Jasmine - Blog Post #5

Going to the Holocaust Memorial Museum and learning about the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide really struck me. I didn’t expect us to get into such a deep and emotional topic this year, but I’m glad we did. Before learning about these events, I only knew a little bit about Hitler and Swastikas, but as we went through this unit, I realized how horrific this was. I think it’s very important for students to be taught about this in school, so an event like this won’t ever have to happen again. After learning about this topic, I feel I should address all the small issues and problems so that later, they won’t become huge problems. The Holocaust unit is one of the only humanities topics that will stick with me forever.

Kat - Post #5

During the Holocaust Unit, I was given a new perspective on the events that took place during WWII. I never really comprehended how horrific the Holocaust was. I knew the terrible things that happened during the Holocaust, but while studying the events I was given different personal experiences that really got to me.

Reading Night was definitely the most impactful. Elie Wiesel did such an amazing job writing a novel about his experiences and sharing with the world his struggles. I don’t think I would have ever really been able to acknowledge what all of the targeted people lost, if not for the book. Also, when we watched Life is Beautiful, it showed me that the victims of the Holocaust were regular people before the Holocaust changed them. They lived normal lives, created families, and had jobs. The Holocaust took all of that away from them, and tore them down until they were nothing.

Another thing that really shocked me was visiting the Holocaust Museum. While walking around I was taking in all this information, but what really made me stop and look were the hundreds of shoes piles up behind glass. Seeing the shoes really brought to my attention the people that died. As I looked at the shoes I realized that actual human beings wore those shoes, they lived and worked in those shoes.

After these experiences, I really look at humanity differently. I can’t believe that people would do that to other human beings. I now know that it is up to me and my generation to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, so that we can prevent anything like that from happening again. We also need to stop the terrors that are currently happening now. People need to understand that we are all people, no matter what we look like or what we believe in.

Nathaniel - Blog Post #5

In the speech by Elie Wiesel, he talks a lot about stopping oppression. He talks about ending the war between Israel and Palestine. He is trying to help. I believe he is right to talk about this because Nobel Peace prizes are for peace. He is viewed as a peacemaker, which shows just how powerful his book and the holocaust were. I too have been affected by the monstrosity that was the holocaust, being that I now grasp better the potential of bad propaganda, and a certain desperation that united the Nazis under a common goal. In Life is Beautiful, there is emphasis on the brutality of the Nazis, being how hard it is for Guido’s son to be safe.

The Armenian Genocide was I think a preparation for the holocaust. What I mean by that is that the Armenian Genocide consoled Hitler that genocide is possible. In fact, I think it made Hitler confident.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) left a big impact on me. It changed my view on how many died and why it is important to remember them. I also learned that no Jews live in Eishinock, Lithuania anymore. It is ever so sad.

CC Blog Post #5

Learning about this genocide for the last few weeks has been an emotional experience. For example watching Life is Beautiful was sad and happy and funny all at once. It is still so horribly incredible to me that anyone would ever do what was done. It also is so horrible to me to think that this was not actually that long ago. And that something like this could have happened so recently. Learning about this has changed me by making me realise what had actually happened. I knew that the Holocaust had happened, but I didn’t know how bad it actually was, and all the pain that people had to endure for years. The only way that this has changed the way I perceive humanity, is by changing the way I think about the lengths that someone would go to, to exterminate a group they don’t like. Like for example the death march through the freezing cold snow that Elie and all the other prisoners of the camp had to go through. What I have taken away is the awareness of everything that had happened.

Zoe- Blog Post #5

After learning about the holocaust and seeing the museum, I no longer think that humanity is quite as perfect as I used to.  I used to think that there were some struggles in the world, but they could be overcome with a little hard work and perseverance.  I never thought that anything near the horror of genocide could occur.

Even after we had begun to learn about the holocaust in school,  I thought that it was still some distance in the past, and my concept of how wrong it was was still fuzzy in my mind.  When we went to the Holocaust Museum, it began to cry as I saw all of the suffering that took place.  Seeing the bricks of the Warsaw Ghetto were like a slap in the face.  The fact that they were still there seemed  insane, and I realized that the holocaust did not take place that long ago.  It became very real to me what humanity is capable of.  It especially struck me when I saw the picture of a man that is most likely related to the Auchuler family. I felt very angry, yet helpless.  Another moment that I began to realize that life does not always end like a fairytale, sometimes very far from it, was when we watched Life is beautiful. I thought that the father would live, and that everything would be all right, but it was not so.

