Maus

A unique, unforgettable view of the Holocaust and its aftermath . . .

The Complete Maus is a graphic chronicle of artist Art Spiegelman’s attempt to understand his father’s life, his mother’s death, and his own identity. To say it is unique is to say the least.

Spiegelman’s Jewish parents were both Holocaust survivors — or it might be more correct to say that they outlived Hitler. Like many who survived physically, they were haunted by the experience for the rest of their lives.

And like many children of Holocaust survivors, Spiegelman grew up with a sort of shared trauma. Parents often did not want to talk about what had happened to them — but that very silence, set against a family history filled with tragic loss, affected their children deeply.

Some Background

Spiegelman’s parents relocated to Sweden, where he was born in 1948, and then to the United States, where he grew up. In 1968, as a college student, he suffered a brief but severe mental breakdown — and soon after, his mother Anja committed suicide. His father Vladek was a difficult personality, often clashing with his son and his second wife.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Spiegelman achieved success as an artist and publisher in the world of experimental comic books (sometimes referred to as…