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. 

Flower Garden: A Tale of Friendship

                                                       Flower Garden: A Tale of Friendship
            The story Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson was a very thought-provoking piece to read. In the story, the main character, Mrs. Winning, dreams of owning the little cottage a few places down from where her family lives. When a family of two moves into the cottage, her hopes of owning it are ruined. Mrs. Winning and her son Howard quickly befriend the new family which includes Mrs. MacLane and her son Davey. Through many stereotypical and other conflicts, Mrs. Winning begins to feel that she and her son shouldn’t be associated with the MacLanes. She fears that since they are not respected in the community, that she and her family wouldn’t be either. After a thunderstorm, the townspeople all examine the damage to their property. A neighboring tree had fallen across the MacLanes flower bed. Mrs. Winning walks down to see what happened to their property. When Mrs. MacLane sees her, she waves and says hello. Mrs. Winning turns around and completely ignores them.
            In this story, I see the flower garden symbolizes the friendship between Mrs. MacLane and Mrs. Winning. When Mrs. Winning is friendly with Mrs. MacLane, the flower garden thrives. When Mrs. Winning starts to give Mrs. MacLane the cold shoulder, the flower garden starts to wilt and die. I think this really brings the story together. In the text, it states “The flowers wilted under the morning sun, and no longer stood up fresh and bright; the grass was browning slightly and the rose bushes Mrs. MacLane had put in so optimistically were noticeably dying.” This is written at the same time that Mrs. Winning is questioning her association with the MacLanes. This part is definitely a significant part of the story.
            I also think this story identifies people’s true colors and peer pressure. Mrs. Winning is at first friendly with Mrs. MacLane. After hearing other people in the town talk about how they don’t approve of her, she questions their friendship just because of that. In the text, it also states “’Good morning, Mrs. Winning,’ Mrs. MacLane said, and moved on past the aisle of shelves, and Mrs. Burton caught Mrs. Winning’s arm and made a desperate gesture of hiding her face and, unable to help themselves, both she and Mrs. Winning began to laugh.” Unfortunately this type of situation is common no matter what town you live in, but I wished by the end of his story this absurdity of peer pressure did not win.

Query for November 28th

Query for November 28^th

Katharine

Have you ever seen something that you really want? I bet you have. Think back to that time. Did you get what you wanted? Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. It is hard to determine what we want and what we need.(NEXT SLIDE) If you grow out of your old shoes and you need a new pair, you don’t need to buy the fanciest name brand pair of shoes at the store. You can settle for something less to simplify your life.

(NEXT SLIDE) It takes a lot to not buy what you want. Tom Coburn says. “You have to be courageous to not spend money, ... and we don't have many people who have that courage.” This is very true. You don’t need the latest thing to look great. Also, you don’t need to get the best or most expensive presents for your loved ones for the holiday seasons. You can stick with something that is more basic and special. In buddy meeting, we will be making coupon books. This is an example of something simple. It is also a very nice gift.

(NEXT SLIDE)This week’s query is: As we enter the season of giving, how can we determine what we need and what we want?   

Ecological Simplicity-September 22, 2011

I think that Ecological Simplicity is very important concept in today’s society. Many people say that they care about the environment, but unless you make a conscious effort daily, it is all talk. I think the truly serious people who believe in the ways of ecological simplicity are the ones that actually make a difference.  When people think of the word “simplicity” they think that they have to live without all the fun electronic devices that they are used to. That isn’t true. We just have to figure out a different way to power them that would give less of an impact to the earth.

“Simplicity means choosing ways of living that touch the Earth more lightly and that reduce our ecological impact on the web of life,” states Duane Elgin. This is true because it shows that the little things can make a difference. Even if you do something as simple as planting a seed or watering a plant, it can still make a small and significant change in the end.  To further give an example of what Duane Elgin is saying is the Boy Scout idea of “leave no trace.” What the Boy Scouts of America is saying is to enjoy the environment by hiking and camping. Then after you are finished with the pleasure of the outdoors, leave it like or better than when you arrived. Take all the trash with you and discard it in the proper locations.

Over all, I think that ecological simplicity is a very important subject that is being taken more seriously today than fifty years ago. More homes are using solar panels to make a sound environmental choice to slow down the polluting of the earth. Also, some towns are putting up wind energy as an alternative instead of harming the earth to drill for fuel oil. Simplicity is discussed a lot, but people don’t normally hear of the idea of ecological simplicity. Not many people know about it, and I think it is important for everyone to learn about the importance of it. Its things like these that we all have to take a step back and say, “Hey, I can help.”

Homework for September 22, 2011

Read the Simplicity packet. Choose an idea from the packet and write about it. Be sure to quote the article or passage you are referring to and make sure you cite your source.

This I Believe- September 21, 2011

The act of persistence generally yields a positive outcome. I believe that everyone should always be persistent. But there was an occasion in my life that persistence resulted in injury. It was a warm October morning and I was four years old. I was playing in my room and I wanted a stuffed whale from the top shelf of my cluttered bookshelf. Since my mom was working downstairs, I decided to take it upon myself to get it. Since I was four, I didn’t have much common sense or much height to easily reach it. I looked around my room for something to help me get it down. I looked up at the stuffed animal on the top of the massive four shelf book shelf and kept thinking, “how do I get this down?”  Finally, I figured out that if I climb the book shelf, I’d probably reach the stuffed animal. I was right but the outcome was bloody.  I started my climb and I was just about to the top. I grabbed for the top shelf. Since the shelves were only lying on pegs, the top shelf came right off the book shelf knocking me to the floor and the shelf landed on my mouth.  I looked to the side and saw my stuffed whale. I should have been happy, but my mouth was in horrible pain. My mom, hearing the crash ran upstairs to see if I was alright. I wasn’t. When my mom saw my mouth, all she could do was keep smiling and assuring me everything was alright. We hurried into the hall bathroom. I started crying. My mom continued smiling and kept trying to stop the heavy blood flow from my mouth. Each time she put a paper towel in my mouth another tooth came out.  After the bleeding was under control, we were off to the Emergency Room. She took me to the hospital because she feared that there might have been deeper cuts in my mouth that she couldn’t see. We had to wait about an hour and a half until they could check my teeth. After they checked my teeth, they told my mom that everything was okay, but we should make an appointment with our dentist. Two days later, we went to the dentist. They told us that the teeth came out cleanly and that we had nothing to worry about other than they had to keep checking my teeth. They had to keep checking because my two front teeth wouldn’t grow in for another four years, and they had to make sure the other teeth didn’t crowd into that area.

I believe this represents persistence because it shows how I wanted that stuffed animal, and I wouldn’t give up on that endeavor. Even though I couldn’t find anything to get it down, it didn’t stop me from trying. This example of persistence may have delivered a negative outcome, but I still think everyone should strive to have the desire to do their best and never give up.

Simplicity Picture- September 20th, 2011

I chose this picture because I think it represents the true meaning of simplicity. It shows that you don't have to have the fanciest things to be beautiful and have true meaning.