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One Survivor Remembers Discussion Questions

                One Survivor Remembers is a touching short movie about a Holocaust survivor’s memory of the dreaded ordeal. The movie depicts her life during the Holocaust and her continuous courage to get through those years.

                One Survivor Remembers has many powerful scenes. One that I thought was the most powerful was when a young Holocaust victim named Gerda wanted to jump off the train at the factory to kill herself.  Gerda had a very strong relationship with her father. Her father always seemed to know what was on her mind. Before her father left her and her mother, he told her that she should never commit suicide. He asked her to promise to never do so. She didn’t reply. Then, her father grabbed her neck and turned her face to face his. He repeated his request again. She promised she wouldn’t. Before she was about to jump off the train, her neck started hurting. I think this is powerful because it shows how influential a promise is. Another powerful scene was when she was separated from her mother. This scene was significant because she didn’t know what was going on, nor did she know what was happening to her or her mother. As she and other younger girls were loaded onto the truck, her mother yelled “Be Strong!” to her. That was an important scene because her mother showed how much she cared about her, and she wanted her to survive, even if she didn’t.

                Nazi’s dehumanized Jewish people in many different ways. Some ways included starving them, forcing them to work, shaving their heads, and calling them by a number instead of a name. Gerda Weissmann overcame dehumanization by having hope. Whenever her friends said anything negative, she would always insist that they would survive. When they were on the truck heading towards that factory, she met a girl that said that the war would be over in a few years. Gerda insisted that it would be over in six months. Even though she was wrong, she still kept hope. Although it didn’t seem likely, staying hopeful helped her survive as well. She kept thinking that she will survive by imagining a wonderful home life which kept her mind off what was happening to her.

                Gerda often fantasized about different things to keep her mind off of the problem at hand. If I were in the same situation, I would fantasize about my room. I would think about how I might design it to look differently, or how I might rearrange it. I would fantasize about that because I normally take my room for granted. I have a beautifully decorated room, and sometimes I don’t show appreciation of it like I should.  Another scene that I would fantasize is that I am dancing on a large illuminated stage. I would be wearing a beautiful flowing dress and every seat in the audience would be full.

                Just like how Jewish people, Gypsies, gays and lesbians, and Communists were targeted in the Holocaust, Muslims and gays are being targeted today. Ever since September 11, 2001, Muslim people have been portrayed as violent people who cannot be trusted. There has been an uncomfortable feeling since then when you go on an airplane and you see people who may look Muslim on board. Gay people are still being targeted by many people too. They are called rude humiliating names just because they’re different. Although they might not be persecuted in large numbers, they are still targeted individually in remote areas in this country.  

                Gerda portrays hope for her future in this film. People who have helped her stay positive and hopeful include the person in charge of the factory, and Kurt Klein. At first, Gerda thought that the person in charge of the factory would be cruel and treat them how they had been treated previously. She then learned that she wasn’t that bad of a person, and it helped her think that not all non- Jewish people were unkind. Kurt Klein also helped her stay hopeful towards the end. He was the one that came and saved her friends and her from the abandoned factory. He was also Jewish. He was sent to America by his parents so he would remain safe. The whole idea of thinking of others and helping each other be safe and content are factors that I like to pursue in my routine. I like to try and make my neighbors live a little better life when I organize food donations for Jesus Focus Food Pantry, and when I make holiday meals and breakfast bags for Aid for Friends, and finally when I make casseroles for St. John’s Hospice.  I know this world is far from being a utopian society but if each of us can just volunteer two hours a week to do something for someone else in need,  that may be the first step.

Marika: Blog # 3

Marika from the novel Marika was a Jewish girl living in Hungary during the Holocaust. Hungary was also a country that dealt with the Holocaust. After Germany occupied Hungary, everything changed for the Jewish people living there.

In April, 1944, Hungarian officers ordered Hungarian Jews to be placed into small communities throughout cities. Those communities were referred to as ghettos. In some ghettos, people weren’t even living inside buildings and had barely enough supplies to survive. The Hungarian officers guarded  the Jewish people and did not allow them to leave the ghetto. In May, 1944, with help from the Germany Security Police, Hungarian officers began to deport the Jewish people from the ghettos. Nearly 440,000 Jewish people were forced onto about 145 deportation trains to be taken to concentration camps. Most went to Auschwitz, but some went to the border to be deployed at digging fortification trenches. By July, 1944, the only Jewish community left in Hungary was that of Budapest, Hungary which was where Marika lived.