In his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Elie expresses that remaining silent does the same as siding with the oppressor.  I feel strongly that this is true.  After this unit, I see that we have a responsibility as humans to make sure that genocide never happens again.  We are responsible to take action against oppression, whether it be large or small, for remaining silent makes us as guilty as if we were committing the crime ourselves.

Mimi S. Blog Post 5

    When beginning reading Night it was immediately obvious how devastating the holocaust was. "The ghetto was ruled by neither German nor Jew; it was ruled by delusion." Fear and delusion created the holocaust with one look at the possible future. People took that fear and focused it on others creating a massacre that will forever be known as the holocaust. The fact that fear and delusion could create such a horrific event. Today fear seems to keep people from doing anything they would otherwise regret and yet through mass infection of fear and delusion in large doses murderers were made from otherwise innocent people. When we watched Life is Beautiful  we saw the doctor (representing once friends) kill the father (representing any Jew) with no remorse or even a tremor as he pulled the trigger. Fear and delusion took what once was an idea to an action, no matter who the action was against.
    Throughout the Holocaust unit the common theme of horror, loss, and mortality. While the holocaust is famous for the terror and poverty, going into the details of the event made me question the humanity of the human race today. Although people a whole have evolved since 1945 and we recognize the holocaust as an act of hatred. The Holocaust museum not only memorialized the deaths of many victims, but showed the truth of an important staple of our timeline. One of the most important things I learned from the museum was learning from others mistakes. Other acts of antisemitism or segregation are still among our society. Learning from our mistakes can only take us so far, as a part of our worlds history we must act upon the knowledge we have gathered from the past to make the news hate free. There will always be hatred, but if we could just change way people go among murdering a culture for there beliefs, looks, or mere rumors based on a small percentage of that specific race, or religion. Last but not least, If we remain to hate others the way our ancestors have, or population will be ephemeral and the only people to learn from our mistakes will be six feet underground, swallowing dirt, and decaying.

Ella May Post #5

Studying the holocaust has been the most emotional unit I have ever studied. Reading Night was one thing but after watching the two movies and walking through the museum myself I learned so much I didn't know about the holocaust. For me watching Life is Beautiful was a lot more emotional for me because instead of creating my own picture in my head I could actually see what the camps looked like and the clothing and food they ate. After learning about the holocaust I have learned about our history and how terribly people just like us were treated, and the misery they went through whether it was struggling to stay alive or watching somebody close to them die. As we started this unit I was positive I knew almost everything there was to know about the holocaust but after the first day I learned so much more. I learned that kids were killed because they were unable to work everyday because they were too week and that all of the six million Jews killed were killed in only six years. There has never been a larger mass murder in the history of this planet!

Robbins-Blog Post #5

Why, that was the thought racing through my head all throughout this unit. Looking back from modern day the topic seems impossible to believe, yet we know it happened. We know that the jews were killed and oppressed and stripped of everything but why. I came into this unit thinking to myself that I knew, yet I leave with my understanding altered. I find the topic hitting me closer. I feel a full new understanding. My eyes and ears were opened from seeing those pictures and reading Night. Of course I will never fully understand the real depth of the holocaust, yet after this unit I feel more connected. I watched and listened to Elie Wiesel's speech and to see and hear him speak so passionately about not being silent rally hit me. This entire unit has truly made me think.

Eli blog post #5

This unit forever changed my veiw on the Holocaust. Although I can’t  relate to the struggles of a survivor's it is difficult just covering this topic in a classroom. I have new respectance for survivors and their bravery, and for those who perished. Overall this topic has changed the way I thought of the Holocaust. Mainly because I hadn't known much about the Holocaust and this new knowledge horrified and disgusted me.

After reading Night, by Elie Wiesel I realized how scaring experiences

destroy everything you used to love. There is a clear difference in behavior at the beginning and end of the book. Countless times in the book Elie talks about how he has no reason to live. Towards the end of the book Elies reaction to his father's death was blank and emotionless. In the beginning of the book he is a lively happy person. It scared me how people change from one person to another when their survival instincts trigger. I found that people didn't just die  but they were tortured emotionally and physically.

