...just followed him. That's how the Germans felt. It wasn't their choice to be a Nazi, it was either be a Nazi or be living on the street hungry and thirsty. I don't blame the kids of Germany for liking the Nazis and Adlof Hitler, they were brainwashed at a young age while they were desperate. But the Nazis treating the Jews like worthless animals wasn't right no matter the cause. I feel bad for the Jews who were killed during the holocaust. But I feel worse for the Jews who became Nazis and killed their own race helping the Nazis. I can't imagine helping killers kill my friends and their families. It was I tough time in places where the Nazis owned. Jews didn't have any rights they were killed on sight and are sent to a concentration camp. The whole Jewish race murdered. That's over one million people. For me a group of people killing someone is the biggest sin ever, but the whole German army just killing every Jew they saw just because the thought they were destroying the world. Just thinking about being in the holocaust makes me realize how easy I have things in America. All the suffering the Jews had to go through and I'm here in my house with the air conditioner on typing this essay on my iPad I got for free, I am so great full. ...
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...The moonlight shown on my face as I stared out of my bedroom window. Both my parents and sibling had been long asleep by now. Making sure no one was in sight on the street I made my move. The plan was simple show up at the old lady's house, put signs that I printed the before on her door. I recalled the day my family and I moved in, the old lady next door torment us, told rumors about us, and worst of all she despised us! Not only us but almost everyone in Heidelberg! One of the signs read, Do not hail to Hitler! His ways will kill us! And the next morning when the sun rose everyone would see that she is anti Hitler, putting her in jail, and finally me and my family would be free from her torment. Looking down below from my roof was very frightening but most fear was covered by the adrenaline coursing through my body. I silently climbed down the roof on to the side of the road. Nazi soldiers were known to rome the place at night so I made sure to be on high alert. What’s the worst that could happen even if they do catch me, i’m pure German, 100% in both my father and mothers parents, and their parents as well. With my first step on the poarch I could truly feel the fear I had not felt before. As I made it to the front door I curiously looked inside. There wasn't much, a table, chair, stove, and oven looked to occupy the kitchen. I was quickly stunned out of my trance when I felt a cold, bare hand on my shoulder. I quickly spun my head around to see who it was, all I saw was...
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...Horrific Holocaust Events Being the oldest child was never the easiest job in the world, and then the Nazis began their reign of absolute terror, which made its even worse. I was a triplet actually so it’s not like I had a baby brother and sister, however, I without a doubt was the strongest mentally of the three of us. We all just had turned 16 less than two months ago. None of that matters though, not since they bombarded our house and threw us all into what people were calling a “ghetto”. Finally, the day has come; the whistles blew my eardrums near to death as the high pitch screech roared out the machine. My family and I shuffled out in our clothes which now just draped over and bodies; if you can even call it a body. Everyone had grown...
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...It’s over; it’s all over - the war, the life of built for myself, Germany’s role on the international stage. I can feel that familiar feeling of cold detachment sweeping over me. I should be feeling something different, something other than this nonchalance. I loved him, or at least I thought I did. Around me my children, are dimming before my eyes. Every tear that falls from their faces snuffing out that once bright light inside of them. Still detached, I shake the snow globe in my hand back and forth, letting the particles whirl around the globe. I hear knocking at the door so I set the snow globe down. I feel a sense of uncertainty about the future. I’m not worried though, not for me nor my children. No matter what happens, we will be fine. That’s all that matters, right - that we survive this? I hear knocking again. I make my way toward the door to check who’s there. I don’t know the man I see on the other side of the door, but I choose to open the door anyway. Just as my fingers reach the cool, brass knob, I hear a voice, shaky in its pitch shout “öffnen, öffnen!” I open the door and assess the man on my porch. His eyes shift from place to place. He’s scared, but also careless. He’s standing on one of my flower beds. The expression on his face is a poorly kept facade. He’s trying to hide his pain, but unsuccessfully. I can see it in his red face dripping with sweat. I can see it in the wrinkles of his uniform. He fears not for himself, but for me. “Guten Abend,” I say...
