Lost humans

"If I just think of how we live here, I usually come to the conclusion that it is a paradise compared with how other Jews who are not in hiding must be living," - Entry from Saturday, 1 May, 1943, Diary of Anne Frank  p. 79

Hearing this quote brings me hope. I feel like Anne and her family are few of the lucky Jews and are very fortunate to be in hiding and not at death camps or concentration camps. This is a theme of hope, dehumanization, and resistance, because they are resisting to go through what the Nazis are putting the Jews through in death camps,  they are being dehumanized by keeping their lives a secreting and hiding, and they don't get to live ordinary lives. I feel like she is right they really have nothing to complain about while they are in hiding and their Jewish friends and probably family are all at places where they could be gassed in chambers and die because of starvation when Anne and her family are hiding and eating pretty well compared to the Jews in the death camps.  They are living a better life than the others although in a way they are dying.

I think that the quote relates to the Pianist how Spielman   friends would help him out so he wouldn't have to attend death camps or concentration camps and could get out alive and move on with his life. Anne franks situation is very similar because both her and spielman are in similar situation and are both being dehumanization because they have to hide who they are and try to be someone else. They have to change their regular habits to a whole other thing.They have to leave their regular life styles and adapt to hard lifestyles. Just like Anne and her family have to adapt to their new lifestyles of not being able to go out and being free because they are in hiding.

Resisting

How would you define resistance?  How did Jews and non-Jews resist Nazi oppression?  What do you think about their actions?

I would define resistance as not giving in to force, and striking back. Non-Jews resisted by helping Jews. They provided them with transportation out of German occupied territories, they hid them in attics, basements, and in secret rooms. They sometimes even adopted small Jewish children into their families to keep them out of Nazi camps. Jews resisted by praying, and pretending to have a "normal" life. Some also resisted with weapons. Young Jews resisted by escaping from the ghettos. Keeping diaries was also a form of resistance. Creating fake documents and listening to forbidden radio broadcasts were non-violent ways to resist. Simply to survive was a victory. I think these actions are very heroic, even though they were risking their own lives they saved many lives. Helping Jews was punishable by death in most places. I think if there were more people like the ones who helped Jewish people more lives could have been saved.

The Guilt of Being Safe

¨I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed, while my dearest friends have been knocked down or have fallen into a gutter somewhere out in the cold night. I get frightened when I think of close friends who have now been delivered into the hands of the cruelest brutes that walk the earth. All because they are Jews!¨ -The Diary of Anne Frank, p. 54

This quote tells me that Anne really felt guilty that she was safe and so many others like her were not. She felt like she didn't deserve to be safe and she felt bad for her friends who were suffering much more than her. The thought of what had happened to the people she knew really scared her. This quote also shows what she thought of the Nazis, she just thought they were the most ferocious creatures that ever lived! She didn't understand why they did what they did to the Jewish people. I can't imagine going through what she did.

I think this quote connects to the theme guilt. Anne felt very guilty that she had a warm bed to sleep in, yet her closest friends were suffering. She felt like she was cruel for not being in pain like the rest of the Jews. Many people during the Holocaust felt guilty like Anne because they didn't know why they survived, and others didn't. Sometimes we Americans take things for granted as well, without even realizing it. This quote also connects with the poem America by Tony Hoagland http://www.poetryfoundation.org /poem/171302. I think these two connect because sometimes Anne thinks she has it bad because she is in hiding, but she doesn't realize always think about those in the death camps and concentration camps who have it much worse. Same with us in America, we complain over the littlest things and we don't even consider that there are people in other countries with much bigger problems.

Fight To The Finish

When reading the “Jews Resistance” you see that the living Jews would defy Hitler's policy of wearing a yellow badge. I feel like these Jew were brave because to stand up for what you believe in and knowing  that your life is in risk when doing is kind of a heroic thing to do.A connection would be our book “The Diary Of Anne Frank”. Anne and her family are currently in hiding and resisting to be in Death camps and Concentration camps just because they are Jewish. I'm thinking that Anne and her family have such a great advantage and so much more to live for. I only wish that they could hide more Jews so more Jews could resist the orders and have more of a chance to live.