I feel like it would be useful to educate people on the Holocaust based on how little I knew before so they could discuss it respectively.

Miranda, Blog Post 5

Humanities 8A

Miranda Blog Post 5

10/21/2017

While we have been in this unit of the Holocaust it has been very emotional. While reading Night it had been very sad learning about his experiences. When I went to the Museum one thing that stuck with me was all of the shoes in the corridor. It was very sad because that was when I truly understood. I saw piles of shoes on both sides of me. I saw shoes of all sizes, adult, children and even the smallest toddlers. The shoes signify of all of whom had perished. On another floor there were diaries of this boy and some of his emotions and experiences. There were rooms that signified the noises he heard and what he had to endure and saw. One thing that I remember about this is that his father work had been shut down. There was a cross of wood planks across his store door and a sign that said NO JEWS ALLOWED and continued down the alley. I think that a lot of people come to this museum because they were affected or know someone who was affected by the Holocaust and one way that they can remember them is in the candle room which is intended on lighting a candle for the person you knew that died during that time. When I was in there there were a lot of candles in there and a lot were lit which showed how many people died. When I came down to the first floor the survivor was there and told us her story of how she survived and I will never forget what she said. She persuaded us to tell someone of bullying and not just be a bystander. I am glad that we have been taught about the Holocaust because now I know what happened. In Life Is Beautiful It was sad that the little boy was clueless of what was happening although I think it was good that he didn’t because then he won’t grow up with the memories for so long but will know what it was when the time comes. I don't think that the boy would have survived if he knew because he would be too scared. In Wiesel's speech I think it was very thoughtful and very powerful (like his book) because he accepted the award on behalf of the dead and of his kind, the Jews that survived and the Jews that were affected and the Jews in general.

Blog Post#5

During this unit I have felt a lot of emotion, while reading Night I went through a lot of emotions. When we went to the Museum the first picture that I saw struck me, it was the picture of the dead and burnt bodies. I couldn’t believe my eyes that people had witnessed this. When I was walking along on the 4th floor there were many propaganda that said no jews and other terrible stuff. When I went through that train on the 3rd floor, I felt like the people that had died on that train were there. When we walked into a room with all the shoes that's when it really hit me because I saw really tiny shoes that only could belong to a young child who never had the chance to see the world. When we reached the 2nd floor and went into the Hall of Remembrance I thought that this was a great way for people to come in and light a candle if they had a family member with that last name die in the Holocaust. When we went down to the 1st floor and found Julia a Holocaust survivor I went over to her and started listening about here story and where she hid. Her story was amazing and I will never forget her story.

Sophia-Blog Post #5

This unit has been extremely emotional but I am so glad that we studied it because I have learned so much. When we first began this unit I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. I thought that i knew everything there was to know about the Holocaust. After reading Night by Elie Wiesel, watching Life is Beautiful and going to the Holocaust Museum I have have learned more than I ever imagined. This unit has affected my emotions so much. In the last page of the book I was extremely emotional because Elie was talking about being free and liberated. I started to cry tears of joy because i was happy and touched. Also, at the end of Life is Beautiful i cried a lot when Joshua found his mother and he cried "we won mom, we won"! I was just getting over how his father was just shot and at the same time i felt better because the found each other and they were free, the had won. At the Holocaust Museum I couldn't believe everything I was seeing I was shocked at how brutal everything was but at the same time i wasn’t. I had made so many images in my head while reading the book and when we went to the Museum everything seemed to match up just like i pictured it in my head.

PROMPT: POST #5

Blog Post #5:  For your final blog post, reflect on the totality of your experience at the museum and our study of the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide.  How has learning and reading about genocide over the past few weeks changed you?  How do you perceive humanity and/or history differently now?  What will you take away from this unit?  In your response, you must reference Night, especially Wiesel’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, as well as one other text we have studied (“Bones,” One Survivor Remembers or Life is Beautiful).  

Mimi Blog Post 4

Mimi Shapiro

Global Studies 8H

Found Poem

10-11-2017

Night Found Poem

To look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares,

They were the first faces of hell and death.

Ruled by delusion,

Absolute evil of man,

we felt the abyss opening beneath us

Merely space, until the end of time,

seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either.