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...the Nazis killed Jews are by gas chambers, mass shootings and, concentration camps such as Auschwitz or a lot of the other death camps. The reason Hitler wanted to kill all the Jews was because he thought they were the reason the Germans lost The Great War. That’s why Hitler came up with the idea of the Final Solution. This is why I would not forgive him because he was under the jurisdiction of Hitler, he was a trouble man. The people that Karl killed would not forgive him. Karl shot up the house and threw grenades. He watched people burn while standing in the window holding children. I would feel sad, but this situation has never happened to me. Knowing the SS killed my family they would never be forgiven by me. A moral question the Holocaust, requires us to dig deep into our hearts, souls, and minds. We need to think about issues we don’t want to think about. I feel that Simon Wiesenthal did the right thing by walking away in silence. He was not in a position and had no right to forgive the SS man, Karl, for his murders of other people. I also believe that Karl did not deserve full forgiveness for his actions by someone who did not suffer from those actions. I feel that we should honor the dead and the murdered by allowing them to forgive their perpetrators on their own terms. ...
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...In Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman presents not only his father’s Holocaust narrative but also his own personal narrative, especially with regards to his relationship with Vladek. Readers learn that Artie and Vladek do not always get along, and there is a palpable tension between them. Vladek seems frugal and argumentative, while Artie appears self-centered and uncaring. In both cases, the characters’ faults are not glossed over. They are portrayed realistically, with positive and negative traits on full display. These portrayals accomplish two different goals for Spiegelman: one, they emphasize Artie’s interest in accuracy as opposed to sentimentality, and two, they allow the audience to discover Artie’s own personal trauma—namely,...
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...“When first I came home it looked exactly so as before I went away… (74),” Vladek begins recalling his past experiences to his son Art. In Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art is the son of a Polish Jew who writes and records his father’s memories of the horrendous holocaust. This ability to create multiple perspectives is known as frame narrative, allowing the readers to learn more insight about the characters such as thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Although the comic itself is seen through Art’s eyes, words, and sketches, it is Vladek’s story that is being represented. Art Spiegelman did a wonderful job of incorporating numerous smaller narratives into one graphic novel with his constant use of two very important literary devices. The use of...
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...along with its own problem on how to remember the Holocaust. Without the willing compliance of the other party, reexamining and reevaluating a country’s own false narrative becomes an arduous task filled with challenges. Verhoeven demonstrates this through the different obstacles Sonja must overcome in reexamining her own village’s narrative. Even after suing the city for access to the documents she needs, Sonja still has difficulty attaining the files. Excuses for the delay in the documents arrival ran from “you want the Zumtobel documents… they are still checked out” to “the documents are so old. Too brittle. They mustn’t be touched anymore” to finally “the problem is the documents are too new. Personal rights. You understand, right?...
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...drawings are being left "for posterity," Berger finds something more important at work here (qtd in Berger 576). Instead he argues that it is through personal narrative (and art) that latter generations can truly comprehend the horror of this action (and others like it). He likens the images to "hell" and labels the action as one of terrorism--one that can never be justified no matter what political side one supports or what aims one hopes to accomplish. Response: Based on the types of readings I have assigned for this class, I don't think it should be any surprise that I believe in the power of the personal narrative. So, on this point, I completely agree with Berger. Reading the number of those who died in the Holocaust, or lost their loved ones in Pearl Harbor, or fell with the Towers on 9/11 has a power on its own. But it is too easy to become immune to numbers. A personal narrative prevents an audience from de-humanizing an issue, and hopefully focus on what is truly important. Rhetorical Analysis: Berger makes two rhetorical choices that are especially effective. The first is that he interweaves excerpts of personal narratives into his own essay. While these narratives support his point, he does not refer to them orexplicate them in any way. Instead he lets them speak for themselves. Since his point is that the personal narrative brings history into "living consciousness," this move highlights his thesis (575). Second, he uses language that polarizes his readers. By using...
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...shaped by their representations in the texts you have studied. Refer to your prescribed text and at least TWO other related texts of your own choosing. History can be defined as “the methodical record of public events” where memory is defined as “the faculty by which events are recalled or kept in mind”. Thus history and memory interrelate as history can be seen as the contextual justification for memory. “The Fiftieth Gate” is a poignant interweaving of history and memory. The text follows protagonist, Mark Baker an historian, son of Holocaust survivors Genia and Yossl (Joe), on an historical journey through memory, to uncover the origins of his past and act as a catalyst for future generations to also connect with their history. Mark Baker’s journey through history and memory is also executed through his conventional ideas that memory is biased and less valid than history. There are numerous references to the discrepancies between the personal memories of his parents and the documented history Mark as an historian believes. In this way it is apparent that Mark is on a quest for verification, “my facts from the past are different”. This displays the flaw Mark traditionally notes in memory and his need for historical evidence. As responders accompany Mark on his journey, they also encounter the complexity of simultaneously being a son and an historian. This attested via the following when Mark collates his parent’s memories with documented historical evidence “His was a past...