We take no more..NO MORE!!

Talk about one or more of the Resistance readings.  What were your feelings?  Connections? Thoughts?

In the "Jewish Resistance" reading a lot of Jews thought it was wrong what Hitler and the Nazis were doing to them, Most Jewish families were sneaking out of the the ghettos and escaped into the woods. More than than 2,000 to 3,000 Jews were joining the resistance, I had a feeling that a lot of Jews were tired of what was going on and wanted out. Just as the Boston Marathon race they grouped up to find them people that bombed it. I feel like a lot of Jews was still going with their religion, still prayed and went on with the things they believed in; they didn’t stop just because the Nazis and Hitler didn’t like what they were doing. I think the Jews had a lot of confidence in themselves, In the movie The Pianist, when they were on their way to the death camp, a man was resisting to go on the train, because his wife was pregnant, he was trying to protect her , because the Nazis were treating her with a lot of disrespect. In the handout reading we got in Social Studies really talked about what happened during the resistance, a lot of Jews went against the German laws and were going against the thing that were happening to them. I was proud that they took it to the extent and really felt that they wanted to keep their dignity and pride.

Good people, Or bad.....

In her diary, Anne Frank wrote that she believed “most people are good.”  Do you agree with Anne?  If so, why, and if not, why not?

I do agree with Anne. I think that she should have stressed the word “most” people because I believe everyone has a hint of good inside them. During the Holocaust most people were going along with Hitler and his opinions. People have their own opinion. For example, in the movie The Pianist the Jewish police helped Wladyslaw Szpilman escape the transport to the Treblinka death camp. So some people had good in them even if their job was to enforce Nazis rules. The job of the Jewish police was to make sure the Jews in the ghettos are punished if they do something wrong and  to tell the Nazis.  In this case, do you think the Jewish police were “good” or “bad’?  “Most” people have good in them, it just depends on their environment.

TRUE COLORS

In her diary, Anne Frank wrote that she believed “most people are good.”  Do you agree with Anne?  If so, why, and if not, why not?   (Echoes and Reflections)

I strongly agree with Anne Frank that most people are good. Most people are good until they are brought into a bad situation. Like with The Jewish police in the The Pianist  they were kind of put in a situation where they had to take the job in order to provide for their families. Another connection would be the recent  bombing that two young men had committed in Boston both those men were very good boys and in college living their life but they saw an opportunity to hurt people and they took it. I think that anybody could be a good person and a good person could do something bad in a split second. Most people are good until a chance to be bad comes around.

FEAR

¨But i'm still alive,Kitty,and that is the main thing,daddy says"

¨I picture concentration camps and lonely cells¨ The Diary of Anne Frank, p.13

When I heard this quote it made me realize I was thinking the same thing. I agree with it though because all these like stereotypes and rumors were going around at the time of the Holocaust and no one actually knew the whole truth until they actually got to the concentration camps.The quote kinda shows people knew but they didn't like know. This proves in the back of their mind, Jews knew that the nazis were going to plan bad things to begin to happen for the. I can already see that Anne´s family and friends aren't really gonna be as worried as other families because they have this idea in the back of their heads.when she goes to the camps because by her picturing it she's preparing herself for the worst. Being alive to me has to be the biggest thing hands down.I agree with her dad about that nothing really matters because they are still alive through  everything that has been making a huge impact on their lives.

