Yellow Star

Despite Syvia’s advanced age, her recollections retain the child-like quality of her lived experiences in the ghetto: “Bang! Bang! A man in the crowd did a funny jump, then fell on his back, his yellow star facing the sky” (131). How does this stylistic choice impact the way the story is received? Is the content more or less distressing and effective when delivered in the voice of a child?

How is irony present in Syvia’s recollections? For example, consider the Nazi’s comment to the Jewish woman imply when he says, “‘You are lucky tonight, you can keep one of the children, and you will all live.’ They made the woman choose. Then they took one child away” (75). Examine the fate of the children and the helplessness of parents in the ghetto in your answer.

Consider the following metaphor: “The ghetto is a cage holding parents wild with grief” (93). How is the reader positioned to feel about the plight of the parents in the ghetto, and about the Nazi process of deporting children first?

What clues in the text suggest that the deportations are delivering workers not to areas where their skills are needed, but to death camps? How do the occupants of the Lodz Ghetto respond to these realizations?

Resilience in the Face of Hardship is an important and recurring theme throughout Yellow Star. Which character most encapsulates resilience and bravery? Draw on textual evidence to justify your answer.

How does Yellow Star help readers who were not alive during the Holocaust begin to understand its impact, especially through the deaths of Syvia’s young friends, Itka and Hava?

How do the years the children spend in the ghetto affect them, especially given the fact that children are aggressively targeted for deportation? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

How is the motif of scarcity represented through Papa’s decision to sell Syvia’s doll? Which personal tragedy did you find most affecting in this scene, Papa’s shame or Syvia’s attempt to mask her devastation with bravery? Why?