Columbia Falls and Lakeview High Schools
Welcome to Columbia Falls High School! We are glad that you will once again be joining Lakeview High School students in the online discussion of Night. Please introduce yourself and tell us briefly about your prior knowledge of the Holocaust. Is there a Holocaust-related book that you have read and that you would recommend to others?
After your initial post to the blog, you should log on again in a day or two and respond to a comment shared by a student from the other high school. Please continue to log on and read/respond to postings every 2-3 days during our study of the book.
After your initial post to the blog, you should log on again in a day or two and respond to a comment shared by a student from the other high school. Please continue to log on and read/respond to postings every 2-3 days during our study of the book.
posted by Moderator at 10:25 AM
103 Comments:
Hi. I'm Jesse Flickinger and I'm currently a sophomore at Columbia Falls High School. From what I've been able to interpret from the Holocaust is that indifference is truly the root of all evil. It’s indifference and intolerance that have allowed such things as the Holocaust and countless other genocides. If I had to recommend a book based upon the Holocaust, I would definitely have to recommend The Final Journey by Gudrun Pausewang. It’s an extremely vivid and accurate display of some of the horrors that many Holocaust victims had to face during this time of sorrow.
Greetings, my name is Stephanie Christensen and I am from Columbia Falls. I have studied the Holocaust during many previous years of my school education. I studied it in both seventh and eighth grade English class. For a Holocaust project I also painted a pretty picture. During those two years in Junior high I read a book called Cage. I read this book and I liked it. However; I would not recommend it because I currently cannot remember any of the details which leads me to believe that it must have been rather boring. However, I recently read a book titled All But My Life, I liked this book greatly and would recommend to anybody reading this strange blog. It is about the Holocaust from a womans perspective as apposed to a mans perspective. I have also seen various films about the Holocaust, such as Anne Frank, and Paper Clips. Though Paper Clips was a documentary I enjoyed it because it shows that people, even in a small town in Tennessee are still focusing on the tolerance that the Holocaust should be teaching all future generations. And with that I will end this blog.
Hello,
My Name is Keri. I am 16 years old and attend Columbia Falls High School as a sophomore.
I have studied the Holocaust before, but when I was younger therefore a lot of detail was kept from me. But now less is kept and more is told of the horrors of the Holocaust, and it frightens me. All of the concentration camps, crematoriums, all of the people that were killed, it is all so heartbreaking to me. I know that saying the Holocaust was heartbreaking is cliché, but it really is heartbreaking, and is heartbreaking to anyone who has a heart.
The Holocaust was about intolerance and indifference, which is so wrong when everyone deserves the freedom to be themselves.
I read the book Thanks to My Mother when I was in eighth grade and was my favorite Holocaust book (if having a “favorite” Holocaust book can really be true) and I highly recommend this book.
I look forward to hearing the thoughts of anyone and everyone.
Hello, my name is Tori Houle. I am a sophomore in Columbia Falls and love to learn about the Holocaust.
The Holocaust, to me, is great to learn about. I believe this, because everyone needs to know what happened so it never happens again. When I was in elementary school, I learned about the Holocaust and I was so upset that people could have so much hate. But, it was amazing how people could survive from the Holocaust and still have the strength to tell about it. Sometime I wished I could have half of the strength they did. Books that I have read, about the Holocaust and recommend are, of course the Diary of Anne Frank and All But My Life. The other’s I have read I cannot remember their names. I am so excited to share thoughts about our journey through Night.
Hello, my name is Ariel and I am from Columbia Falls High School. My prior knowledge of the holocaust is not limited and I have read numerous holocaust books. I went to Washington D.C. a few years ago and had the privilege of visiting the National Holocaust Museum and visiting with holocaust survivors while I was there. Often times when I think of the Holocaust, I imagine myself in the shoes of someone suffering 60 years ago. A book I once read a book called The Cage , this book centered on the horrors of the holocaust and referred to everyone in the holocaust as a million dying souls in one broken body. I do recommend this book to anyone who would like to further their study of the Holocaust.
In my English class, we are currently reading All but My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein. This book I would also recommend because this book focuses on the importance of family and love. I believe that the Holocaust is mainly about love. It’s about loving and hating. The love that people who are suffering have for one another and the hate and intolerance others have for those who aren’t quite like them. In the movie Freedom Writers the class has a discussion on the feeling that if the “others” weren’t there then everything would be perfect. Hating people you don’t know, because of their skin, their religion or their sex, that’s how a Holocaust happens and that is why the Holocaust will never be over.