The quote reminds me of the theme Hopelessness because Anne is assuming that the concentration camps are like prison cells and are lonely. If she had hope she wouldn't be so scared to go and would be ready for whatever is gonna hit her there but by her and, her family being hopeless nothing good is gonna come in return. It kind of reminds me of Lakers Fans because a lot of the fans lost hope when Kobe was injured and is now out for the rest of the season. I bet if they all had hope they would do something to help the lakers get pumped for the game. If Anne had hope I bet she and her family could make some type of impact no matter how little. Another big thing is the bombings that recently happened in boston over this past week. Those athletes who were running in the marathon were lucky that they didn't lose their lives but to those who did their life has changed a huge amount no and that impact could really hurt their future. In the Holocaust a lot of people were scared after because they lost family and it was just such an overwhelming event that they ended up having disorders they affected them for the rest of their lives.

The Lost, and Journey throughout your mind, Feelings, and Emotions

“There is no variety in our thought than there is for ourselves. They go round and round like a roundabout - from Jew to food and from food to politics. By the way, talking of Jews I saw two Jews through the curtain yesterday. I could hardly believe my eyes; it was horrible feeling, just as if I’d betrayed them and now watching them in their misery.” - The Diary of Anne Frank, p. 55 Sunday, 13 December, 1942

When I read this I felt a bit of discomfort.  I really felt like I was in their shoes, and how they were feeling at that moment and to see that Anne Frank had to see that was sad, even though I know that I can’t really say I know what it’s like because I wasn’t there. When Anne stated that she felt like she has betrayed them, at first I wondered how why she felt she had betrayed them?  But then I thought deeper into her thoughts... she felt like she should help them with anything they needed help with. In this diary entry, most Jewish children needed help with the stuff they were going through, such as needing a place to stay, having things to eat, and hygiene.

I feel like the themes presented in this quote are bystander, dehumanization, and victimization. Anne Frank was a victim of her own thoughts because she was worried that she didn’t help the Jewish people she saw that needed help.  I feel like things like this are a discomfort to Anne, and also to the Jews she saw. To think that someone out there is going through the same things you are going through and you really don’t find a place in your heart to help them, but the problem is in not knowing how.

Luxury Taken

Luxury Taken

“Now I can fully appreciate how nice a tram is; but that is forbidden luxury for a Jews- shank’s mare is good enough for us.” - Anne frank pg.8 1942 June, 24

My reaction to this was very sad, I felt like the luxury for Jews and their rights were taken away.  It kinda tied me back into the time where my bike broke and I had to walk everytime I wanted to go somewhere while being outside. When Hitler laid all these laws on the Jews, taking away their freedom and social time around 1935. I really feel like it’s unfair that they treated the Jews like this, taking their freedom away, judging them for their religion. It’s like judging a person for their race or skin color. I noticed that she used a little sarcasm about the horse is good enough for them, not noticing how worse it going to get with everything going on with the Holocaust, and the changes Hitler is going to make with the
Jewish laws. Sarcasm, is to mock, she mocked that she wasn’t going to have the tram, brushing off, but she is okay with having a horse, like the tram was good for a minute, but the horse is not going to stop us from getting from place to place. Having a little confidence with her troubles , putting a mask on them.

In 1935 Hitler made arrangements to the laws banning the Jews from serving in the German army. This theme is dehumanization because it was taking away rights for the Jews.   Throughout the years, more and more of the Jews freedoms were taken away, and by 1943 the Jews were not trying to let the Germans take advantage of them no more, once they saw what was going on after all of these years. It started off with taking the smallest of the Jews freedom away then it start to and off to bigger things, like their home environment (Ghettos). According to our Glossary we got in Social Studies states that “dehumanization is intended to change the manner in which a person or a group of people are perceived, reducing the target group to objects or being not worthy of human rights.” Anne Frank and her family were dehumanized slowly, their human rights were getting taken away.  First the tram, what comes next?

