Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman

 

Maus I & II

My Father Bleeds History

And Here My Troubles Began

Art Spiegelman

Serialized 1980 - 1991 

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If you do not mind reading true accounts about the Holocaust, here is a powerful story. 

Art Spiegelman wrote about his father's life in Poland, before and during WWII, and particularly of his experience during Nazi occupation and inside the death camps, and afterward as a survivor while living in the United States. The story is drawn out as a graphic novel, and all of the characters are appointed as animals. For example, the Jews are mice, Germans are cats, Poles are pigs, Americans are dogs, and the British are fish, etc. 

The story switched back and forth between the modern period, while Art interviewed his father, and back into the past, as the main story unfolded in Europe. 

In the modern period, Art struggled in his relationship with his estranged father, who was neurotic and controlling; Art was candid about his father's racism, too, which is ironic given what he, Vladak, suffered at the hands of the Nazis. 

Vladak shared very personal and painful truths about his experiences, including the loss of his first child with his first wife, Anja, who was also part of the story. Vladak told of how he married into Anja's extremely wealthy and influential family; how privilege sustained them through the rapid economic and societal decline during Hitler's destruction of Europe; how Vladak had many connections and access to valuable items that he used throughout the occupation and later inside the labor camps to keep himself and his wife alive. At one point, they had to make a difficult decision about their young son, and it was devastating. While some of their decisions proved good and some not, they survived through to liberation. 

A few years later, Vladak and Anja had a second son, Art, and soon after immigrated to the United States. When Art was 20, his mother committed suicide. In despair, Vladak destroyed all of Anja's journals about her own experience in Auschwitz, which grieved Art because he would have really appreciated her story, too. 

These graphic novels - parts I and II - are quick reads, but also powerful, searing truth into the mind. Art decided to tell his father's story because, aside from sharing the truth with the world, he believed it would be beneficial to his father's well being to talk about it. And in addition, it helped change his heart about his relationship with his father.

Again, this is a very heavy topic, but one that I believe is a necessary part of history to learn and understand. It is also a story about survival, and it makes you wonder what you would do in order to survive such horror. I admit, it kept me up a few nights, but thankfully I am finally getting more sleep.