During the Szalasi Regime, groups called the Arrow Cross gangs invaded the Jewish community in Budapest. Hundreds of Jewish people were violently killed. Many others died from the labor the Arrow Cross gangs made them do. In November 1944, the anti-Semitic Arrow Cross regime ordered the remaining Jewish people, which were nearly 70,000 people, from the Budapest community into a 0.1 square mile ghetto. Others were marched to the Austrian border throughout November and December. Those who were marching, but too weak to continue on were shot along the way.

From about 825,000 Jewish people living in Hungary in 1941, about 63,000 died or were killed before the German occupation of March 1944. Under German occupation, just over 500,000 people died from mistreatment or were killed. About 255,000 Jews, less than one-third of those who had lived within Hungary in March 1944 survived the Holocaust.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "A Forgotten Suitcase: The Mantello Rescue Mission" Online Exhibitions. http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/mantello/. Accessed on December 1, 2011.

Marika: Blog # 2

The protagonist, Marika, in the novel Marika has changed greatly throughout the story. She has grown older and far more mature. In some ways, Marika is like Elie, the protagonist in the novel Night and Helmuth, the protagonist from the story The Boy Who Dared.

Marika, Elie, and Helmuth all have one thing in common. They’re young people dealing with the Holocaust in some way. Marika is dealing with the Holocaust because of the Nazis invading Budapest. Helmuth is dealing with the Holocaust because he is rebelling against Hitler’s ways. Elie is dealing with the Holocaust because he is in Auschwitz. Some similar characteristics between Marika and Elie are that they are both Jewish people, confused about what is going on. Contrary to that similarity, Helmuth from The Boy Who Dared is a Christian German boy who wants to make a difference. He doesn’t believe what Hitler was doing was right. He broke laws in order to carry out what he believed in. So far, none of the characters have had similar experiences. Marika has had hardly any experiences so far, Helmuth rebelled against Hitler, and Elie has been placed in a Concentration Camp.

Although their experiences differ so far, they all have the same motivation. Their motivation is to keep their family safe. Elie doesn’t want to be separated from his family, because he wants them to be with him and he wants to be able to comfort them. Helmuth makes sure that his family isn’t involved in any laws he breaks. Also, before he is executed, he writes a letter to his family. By writing the letter, it shows that he is motivated to tell his family what is going to happen to him and that he was satisfied for demonstrating his beliefs. Finally, in the novel Marika, Marika fills out the blank identification papers that would show Catholic as her religious identity instead of Jewish. The motivation to do this is that if the Nazis ever invade Hungary, her family would be safe. 

Marika: Blog #1

Marika, by Andrea Cheng, begins by introducing many unique characters. The author gives a very vivid picture of the setting and she provides an early description of the problem which will play a major role in how the story unfolds.

The characters who have been introduced in the novel so far include Marika, Anya, Apa, Andras, Neni, Bacsi, and Colette. Two more characters who play insignificant roles in the story so far are Tibor and Tamas. They are twins who are three months older than Marika. They live on the first floor of Marika’s family’s duplex.  Marika is the character who we can infer is the protagonist in the book. She is bold and courageous. Anya and Apa are her mother and father. When Marika was six years old, her parents split the apartment in half and the two didn’t live together anymore. Marika continued to live with her mother. Andras is Marika’s brother who is seven years older than her. Neni and Bacsi mean aunt and uncle in Hungarian. Neni is a protective Aunt who helps raise Marika. Bacsi is a cautious uncle who always takes care in not letting anyone know that their family is Jewish. “’But you could have chosen something more… less… less Jewish, you know, like Laci or Zoltan.’” (p. 9, Marika).  Bacsi is saying this to Marika regarding the family’s use of Jewish names. Colette is from France and she is Marika’s nanny and her French language instructor. One day, she has an incident where she thought she was being kidnapped. Marika’s father decides that a nanny wouldn’t be necessary for her anymore, so Colette was sent back to France.

