A01=Sarah Gavron
A01=Sophie Herxheimer
Author_Sarah Gavron
Author_Sophie Herxheimer
Category=XQA
Charlotte Salomon
children art Holocaust
children's art
concentration camp
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_graphic-novels-manga
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
family history
forthcoming
graphic novel
holocaust
Jewish history
survival
Theresienstadt
war history
World War 2
Product details
- ISBN 9781805338123
- Dimensions: 170 x 240mm
- Publication Date: 27 Aug 2026
- Publisher: Pushkin Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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This is the story of an ordinary little boy, Ib Katznelson, swept up in the cataclysmic tides of fascism, war and propaganda. A generation later, his daughter-in-law, filmmaker Sarah Gavron, inspired by Ib's story, finds artist-poet Sophie Herxheimer to collaborate on telling it in a new, visual form.
We follow Ib and his family's attempt to escape Denmark in 1943, and their eventual arrival at Theresienstadt, the 'model' concentration camp. Here the Nazis' horrors were hidden from the world, yet it was also a place where, somehow, art and culture flourished in secret. Satirical cabarets entertained the starving in desolate attics, children made beautiful works of art, huge choirs sang together about death.
This epic graphic novel contains all of life, from its darkest moments to its most surprising joys. Inspired by the creativity of the prisoners themselves, Ode to Joy invents a startling and original visual language to tell a story about those who keep hope alive, even in the cruellest of times.
Sophie Herxheimer is an artist and poet. Her work has been shown at The National Portrait Gallery, The Museum of Liverpool and Tate Modern. Her collection Velkom to Inklandt (Short Books, 2017) was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. 60 Lovers to Make and Do (Henningham Family Press, 2019) was a TLS book of the year. INDEX (zimZalla, 2021) comprises 78 collage poems, published as a tarot deck. Ode to Joy is her first graphic novel.
Sarah Gavron is a British film director. Winner of a BAFTA and BIFA, among other awards, her films include Brick Lane, Suffragette, Village at the End of the World and Rocks.
