Luke Taicher

Mr. Padgett
English 101
10/12/15
A Survivors Tale
The holocaust was one of the worlds greatest genocides. 11 million people
whipped out, a prosperous religion almost decimated. The few survivors saw hell,
and their stories are proof of that hell to those of us today. The cartoon, Maus: A
Survivors Tale by Art Spielgman displays the story of a family during two different
time periods. The cartoon begins with a father sharing his experience during the
holocaust. The last page flashes forward to that fathers child who is now all grown
up speaking of what his father and his fathers caretakers family went through.
There was one panel that stood out the most to me, (Spielgman 138), it portrays the
Jews lining up to accept their fate by the Nazi soldier. I believe that this passage
encompasses the whole passages meaning. The meaning of this visual composition
is to demonstrate the horrors of the holocaust, show the mindset of those going
through it, and to portray what the Nazis thought of the Jews.
The Holocaust was a mass genocide that nearly whipped out the population
of the Jews, mentally ill, and those the Nazis felt unfit to share the Earth with in all
of Europe. The visual composition displays the horrors that the holocaust evoked.
Speilgman uses shadowing to portray a dark gloomy atmosphere. This is an
example of atmospheric prospective that draws the viewers emotions towards a
solemn moment, as the Jews line up to find out discover their fate. I believe this

helps set the tone of panel. At the top of the picture it reads, When we were
everybody inside, Gestapo (German police) with Machine guns surrounded the
stadium, (Spielgman 138). The quote shows the hostility right off the bat shown by
the German police. Walking in there must have been horrifying, children, old and
young, man and women, all among those in the crowd, just waiting to be sent to
their deaths. The officer yells through a microphone, Line up by family at the tables
to register! Quickly! (Spielgman 138). The viewer can automatically feel the
emotional impact that this has on those in the crowd. The artist/author displays this
in the blank and almost sunken faces in the crowd. These faces set a tone of how
the Jews were feeling, that the viewer can pick up on. When analyzing this panel I
immediately felt a sense of brute force as if I was among those in the crowd, with no
freedom, no say, and a strong sense of helplessness. The lineups were to determine
whether you were going to the death camps or staying a little longer as we learn
about later in the cartoon, when the caretaker speaks to the survivors son of how
her parents were sent to the death camp, Auschwitz and killed (Spielgman 141).
The piece indirectly shows the viewers of the helplessness and the horrors those in
the crowd are about to face.
The people in the lineup have mouse faces in this cartoon. He chose mouse
faces for the composition to elude to the way the Jews were treated as well as the
way the Germans viewed the Jews. One can make this assumption because of the
comparison between how momiceusse are put in traps to eventually be discarded
and the Jews being put in gas chambers to be discarded of. The panel displays the
Jewish people the way the Germans think of them. The author did this because that
is the way the Germans thought of the Jewish race, they treated the Jewish people
as mice. The lineup the Jewish people had to go in was not only cruel as they were

awaiting their death, but also inhumane. The author sets the stage by introducing
the Gestapo with machine guns. They viewed the Jewish people as vermin, not
worthy to live with. The lineup in the panel shows the Jewish people accepting death
or living for a little bit longer. Not only were they slaves to the labor camps they
were less than that, they were viewed as mice. Mice arent something that people
take much respect to. They are a rodent that many people are disgusted by. They
set trap for mice and rats to kill them. Being compared to a mice is not a good
thing, it puts people on the same level as a rodent in which people try to kill. Which
I interrupted as an inhumane as well as the lowest possible way the Germans
viewed the Jewish race as. This panel is a clear representation of the way Jews were
treated and viewed. Their views and opinions were not accounted for and even shut
down. The viewer can see that the Jews among the crowd are shut down as well as
forced to go to a place to face their death. The Germans not only viewed the Jews as
mice they treated them like mice, separating families, forcing the Jews to go places
they absolutely do not want to go, and ultimately sending them to their deaths.
The Jewish race was beyond strong, they withstood hell. After reading
Hiroshima I saw a race of people wrecked by a disaster, the holocaust happened at
the same time period and left just as if not worst devastation. In the panel the
viewer can quickly get an idea of the tone that the Germans present to the Jewish
people. The viewer can also feel the emotions going on during the lineup. I felt that
they were in despair not knowing what they were about to get in to. They were all
dressed up looking nice, so they would appear young and healthy. If they were
unhealthy they were sent to work camps and labor camps like Auschwitz, which the
fathers caretaker talks about. Reading the panels before the one on page 138 the
Jewish people are nervous and scared (Spielgman 136-137). The grandfather

contemplates not going to the lineup and hiding out. The Jewish race had no idea
what they were about to endure. This statement is backed by the blank and sunken
faces of the Jewish people in the crowd. They are almost faceless, the viewer can
imply he did this to demonstrate how the Nazis may have viewed the Jews as
faceless people with no identity. The composition features many Jewish people in
the foreground and a distinct soldier speaking through the microphone. In the
foreground the Jewish people are all clustered and it is challenging to make out all
their bodiesys as some are blended together. Whereas in the background the lone
German soldier is drawn much more clearly highlighting his hat, mustache, and
distinct uniform. I believe that the author was trying to make another stance on how
the Germans were distinct valuable people with a strong identity, and the Jews
possessing no identity or distinctions. They were targeted for no specific reason and
sent to their deaths. They had no idea what was going to happen to them, many of
them were just living their lives just like every American. It is hard to fathom what
the Jewish people went through as well as what they were thinking during this
horrific atrocity.
There are times throughout history where we as humans question what is
justifiable and what is pure evil. The acts during the holocaust constituted as pure
evil. The Germans compared the Jews to mice. The author wanted to tell the
viewers that yes that Holocaust was bad, but he told us how the Germans viewed
the Jewish people, as rodents. The meaning of this passage is to display the horrors
that occurred during the holocaust, portray the state of minds of the Jews during
this, and to display how the Nazis viewed the Jewish people in Eastern Europe and
the rest of Europe. Today being an American citizen with the freedom to speak, the
freedom to be represented by those we chose, and to not be forced into anything, it

makes me appreciate the opportunity and freedom we have here. As being Jewish it
is hard to comprehend what my elders went through and I can never imagine what
these valiant and courageous people endured. Those who have survived are the
people that have survived hell.

Luke,
Youve done a really terrific job here. Your observations are spot on and you do a
great job making close thoughtful observations and then incorporate your analysis
right away. Also your engagement with the text is evident through your writing. So,
again, great job here. With respect to the historical context here, this can be tricky.
You have to find the balance between providing your audience the necessary
context to anchor your paper in a place in time, while also avoiding pointing out the
obvious (in this case: the holocaust was terrible). With respect to extracting holistic
meaning from the comic, consider the authors intention. When was this published?
Could you make a connection between the holocaust and more contemporary
issues? Those are just some general thoughts, otherwise youve done a really great
job here.