My secret camera: life in the Lodz ghetto by Mendel Grossman and Frank Smith

Grossman, Mendel (photographer), and Frank Smith (text). My secret camera: life in the Lodz ghetto. San Diego: Gulliver Books, 2000. ISBN: 978-1845078928.

Author website: No official website.

Photographer website: No official website.

Media: photography

Genre: nonfiction, World War II, Holocaust

Annotation

Mendel Grossman, a captive in the Lodz ghetto in Poland during World War II, secret photographs taken from inside his raincoat documenting the real stories of the captives and exposing the horrors of the Holocaust.

My thoughts

It’s hard to believe that these photos exist. These are photos taken of prisoners captive and systematically enslaved, mistreated, humiliated in a ghetto where thousands were shipped out never to be seen again. The fact that the photos made it through those 4 years during the war and years since 1945 is remarkable. However, very sad that there were 10,000 other photos that were destroyed. The bravery and courageousness of Mendel Grossman to take these pictures is astounding.

These photographs capture what books cannot describe in words. Demonstrating the power and the importance of picture books. In the photographs children are seen harnessed to a heavy load and are treated like herd animals. A woman scrubs the streets. A boy looks out of the page with fear in his eyes.  These are people struggling. Yet, there are photos that show that even in the worse of time, the captives found strength to be optimistic. One photo shows women laughing as bread is pulled out of an oven while baking for Passover. A crowd gathers around two entertainers who provide some of entertainment. The photographs show the suffering but also the strength of the human spirit.

These 17 photos are Mendel Grossman’s legacy. Unfortunately, he died in 1945 days before the Germans surrendered. The narrative text was created by Frank Smith as an attempt to add more to these already very powerful photographs.

As Frank Smith wrote in the introduction, “Yes, these studies break the heart. But they strengthen the heart, too…” These photos have timeless meaning.

Curricular connections

World War II, world history, Holocaust
Grade 4-6

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 3-6/ Ages 7 and up.