EPIC by Istoreto Web

Nicholas Winton

istoretoweb — 2026-01-07 10:40:44 UTC

In December 1938, a young Englishman canceled a ski vacation and went instead to Prague to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Nazis who were crowded into the city. Setting up a makeshift headquarters in his hotel room, Nicholas Winton took names and photographs from parents desperate to get their children out of danger. He raised money, found foster families in England, arranged travel and visas, and, when necessary, bribed officials and forged documents. In the frantic spring and summer of 1939, as the Nazi shadow fell over Europe, he organized the transportation of almost 700 children to safety.

Francesco Tirelli

istoretoweb — 2026-01-10 08:40:31 UTC

Francesco Tirelli loved to eat gelato from his uncle's cart. So when he moves from Italy to Hungary, Francesco decides to open his own ice cream store. There young Peter learns to love ice cream as much as Francesco did. But when the war comes and Francesco closes his shop for the winter, he uses the shop for a special purpose--to hide his Jewish friends and neighbors from danger. This heroic tale is based on true events.

For the Righteous Among the Nations & the Anonymous who saved Jewish lives

istoretoweb — 2026-01-10 08:42:07 UTC

Red flags with black stripes fly over the city, soldiers are everywhere. And people are disappearing. "People like them." Sarah and her little sister are now alone and discover the true face of "the ogre down below," and that this man with dark eyes has a good heart. A poignant story about appearances, courage, and what makes us human.

EPIC (Everyday People, Incredible Courage) is a global e-mapping project for upper primary & secondary school children aged 10-16. EPIC draws on picture books and graphic novels to highlight those who resisted (Jewish and non-Jewish), those who took action to survive, and those who protected Jewish people during the Holocaust and the lives of others persecuted during this time in history.

istoretoweb — 2026-01-10 11:24:10 UTC

Project Page: https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/anglistik/seminar/esud/forschung/epic

EPIC is an initiative by: Istoreto, TU Braunschweig, SmartEdu4All & NHL Stenden.

Gino Bartali

istoretoweb — 2026-01-10 11:33:08 UTC

"Gino Bartali pedaled across Italy for years, winning one cycling race after another, including the 1938 Tour de France. Gino became an international sports hero! But the next year, World War II began, and it changed everything. Soldiers marched into Italy. Tanks rolled down the cobbled streets of Florence. And powerful leaders declared that Jewish people should be arrested. o the entire world, Gino Bartali was merely a champion cyclist. But Gino's greatest achievement was something he never told a soul--that he secretly worked with the Italian resistance to save hundreds of Jewish men, women, and children, and others, from certain death, using the one thing no authority would question: his bicycle."

Hans & Lisa Fittko

istoretoweb — 2026-01-10 11:47:54 UTC

Mr. Benjamin is a philosopher with extraordinary ideas. But when his country begins punishing people for being different, he must escape. Over hills and valleys he trudges with a heavy suitcase. What could he be carrying? Based on a true story.

Families & Friends

istoretoweb — 2026-01-10 12:24:36 UTC

In this gentle, poetic young graphic novel, Dounia, a grandmother, tells her granddaughter the story even her son has never heard: how, as a young Jewish girl in Paris, she was hidden away from the Nazis by a series of neighbors and friends who risked their lives to keep her alive when her parents had been taken to concentration camps.

Please check this guide to see how you and your class can participate and contribute. The addition books and mapping of people is ongoing. If you have any suggestions, please email: tatia.gruenbaum@tu-braunschweig.de

istoretoweb — 2026-01-14 13:07:12 UTC

Here is the link to the project page: https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/anglistik/seminar/esud/forschung/epic.

Chana Kaplan (mother of Simon Gronowski), Jean Aerts & his wife (Chapter 10: Motherly Love)

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 15:01:33 UTC

This chapter tells the story of Simon Gronowski, who escaped the deportation train to Auschwitz.

