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Think About . . . Prejudice Identity and the Relationship When Vladek is wearing his “pig” mask, he can’t be distin- of Past and Present www.uta.edu/onebook guished from the Poles. What makes the Jews “Jews,” not How much is our identity shaped by our past? Our parents Poles? Does assigning people social and their history? Can we compose our own lives, starting 2007–08 categories change who they are? with a clean slate, or are we always to some extent a product of our history? What specific strategies do the Nazis employ to create the category “Jews,” Artie’s life is shaped by events that occurred before he was making it seem acceptable to the born: his parents’ experience, his “ghost brother” Richieu. other Poles and Germans to vilify He says, “It’s spooky, having sibling rivalry with a snapshot!” them? Where does prejudice origi- (II, 15). To what extent can he free himself of his past, and A Resource Guide for Readers nate, and how is it perpetuated? what does the act of writing have to do with it? Consider the last page of Maus II as you answer this. Identify other examples of prejudice Welcome and stereotyping in the novel, for Jewish Biography Writing About rt Spiegelman’s contract between the author instance Artie’s debate about whether to draw Memorial Gate, rt Spiegelman is the creator of the - Dachau Auschwitz survivor and author Elie Wiesel calls Holocaust Maus: A and his or her subject, and Françoise as a mouse, given her French heritage winning Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. The two-volume (II, 11-12), or Vladek’s prejudice against African-Americans literature a contradiction because “Auschwitz negates all lit- Survivor’s Tale, the tension between factual erature as it negates all theories and doctrine” ( ). AUT Arlington’s 2007–08 and emotional truth(s). work has been translated into 18 languages. In A Jew Today (II, 98-100). How are they similar to or different from the A 1980 he and his wife, Françoise Nazis’ behaviors? Pavel says, “The victims who died can never tell their side of OneBook selection, the story, so maybe it’s better not to have any more stories” examines the most As a novel it deals with guilt, Mouly, co-founded Raw, the (II, 45). What are the inher- acclaimed and influential magazine Moral and Philosophical Issues important historical event identity, survival, and the im- ent problems with writing mediate and delayed impact of avant-garde and graphics, Vladek says, speaking of Auschwitz, “But here God didn’t of the twentieth century about the Holocaust? What of trauma. which they co-edited until 1991. come. We were all on our own” (II, 29). How can one reconcile are the moral issues? and arguably the worst belief in a benevolent God with the evil of the Holocaust? sustained atrocity of all From 1992 to 2002 he was a staff Pavel also says, “Look at how As a , it presents time, the Holocaust. artist and writer for , When the Nazi soldiers commit unimaginable acts—killing many books have already these complicated babies, slaughtering innocent people in cold blood—do they been written about the As Ho- issues through a Photo by which published his powerful black- Nadja Spiegelman cease being human? What about prisoners who are willing to Holocaust. What’s the point? locaust combination of on-black 9/11 cover a few days after do anything to stay alive, even steal food from family mem- Auschwitz People haven’t changed” (II, 45). Is literature, words and images, the event. His drawings and prints have been exhibited in bers? What is your definition of being “human”? museums and galleries throughout the world. Spiegelman he right? Is it futile? Maus asks us raising still more to consider questions: Does lives . . . in lower Manhattan with his wife and their two Survival Do only those who experienced the Holocaust have the right children, Nadja and Dashiell. or the authority to write about it? profound this treatment What qualities in Vladek enable him to survive when so many trivialize the others die? What do you make of the fact that these very moral and horrors actual Source: Spiegelman, Art. In the Shadow of No Towers. qualities, admirable in the context of the Holocaust, make him The Writing Process philosophical New York : Pantheon, 2004. annoying, even at times insufferable, in the present? What do you make of the fact that when Artie writes, he questions: What people experi- wears a mouse mask, but when he’s simply talking to his is the source and enced? Is this Levels of survival: Did the heroic father, he doesn’t? What does this have to do with Artie’s nature of evil? an appropri- As you read the novel, be Vladek survive, or had he changed to OneBook identity as a son? As a writer? Can one believe in ate genre for such a sub- alert to the ways prejudice someone else? What does Anja’s sui- Web Site ject? Can images accomplish works to dehumanize the cide suggest about her survival? Did What’s the difference between the author God in the face of wide- spread evil? What does it what words can’t? “other,” in its obvious and Visit the OneBook web site she not survive? and Art Spiegelman the character? to find: mean to be human? more subtle manifestations, From all of the many issues Guilt Does telling this Holocaust story in comic book form trivial- and the impact it has on both • More information about ize it? Is Spiegelman, however well intentioned, insulting the As a biography and au- Maus addresses, we have cho- Maus Who is to blame for the Holocaust? victims and victimizers. Crematory ovens, millions who died? What does he think about this? tobiography (author Art sen “prejudice” as the focus • A calendar of events Only those who actively participated? Auschwitz of UT Arlington Conversa- Those who did nothing to stop it? All Spiegelman tells the story We hope that you will discuss • Contest information tions, a year-long, campus- Germans who lived through the war? Contemporary Ger- of his father Vladek, an the novel with your friends, • An online book mans? Artie says, “Maybe EVERYONE has to feel guilty. . . Auschwitz survivor), Maus wide program of activities join the online blog discus- discussion FOREVER!”