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...when written history is presented, it has been edited and re-edited by a secondary source writer, rather than composed by actual witnesses, which proposes a problem; that of the interjectory of the writers own interpretation. Lost is the authentic perspective or narrative from an actual person of a past event. Recorded oral history preserves the viewpoints of individual voices, whether wealthy or poor, having personal knowledge of past events through spoken assessments, recollections and...
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...The personal account, Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist by Yossi Klein Halevi captures the emotions of a Holocaust survivor in a way that other historical sources are not able to. The memoir is about Halevi’s story growing up as the son of a Holocaust survivor in Brooklyn in the 1960’s-70s. When reading this memoir it is important to understand, memoirs are primary sources that follow a single person’s first-hand account and focuses on a specific event or experience, not their entire life. Other historical sources are usually broader and depict a period of time rather than singular personal stories. A memoir is limited as a primary source; Memoirs are limited to only one individual's point of view, rather than an analysis of many people's perspectives...
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...tell you. When looking at Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Art Spiegleman, Resurrection by Frederick Douglas and What Sacagawea Means to Me by Sherman Alexie, it is very easy to miss the point that each author is trying to get across. Although each of these stories was written for a different audience the stories being told are very similar in nature. One purpose of each story is to tell a story, which is why both authors used narration in which to do so. Narratives are usually very sequential in nature. Using narration when telling a story helps to draw people...
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...Clarens I. Desir Professor Matthew Lau EN 101 6 February 2014 Regine, Beyer. “Life after the Holocaust” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Revised Edition. N.p., 10 June 2013. Web. 8 May 2014 Regine, Beyer’s article. “Life after the Holocaust” (2010), asserts that he learned that human being cannot be reduced to one period of their lives, even though it might have been the determining one, and About the strength of mind and spirit in sometimes frail bodies. About forgiveness, and not being able to forgive. About mutual sympathy and respect despite age and cultural differences. He made it he’s purpose to look for people who tell their story well (without sounding "professional” in any way) people whose stories can provide a different view on aspect of the overall story we have taken for granted. Base on the article Beyer is writing to Holocaust survivors, and anyone who’ve had their lives affected in any way cause of the Holocaust. He’s purpose was to get their stories out there, because those stories made a big impression on he’s life. Children during the Holocaust. “United States Holocaust Memorial Museum”. Web. May 8 2014. “Children during the holocaust” (2013), prove that children were especially vulnerable doing the holocaust because the Nazis advocate killing children of “unwanted” or “dangerous” groups in accordance with their ideological views, either as part of the “racial struggle” or as a measure of preventative security. The Germans and their collaborators...
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...The Holocaust: Effects of Dehumanization in Art Spiegelman’s Maus War broke out in Europe in September of 1939. Everything went downhill from then, Germans began to take over and minorities such as Jews were quickly forced to go to concentration camps, these horrible camps were stationed all over Europe. One of the main camps in Poland was Auschwitz. Opened in May 1940, it was an extermination camp located in southern Poland in a small town named Oswiecim. The camp consisted of three separate camps not far from one another so that communication could be kept between them. These three camps included: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II–Birkenau and Auschwitz III–Monowitz. Auschwitz I was classified as the base camp where prisoners mainly worked, Auschwitz II–Birkenau was the main extermination camp where prisoners went to die in a variety of ways after being too weak to work, and Auschwitz III–Monowitz another labor camp, which held prisoners who worked at a German chemical factory, IG Farben. The killing methods ranged from being lined up at a wall and shot to being put into ‘showers’ that realized a toxic gas. Once the prisoners were dead, they were then burned in the crematoriums at the camp. Essentially the prisoners of the labor and death camps were treated as objects and not as the humans that they were. Many might even go as far as refer to the Germans as heartless for doing the things that they did to the innocent Jews and other monitories. Art Spiegelman’s Maus shows...
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