Hello! I’m Tessa, and I go to CFHS in Montana. I have read a few books and have seen many documentaries and movies about the Holocaust. Also, in the past two years we have invited a Holocaust survivor to come speak at our Temple. Aside from actually being in the camps, trains, and ghettos, I think I have an accurate idea of what the general atmosphere was concerning that time in history.
In our English class right now, we are reading the book Night by Elie Wisel and the memoir All But My Life by Gerda Weissman Klein. I have also read the book Shoah, which I would recommend to anyone who is looking for more information on the Holocaust.
Hello, I’m Renae.
I am from Columbia Falls, if you haven’t already assumed. I have read many books about the Holocaust, mainly in school, but a few have been in my own personal study. Since 7th grade when we began studying the Holocaust, I became overwhelmed with questions. While in the 7th grade I discovered a whole generation of people I would never know. I wonder as I think back to the uncountable lives which were lost how many of them would have been in my life. If one of them could have been my best friend, or the love of my life. I became hooked, wanting to know more about these people, and why they were exterminated, from their lives, and from mine. I have several books I would recommend for anyone interested in the stories of those we will only meet in the pages. I will post the authors and titles in my next blog.
Hello Blogger world,
I am a fifteen year old girl who is attending her sophomore year at Columbia Falls High. Before entering the Honors program I studied the Holocaust with my family. My father belives that in order to call yourself an American you must be versed in most every horrific, past, Historical event. I have read several books about the Holocaust. My favorite is, How I live Now. It focusses on a young girl who moves to England to live with her aunt and her cousins just as the Holocaust hits. I have also watched several movies about the Holocaust. I would recommend Jakob the Liar, to anyone interested in concentration camps and the life styles people lead within them. All of my studies have lead me to one conclusion; the Holocaust was a completely unnecessary and gruesome event. I know that the Holocaust can never end, the memories of those horrible years must always live on, for if we let ourselves forget History will repeat itself.
Tandilan
Hello,
I’m Quwenci Parrett. I’m 16 and I live in Columbia Falls, Montana. My prior knowledge of the Holocaust was that the jewish community along with many others were put into constentration camps, that these people endured many things. Persecuted for their religion, the color of their hair, disabilities and numberous characteristics and qualities that make people who they are.
I would recommend All But My Life , By Gerda Weissmann Klein, “Everything is Illuminated” and Thanks to My Mother by Schoschana Rabinovici (all of these will make you cry but they will make your heart open to understanding and tolerence).
I read Thanks to My Mother in the 8th grade. We each were assigned a projet; mine was a banner in rememberence of those people in the book.
Our English class is reading Night I just reached the place where the little boy with the “angel face” was hung at the gallows in front of everyone in Elie’s barack. After read this part in the book this child has been in my dreams.
Hi I’m Hanna
I go to Columbia Falls High School.
I have read a lot about the Holocaust. I think it is an interesting subject to research and learn about. When I was in 8th grade we took a trip to Washington DC and we got the chance to visit the Holocaust museum. This was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Ever since I first read a book about the Holocaust in the 7th it has been one of my dreams to personally talk to one of the Holocaust survivors. In the museum there was a guest speaker visiting for the day we were there! How AMAZING! We were very lucky people. We asked her many questions about what camps she visited and if she knew where her family was during the whole war. Her story was completely about her hope to live and see her family once again. She had been married during the war and that was her reason to fight for her life.
I love to read about the holocaust but the book that got me hooked was I Have Lived a Thousand Years. I also liked Soldier X. I liked this one because it came from a different point of view. It came from a young man who almost died after being shot at by the Germans, but discovered a German dead on the ground and realized that he could disguise himself as a German to fight for his life and his family.
All of these survivors are telling their stories, they are not afraid to face their past, and to treasure all of the victims who lost theirs.
Hello! I’m Hannah, I have read many Holocaust books and I’ve seen a few documentaries when I was in junior high and this year. I have been learning about the Holocaust since grade school. I have also been to the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. The museum left me with a deep sadness that I can recall even to this day. It also left me with many questions. How could one man do this to so many? How could all sense of humanity been thrown away so easily? I know about how the Gestapo worked, and I know about the concentration camps, and what they did there. I know of the ghettos, and the marches. A book I recommend is All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein. It shows a woman’s perspective of what happened. It tells of all the horrors of the Holocaust yet it still shows hope, love, and how one girl survives all the terrors.
