Yellow Star

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Antisemitic Genocide

Antisemitic genocide is explored through the tragic deaths of the Perlmutters’ friends, family members, and neighbors during the Nazi invasion of Poland. Indiscriminate murder of Jewish people and other ghetto residents is a commonplace occurrence, as is illustrated by the constant neighborhood gossip about who has been beaten or killed: “Every day the neighbors buzz about who is gone, who is sick, who died, who has been murdered. […] They beat people and shoot them right in front of everyone, and no one can say anything, because the Nazis are the law” (54). This anecdote illustrates the powerlessness of ghetto residents to protest violence and murder; Nazi soldiers view their lives as worthless and therefore think little of these callous acts.

Mass genocide is also referred to in the deportation of Jews to extermination camps. Children are forcibly deported before their parents and families, causing tragic forced separations and, often, the murder of parents who resist: “Small children. Big children. Crying children. If parents try to stop the soldiers, Bang! Bang! The soldiers shoot them dead” (74). Syvia’s description highlights the terror and violence of these nighttime visits, as well as the devastation of children being taken from their families. The parents’ natural instinct to resist the forced removal of their children proves to be tragically correct; these children are taken to Chelmno extermination camp and killed. Fear and grief in the ghetto increase as this deportation occurs.

Later deportations target adults as well as children. The true reason behind the deportations is guessed at and circulated in the form of gossip, as Dora overhears people at the factory talking about Jews being sent to death camps. The Nazis’ claims that the deportations are fueled by the need for workers is undermined by the fact that older people, sick people, and children are prioritized for deportation, as well as in the method of transport. Specifically, Dora recognizes that overcrowding cars with people would hinder their ability to work.

After the liberation of the Lodz Ghetto, the immensity of the loss of life of Polish Jews is referred to in the Russian soldier’s shock that the group is alive: “I thought there were no Jews left in all of Poland” (216).

Resilience in the Face of Hardship

Lodz Ghetto residents, despite the unpleasantness and stress of their lives, find opportunities for joy and celebration: “There are weddings and dances and songs. Mothers take their new babies outside to show them off to the neighborhood” (48). These small celebrations and victories are important because they remind the residents that life is worth living and that there is a future worth fighting for. Spring of 1941 brings an atmosphere of hope with the warmer and brighter weather, as the bright light of the sun staves off their fear of freezing to death.

Residents of the ghetto also use humor to cope with the uncontrollable and stressful events of their lives. This is illustrated in the jokes about “wedding invitations”—the name that the ghetto residents use for deportation orders. This recasts a terrifying trip to an unknown location as a joyful event. Teasing each other about receiving these invitations lessens the terrifying nature of their circumstances.

Isaac Perlmutter also uses humor to dispel terror and anxiety when he refers to his trips with his daughter, Syvia, to hide from Nazi soldiers at night in the cemetery: “Papa says that his sources tell him that the Nazis plan to return again and again until they are completely sure all the children are gone. ‘So Syvia and I may be spending some more time together under the stars,’ Papa tells us. He is trying to be funny, I know” (88-89). Isaac makes their hiding from the Nazis feel like a pleasant adventure into the outdoors, rather than a terrifying attempt to escape from murderous enemies.

Resilience also involves coping with immense discomfort; residents often live in hiding and must endure cold weather as well as starvation. For almost two years, Syvia hides in the apartment, with no company apart from her family in the evenings, no time outside, and little food. Her resilience is characterized by the ways she passes the time; she plays games with dust motes, sings songs to herself, and finds different and unique views of the apartment. Syvia’s imagination helps her to endure, as is illustrated when she pictures a warm beach to survive the coldest day of her life: “I am on a beach under a hot sun. Waves of warm blue water slap in and out with the tide. I sit in the glow of my pretend sun for a long, long time, until the lamp burns out and it is once more winter” (62).

Syvia also imaginatively pictures a better life to get through the hardships and boredom of her days; her impoverished life is characterized by the modest nature of her wildest dreams: “I squeeze my eyes shut and see on the inside of my eyelids a big meal of meat and potatoes and milk and shiny shoes that fit me and a red bicycle with a basket and a little bell” (96). The reader is positioned to feel sympathy and compassion for Syvia, who desperately imagines these things as she passes hours alone in the sparse, often freezing apartment, and then in the dark cellar of the workers’ house.

Indignities and Hardships of Life in the Ghetto

Life in Lodz Ghetto is characterized by immense hardship and indignity; this is epitomized in the struggles of the Perlmutters, who enjoyed a comfortable life in Lodz before World War II. Isaac Perlmutter was a successful salesman; the family enjoyed simple luxuries like movies and entertainment, as well as rich foods and hearty meals. The indulgences of their middle-class life before February 1940 (when the family is forcibly relocated to the ghetto) are contrasted with the immense scarcity in the Lodz Ghetto.

Rations of bread are inadequate to feed the number of people living in the ghetto; sometimes people receive none at all. Often, the family's only food comes from noodles made from flour recovered from the pockets and creases of Isaac’s clothing in his work as a flour delivery man. The situation becomes even more dire in winter; death by starvation is common, as “winter erases whole families” (61).

Dora, Syvia’s older sister, reflects on her changed circumstances on what would have been the first day of her new school year. As in the case of her parents and younger sister, Dora’s pre-ghetto life is characterized as comfortable and pleasant; she remembers wearing new clothes, the excitement of entering junior high, and the girls, boys, and teachers who liked her. This stands in contrast to her life in the ghetto, which involves “working in a factory, watching [her] baby sister” and wondering whether anyone from school misses her (36-37). She has been forced to adopt an adult role despite her youth, and yet she feels unseen. Through Dora’s reflections, the reader is reminded of the individual tragedies of loss of communities, jobs, and education, which accompanied the Nazi regime of antisemitism.

While many endure starvation and freezing, Syvia must also endure the constant fear of being found, as well as the loss of her childhood possessions. This symbolizes the forced end of Syvia’s carefree childhood due to the Nazi regime. Syvia’s doll carriage is chopped up for firewood and is therefore literally burned, while her doll is sold out of desperation for money and food; both of these instances draw attention to the immense scarcity of sustenance and fuel. Isaac’s shame and devastation in needing to take his daughter’s toys to ensure the family’s survival is demonstrated by the sadness in his eyes.