MAUS Critical Review Podcast

By: Isabelle Larocque

Submitted to Mr. Olivier Patenaude in the class of English
On Wednesday, June 7th, 2017

Maus is a graphic memoir by American cartoonist Art Spiegleman. It illustrates Art

interviewing his father about his past as a Plish Jew and Holocaust survivor. This graphic
novel represents Jews as mice, Germans as cats, and Poles as pigs. Maus takes place over two
timelines: in the present, which was during the 1980s in the United States, when Spiegleman
is writing about his fathers story; and in the past, from 1932 until around 1944 in Poland,
depicted as memories or flashbacks.

1929 marked the beginning of a devastating conomic depression. Several members of the
Nazi Party elected its leader, Adolf Hitler, as Chancellor of Germany, the highest position of
leadership in the German government. Hitler and the Nazi Party provided significant public
support in a very small amount of time. People were hopeful with their vision of a renewed,
strengthened Germany. Hitler believed that the eradication of undesirable individuals
would grant his citizens wishes. Undesirable individuals consisted of ethnic, sexual, and
religious minorities; people with disabilities; political dissidents; people who had committed
crimes, and so on. But more than anyone, the Nazis wished to eliminate Jews. defining them
as subhuman, meaning more like animals than people. Jews were blamed for all of
Germanys many problems. This podcast will consist of the historical revelation in Maus,
most specifically of events that have occurred during World War 2.

Maus is a great way to introduce history both to beginners and aficionados. No matter how
long or deeply someone has studied history, no matter how many key dates, facts and figures
theyve learnt, reading this novel makes everything more realistic. You feel like you are part
of the plot: in constant fear of what might happen if the Gestapo found you and not knowing
if you would survive the next hour, let alone the next day. The author does a brilliant job
depicting each of these events. Spiegleman was truly great at depicting the horrific events
that happened during the Holocaust. Even for someone who isnt interested in World War 2
history, this novel presents such a unique account of a holocaust narrative that it is eye
opening. I will now proceed by elaborating on certain events that were the most compelling
during World War 2, and how Spiegleman has incorporated these events in Maus, making
this graphic novel historically well depicted and realistic. I now invite you to grab your Maus
novel, so that you may follow me in my arguments further on.

Selektions
Selektions were another important event during the Second World War. where Jews who
were able to work were separated off from those deemed infirm, elderly, or immature. The
latter would be selected for execution or slave labor at an extermination or concentration
camp. If you may turn to page 90, you will notice citizens presenting themselves at the
Selektions in the first panel. As Vladek mentions in the last panel, Everyone came very nice
dressed. They tried so that they would look young and able to work, in order to get a good
stamp on their passport. The elderly were among the first Jews to be sent to the
concentration camps.

Concentration camps
In this graphic novel, Vladek, Arts dad, clarifies how all Jewish citizens. both in and out of
the concentration camps, were punished and persecuted for simply trying to live their lives.
Nazis would take Jews and beat them to death in crowds, entering shops and shooting at
random, or even stepping on human heads while on the pavement. And if it couldnt get any
worst, friends and family members of these victims had to clean up the mess made or suffer
similar punishment. These punishments were often extremely worse for those who tried to
help the less fortunate. For instance, if you may turn to page 83, Nahum Cohn, a Jewish man
and friend of Vladeks, often sold goods without coupons. On the 2nd panel, Vladek
mentions that he did much business with Cohn. He also mentions, on panel five, that Cohn
often gave him cloth without coupons. His good deeds lead to the worst: Cohn was hung for a
week in the town center. It was very common for deaths like this to occur in Nazi-controlled
towns. In fact, hanging was the preferred method for the execution for partisans, as it
produced more of a public scene than shooting, and was used to terrorise the locals, as well as
entertain the troops. The bodies could be left hanging for several days as a bleak reminder to
others.

Auschwitz
In September 1939, the town of Oswiecim and its surrounding areas in Poland joined to
become Auschwitz. When first entering the main camp of Auschwitz, the prisoners saw over
the main entrance the words; Arbeit Macht Frei (work will give you freedom). The sad
truth was that the prisoners were doomed to slave labor: death was the only real escape. The
main goal was to dehumanize the Jews, to rob them from their individuality. If you may turn
to page 88, in the 1st panel, Art asks his father, When did you first hear about Auschwitz?
He responded by saying: Right AWAY we heard even from there from that other world
people came back and told us. But we didnt believe. As Vladek explains here, the stories
about the concentration camps were so nightmarish and so horrifying that they were difficult
to believe. If you turn to page 66, Vladek mentions: Ever since Hitler I dont like to throw
out even a crumb. Vladeks careful hoarding during his concentration camp days is a
survival tactic.

Children

If you turn to page 108, panel 6, Vladek mentions that most of the people who Germans
took to Aushwitz from Srodula were kids - some only 2 to 3 years. They would swing
them by the legs against a wall for them to stop screaming. Vladek lost Richieu, his first
son, to these inhumane punishments. On the last panel of page 109, he quotes: Im telling
you, it was a tragedy among tragedies. He was such a happy, beautiful boy! Young
children were sent to the gas chambers because they werent old enough to work. And
Tosha, Richieus aunt, was put in the impossible position of killing her own children,
nephew and herself with the poison she kept around her neck, so that they would not
suffer.

In conclusion, Spiegleman has right to have known so much success since this novels
publication. Maus is a great way to introduce history to beginners, and to enrich those who
already had an idea of the historical context of World War 2. Spiegleman has exemplified the
most compelling events during the war, such as Selektions, the concentration camps, and
Aushwitz, and he did a brilliant job at doing so.