48 pages • 1 hour read
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Dehumanization and genocide is the central theme of Daniel’s Story. Without dehumanization, the Nazis can’t systematically kill the Jews. Dehumanization lays the framework for mass murder. The Nazis methodically strip away the humanity of Daniel’s family and the other Jews in Germany. They boycott Jewish shops, organize a night of destruction and violence (Kristallnacht), expel them from professions, and forbid them from sharing the same spaces as Germans. The Jews can’t eat at restaurants or use swimming pools. About Lodz, Daniel says, “The Nazis didn’t even want Jews walking on the same street Christians used, so they built the footbridge over it” (126).
Mr. Schneider, Daniel’s teacher, echoes the dehumanization when he calls Jews an “inferior species” and “a close relative to the vermin in our gutters” (12). The Nazis don’t just cast the Jews as less than Germans, they present them as rats, and people exterminate rats, or, as Daniel puts it, “They are just eradicating a vile species—like cockroaches” (81).
The dehumanization turns Daniel’s best friend, Hans, into his antagonist, and it leads to a fight with the Hitler Youth boys. Daniel says, “[E]verywhere there were posters, exhibits, and articles that described to the German people how terrible Jews were” (16).
Plus, gain access to 8,600+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Canadian Literature
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Family
View Collection
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
View Collection
Juvenile Literature
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
World War II
View Collection