The handout recounted an event in a ghetto in Byelorussia where a group of police officers were convinced to carry out a mass killing of Jewish people.
The ideology against Jews was very strong in this case because the purpose of the act was motivated by Antisemitism.
It took two days to convince the officers to shoot the Jews and even when they did so they were heavily intoxicated.
This episode consisted of people who might be considered persecutors since they carried out the act of murder.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Bergen Chapters 5-8
Chapter 5
Lodz- famous ghetto from the 1940s. It was very overcrowded. Jews from all over Europe were sent to Lodz. Gypsies were sent there as well.
Judenrat- word for "Jewish council." German-run council, where Germans picked the officials in charge.
After a Jewish resistance was discovered, many members who were linked to the underground Jewish newspaper were sent to Auschwitz.
Nazis considered Poles to be subhuman or "Untermenschen."
Polish people resented the Jews. Associated them with wealth.
T-4 program aimed at experimenting on adults with mental illnesses and the disabled.
Many Germans were outraged about the killings about the disabled while some were afraid to voice their opinions.
Chapter 6
French declared war on Germany in September 1939, known as the "phony war."
Armtistice Agreement signed with France in 1940.
Operation Sea-Lion- code name for the invasion of Britain.
1940- Three-Power Pact with Germany, Japan, and Italy.
Chapter 7
Nazi "New Order" plans to head East.
Hitler rejected Christianity, saw it as a weak branch of Judaism.
"Defeatism" was punishable by death, wanted everyone to support the German army.
Jewish women who married Germans were sometimes persecuted. The offspring were often spared.
"Harvest Festival"- mass shootings in Lublin.
In December 1941, first killing center was made, Chelmno.
Chapter 8
Russian army was winning against the Germans.
June 6, 1944- D-day
In 1944, Germans began to evacuate many camps.
Hitler committed suicide with his new wife Eva Braun along with close friends and their six children.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
"Survival in Auschwitz" Discussion Questions
1. What is Levi before incarceration? Why?
Levi states in the first chapter that he was a young man without wisdom. This may be due to his young age since he was not had time to experience life. He thinks of himself as an ignorant person who should have taken other chances in life that could have spared him from being deported.
He studied science at a University before his arrival. He is an educated man with a degree.
2. How do environmental changes alter people's behavior? How do they alter Levi's behavior?
As soon as the train takes its passengers to the death camp, many appear hysterical due to the lack of water and other resources. Levi states how many groaned all night and tried to reach out for snow so they could get some type of relief from thirst. Levi appears to remain calm during these times and observes others in their frantic state. He meets an older lady whom he bids farewell to. He does this as a way to make peace with his life before he meets death.
3. What is he like in the camp? Does he change? How so?
At the beginning of his stay, Levi learns to adjust to his new way of life. He is put through an initiation process by being tattooed his prisoner number. Since he is one of the prisoners who is deported later he has a higher number, which signifies his status. Many are crude to him due to his number and treat him poorly. He comes to terms that he has to start over in the camp and many of the things that make him himself are stripped away from him including food, clothing, name, and language.
Later, Levi says that most men fall into two categories being pessimists and optimists. Levi also says that some men have turned their back on religion and considered themselves atheists. Although, depending on the man's mood at a certain time, he point of view might change. He believes that many men have lost fate in their cause while others hold onto hope that they will meet their loved ones again. Thinking back on "Maus," I would say that Vladek would fall into this category because of his undying hope to survive. Levi remarks that he is one of the men on the bottom. He has learned to covet things that he finds on the ground, he works all day, has sores that will not heal and has faced other tragedies since his arrival.
4. Do the inmate have news or contacts with the outside world? How could people after the war claim to not know anything about the camps?
The Polish inmates and those who have been in the camps longer usually know more about the war than others.
Most news of the war floats around the concentration camps as rumors between those who are working there and the inmates.
5. What does he know about the Nazis? Hitler?
From what I understood from the book, Levi only knows the things about Hitler that we knew before he was attained. Most references to the German army in the book are by those who are working in the camp.
6. How hierarchical is the camp? Explain how it functions?
The camp is based on a hierarchy of who made it to the camp first. Those who have tattoos with higher numbers are seen as new meat in the camp that can be treated worse than the others. A sense of seniority is established with the inmates who have been there longer. Factions are also made depending on what type of Jew someone is considered. For instance, Polish Jews are separated from Italian Jews and so forth.
7. Do people resist? What constitutes resistance or acts of resistance?
Some people resist by smuggling and bartering goods with others. This is seen as a crime in the camps and can be punished. Other political crimes by Germans are seen as having relations with Jewish women and political theft.
