The Devil's Arithmetic (DVD, 2003)

The movie was created to allow children to learn about the holocaust.

This movie, based on a best-seller children’s book by the same name. is a way for parents to introduce the holocaust to their children. Many concentration camp horrors are played down. But, the basic conditions, and Nazi crudity are well depicted. I encourage parents to watch this movie with their children.

Other Important Holocaust movies.
1) I have personally spoken with dozens of holocaust survivors. There is one overwhelming thought. Once the Nazi net was cast to round up Jews in town or community, there was no escape. Those that did escape the net did it by luck. In every case, it was by pure luck.

The movie that best shows the luck of survival is: The Pianist. It is for adults, not children.

2) Beyond watching movies related to the holocaust, one must think about what should be learned from the tragedy.

A middle school, 100 miles from the birth of the KKK, was looking for a vehicle to teach their all white, Christian students tolerance. They chose the holocaust. What they learned, should be studied by all of us. Everything is documented in a movie on DVD called: Paper Clips.
It is suitable children 12 and older. This movie too should be watched by parents with their children.

This movie is an excellent choice for young people, but the story is more appealing to girls. The movie speaks about the holocaust and draws the watcher in to a story that appears to be just fantasy. The young girl in the story has little interest in her Jewish heritage and doesn't want to be different from the other kids. She somehow steps out of the present and into the past and becomes part of the holocaust; there she sees the truth of what she didn't want to believe and meets relatives as they experience Nazi segregation and death camps. At the end she returns to the present and now understands one family survivor.

The story is a sad tale with a very good ending - a well-told story - a feel-good movie worth watching and keeping.

The Devils Arithmetic reveals a teenager, Hannah, with luke warm appreciation of her family and it's roots. Her selfish attitude is overturned as she "enters" into the past of the Nazi regime in 1941 Poland. Because she was "from the future" she quickly understood the plight of all the Jewish people who were taken to the concentration camps. The changes wrought by living in the camps only increased Hannah's appreciation for her past life.
Perhaps the greatest lesson learned is that we all should appreciate all we have for it may not be there tomorrow.

I bought this DVD to show my English class since we had just read the novel. The movie is good, but it is VERY different from the novel. Do not buy this movie expecting it to correlate with the novel because it does not. The movie does reflect the tragedy of the Holocaust and is worth watching for that reason.

The book, The Devil's Arithmetic, sat on my classroom library shelf for at least 3 years before I picked it up this summer. It was written in a way that appealed not only to teens, but I had a hard time putting it down as well. I read the book to my 5th/6th grade students. They were spellbound. I showed the dvd to my class last week. They were somewhat disappointed with the movie because it was quite different from the book and a lot of important details were left out. If you hadn't read the book first it would probably have been more interesting. Still a interesting story.