Maus I: My Father Bleeds History

The holocaust is among the most notorious mass murders in the world, in which millions of Jews, gypsies, disabled people, and homosexuals were persecuted. In the graphic novel, Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman, Spiegelman interviews his father, Vladek, about his experiences during the holocaust and reveals the afflictions of the Jewish population. Through his delineation, Vladek exposes the heinous methods the Nazis used against the Jews in hopes of exterminating them entirely. Some methods the Nazis used to suppress the Jewish population include the spread of anti-semitic ideas, the relocation and division of families, and the use of concentration camps, all of which had immediate and long lasting repercussions.
This idea is illustrated in the graphic novel through the different types of animals each group is represented as-- dogs are the Americans (the alpha), cats are the Germans, rats are the Jews (typically cat prey), and pigs are the Polish. While the different populations are portrayed through different animals, the Jewish populations are treated like animals and looked upon as animals, in a literal sense, by the others. On one occasion, Vladek is simply walking nonchalantly, but is almost unveiled as a Jew by a group of children who exclaim, ““Look! A jew! A jew! Help! Mommy! A jew” (149). It is then divulged that the mothers taught their children and “told so: Be careful! A jew will catch you to a bag and eat you!” (149). Since the Nazis correlated the Jewish population with unpleasant things, other populations adopted the same beliefs as the Nazis. Thus, the Jews faced discrimination and prejudice every day because they were made out to be inferior. Since such beliefs were adopted, some people today have similar views as those that Hitler created, and the Nazis propagated. When envisioning racism, color is the first aspect that arises, however, although it seems like prejudice against Jews existed only during the holocaust, it continues to be a problem. Merely because the Jewish
In several instances, as Vladek recounts, the Nazis would leave notes or make announcements about certain groups of people that would soon be transported to another area, or that needed to be “registered.” These notes given to the Jewish families made the area a specific group would “relocate to” seem magnificent--an obvious lie for readers--but these so-called relocations all led to the same place: Auschwitz. For example, when the Spiegelman’s receive a notice from the Germans, they believe that those over seventy-years-old will be relocated into a nice home, “‘All Jews over 70 years old will be transferred to Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia on May 10, 1942…” “It doesn’t look too bad!” “Like a convalescent home”’ (86). After sending Vladek’s wife’s grandparents away, the Spiegelman’s heard that “they went right away to Auschwitz, to the gas” (87). This approach of suppressing the Jewish populations demonstrates a type of divide and conquer. The Nazis were able to take certain Jews and supervise them, before being taken to their deaths. Ultimately, this division of families caused great agony and anguish among each family member. Anja, Vladek's wife, bespeaks this suffering and distress upon understanding that her nephew will be transported to Auschwitz next as she cries, “‘My whole family is gone! Grandma and Grandpa! Poppa! Momma! Tosha! Bibi! My Richiev!!