The end of the beginning

¨This is the beginning of the end,”everyone was saying but Churchill, the British Prime Minister, who had probably heard the same thing in England, said: ¨This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.¨ - The Diary of Anne Frank, p. 47

This shows me that the Jewish people did not have a lot of hope. They knew it was the end. At first I was a little confused with this quote, I didn't really see the difference. What everyone else was saying was that the pain and suffering has just begun. What Winston Churchill was saying was that their joy and their old life are now ending. This quote is important because it was when the people of Germany realized that from that point on things will be different. It just depends on the way you look at things.

I can connect this quote to the theme hopelessness. People were very hopeless. This is how Jewish people felt during the Holocaust also. They knew things were going to change for worse. This quote also reminds me of when its your birthday and some people say ¨It’s the end of your childhood¨ it reminds me of what Churchill was saying because he was saying the good is over and this is saying your childhood is over. Others say ¨It’s the first day of the rest of your life.¨ This is what everyone else was saying instead of saying that the normal is ending, there saying that the change has just started. All of these quotes mean the same thing they´re just said differently. Which would you say?

Understanding the Holocaust

Prompt: Throughout this unit, you have probably considered two important questions regarding the Holocaust: How was the Holocaust possible? and Why did the Holocaust happen?  How would you answer these questions?  Another important question to consider is Why is it important to study the Holocaust?  What argument would you make for the importance of studying the Holocaust?  Why? (Echoes and Reflections)     

I would say the Holocaust was possible because Germany had a Fascist dictatorship. Hitler ruled everything. He blinded the people and they respected him out of fear. He used propaganda to influence his ideas on anti-semitism. Laws were passed by the Nazis against Jews that took away their rights. They planned attacks on the Jewish people. I think its important to study the Holocaust so we can keep this from happening again. It happened because of the choices some people of Germany and other Nazi occupied countries made to act or not to act. The Nazis thought that exterminating the Jews would help because the Jews were a 'low' and 'evil' race, and were affecting the society negatively. Hitler and the Nazis blamed them for all the problems in Germany.  By studying the Holocaust we can see exactly how the Holocaust happened and take those as warnings for preventing something like what the Nazis did from happening again. Its very important to study things like the Holocaust so that we can see the steps that lead up to it and know exactly when something in our own government starts to go wrong.  

Good people, Or bad......

In her diary, Anne Frank wrote that she believed “most people are good.”  Do you agree with Anne?  If so, why, and if not, why not?

I do agree with Anne. I think that she should have stressed the word “most” people because I believe everyone has a hint of good inside them. During the Holocaust most people were going along with Hitler and his opinions. People have their own opinion. For example, in the movie The Pianist the Jewish police helped Wladyslaw Szpilman escape the transport to the Treblinka death camp. So some people had good in them even if their job was to enforce Nazis rules. The job of the Jewish police was to make sure the Jews in the ghettos are punished if they do something wrong and  to tell the Nazis.  In this case, do you think the Jewish police were “good” or “bad’?  “Most” people have good in them, it just depends on their environment.

Student Name: Anniece

• Bio:My name is Anniece, i love to cheer,my favorite food is chicken nuggets , my favorite movie is ¨Baby movie¨.
• Previous Knowledge/Opinions Prior to the Project: To sum up the Holocaust was an event that caused people to obey one man named Hitler. It let the Nazis treat Jews and everyone who was not them bad and be rude to them.
• Thoughts About the Project on Day 1: Day one has been  good. The book i am reading is a very eye opening book called ¨The Diary Of Anne Frank¨.

About Jasmine

Student Name: Jasmine

• Bio:  My name is Jasmine , I love Chicago, My favorite food is hot cheetos, I love the sport basketball, and my favorite movie is “Love & Basketball”
• Previous Knowledge/Opinions Prior to the Project: During the Holocaust, millions of Jewish people and selected people the Nazsi Disliked were killed. Because they were different and not approved to be a full blooded German. Hitler the most influenced dictator, Jews and thers were put in camps or the ghettos.
• Thoughts About the Project on Day 1: Day one was pretty good, I really think the book is going to be good.