Judith Geller

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 19:33:19 UTC

Judith Geller was known as Jacqueline Gauthier and was part of the French Resistance. This picture books tells how

during World War II, a social worker named Jacqueline bicycled through the streets of Paris, passing Nazi soldiers and carrying a toy duck to share with the children she visited. What the Nazis didn't know, however, was that Jacqueline wasn't a social worker at all, but a Jewish member of the French Resistance.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 19:45:03 UTC

The story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portuguese), who, against his government’s commands, helped refugees flee France to escape the Nazis by granting visas that allowed them entry to Portugal. Mendes saved many thousands of people, including the artist Salvador Dalí and H.A. and Margret Rey, the creators of Curious George.

Marcel Mangel

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 20:13:26 UTC

Marcel Mangel is known as Marcel Marceau and was part of the French Resistance. From the age of five, Marcel Marceau knew he wanted to be a silent actor, just like Charlie Chaplin. When World War II intervened, he joined the resistance, helping to get young Jews to safety during this dangerous time. But Marcel never forgot his dream of being a mime artist and entertaining the world.

A British woman & her friends

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 21:34:54 UTC

This is the story of a 13 year old Jewish boy (Lev) who lived in Germany at the time of Nazi persecution. Saved from the Holocaust by the Kindertransport), he arrived in London where he found refugee and a new life filled with success and happiness.

Miep Gies

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 21:43:35 UTC

This story focuses on Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who helped Anne Frank and her family hide from the Nazis, then saved and preserved Frank's diary.

The community of Gilleleje

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 21:45:39 UTC

The dramatic story of neighbors in a small Danish fishing village who, during the Holocaust, shelter a Jewish family waiting to be ferried to safety in Sweden - based on a true story. It is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Anett and her parents are hiding a Jewish woman and her son, Carl, in their cellar until a fishing boat can take them across the sound to neutral Sweden. The soldiers patrolling their street are growing suspicious, so Carl and his mama must make their way to the harbor despite a cloudy sky with no moon to guide them. Worried about their safety, Anett devises a clever and unusual plan for their safe passage to the harbor.

Chiune Sugihara

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 22:08:46 UTC

Against the order of his government, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania issued thousands of visas to Jewish refugees to help them flee the Nazis during World War II.

Hans & Sophie Scholl

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 22:13:28 UTC

The White Rose Resistance was the German student movement that used the power of the written word to speak out against the Nazis during World War II. They worked in secret to distribute leaflets condemning the government's actions at a time when doing so meant putting your life at risk.

The story follows siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were instrumental members of the resistance. Words Matter transports readers through the world the siblings inhabited, from their idyllic childhood to becoming leaders in the Hitler Youth groups; the Nuremberg Rally; witnessing the arrests and murders of innocent people; and finally emerging as leaders of the White Rose Resistance -- while still believing in the goodness that lived in the hearts of the German people. The Scholl siblings were arrested and executed in 1943 but their legacy, and the words of the Resistance, live on.

Pudlina, Jan Kurowski, Maria & Emilia Kurowska

tatia5 — 2026-01-19 22:33:47 UTC

Born to a Jewish family in a small Polish village, Estelle Nadel―then known as Enia Feld―was just seven years old when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Once a vibrant child with a song for every occasion, Estelle would eventually lose her voice as, over the next five years, she would survive the deaths of their mother, father, their eldest brother and sister, and countless others.

A child at the mercy of her neighbors during a terrifying time in history, The Girl Who Sang is an enthralling first-hand account of Estelle's fight for survival during World War II.

Otto Weidt

tatia5 — 2026-01-20 06:36:04 UTC

"Schindler's List in miniature" and at the same time a small but impressive example of civic courage. With this book, Inge Deutschkron creates a powerful memorial to one of her rescuers, the broom maker Otto Weidt.

Otto Weidt

tatia5 — 2026-01-20 06:43:34 UTC

This book by Hadas Leibovich, illustrated by Noa Paran is a based on a true story, involving a relative of the author, Siegfried Lewin. In Germany, during World War II, Otto Weidt, ran a workshop manufacturing brushes and brooms. Most of the workshop workers were blind and deaf Jews. Weidt managed to convince the Gestapo that the workshop and its workers were essential to the war effort.

