...War II. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, he states, “…in their early days of their accession to power, the Nazis in Germany set out to build a society in which there simply would be no room for Jews. Toward the end of their reign, their goal changed: they decided to leave behind a world in ruins in which Jews would seem never to have existed” (viii). The shock and horror does not lessen regardless of how many times a book or article is read or a movie watched about the Holocaust. Learning about the horrible, dark period from 1935 – 1945 is important in several ways. On one hand, it has been said we must learn about the past in order not to relive it. However, we are also told not to dwell in the past. When studying the Holocaust, both adages have truth. Chilling questions occur when learning about the Holocaust. They are questions that Elie Wiesel repeated in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Wiesel says he remembers asking his father, “Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?” (118). Millions of Jews were killed by overwork, starvation, torture, and cold blooded murder just because they were a different race and religion. Wiesel urges readers not to forget. Wiesel states, “To forget would not be only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time”(xv). Wiesel later states, “What I do know is that there is ‘response’ in responsibility. When we speak of this era of evil and darkness...
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...background of Holocaust 1. Introduction Anyone who bothers to investigate in any depth the Holocaust, and its many involved attendant subjects, inevitably encounters intellectual and emotional difficulties not usually met in other fields under examination. When studying the Holocaust, it is extremely difficult to maintain the same level of professional distance and objectivity that one practices with other subjects. Obviously, the magnitude of the destruction and suffering, the millions of lost lives and their untold stories, their unfulfilled hopes and dreams can be overwhelming. Furthermore, thoughtful and honest investigators will occasionally find that they have encountered an area of the Holocaust wherein are found agonizing personal ramifications. That is to say, the scholar is studying an event or a complex of issues that share key components of one’s personal background, beliefs, and values. It is highly unlikely that the scholar will be able to maintain absolute objectivity, feeling completely uninvolved in what is being examined. Instead, the person will most likely be compelled to ask some rather pointed personal questions, or probe into realms in which the investigator has close personal ties. When this occurs, it can be very distressing and painful. 2. A short insight on the background of Jews in Poland, Germany and Russia Several Polish noblemen of the middle ages showed special favour to Jews who immigrated because of persecution in Germany, coupled...
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...___________________________ LIVING HISTORY Hillary Rodham Clinton Simon & Schuster New York • London • Toronto • Sydney • Singapore To my parents, my husband, my daughter and all the good souls around the world whose inspiration, prayers, support and love blessed my heart and sustained me in the years of living history. AUTHOR’S NOTE In 1959, I wrote my autobiography for an assignment in sixth grade. In twenty-nine pages, most half-filled with earnest scrawl, I described my parents, brothers, pets, house, hobbies, school, sports and plans for the future. Forty-two years later, I began writing another memoir, this one about the eight years I spent in the White House living history with Bill Clinton. I quickly realized that I couldn’t explain my life as First Lady without going back to the beginning―how I became the woman I was that first day I walked into the White House on January 20, 1993, to take on a new role and experiences that would test and transform me in unexpected ways. By the time I crossed the threshold of the White House, I had been shaped by my family upbringing, education, religious faith and all that I had learned before―as the daughter of a staunch conservative father and a more liberal mother, a student activist, an advocate for children, a lawyer, Bill’s wife and Chelsea’s mom. For each chapter, there were more ideas I wanted to discuss than space allowed; more people to include than could be named; more places visited than could be described...
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