The novel, Marika, is set in Budapest, Hungary during the 1930’s and 40’s. The character Marika lives in a duplex with her family and friends. The dilemma in the book so far is the fact that Marika and her family are Jewish and they need to hide that information. Her family has heard about the horrible things happening to Jewish people in Germany and other countries, and they are scared that might happen to them. That’s why they have changed many details on their legal documents, celebrated Christmas and Easter, and even were baptized. In the worst case scenario, they want to be able to pass as Christian people. The only problem they have is that they have very Jewish names. “Finally four of the forms were signed and blotted. The ink was just the right color. The word zsido, Jew, was permanently erased from every birth certificate. We would be safe, Apa said.” (p. 4, Marika). This shows how dedicated Marika’s family was to make sure that their family would remain protected and alive. 

The Boy Who Dared Blog #2

So far, in the book The Boy Who Dared, Helmuth has contemplated his thoughts on how the Nazis were treating the Jewish people. This book has also left a lot of questions unanswered. Some of the questions left unanswered are able to be inferred, and some are not.

One unanswered question is why Helmuth is in jail. It has talked about how he is in jail, but it does not explain what he did to be put in jail. “On that bed, a thin, huddled figure, Helmuth, a boy of seventeen, lies awake. Shivering. Trembling. It’s a Tuesday. The executioner works on Tuesdays.” (p. 3, The Boy Who Dared). From this, and the back ground knowledge gained throughout the beginning of the book, we can infer that he might be in jail because he has questioned verbally what Hitler is doing, or he may have disobeyed an order. A question I have is what did Helmuth do to place him in jail. It sounds like he might have done something considered horrible in Germany. Also, we can guess that he is scared that he might be executed.

Another inference I can make from the text is that Helmuth might fight for Germany someday. In one of his flashbacks, he remembers when he was three years old and he was asked by a soldier if he would fight for Germany someday. He said that he would. It also talks about how he wanted to go to the parade celebrating Hitler being sworn in as the Chancellor. This shows that subconsciously he supported Hitler. “Soldiers like you. The praise squares Helmuth’s shoulders and he beams at the storm trooper.” (p. 16, The Boy Who Dared). Helmuth appreciated how the soldiers would say that he would make a good soldier. That is why I think that he might become a soldier for Germany someday. I wonder if he becomes a soldier, will he be a soldier for long. Since he is in jail, I think he must have defied his responsibilities as a soldier. 

The Boy Who Dared Blog #1

 The Boy Who Dared, a fictional story by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, tells about a German boy named Helmuth.  Helmuth, a Hitler Youth, is a boy with confused thoughts about Hitler and what he is doing to Germany. He is unsure if what he is doing to Jewish people is good or not.

The story starts in Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, Germany with Helmuth, age 17, in a jail cell. It describes how an executioner works only on Tuesdays, and how it is Tuesday. There is a feeling of fear within Helmuth. It then goes to a flash back. Helmuth is at school, waiting for the broadcast to find out if Hitler would become the next chancellor of Germany. The whole school gathers to wait for the broadcast. When Hitler is sworn in, there is a lot of buzzing throughout the school. The students talk about their opinions on Hitler. “The teachers ignore the Hitler Youth. They are too busy whispering sharply with the other teachers, fighting over the reasons why Germany is so desperate for Adolf Hitler.” (p. 13, The Boy Who Dared).  People had their own opinions on what Adolf Hitler would do as chancellor of Germany. After school is dismissed that day, Helmuth notices that everybody is talking about Hitler becoming chancellor. A soldier approaches Helmuth and hands him a leaflet about the parade that would be held in Hitler’s honor. Helmuth wasn’t allowed to go. A few days later, the Reichstag was set on fire. Hitler claimed that it was a plot to destroy the government by the Communists. After that happens, Hitler advises people to not shop at Jewish stores in order to defend themselves. A boy at Helmuth’s school is discriminated against by the teacher and the class because he is Jewish. Later, Helmuth is ordered by his mother to go to a Jewish bakery to buy apple-cake trimmings. When he arrives at the bakery, he finds that Hitler Youth had written discriminating things on the windows. When Helmuth tries to enter the bakery, soldiers instruct him that he shouldn’t buy from this baker because he’s Jewish. When the owner of the shop tries to clean off the discriminating words from his windows, the soldiers begins beating him up.

The characters in the book so far are Helmuth and his family. His family consists of Opa, Oma, Mutti, Gerhard, and Hans. Helmuth is the main character. The story takes place in Berlin, Germany during World War II. Since the plot hasn’t completely developed yet, there are only a couple of problems. One problem is when Helmuth is in jail. He doesn’t know when he will be killed, so he is living every day knowing that eventually he will be killed. The second problem so far is how Jewish shops are being boycotted by the rest of Germany.