Jaap Penraat

tatia5 — 2026-01-20 11:58:54 UTC

Jaap Penraat can't understand the Germans' hatred of his Jewish neighbors in his hometown of Amsterdam. As the restrictions multiply and the violence escalates, Jaap knows he must take action to help his friends. He begins by using his father's printing press to forge identification cards and papers for Jewish neighbors and refugees, but as the Nazi grasp tightens, he is forced to take a more drastic path--leading twenty Jews on the dangerous first leg of a journey to Paris, the start of the underground pipeline to safety.

Mrs Bartos

tatia5 — 2026-01-21 09:32:17 UTC

"This graphic novel is an Amnesty International UK-endorsed book. It is set in Budapest during the Second World War and is a true story of a young Jewish boy and his family struggling to survive in the war-torn city. The book is based on facts, and Peter, the young boy in the story, tells the moving account of his family’s survival as hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews were taken away to concentration camps, where more often than not they were killed or died of disease or starvation."

Kazimierz Korkuc & Antoni Gawryłkiewicz

tatia5 — 2026-01-22 09:02:09 UTC

There once was a girl named Yaffa. She loved her family, her home, and her beautiful Polish town that brimmed with light and laughter. She also loved helping her Grandma Alte in her photography studio. There, shopkeepers, brides, babies, and bar mitzvah boys posed while Grandma Alte captured their most joyous moments on film. And before the Jewish New Year, they sent their precious photographs to relatives overseas with wishes for good health and happiness.

But one dark day, Nazi soldiers invaded the town (Eishyshok). Nearly 3,500 Jewish souls ― including family, friends, and neighbors of Yaffa ― were erased.

Italian Partisans

tatia5 — 2026-01-22 09:36:28 UTC

The city has been occupied by invaders. Injustice, violence, and fear are everywhere. Everything is forbidden, and no one wants to smile anymore. So the partisan bids farewell to his beloved and heads to the mountains to fight for freedom.

Samuele Panichi & Don Giuseppe Celli

tatia5 — 2026-01-22 09:45:33 UTC

1944. Umbria-Marche Apennines. The Nazi-Fascists are combing the area, and in the village of Secchiano, a Jewish family with a young girl, Charlotte, is hiding. Two people risk their lives to help them: Samuele Panichi, an anarchist who returned from America to fight in the Resistance, and Don Celli, the parish priest. When the Germans arrive in the village, Panichi, with his two children and a group of companions, is forced to "cross the river" and go into hiding. Don Celli, however, is interned and taken to Mauthausen and from there to the "Bone Mill" in Harteim, where the prisoners' remains are pulverized and scattered into the Danube. He too "crosses the river." In Secchiano, however, the mill hides Charlotte and her family. And the miller's wife feeds them. Until the arrival of the Allies.

Chana Kaplan (mother of Simon Gronowski), Jean Aerts & his wife, two other families

tatia5 — 2026-01-22 10:04:34 UTC

A story based on the childhood of Simon Gronowski. When German planes flew over Brussels in 1940, he was still a young boy. But soon the war would erupt in all its horror. Because of his Jewish descent, Simon was transported to the death camps. But he jumped off the train and miraculously survived. Now, sixty years later, he tells his story to his grandchildren.

Marcelle Solliliage

tatia5 — 2026-01-23 17:36:27 UTC

In this Holocaust story based on real events and passed from the narrator to her niece, the author-illustrator herself, Patricia Polacco once again celebrates the shared humanity of the peoples of this world.

Ever since the Nazis marched into Monique's small French village, terrorizing it, nothing surprises her. That is, until the night Monique encounters a little ghost sitting at the end of her bed. She turns out to be a Jewish girl named Sevrine who has been hiding from the Nazis in Monique's basement. Playing after dark, the two become friends. But when they are discovered, both of their families must embark on a nighttime flight. And Monique can only hope that the freedom of the butterflies in her garden will reach Sevrine as well.

