Schreiben Macht Frei -- Writing Sets You Free

Let me just start with the statement that I really liked the Maus books. I dread reading most books that we have to read in English class, but I enjoyed this required read. Being Jewish, I feel like I read Maus with a different perspective; I read it through another lens. Not only did knowing the Yiddish in the novel cause for some giggles from the adjectives I commonly use, but being Jewish connected me to Spiegelman. Even though I am young, I have been told just as detailed of stories from Holocaust survivors I personally know and love, with just as many pictures and gory details entering my mind. Whenever I read Maus, I just thought of a woman I know and love, Morah Schreiber. She is an amazing woman who courageously told me her entire Holocaust experience story, and showed me what she referred to as her “Terezin artifacts” (Terezin was the camp that she was in, and was primarily a children’s camp). Reading about Vladek

"Work sets you free" -- Entrance to Terezin

telling the detailed personal stories of his life pre, during, and post Holocaust, I felt as if I was back sitting with Morah Schreiber listening to her haunting stories. Seeing the pictures of the Holocaust only reminded me of all the photos she would show me, and all of the items she saved. Some of the stories she would tell me directly correlated with those that Vladek shared, and since Morah Schreiber was only a child in the Holocaust, her memories were even more bone-chilling. I share the guilt of not being able to even fathom what the survivors went through with Art Spiegelman. I believe that any Jew who like me had family not survive the Holocaust, or who know survivors, experience the same guilt. When acknowledging how lucky certain generations of Jews are for not having to experience the Holocaust, there is another prevalent source of guilt for feeling that luck. Ergo, I had a unique perspective when reading Maus, and it only allowed for a better understanding and connection to the author and text.