Our terror could no longer be contained.

My soul had been invaded—and devoured—by a black flame

Never shall I forget

the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

The child I was had been consumed by the flames,

We share the same fate. The same smoke hovers over all our heads

All that was left was a shape that resembled me

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live

it had been through an epidemic: empty and dead

Hell does not last forever… help each other. What irony.

Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later.

The day will come but not now…Wait. Clench your teeth and w a i t …

tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned

WARNING! DANGER OF DEATH

the shadow of an expression. Defeat

You don't know me?

"Don't kill yourself. There's no hurry

Already forgotten?

"Don't waste your t e a r s …"

All this under a magnificent blue sky.

Jasmine - Blog Post #4

Our culture consumed,

as the hungry would a full meal.

As a child would their favorite crayon,

we are worked to the bone

until nothing’s left.

Like half-burnt candles

enveloped in ice,

our half-alive bodies

are surrounded by death.

They keep us surreptitious

like a child would stolen candy.

Will we be found?

Or are we forever trapped in this long night.

David - Blog post #4

Why have you come here?

Tell me, why?

May His name be celebrated and sanctified

The Almighty,

the eternal and terrible Master of the

Hundreds of men were crawling with him,

scraping their bodies with his on the stones

Thousands of lips repeated the benediction,

bent over like trees in a storm

Soon I wouldn't even be seeing them,

I would be one of them

I listened as the inmate's voice rose;

it was powerful yet broken,

amid the weeping, the sobbing,

the sighing of the entire "congregation"

Some were silently weeping

Wallow in your despair

Deep inside me,

I felt a great void opening

Esaw- Blog post#4/Poem

Why have you come here?

Tell me, why?

May His name be celebrated and sanctified

The Almighty,

the eternal and terrible Master of the

Hundreds of men were crawling with him,

scraping their bodies with his on the stones

Thousands of lips repeated the benediction,

bent over like trees in a storm

Soon I wouldn't even be seeing them,

I would be one of them

I listened as the inmate's voice rose;

it was powerful yet broken,

amid the weeping, the sobbing,

the sighing of the entire "congregation"

Some were silently weeping

Wallow in your despair

Deep inside me,

I felt a great void opening

Eli blog post #4

Hope

Gazing off into the distance

There they went, defeated, their bundles, their lives in tow,

having left behind their homes, their childhood

Time had slowed down.

When had we left our homes?

Her little boy was crying

She looked straight into my eyes

She said

“Hitler will not be able to harm us”

“I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else.

He alone has kept his promises”

After a long silence, he gave No response

In less than three days

I had arrived. In Birkenau.

Hope was still alive.

Isabel - Blog Post #4

I watched the blooming countryside flit by

rolling down the road

Rhythmic pounding of the wheels on the tracks

as the train raced through the night

The hours went by

and the night seemed endless

Snow was falling heavily

under cover of darkness

under a silent sky

I prayed for the night to pass quickly

But it snowed on and on

My fate was unknown

My gaze remained fixed

on the landscape beside me

and I was all alone in the world

Blog Post #4

Life and Death

Between life and death

You will be shot, like dogs

The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me

Never before have we understood each other so clearly

God knows

God knows what I would have given

To be able to sleep a few moments

A truck drew close and unloaded its hold

Small children and babies into the flames

Someone had just died

Others close to death, imitated his cry

But the third rope was still moving

The child, too light, was still breathing

The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my god

Go back and don’t move
-Gabe Manicone
Phrases by Elie Wiesel

Sydney-Blog Post #4

The refugees and their misery

Violence is not the answer.

Human rights are being violated on every continent.

I watched helplessly

I surely would have lost my mind.

Don't lose faith in yourself!

Nations to be tortured day and night,

You have betrayed

The race toward death had begun.

(Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017.)

CC Poem Blog Post #4

The Journey

By CC Cooksey

Auschwitz

Ruled by delusion

Veiled by despair

Long forgotten the taste of tears

Madness had infected all of us

Forever

Birkenau

Warning! Danger of death

You are good for the ovens

Save us!

Abandoned by the whole world

I suffer hell in my soul and my flesh

All they could utter was one word: “Evacuation”

Escape

A dance of death

Words and phrases from Night by Elie Weisel