The End

I really liked the book overall, but the ending was very confusing, I did like how she had a normal life , and she tried to have one, even though she was in hiding and she knew what was going on, in these times. I think that Anne Frank did have a source of confidence, and she knew that things were going to get better. I think that the overall theme is Dehumanization, because people were treated bad throughout this Unit.

I like the project a lot i thought that it had me understanding things that I didn’t understand before, with all the contributors thoughts and reactions with what we were posting.I learned that a lot of people can reach out and help you understand what was going on, and the fact that they can disagree with you respectfully and give you pointers on what you can fix, a lot of teenagers can do this project , it’s a learning experience and they could learn a lot of knowledge with thier elders, and people our own age.

THANK YOU CONTRIBUTORS, YOU WERE SO KIND!! <3 <3 <3

I liked reading the Diary of Anne Frank. The fact that it was her actual diary with her own words made it better. I thought the way Anne chose to end the book was a little weird. She talks about the person she is, and who she wants to be but she could only be that person if there were no other people in the world. I don't really understand it, but i think she blames the people around her for the person she is. A few days after Anne Frank´s last diary entry, the Nazis invaded their hiding place. The major theme that encompasses the whole novel is conformity/identity loss. Anne and her family went through a lot of changes that she had to adapt to, and these changes changed the person she is.

Reading this book helped me to see exactly what the Jews went through and how they felt. I realized that they are exactly like us no matter what race or religion, and they deserve to be treated the same. I learned how the people my age lived in hiding and the changes they had to make. This project has taught me that we are all different and we just have to learn to tolerate it. I think a project like this is very important for teenagers to be a part of because it teaches us a life lesson. Its good for us to learn about these kinds of things because we are the future. Thanks to all who contributed!

Wrapping it up

I didn't really agree with how the book ended it was kind of  confusing and hard to grasp at first. I really like how the book was real though. The diary entries made it seem like she was actually writing to the person whose reading and communicating with the reader.A theme that really stuck out to me was bystander and hope and hopelessness because they always were in a predicament where these themes occurred multiple times.

I think the unit went well and the project really kept me on my heels.I learned that back then for teenagers it was real hard to cope with the living conditions Anne lived with so it showed me  to appreciate all i have before its gone . From blogging I learned that not only did we help the contributors but they gave us insight on certain things and that we were not aware of.I will just like to take one more second of our time to thank all the contributors that viewed not only Anne franks group but all of our book we strongly appreciate and enjoyed your feedback.

With hopelessness comes nothing

"The war goes on just the same, whether or not we choose to quarrel, or long for freedom and fresh air, and so we should try to make the best of our stay here. Now I'm preaching, but I also believe that if I stay here for very long I shall grow into a dried-up old beanstalk. And I did so want to grow into a real young woman!"

Saturday, 15 January, 1944, pg. 138-139 Anne Frank

The feeling i get from this quote shows nothing but hope and dehumanization.Anne has hope and is looking at the future of her getting older .I  feel like they are being dehumanized as well because you should not have to make the best out of your life it should be the best already, but with the Holocaust and her in hiding it puts a hold on her having the best life and makes Anne have to attempt to make the best out of it.I really like this quote because its so true once you sit and think about it. If i was in Annes situation i would feel the same luck she feels i mean I wouldn't love it but i sure would make it better than what it really is.

The theme that really brings out this quote would be dehumanization because Anne and her family feel like  they are put in this situation where they can't really live life and with Anne being so young it really hurts her. A connection to this would be like freedom of youth both Anne and I both want to grown up so fast but still have lots of years ahead of us.Sometimes i seem to get way ahead and forget im a teen or as my mom would say ¨getting out of body¨ and do things that i am not suppose to be doing or even attempting to do.i feel hopeless like anne feels sometimes when i have a death in my family or something goes wrong .I also feel hopeless when i am at cheer and i don't catch on to something fast and it takes me awhile to learn it.But her not saying she will and saying she wants to grow up into a young woman shows hopelessness

I Can't Take It, I'm Not Going To Take This!!!