8. Does anything unite the prisoners? Divide them?
Most of the prisoners are united by their will to live. Each understands the daily struggles that they all have to endure. What divides them are their ethnic backgrounds and the number that is branded on them. Those with lower numbers are seen as the elites and have a seniority over those inmates who have barely
9. Does the behavior he exhibits help him to survive? Why does he survive? Why does he believe that he survived?
Levi has a passive nature that helps him survive. He is very articulate and has many skills that become beneficial later in his stay. Since he knows a lot about science he is asked to help the doctors in the camps. Levi also tries to stay out of the way and averts himself from any dangers that exist within the camp.
10. The end of the war does not mean the end of suffering? Why is that?
After the war, most people are left with a loss of self. They do not know how to continue their lives after they have experienced such trauma. For some, they have no where to go. Their homes might have been destroyed and they have no contacts with relatives that may be living or dead. They do not know which of their loved ones have been killed or where they were deported to. This also goes along with the sense of self because many felt that they could not go on after most of their loved ones died. The only reason they held onto hope was because they thought that they would be reunited with their spouses and families. Afterwards, they don't have a reason for existing anymore or don't know how to continue.
The war does not end the prejudices that were established in the war. It takes time for people to come to terms with the loss of the war and take out their grievances against those who they believe are to blame for the loss.
Levi states in the first chapter that he was a young man without wisdom. This may be due to his young age since he was not had time to experience life. He thinks of himself as an ignorant person who should have taken other chances in life that could have spared him from being deported.
He studied science at a University before his arrival. He is an educated man with a degree.
2. How do environmental changes alter people's behavior? How do they alter Levi's behavior?
As soon as the train takes its passengers to the death camp, many appear hysterical due to the lack of water and other resources. Levi states how many groaned all night and tried to reach out for snow so they could get some type of relief from thirst. Levi appears to remain calm during these times and observes others in their frantic state. He meets an older lady whom he bids farewell to. He does this as a way to make peace with his life before he meets death.
3. What is he like in the camp? Does he change? How so?
At the beginning of his stay, Levi learns to adjust to his new way of life. He is put through an initiation process by being tattooed his prisoner number. Since he is one of the prisoners who is deported later he has a higher number, which signifies his status. Many are crude to him due to his number and treat him poorly. He comes to terms that he has to start over in the camp and many of the things that make him himself are stripped away from him including food, clothing, name, and language.
Later, Levi says that most men fall into two categories being pessimists and optimists. Levi also says that some men have turned their back on religion and considered themselves atheists. Although, depending on the man's mood at a certain time, he point of view might change. He believes that many men have lost fate in their cause while others hold onto hope that they will meet their loved ones again. Thinking back on "Maus," I would say that Vladek would fall into this category because of his undying hope to survive. Levi remarks that he is one of the men on the bottom. He has learned to covet things that he finds on the ground, he works all day, has sores that will not heal and has faced other tragedies since his arrival.
4. Do the inmate have news or contacts with the outside world? How could people after the war claim to not know anything about the camps?
The Polish inmates and those who have been in the camps longer usually know more about the war than others.
Most news of the war floats around the concentration camps as rumors between those who are working there and the inmates.
5. What does he know about the Nazis? Hitler?
From what I understood from the book, Levi only knows the things about Hitler that we knew before he was attained. Most references to the German army in the book are by those who are working in the camp.
6. How hierarchical is the camp? Explain how it functions?
The camp is based on a hierarchy of who made it to the camp first. Those who have tattoos with higher numbers are seen as new meat in the camp that can be treated worse than the others. A sense of seniority is established with the inmates who have been there longer. Factions are also made depending on what type of Jew someone is considered. For instance, Polish Jews are separated from Italian Jews and so forth.
7. Do people resist? What constitutes resistance or acts of resistance?
Some people resist by smuggling and bartering goods with others. This is seen as a crime in the camps and can be punished. Other political crimes by Germans are seen as having relations with Jewish women and political theft.
8. Does anything unite the prisoners? Divide them?
Most of the prisoners are united by their will to live. Each understands the daily struggles that they all have to endure. What divides them are their ethnic backgrounds and the number that is branded on them. Those with lower numbers are seen as the elites and have a seniority over those inmates who have barely
9. Does the behavior he exhibits help him to survive? Why does he survive? Why does he believe that he survived?
Levi has a passive nature that helps him survive. He is very articulate and has many skills that become beneficial later in his stay. Since he knows a lot about science he is asked to help the doctors in the camps. Levi also tries to stay out of the way and averts himself from any dangers that exist within the camp.