Manuel Vieira Braga & Aristides de Sousa Mendes

tatia5 — 2026-01-23 17:46:03 UTC

In 1940, Hans and Margret Rey fled their Paris home as the German army advanced. They began their harrowing journey on bicycles, pedaling to Southern France with children’s book manuscripts among their few possessions.

A German woman

tatia5 — 2026-01-23 18:15:41 UTC

It is the winter of 1944. In Nazi-occupied Europe, a Jewish couple realize their fate is sealed and make a heart-rending decision so that their infant daughter might live.

Yiorgos & Magdalini Mitzeliotis, Stefanos & Magdalini Korfiatis

tatia5 — 2026-01-23 20:03:20 UTC

Families of sheep, chicken, rabbits, and mice all live together happily in a beautiful green meadow . . . until they hear whispers of a group of wild things coming from the snowy mountains for the sheep. Is it because of their soft coats? Or for their grassy land? Nobody knows. But with the threat of violence hanging over the animal community, the happiness that once pervaded life on the meadow is soon replaced by unease and fear.

One fateful night, the whisperings come true—the wild things descend from the mountain and round up all the sheep. Wary of what is happening, Papa Sheep sends out an SOS to his old friend Mr. Hare, who, at great risk to his personal safety, comes to their rescue. Then, once the sheep are safely ensconced in Mr. Hare’s island community, all of the inhabitants work together to protect them until the danger has passed. Within that hospitality, we see the trust and decency that are essential if we are to live together and thrive.

Marcel Médard & Mariette Medard

tatia5 — 2026-01-24 08:10:01 UTC

One day, a Hungarian-French Jew and his father were rounded up by Nazis and brought to a prison camp. One day, they tried to escape, and failed. One day, they tried to escape, and succeeded. In a true story that resonates with his own family legacy, Michael Rosen draws on the real-life account of Eugène Handschuh, who escaped with his father from a convoy headed from Nazi-occupied Paris to Auschwitz.

Marion Pritchard (Marion van Binsbergen) p 98-113

tatia5 — 2026-01-24 08:42:05 UTC

In the tightening grip of Hitler’s power, towns, cities, and ghettoes were emptied of Jews. Unless they could escape, Jewish children would not be spared their deadly fate in the Holocaust, a tragedy of unfathomable depth. Only 11% of the Jewish children living in Europe before 1939 survived the Second World War.

Run and Hide tells the stories of these children, forced to leave their homes and families, as they escaped certain horror. Some children flee to England by train. Others are hidden from Nazis, sometimes in plain sight. Some are secreted away in attics and farmhouses. Still others make miraculous escapes, cresting over the snow-covered Pyrenees mountains to safety.

Members of the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) with Joseph Weill, Georges Garel, Georges Loinger and Félix Chevrier.

tatia5 — 2026-01-24 08:47:35 UTC

Run and Hide tells the stories of these children, forced to leave their homes and families, as they escaped certain horror. The OSE operated out of Paris and Vichy getting Jewish children to safety.

Corrie ten Boom

tatia5 — 2026-01-25 08:20:24 UTC

It's World War II. Darkness has fallen over the world as the Nazis spread fear and hatred.No one feels safe.

But on a city corner in Holland one woman fights against injustice and darkness. In a quiet watchmaking shop, Corrie ten Boom and her close-knit family risk their lives to hide hundreds of Jews and others hunted by the Nazis in a secret hiding place they built into the old building. Until one day when Corrie and her family are betrayed. They're captured and sent in cattle cars to the notorious Nazi concentration camps to die. Yet even in that darkest of places, Corrie still fights.

Irena Sendler

tatia5 — 2026-01-25 09:00:50 UTC

Irena Sendler (born Krzyżanowska) was known as Jolanta during WW2. She was part of the Polish Resistance. This picture book biography of Irena Sendler, tells how this Polish Catholic social worker helped to save nearly 2500 Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II.

Alain de Coetgourden

tatia5 — 2026-01-25 17:27:11 UTC

A young Jewish boy is given a star to wear. At first he is proud of the decoration, but soon finds the star overshadowing him—no one sees the boy, only the star. Lonely, frightened, and helpless, he watches as other star-wearers are led away into the night. This affecting allegory, rich with symbolism, educates children about the events of the Holocaust in a way that young minds can easily grasp. Based on a true story.