“ Nothing, I repeat, nothing about me was right; my general appearance, my character, my manners are discussed from A-Z. I’m expected (by order) to simply swallow all the harsh words and shout in silence and I am not used to this. In fact, I can’t! I’m not going to take all these insults lying down, I’ll show them that Anne Frank wasn’t born yesterday.” pg. 32 Anne Frank

I really got impressed with this quote, she really stepped out her comfort zone and really absorbed what was going on and wasn’t trying to keep going out like that. I think this theme is determination because she is dealing with so much with the Jewish law and how they are getting mistreated by the Nazis and just wanted to not deal with it anymore. I think that Anne just wanted to get some self confidence, and that she really doesn't that things are going to get worse, and this is just the beginning. Anne and Jews really felt that this is about to end and that they aren’t going to deal with this bullying and dehumanization that is going on,

Just with the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, a lot of Jews had enough and thought that they should get an enough. Just with Obama with all of this violence that is going on in Illinois. I feel like it soo much a person can take before they break. Anne and her family goes through a lot, plus the other millions of other Jews. What Hitler and Nazis did to the Jews, I believe they felt as if they didn’t deserve what was done to them. Hitler and the Nazis was terrible to the Jews, and on several occasions when the Jewish people weren’t about to take a lot of what was going on and was trying to fight back, all the punishment that was giving to them, was starvation, and the gas chambers, and a great amount of Jews died each day. The big struggle the Jews went through and the fact that Anne had that great amount of confidence really impressed me.

Was it rescue or was it help?

Think about the terms “help” and rescue.”  What is the difference between these two terms?  In the context of the Holocaust, how do you understand the difference between these two terms?  Can you think of a specific time when help was needed rather than rescue, and of times when Jews needed to be rescued?  Would you characterize those individuals who helped Jews as heroes?  Why or why not? (Echoes and Reflections)

I think that help and rescue are very similar but are not the same. According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/help, when a person says they need help, it means ¨to give assistance to¨.  As far as rescue goes, the site http://www.thefreedictionary.com/help states that it means to ¨To set free, as from danger or imprisonment; save¨.  These two definitions are very different in that rescue is more of a heroic thing as help can be given or received from anyone.  If a person was helped in the Holocaust they probably received or were given food but if they were rescued they were hidden and given a safe place to stay and given the chance to live a healthy lifestyle.  A specific time when help was needed rather that rescue was  when Szpilman from the movie The Pianist was found by a German army officer , and the officer started to care for him from a distance and bring him food, but the reason that is not rescue is because the main character Szpilman was already pretty much rescued because he was already living in an abandoned building and all he needed was help getting food. Those who rescued the Jews in my eyes would be considered heroes because without them they would’ve been sent to death camps and concentration camps and their lives would have changed drastically.  Do you feel that the act that the people who helped the Jews get out of bad situations like the camps were heroic people ?

Giving up

¨I have now reached the stage that I don't care much whether I live or die. The world will still keep on turning without me; what is going to happen, will happen, and anyway it’s no good trying to resist.¨ -The Diary of Anne Frank, p. 150

To me, this quote shows exactly how Anne feels. She has given up altogether. She doesn't wanna fight anymore, she doesn't wanna try anymore. She's reached her breaking point. Anne and her family were having a conversation about what's been happening around the world, they talked about how millions of innocent people had just been murdered. Anne realized how things have escalated and that there's nothing she can really do so there's no use in fighting back. Anne knows there's nothing she can do to help herself, or others in need so theres no point in even trying. I disagree with Anne´s quote because I think that there's always a reason to try and fight back no matter how bad the situation is.  

This quote relates to being hopeless. Anne gave up hope - living and dying is all the same to her. In the Holocaust, many Jews had the same feelings.  They couldn't take it anymore and just stopped caring. They became hopeless. Many Jews chose to take their own lives when they felt this way, some thought this was resistance. When you've been through so much, theres just so much more that you can take. They feel like no matter what they do, things are going to continue to get worse. Is there a reason to continue fighting?

Luck of the Jew

"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.

Holocaust Heroes

Think about the terms “help” and rescue.”  What is the difference between these

two terms?  In the context of the Holocaust, how do you understand the difference between these two terms?  Can you think of a specific time when help was needed rather than rescue, and of times when Jews needed to be rescued?  Would you characterize those individuals who helped Jews as heroes?  Why or why not?  Would you characterize those who rescued Jews as heroes?  Why or why not? (Echoes and Reflections)

The difference between these two words is that helping someone means to make something easier, or to assist. Rescuing means to free them from the problem altogether.

Relating to to the Holocaust, there were few people who actually rescued Jews and more that just helped the Jews. Helping Jews was things like giving the Jews food or water, and rescuing them could be hiding them, or helping them out of the country with forged papers. Anne Frank was rescued, she was hidden in the ¨Secret Annexe¨. Raoul Wallenberg arrived in Budapest, Hungary in 1944 and was dedicated to helping the Jews. He gave out official papers to thousands of Jews. He rescued many Jewish lives. Oskar Schindler was a member of the Nazi party. It became his goal to help Jews escape the gas chamber. He rescued 1,200 Jews. Helping a Jew is just as heroic as rescuing them. Caring enough to do something for them is enough.