10. The end of the war does not mean the end of suffering? Why is that?
After the war, most people are left with a loss of self. They do not know how to continue their lives after they have experienced such trauma. For some, they have no where to go. Their homes might have been destroyed and they have no contacts with relatives that may be living or dead. They do not know which of their loved ones have been killed or where they were deported to. This also goes along with the sense of self because many felt that they could not go on after most of their loved ones died. The only reason they held onto hope was because they thought that they would be reunited with their spouses and families. Afterwards, they don't have a reason for existing anymore or don't know how to continue.
The war does not end the prejudices that were established in the war. It takes time for people to come to terms with the loss of the war and take out their grievances against those who they believe are to blame for the loss.
Discussion Questions #2
1.
In previous years, the United States has made minor attempts to intervene with
counties facing genocide but they have not really made any breakthroughs.
2.
Lemkin and his successors tried to pass a law that would prohibit genocide form
occurring in any nation. Lemkin
was also the first person who coined the term “genocide.”
3.
State Sovereignty- all type of activity directed towards the welfare of people
such as building schools and constructing roads. Genocide has typically been
disguised as efforts for state sovereignty by pushing an agenda that says that
they are wiping other groups of people for the welfare of the true race, to
purify the nation.
4.
The Holocaust made the world aware that events such as this were occurring and
that there were people who couldn’t speak out against their rulers because of
the barriers of society.
5.
Most victims didn't speak out after the war until it was over. They were
fearful for their lives.
6.
There were disagreements about the text of the law. U.S. senators feared that
the language would be used to target Americans.
Monday, October 14, 2013
"Dry Tears" Notes
“Dry Tears: The story of a lost childhood” chronicles the
story of Nechama Tec, or as she is known by her family Krysia, as a
Gentile Jew living in Poland during WWII.
The novel takes place from the view of Tec as a young child
as her family struggles to stay hidden from German authorities in WWII. The
entire time that her family is in hiding they are in constant fear that the
German army will uncover them. Luckily, this never happens.
During her journey, Tec is faced with multiple accounts of
prejudice from her confidants. Although, since Tec does not have predominant
Jewish features like her mother and father she isn’t ridiculed as much as
others. Those who are hosting the family often tell her how she could not be
Jewish because of the way she acts. Most times, Tec is struggling with an
identity crisis due to her act of a fake relative to her host families.
Most of the people Tec grows attached to are killed during
various attacks from German raids. Tec grows especially attached to the
children of one of the families she stays with. Tec is very infatuated with
Waldek, who is an infant. After an incident where Waldek and his sister are
attacked, Tec and her mother have to go rescue the child from its drunken
father.
As Tec grows into a teenager during the war, she witnesses
many incidents that shape her worldview of others during the war. Tec learns
about sex from a young age and she often struggles with judging others for
their life choices. For instance, many Jewish girls would have sexual relations
with German soldiers to secure their safety in the war. Tec thinks that these
types of girls are hypocrites to their kind and finds the situation confusing.
At one point, Tec joins the workforce as a child laborer in
a factory. Since Tec has a smaller figure than others, she is not able to as
much work and makes lower wages. Eventually, her family resorts to selling
baked breads in an underground black market scheme.
After the war is over, the host family rudely nudges the
family out of their home. The novel finishes with the family visiting the home
they abandoned at the beginning of the war. It leaves on a somber notes as the
family discovers that the building has been bombed into ashes.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Class notes 10-10-13, Nazi Propaganda film
Reichstag Fire Decrees, Feb. 1933- mysterious fires, Germans
blamed socialist and communists. Going for the leftists.
Enabling Acts in march 1933
Fiscal conservatism- pay down deficits, reduce bureaucracy,
reduce government spending and wait until the market begins to ride itself.
Purge Civil Service in April 1933- way to gain support,
members believed to be gay were murdered
Night of the Knives June 30, 1934
Groups looked for radical alternatives, examples: Soviet
Union and Fascism
Fascist Nazism- a form of free market capitalism, wanted to
moderate it and control it.
German propaganda film, 1934
Shows a cleaner, different way of life
Teamwork
Show regime to be completely coordinated, abundance of food.
In this time frame, agriculture is down, people are starving.
Idea “Nazism is the good life,” have friendship, brotherhood
People who knew Hitler from the past where murdered in the
Night of Knives
Role of Chancellor and President were combined and given to
Hitler
Trying to rebuild a new Germany. Showing camaraderie.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Survival in Auschwitz
In "Survival in Auschwitz," author Primo Levi recounts his time spent in a concentration camp for Italian Jews.
Personally, I found this novel hard to read. It was difficult to adapt to the settings of the novel and I felt that the writer did not have a strong voice to clarify his surroundings. The novel as a whole seemed to drag and did not have strong character development.
Levi tries to be poetic in his attempt to capture the essence of living in a concentration camp but I felt that he tried too hard. If he would have kept it simple then I would have found his story more captivating.
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