The Portrayal of Holocaust Rescuers in Children's Literature Karen Green
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The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2010 The portrayal of Holocaust rescuers in children's literature Karen Green Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/diss Recommended Citation Green, Karen, "The portrayal of Holocaust rescuers in children's literature" (2010). Doctoral Dissertations. 368. https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/368 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of San Francisco THE PORTRAYAL OF HOLOCAUST RESCUERS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: THE PROCESS IN BECOMING A RESCUER Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education International and Multicultural Education Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Karen Lynn Green University of San Francisco May 2010 Abstract This dissertation focused on the applicability of Fogelman‘s (1994) model describing the process of becoming a rescuer during the Holocaust (i.e., Awareness, Action, Rescuer Self, and Post War) to children‘s literature about the Holocaust. The study attempted to bridge a gap between what is known from children‘s literature about the Holocaust rescuers of Jews and what was hypothesized by Fogelman about the process whereby rescuers took action to rescue Jews. The researcher used content analysis to examine eight books about the Holocaust rescuers of Jews and inferences were made from these texts about the four main categories of Fogelman‘s model. The findings revealed that the books analyzed demonstrated this model to a very high degree. The results suggest that young readers can learn from this literature about what it means to think for oneself and to be fair, kind, tolerant, and help others when needed. The findings hold significance for historians, teachers, and others, and suggest that when teaching about the importance of helping others and being tolerant, educators can choose books that display characters helping others. i This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Karen Green 4-27-10 Candidate Date Dissertation Committee Brian Gerrard 4-27-10 Chairperson Stephen Cary 4-27-10 Virginia Shimabukuro 4-27-10 ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. Because of their courageous actions lives were saved. Their stories will continue to inspire all of us to act and to stand by the courage of our convictions. Learning about their stories changed my life. One person can make a difference in the lives of others. Compassion, courage, and humanity will always prevail. I am also dedicating this dissertation to my parents and sister, Howard, Sheila, and Deborah Green, whose generosity I will never be able to repay. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Brian Gerrard for his patience, time, and energy for working with me. Thank you for your support when things did not seem possible. I would also like to thank the two other members of my committee: Dr. Stephen Cary for his thoroughness and Dr. Gini Shimabukuro for her generosity, kindness, and teaching me how to write. I am so appreciative and deeply grateful to my committee for staying with me. I am grateful to both of my parents, Howard and Sheila Green, for their support, encouragement, and giving me the love of learning. I am also grateful for their American Airlines and Hyatt points. I thank my sister, Deborah Green, for her pushing me to persevere and for our vacations to Las Vegas. I thank the three of you for everything. Thanks to Jude Berman, "my sounding board guru" for her patience and editing. Erin Hyden,"my technical assistant" and being a great neighbor. Jeremy Haney "my technical assistant's assistant" and also being a great neighbor. Special thanks to Cesar Flores, Laura Hurley, and Jenny Rong for their friendship and our coffee, tea, and/or margarita parties. Thanks to Mark Ericksson for his kindness. Finally I thank Ann Clark who since Madrid has kept me laughing. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM......................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem............................................................................... 1 Background to the Problem and the Need for the Study............................. 2 Purpose of the Study.................................................................................... 9 Theoretical Rationale.................................................................................... 9 Research Questions...................................................................................... 16 Significance of Study..................................................................................... 16 Limitations..................................................................................................... 18 Definition of Terms......................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE........................................................ 21 Restatement of the Problem............................................................................ 21 Overview....................................................................................................... 21 Teaching Values of Altruism Through Children's Literature........................ 21 Teaching Values of Altruism Through Holocaust Children Literature.......... 25 Characteristics of Rescuers and the Rescuer Process..................................... 28 Summary......................................................................................................... 49 v CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY......................................................................... 50 Restatement of the Research Problem............................................................. 50 Restatement of the Research Questions........................................................... 50 Research Design............................................................................................... 51 Population and Sample.................................................................................... 53 Operational Definition of Content Analysis Categories............................... 57 Assessment of Reliability.............................................................................. 62 Data Collection............................................................................................. 62 Data Analysis.................................................................................................. 63 Background of the Researcher....................................................................... 64 CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS...................................................................................... 66 Introduction..................................................................................................... 66 Research Question #1...................................................................................... 66 Research Question #2..................................................................................... 69 Research Question #3...................................................................................... 74 Research Question #4..................................................................................... 78 Research Question #5...................................................................................... 85 Summary..................................................................................................... 90 CHAPTER V. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................... 92 Introduction...................................................................................................... 92 Discussion........................................................................................................ 92 vi Recommendations for Future Practice............................................................. 102 Recommendations for Future Research........................................................... 106 Conclusions...................................................................................................... 108 REFERENCES......................................................................................................... 111 APPENDIXES......................................................................................................... 115 A. Bibliography of Holocaust Books.................................................................. 115 B. Bibliography of Altruistic Books (Non Holocaust)......................................