Two ways that Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children can relate to the Holocaust is in its treatment of persecution and its display of people who feel compelled to take action in the face of injustice.
The persecution of the peculiars is one way the novel connects to the Holocaust. The syndrigast, or people who are "peculiar," are viewed with hostility. They are not like everyone else. Their difference is what causes others to hunt...
Two ways that Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children can relate to the Holocaust is in its treatment of persecution and its display of people who feel compelled to take action in the face of injustice.
The persecution of the peculiars is one way the novel connects to the Holocaust. The syndrigast, or people who are "peculiar," are viewed with hostility. They are not like everyone else. Their difference is what causes others to hunt them down and kill them. This is similar to the way that Nazis saw Jewish people. They sought to capture and kill them. The peculiars must flee to different areas to avoid capture, a sad parallel to what Jewish people had to do during the Holocaust.
Another connection to the Holocaust is how the novel shows responses to human suffering. Both Jacob and his grandfather make conscious choices to fight for people who are suffering. Jacob's grandfather committed himself against the Nazis and to fighting monsters. For his part, Jacob resolves to help the peculiars. In both settings, people are taking action against injustice. Jacob and his grandfather could have chosen to do nothing. Yet, they feel compelled to act. This shows a clear connection to the Holocaust time period. Even though the Nazis killed many people, there were some who stood up for the rights of others. For example, Johanna Eck was a German who hid Jewish people in her home. Suzanne Spaak left her life of wealth and privilege to join the Underground. Like Jacob and his grandfather, they undertook great risk to do what they felt was right.
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