(II, 42). When does guilt stop? About This Guide examines the relationship and events that explores sion, and attend some of the • Sources for the infor- This guide was written by Dr. Laurie Porter of the Department of English and of past to present and prejudice from many points many OneBook and Conver- mation in this handout How guilty are we of the atrocities being committed in Darfur Evelyn Barker and C.D. Walter of UT Arlington Library. Special thanks to father to son, the implicit of view. sations events. and elsewhere in the world? Joshua Been, UT Arlington Library. www.uta.edu/onebook

www.uta.edu/onebook 1942 February 15 Timeline European Jewish European Jewish The first mass gassing of Jews begins at Auschwitz. January 30 1933 Population Pre–WWII Population in 1950 German President Paul von Hindenburg appoints May 10-12 1500 Jews removed from . Anja’s grand- as chancellor. parents are in this group. March 22 > The first concentration camp is opened at Dachau. June 2000 Jews sent from Sosnowiec to Auschwitz. August 2 1934 German President Paul von Hindenburg dies. Hitler August 12 8000 Jews are sent from Sosnowiec to Auschwitz becomes the “Fuehrer” and commander-in-chief of after reporting to Dienst Stadium for “document Germany’s armed forces. > inspection.” December 1935 1943 Vladek Speigelman meets Anja Zylberberg in Sos- Spring All remaining Jews in Sosnowiec are forced to move nowiec, . > to the Srodula ghetto. Richieu is sent to with his aunt, Tosha. February 14 1937 Vladek and Anja marry. August 16 Most inhabitants of the Srodula ghetto are deported October > to Auschwitz. Vladek and Anja are in hiding. Vladek and Anja’s son Richieu is born in Sosnowiec. August 26 August 24 1939 All Jews in Zawiercie ghetto are sent to Auschwitz. Vladek is called to serve in the Polish Army. For an interactive version of these maps, Tosha poisons herself, Richieu, and two other chil- dren to avoid being sent to the gas chambers. September 1 > visit http://gis.uta.edu/maus.

World War II begins when Germany invades Poland. Holocaust Death Glossary and 1944 January The remaining Jews in Srodula are killed. Vladek and September and Survival Rates Pronunciation Guide Anja are still in hiding. Vladek is captured by the Germans and becomes a . Anja (Slavic): AHN-yeh – Artie’s mother and Vladek’s wife. March Vladek and Anja are sent to Auschwitz. : (German): OWSH-vits – Nazi concentration camp in September 4 Austria Auschwitz The German army enters Sosnowiec. Poland where Anja and Vladek were sent. Summer Jews who survived World War II Birkenau (German): BUR-ka-now – Women’s camp near Vladek sees Anja in Birkenau. September 28 Romania Poland surrenders. Auschwitz. Also called Auschwitz II. Jews killed during World War II Early Fall Françoise (French): fran-SWAH – Artie’s wife. Anja moved from Birkenau to Auschwitz. November 23 France Gemeinde (German): ja-MIN-da – Jewish community Jews in German-occupied Poland are forced to wear 1945 January 18 an arm band or yellow star. organization. Germany Forced evacuation of Auschwitz, in what became Juden Raus (German): YŪ-den ROWSE – “Jews, get out!” known as the Death Marches. December 5-6 Jewish property in Poland is confiscated by Germa- (German): YŪ-den-RAT – Jewish councils formed by Hungary the Nazis to serve as a liaison between the Nazis and Jews February ny. Vladek and his father-in-law lose their factories. Vladek is sent to Dachau. living in Polish and Soviet ghettos. February 1940 USSR Kapo (Unknown): KA-po – Concentration camp prisoner who April 29 Vladek is released as a POW and sent to Lublin. worked in an administrative capacity. Dachau is liberated. May 20 > Poland Oswiecim (Polish): osh-FĒ-EN-cheem – Polish name for May 7 The Auschwitz camp begins functioning. Auschwitz. Germany surrenders. September 3 1941 0 1,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 Richieu (Unknown): RĒ-shū – Artie’s brother, who was killed as a small child in Poland. August 14 First gassing at Auschwitz. Total Jewish Population by Country Japan surrenders; end of World War II. Shvartser (Yiddish): SHVART-ser – Black person, pejorative. December 7 1946 Vladek and Anja, previously reunited, leave Poland Source: Barnavi, E. . Sosnowiec (Polish): sos-NŌ-vē-ets – Polish city where Vladek Japan attacks U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People for Sweden. Hawaii. New York: Schocken, 2002. and Anja lived with her parents. Vladek (Unknown): VLAH-dek – Artie’s father and narrator of 1948 February 15 December Maus’s Holocaust story. Art Spiegelman is born in Stockholm, Sweden. All Jews in Sosnowiec forced to move to a ghetto. = 100,000 Jews killed by Nazis per year Zawiercie (Polish): zav-YUR-chē – Polish city where Richieu 1951 Spiegelman family immigrates to the U.S. Source: Hilberg, R. The Destruction of the European was sent for safety. Jews. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985. Zloty (Polish): ZLO-tē, ZLO-tēz (pl) – Polish currency.