Whether through fiction or non fiction, the narrative of World War II and the events of the Holocaust, have been heavily utilized across multiple mediums. From films, to books, to pieces of art, stories both horrific and hopeful have been told for years. However, what about relaying the horrible events of a war that caused the deaths of millions through a graphic novel?

Art Speigelman attempts just that, in his two part comic book entitled Maus, focusing on the true story of young Vladek Speigleman and his journey through Nazi Germany and imprisonment in one of the most notorious internment camps–Auschwitz.

The multi-layered comic encompasses elements of the past and present, as Speigelman portrays both his father’s process of retelling the story, and the actual events of the Holocaust. In addition Speigelman also portrays his doubts and difficulties of creating his father’s complex survival story into a graphic novel.

Brought about by Adolf Hitler’s declaration of Mickey Mouse as an enemy of the state, Speigelman chose mice as representations of the Jews throughout his comic. The graphic novel consists mainly of different animal species as representations of different ethnicities. The Jews as mice, the Germans as cats and the Poles as pigs.

Despite being the first of its kind to win a Pulitzer Prize, Maus received heavy criticism and was accused of dehumanizing its characters through their portrayal as animals. Speigelman himself recounts the difficulty of writing the story this way, but his honesty only seems to add to the authenticity of the novel. This was a risky choice for an artist, yet is executed excellently, as he depicts an experience he will never really understand, having not experienced it himself.

Through intricately illustrated frames Speigelman communicates much of the fear, horror, confusion, and relief of his father’s past to visually create an experience like no other.

He takes the reader through a personal version of history, and in one frame he depicts his father and mother, Anja, as they walk down a path unknowing shaped like a swastika which eventually leads to their capture in Sosnowiec, Poland.

Somehow Speigelman seems to create images that encapsulates so much of what could not just be said in words. Sometimes criticized for being too gruesome in a format often meant for children’s adventure stories, Speigelman’s use of the comic allows him to represent his father’s story in the best way he knew how.

The black and white comic format provides a unique and controversial portrayal of a complex story of both great loss and great life. At times horrifically chilling, Speigelman creates something fictitiously and almost cartoony yet all too real to the human experiences of the Holocaust.