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Elly Lee

Mrs. Robins

Humanities 10

19 November 2012

Luck or Resourcefulness: How did people survive the Holocaust?

Luck seems to influence many parts of people’s lives. However, without

making smart choices at the right time, luck does not happen just by chance. A

graphic novel written by Art Spiegelman, Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale, is about the

author’s father as a Holocaust survivor in the twentieth century. Throughout the

whole story of Maus II, the role of resourcefulness in survival is presented repeatedly.

When the author’s father, Vladek, was in Auschwitz, there were several moments

where he was about to be killed. In such circumstances, resourcefulness played much

larger role than luck, and it helped him to stay alive. Specifically, Vladek’s ability to

save for future, to find work and to trade kept him alive in Holocaust. Therefore,

people who survived were mostly the resourceful ones, not the ones who were

randomly chosen.

Although luck does play a role in the novel, the major factor that kept Vladek

alive was his resourcefulness. Particularly, his ability to save items for the future

really helped him to stay alive during the Holocaust. When Vladek was on a crowded

train, Vladek used the saved thin blanket they had given him, and “climbed to

somebody’s shoulder and hooked it strong” above the other passengers in the train.

This helped Vladek to “rest and breathe a little,” because he did not need to fight for

space to stand on the ground anymore (85). Moreover, the blanket allowed him to

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reach snow off of the train’s roof. The snow kept him hydrated, and he was able to

trade it with other passengers for sugar. On another occasion, Vladek saved the food

that was given by his French friend and traded it for a shirt. He “cleaned the shirt very,

very careful” and “unwrapped only when they called to soup” (94). By taking out the

shirt only when the Germans were doing lice checks, Vladek could get food to eat. In

the events stated above, Vladek’s cleverness made it possible for him to get food and

water, which were necessary for him to stay alive.

Another aspect of Vladek’s cleverness that helped him to survive was an

ability to find work. In Auschwitz, Vladek taught English to one of the guards there,

who was willing to learn English for his future life. In reward, Vladek got food and

clean clothes that were extremely important and valuable in Auschwitz. In addition,

since Vladek had experience of working in a shoe shop before the Holocaust, he could

work as both a tin man and a shoemaker in Auschwitz. Vladek fixed people’s shoes,

and some people even “came back with a whole sausage” for the payment, which was

a great amount of food for Vladek at that time (61). Vladek gained more food than

others from this work, and could constantly provide himself food to eat. Moreover,

Vladek got to talk to a French person who was desperately willing to talk to someone.

As a reward for talking to him and being his friend, the French person “insisted to

share” his food packages with Vladek when he got them from the Red Cross, and they

“saved…my [Vladek’s] life” (93). The events stated above show Vladek’s

resourcefulness in finding work, which provided him extra food to eat.

The last part that was crucial in the survival was Vladek’s ability to trade with

others. When Vladek was working as a shoemaker, he faced a moment where he

could not fix certain shoes, because he never learned the skill. At that time, Vladek

ran to the real shoemaker, and bribed him with a piece of bread. Then, Vladek

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watched how the shoemaker fixes the shoes so that he can use the skill later on and

“save myself [himself] such bread” (61). In addition, when Vladek was suffering from

a disease, he could barely walk and talk. In order to move around, Vladek paid two

people some pieces of bread, and asked them to help him travel. Without the people’s

help, “my [his] legs didn’t hold me [him]” even for a second (97). Since the people

supported him, Vladek was not sent out. Although he was sick, he even travelled to

Switzerland and survived again. If Vladek lacked the ability to trade, he might have

died of hunger and diseases.

Many people claim that Holocaust survivors were just lucky. In certain events,

the Spiegelmans did survive because they were fortunate. However, Vladek's

resourcefulness and intelligence played a much larger role, because they provided him

food, clothes, and people to support him. Consequently, people who survived during

the Holocaust were not simply fortunate, but clever to keep themselves alive.