is important to teach us about the reality of the Holocaust and its brutal history. Between 1933 and 1945, the German Nazis and their willing collaborators orchestrated and carried out the mass murder of 6 million European Jews during World War II. The Nazis also systematically persecuted, incarcerated in labor and concentration camps, and murdered millions of other so-called undesirables, including the Romani, hom*osexuals and political dissidents.
Reading Holocaust literature educates us on the dangers of bigotry and hatred while encouraging us to reflect on morality and human rights. This also builds a commitment to preventing future atrocities.
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About the experts
- Deborah E. Lipstadt is a historian, author and professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University. She was nominated by President Biden as U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.
- McKay Smith is an attorney with the Department of Justice and a law professor with George Washington University.
- Simonne Beckeld Hirschhorn is the program director of Club Nissim, a recreational program for Holocaust Survivors. As part of the larger agency YM-YWHA of Boro Park in Brooklyn, New York, the group hosts a range of activities, including lectures, support groups, museum outings and more.
- Yuval David is a queer grandchild of Holocaust survivors who advocates for both communities. He is also an Emmy Award–winning actor, host, director and filmmaker, who has won over 100 international film festival awards. You’ll find his writing on various news sites, including the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel.
- Danielle Praport is a former Young Friends Member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, a Holocaust memorial in New York City.
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite books for over 100 years. We’ve worked with bestselling authors including Susan Orlean, Janet Evanovich and Alex Haley, whose Pulitzer Prize–winning Roots grew out of a project funded by and originally published in the magazine. Through Fiction Favorites (formerly Select Editions and Condensed Books), Reader’s Digest has been publishing anthologies of abridged novels for decades. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in fiction, including James Patterson, Ruth Ware, Kristin Hannah and more. The Reader’s Digest Book Club, helmed by Books Editor Tracey Neithercott, introduces readers to even more of today’s best fiction by upcoming, bestselling and award-winning authors. For this piece on Holocaust books, Rachel Weingarten tapped her experience as a seasoned journalist and the co-founder of a national nonprofit organization that works with Holocaust survivors to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. She spoke with various experts, including Deborah E. Lipstadt, a historian and professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University, McKay Smith, an attorney with the Department of Justice, and Simonne Beckeld Hirschhorn, the program director of Club Nissim. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Deborah E. Lipstadt, historian, author and professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University; interview, December 2021
- McKay Smith, attorney with the Department of Justice and law professor at George Washington University; interview, December 2021
- Simonne Beckeld Hirschhorn, program director of Club Nissim; interview, December 2021
- Yuval David, queer grandchild of Holocaust survivors; interview, December 2021
- Danielle Praport, former Young Friends Member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage; interview, December 2021
- Yad Vashem: “Echoes & Reflections”
- Zachor Holocaust Remembrance Foundation: “Ben’s A.I. Storyfile”