Woman from the British Embassy (Chapter 3: Ruth's Story)

tatia5 — 2026-01-26 11:02:36 UTC

The Edelweiss Pirates

tatia5 — 2026-01-27 06:46:28 UTC

The Hitler Youth patrol the night streets looking for anyone who breaks the rules. Albert is a member of the Edelweiss Pirates, a secret group of young people who defy the Hitler Youth. They play the forbidden music and work against the Nazis any way they can. Albert's younger brother, Kurt, loves jazz and longs to be a Pirate, too. Although he's too young to be an Edelweiss Pirate, Kurt can still find a way to take a stand.

Irma Lauscher

tatia5 — 2026-01-28 05:59:01 UTC

USHMM" "In January 1943, Irma Lauscher bribed a camp guard to smuggle her a tree sapling. She needed the young tree to celebrate Tu B'Shevat, the New Year for Trees, with the children. She planned a secret ceremony with dancing and singing with the children and together they planted the tree, using their precious water rations to nurture it. Other children continued to care for the tree they called Etz-Hayim, the Tree of Life, and as it grew it was a symbol that life goes on."

This book tells the story of a group of Jewish children and their devoted teacher, Irma Lauscher, planted and nurtured a smuggled-in sapling. Over time fewer and fewer children were left to care for the little tree, but those who remained kept lovingly sharing their water with it. When the war finally ended and the prisoners were freed, the sapling had grown into a strong five-foot-tall maple.

Henrietta Szold

tatia5 — 2026-01-28 09:26:58 UTC

Henrietta Szold took Queen Esther as a model and worked hard to save the Jewish people. In 1912, she founded the Jewish women's social justice organization, Hadassah. Henrietta started Hadassah determined to offer emergency medical care to mothers and children in Palestine. When WWII broke out, she rescued Jewish children from the Holocaust, and broadened Hadassah's mission to include education, youth development, and women's rights. Hadassah offers free help to all who need it and continues its mission to this day.

Dita Kraus, Fredy Hirsch

tatia5 — 2026-01-28 15:51:25 UTC

Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Fredy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious books the prisoners have managed to smuggle past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the secret librarian of Auschwitz, responsible for the safekeeping of the small collection of titles, as well as the ‘living books’ – prisoners of Auschwitz who know certain books so well, they too can be ‘borrowed’ to educate the children in the camp.

Oskar and Emilie Schindler

tatia5 — 2026-01-28 19:52:12 UTC

"Oskar and Emilie Schindler were officially recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem (Oskar in 1962/1993, Emilie in 1993) for saving approximately 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. They employed Jewish laborers in their factories, protecting them from Nazi death camps through bribery, providing sustenance, and, in 1945, rescuing starving prisoners. "

Bronisław Huberman

tatia5 — 2026-01-28 22:20:06 UTC

Violinist Bronisław Huberman helped to save an estimated one thousand lives during the Holocaust through the foundation of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, now the Israel Philharmonic. This book tells the story of a grandma and her little grandson take a walk along a Tel-Aviv street and encounter the conductor and musicians for their first performance.

Community of Denmark

tatia5 — 2026-01-29 05:35:11 UTC

Told from the point of view of Mette returning to Denmark years later with her grandchildren, Hour of Need tells the story of how the people of an occupied nation--from king to fisherman--risked their lives to evacuate their Jewish countrymen to Sweden in small fishing boats. Hour of Need is a tribute to the heroes that saved the Danish Jews and how humanity triumphs in the darkest hours.

Woman in the Factory

tatia5 — 2026-01-29 14:08:10 UTC

This picture book is based on From a Name to a Number: A Holocaust Survivor's Autobiography by Alter Wiener, in which Alter recalls his loss of family at the hands of the Nazis and his internment in five prison camps during World War II. This picture book tells one moving episode during Alter's imprisonment, when an unexpected person demonstrates moral courage in repeated acts of kindness to young Alter during his imprisonment.

Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit

tatia5 — 2026-02-16 07:19:16 UTC

When the Nazis occupied Paris, no Jew was safe from arrest and deportation. Few Parisians were willing to risk their own lives to help. Yet during that perilous time, many Jews found refuge in an unlikely place--the sprawling complex of the Grand Mosque of Paris. Not just a place of worship but a community center, this hive of activity was an ideal temporary hiding place for escaped prisoners of war and Jews of all ages, especially children.

Agnes Keleti, Raoul Wallenberg

tatia5 — 2026-02-17 09:12:22 UTC

Doing gymnastics, Ágnes Keleti feels free - until the day her coach tells her there's a new law in Hungary barring Jewish athletes from the gym. Once Germany sends soldiers into Budapest, they are impossible to ignore and Ágnes hatches a plan. With identity papers from a Christian woman, she goes into hiding in a small farming village. She does housework for a family who support the Nazis, but she never stops dreaming of the day she will be able to compete at the Olympics. Keleti’s mother and sister went into hiding and were saved by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

Nicholas Winton

tatia5 — 2026-02-17 09:15:52 UTC

Stars of the Night recounts the powerful true story of the 669 children who traveled as part of the Czech Kindertransport from Prague to Britain on the eve of World War II, as Hitler's campaign of hatred toward Jews and political dissidents took hold. Told from the collective perspective of the children, the narrative follows their journey as they leave everything they’ve ever known in hopes of staying safe. After the war ends, they return to Prague only to find that nearly all of their parents have been killed by the Nazis. And more than fifty years pass before they learn the identity of the British man who was instrumental in saving their lives, Nicholas Winton.

Doris' mother, women and children

tatia5 — 2026-02-18 06:59:17 UTC

Rosenstrasse in Berlin: History was made here in 1943 when the only peaceful and public resistance against the Nazi dictatorship took place. Hundreds of women demonstrated for days for the release of their Jewish husbands, together with their children – and in the end, their street protest was successful. One of the women was the mother of Doris.

French resistance fighters in the Aix-les-Bains area

tatia5 — 2026-02-18 13:35:33 UTC

In 1941 in occupied Paris, brothers Maurice and Joseph play a last game of marbles before running home to their father’s barbershop. This is the day that will change their lives forever. With the German occupation threatening their family’s safety, the boys’ parents decide Maurice and Joseph must disguise themselves and flee to their older brothers in the free zone.

Surviving the long journey will take every scrap of ingenuity and courage they can muster. And if they hope to elude the Nazis, they must never, under any circumstances, admit to being Jewish.

The boys travel by train, by ferry, and on foot, facing threats from strangers and receiving help from unexpected quarters. Along the way they must adapt to the unfamiliar world beyond their city—and find a way to be true to themselves even as they conceal their identities.

Based on an autobiographical novel by Joseph Joffo and adapted with the author’s input, this true story offers a harrowing but inspiring glimpse of a childhood cut short

Walter Klingenbeck

tatia5 — 2026-02-19 09:12:47 UTC

This graphic novel tells the story of the young Christian Walter Klingenbeck. He belonged to the St. Ludwig parish youth group in Munich and bravely resisted Hitler. At the age of 17, he was denounced and arrested. In 1943, at the age of 19, he was murdered by the Nazis.

Otto Weidt

tatia5 — 2026-02-19 09:19:11 UTC

This graphic novel tells the moving story of Otto Weidt (1883–1947), who, as the owner of a workshop for the blind during World War II, tried to protect his Jewish workers from Nazi persecution. He built a network of helpers, bribed Gestapo officers, and procured forged documents, hiding places, and food. Despite repeated arrests and interrogations, Weidt repeatedly managed to keep his resistance activities secret. Even when, at the end of 1943, Otto Weidt could no longer prevent the deportation of most of his protégés, he did not give up but sent them more than 150 food parcels to the Theresienstadt Ghetto. Only a few survived, but his selfless courage remains unforgettable.