1. Maus II A Survivor’s Tale And Here My Troubles Began
A Graphic Novel By
Art Speigelman

2. Vocabulary Chapter 1 Epigraph Kapo Presumptuous Reproach Schnell
A short quotation that appears in front of a poem, a book, or a chapter explaining something about what follows
Kapo
Supervisor, used to describe Jews that were put in charge of other Jews in camps
Presumptuous
Excessively forward; “having a lot of nerve”
Reproach
Expression of disapproval
Schnell
German for “quick”

3. Vocabulary Chapters 2-3 Absolution Cathartic Hermetic Munitions Notary
The act of having ones sins cleansed away
Cathartic
That which relieves emotional tensions, especially though a certain kind of art, as tragedy or music
Hermetic
Air tight
Munitions
Weapons and ammunition
Notary
One legally empowered to certify documents

4. Vocabulary Chapters 4-5 Cache Valises Listless Quotas Genocide
A hiding place for storing provisions
Valises
Small pieces of luggage
Listless
Lacking energy or spirit
Quotas
Numbers of people designed as limits
Genocide
The deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group
Scapegoat
A person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place

5. World War II Facts
World War II (WWII) was the most geographically widespread military conflict the world has ever seen
World War II had three main causes:
The Treaty of Versailles
Germany became scapegoat for WWI, lost a lot of power and land
Hitler’s Actions
Alliances made, weapons stockpiled, countries invaded
Invasion of Poland in 1939
The Failure of the League of Nations
The League did not have enough power

6. World War II Facts Germany Under Hitler
By 1938, Germany was a total dictatorship
By the end of 1941, German Jews and Western European Jews were sent to concentration camps
There were 7 designated extermination camps
These existed only for the purpose of killing and most prisoners taken to them were dead within hours of their arrival

7. Key People in World War II
Adolf Hitler
Austrian born Chancellor of Germany, wanted to take over Europe and kill all Jews
Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd President of the United States; President for 12 years. He died in April, 1945 right before the war ended

8. Key People in World War II
Harry S Truman
Vice President of Roosevelt; took over after his death
Winston Churchill
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

9. Key People in World War II
Joseph Stalin
Premier of the Soviet Union
Benito Mussolini
Il Duce of Italy (Fascist leader)

10. Nuremburg Laws 1935 Anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany
Divided people into groups depending on their ancestry
The Nuremburg laws were a method for discrimination and to figure out who was and who was not a Jew.

11. Effects of the Nuremburg Laws
War memorials were to have Jewish names removed
Jews couldn’t win the lottery
Passports of German Jews must have a J stamped on it
Could leave Germany, but not return
“Regulation of Name Changes”, 17 August 1938
Jews with non-Jewish first names had to change their middle names to Sara or Israel
Obligation to wear yellow badge
September, 1939 in Poland
September, 1941, the rest of the Nazi Empire

12. Concentration Camps
In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the disabled for persecution. Anyone who resisted the Nazis was sent to forced labor or murdered.
It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of these were Jews.
The Nazis killed approximately two-thirds of all Jews living in Europe.
An estimated 1.1 million children were murdered in the Holocaust.

13. Concentration Camps
Life within Nazi concentration camps was horrible. Prisoners were forced to do hard physical labor and given little food.
Prisoners slept three or more people per crowded wooden bunk
Torture within the concentration camps was common and deaths were frequent.
At a number of Nazi concentration camps, Nazi doctors conducted medical experiments on prisoners against their will.

14. Extermination Camps
Extermination camps (also known as death camps) were built for the sole purpose of killing large groups of people quickly and efficiently.
The Nazis built six extermination camps: Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz, and Majdanek.
Auschwitz and Majdanek were both concentration and extermination camps.

15. Extermination Camps
Prisoners transported to these extermination camps were told to undress to take a shower.
Rather than a shower, the prisoners were herded into gas chambers and killed.
Auschwitz was the largest concentration and extermination camp built. It is estimated that 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz.

16. Background of Maus Books
Art Spiegelman is a cartoonist who was born in America after World War II. He wanted to write an account of his parents lives during World War II in Poland.
His father Vladek is the main character in his stories. His mother had committed suicide when he was 20 years old. Art gets very angry with his father when he learns that Vladek burned Anja’s diaries about the Holocaust

17. Background of Maus Books
In Maus I, we learn that Vladek had been a textile dealer in Poland before the war. He was drafted into the Polish Army and was taken prisoner.
He was married to Anja Zylberberg, and had a son named Richieu. Richieu did not survive the war.
Vladek and his family were forced into ghettos, then into hiding. When he and Anja tried to escape to Hungary, they were captured by SS guards, and in March, 1944, were taken to Auschwitz
This is where this story begins.

18. Main Characters Vladek Speigelman Anja Zylberberg Speigelman
Born in Poland in 1906, husband of Anja and later of Mala’ father of Richieu and Art. Survivor of the Holocaust. He uses the abilities that he has in order to make opportunities to stay alive. He is portrayed as a miserable, cheap, demanding old man
Anja Zylberberg Speigelman
Born in Poland in 1912, wife of Vladek, mother of Richieu and Art. She was born into a wealthy family. She was often depressed, especially after the Holocaust and the death of her son. She committed suicide in 1968
Art Speigelman
Cartoonist, author of Maus and Maus II. Son of Vladek and Anja, husband of Francoise
Richieu Speigelman
Born in Poland in 1937, son of Vladek and Anja, brother of Art. Did not survive the Holocaust
Mala Speigelman
Vladek’s second wife, who is also a Holocaust survivor
Francoise Mouly Speigelman
Art’s wife. She is French, but converts to Judaism

19. Overview of Maus
This book is a memoir by Art Speigelman. It recounts the struggle of his father to survive the Holocaust as a Polish Jew
This book also follows the author’s relationship with his father and the way that war affects families, generation by generation

20. Overview of Maus
The characters are all presented as various types of animals, according to nationality or race. These are symbolic representations:
Jews are represented as mice. They can be seen as weak and helpless victims
Germans are represented as cats, which suggests power over the Jews
Americans are represented as dogs because the dogs chase the cats away
Polish are represented as pigs
French are represented as frogs
Child of a German and a Jew is represented as a mouse with cat stripes

21. Themes/Issues Family conflict Racism Guilt There is conflict :
between Art and Vladek
between Vladek and Mala
between Art and his dead brother, Richlieu
Racism
German racism,
Vladek's racism,
Art's possible racism in portraying races and nationalities as animals))
Guilt
Art's
about surviving when his brother did not
about not being worthy as the child of parents who went through so much
about putting Vladek's personal stories in print when Vladek had asked him not to
about not treating his father as well as he should
about how he treated his mother when she turned to him for love just before committing suicide)

22. Themes/Issues Survival Dominance: racial and personal
Vladek's -Art’s
Anja's -Mala’s
Dominance: racial and personal
Vladek is as dominant to Mala and Art as the Germans were to him
dominance of favored prisoners over those less fortunate
dominance of cats over mice
Depression and suicide
Prisons and prisoners
including POW camp, concentration camp
more figurative experiences in which characters feel like prisoners
Artistic process
Art's various struggles with telling this story both in words and pictures

23. Themes/Issues Irony Anja survives the Holocaust only to commit suicide
Vladek dominates everyone just as the Germans dominated him
Richieu is sent to a relative to be safe, but the relative poisons him so he won't be taken by the Germans
Vladek makes racial comments about an African-American though he was the victim of racism
the success of Maus makes Art feel guilty