Ode to Joy : One Boy’s Journey Across War-torn Europe - Signed Bookplate Paperback Edition

by Herxheimer, Sophie | Graphic novels: true stories & non-fiction
Published 27/08/2026 by PUSHKIN PRESS in the United Kingdom
Paperback | 224 pages
240 x 170mm | 0g

Signed Bookplate Paperback Edition - Publishes August 27th

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.