Bring the Acclaimed Graphic Novel into the Classroom to Examine The Holocaust, Antisemitism and Art
A LESSON PLAN FOR EXAMINING THE HOLOCAUST, ANTISEMITISM AND ART THROUGH THE ACCLAIMED GRAPHIC NOVEL
Curriculum for Junior High and high school
“This adaptation has left a deep impact on me and I will be integrating it into my classroom.” - Tim Smith, Teaching with Comics.
Guiding youth as they confront the grim and complicated history of the Holocaust has long presented a challenge to educators. By mixing history with comics, music and science fiction, the graphic novel Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis opens new pathways for students to engage with this dark chapter through the lens of the artists and creators who used creativity to defend their humanity.
Death Strikes is an adaptation of a satirical modernist opera written in 1943 by two Jewish prisoners of the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechia, who did not survive to see their work performed. You and your students will follow characters representing Life and Death as they navigate a war-torn and militaristic Atlantis, where the reclusive Emperor Overall has declared every citizen must go to war with one another. Driven to the brink, Death breaks his sword and goes on strike, leaving a world where everyone must fight, but no one can die.
“Death Strikes is a powerful reminder that the fusion of text and drawing creates profound effects that can be achieved in no other medium.” - Michael Beckerman, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music, New York University
Published by Berger Books & Dark Horse Comics, Death Strikes was named one the New York Public Library’s Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2024 and was a runner-up for IGN’s Graphic Novel of the Year. In 2025, the art and characterization was re-interpreted into a staging of the opera by the Louisville Orchestra, which was described as “edgily creative” and “ineffably moving.”
Graphic novelists Dave Maass and Patrick Lay encountered experienced arts educator Abigail at a meeting of the Kentucky Antisemitism Task Force and together they resolved to design this lesson plan to satisfy the Holocaust education requirements being adopted by school systems around the United States. Appropriate for Junior High and High School levels.
“The book succeeds in adapting the operatic stage to the illustrated page and will encourage classical fans to emotionally connect to the music in a thrilling new way.” - JoAnn Falletta, Multiple Grammy-winning Conductor and Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
The resulting lesson plan guides students through exploring the themes of the book, including resistance and humor as tools to fight oppression. Additional activity includes teaching visual analysis techniques and an art project that encourages students to explore the process of adaptation.
A sizeable excerpt from the graphic novel and an essay are available for free to educators, while full copies are available at a discount upon request. Clips from the opera are also provided, while Maass and Lay are also available to speak to class virtually or, depending on the circumstance, in person.
Discussion Guide &
Lesson Plan
Curriculum Designed With Purpose
Designed to satisfy Holocaust education requirements being adopted by school systems around the United States.
The lesson plan engages visual and literary analysis, with questions about interpretation and re-interpreting across mediums. Each section provides a springboard for discussion about the difficult reality of the Holocaust and Holocaust remembrance in today’s world.
25-Page Excerpt Available
A free excerpt from the graphic novel is available for free. It contains 25 pages of the story, selected to pair with the lesson plan, and includes essays from the book.
Email us at deathstrikesgn@gmail.com to request the PDF excerpt
Order Copies of the Graphic Novel
Order Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis from your favorite retailers:
ISBN-10: 1506737307
ISBN-13: 9781506737300
Der Kaiser von Atlantis performed by the Louisville Orchestra
Check out this 90-second video preview of the groundbreaking opera performance from 2025. Adapting story interpretations and costumes from Death Strikes and employing animated artwork and innovative projection.
Download the video below.
Let’s Work Together
Dave Maass and Patrick Lay have visited teaching organizations and classrooms across the country. Can we enhance your curriculum with a visit and behind-the-scenes presentation? All visits must be planned well in advance. Schedule permitting.
About Us
Dave Maass
Dave Maass is an award-winning writer based in the American West. When he is not making comics, Maass is Director of Investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a Scholar in Residence at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, researching the human rights harms enabled by surveillance technology. For a decade, he covered San Diego Comic-Con for Rolling Stone, Vice Motherboard, and SYFY WIRE.
Patrick Lay
Patrick Lay is an internationally published cartoonist from Northwest Ohio. He earned a B.S.F.A in Oil Painting from Valparaiso University and an MFA in Comics from the California College of the Arts. Patrick is Chair of Comics & Narrative Practice at Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio.
Abigail Miller
Abigail J. Miller is a writer and teaching artist from central Kentucky. Through grants from the Kentucky Arts Council and the University of Kentucky/Jewish Heritage Fund Holocaust Education Initiative, she partners with middle and high-school teachers across the state to enhance Holocaust curricula.