Hi. My name is Deirdra. I am a sophomore at Columbia Falls High School. Before beginning Night, I knew some of the horrible things the Nazis did to the Jewish community and other people in the concentration camps. We've studied the Holocaust in 7th and 8th grade, reading a couple of books, doing projects on them, and discussing the reasons behind the Nazis' actions. I've read about the conditions of the camps and how the prisoners were treated. I've read about the Gestapo, Hitler's Youth and the SS. I've seen a few movies, but the memoirs are in the person's own hand, and that makes it more personal. If I had to recommend a book, I might recommend Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer. It's a biography of two people who lived through the Holocaust. Unlike most books though, it has both sides of the story. Eleanor interviewed a man who was in Hitler's Youth, and a woman who was a Jew and lived through the concentration camp. Before reading it, I was a little hesitant, but after I started, I couldn't stop. The book is a brilliant combination of the two sides of the war and their beliefs throughout the Holocaust.
Hey im Quinn Skalka and im a freshman at Lakeview High School. I dont know much about the holocaust but i have been to the musuem in D.C. A good movie to watch schindlers list.
Whats up my name is Spencer L. and I am a freshman at Lakeview High School. I have seen a couple of documentaries on the holocaust and that is moslty all the things I have seen on the Holocaust. I know that the holocaust was one of the worst acts of violence the world has ever seen. The almost extermination of the Jewish people was terrible.
Thank you for introducing yourselves and sharing suggestions for some excellent supplemental books about the Holocaust. Several students mentioned having read The Cage by Ruth Sender. Mrs. Kern, who is helping to moderate our blog and who will answer your Unanswered Questions, is a personal friend of Ruth Sender. The author has given presentations at Mrs. Kern’s school (Cold Spring Harbor in Long Island, NY). Since 1993, students from Cold Spring Harbor High School have published An End to Intolerance, an outstanding online magazine about the Holocaust and genocide studies. You will want to read their 1998 interview with Ruth Sender.
Hello everyone!!
I’m Nicole Lawrence from Lakeview High School, and can’t wait to start reading Night! I’ve had to study the holocaust for previous social studies projects, and it was horrible. I couldn’t believe we could do that kind of thing! Ugh… it make my stomach turn just thinking about it. Anyways, I really look forward to reading all your posts and don’t hesitate to comment on mine. I read a lot so I’m a deep thinker. Well, I’m off to read the first chapter RIGHT NOW!! X)
Hello!
My name is Rachel Lombardi and I attend Lakeview High School as a freshman. I can't say that I have read many books on the Holocaust, but I have heard many stories from my grandfather. He was a high ranking engineer at the time, so he did not fight much. But he was among one of the first groups of men to liberate several concentration camps. One of his friends took pictures of the camps and he has shown only a few to me. All I can say is that they are truely horrible. I just amazes me how a few peoples evil minds can spread and taint millions of others.
Hey I’m Dan Emery, I’m a freshman at Lakeview High School. I have little knowledge about the holocaust and I haven’t read any books on the holocaust. Actually I haven’t read a lot of books on anything. I’ve seen a couple of documentaries on the holocaust and if you want to count Valkyrie as a holocaust movie but that’s it. However I know enough about the holocaust to see how cruel, ruthless and terrible the Nazis were to the Jewish people, and what a horrible man Adolf Hitler was.
Hi. I'm Alex Murray, and I'm a freshman at Lakeview. I know that during the holocaust Nazi's killed millions of Jews for no good reason.
Hi. My name is Evan Murray, i am from Lakeview. I don't know that much about the holocaust except for the basics. I know about Hitler, Fascism, indifference, etc.
Hi. I am Evan Murray. All i know about the holocaust is the basics.
I am Nolan R. from Lakeview and I have done a couple of projects on the Holocaust. Also, I have written a paper on Holocaust Denial for my writing class last year.
Hey Im Chelsea Miranda from Lakeview Highschool. Im a sophmore. I love the topic of world war 2 and the holucaust. I've read many books, and i recommend the book, I am David :)
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Salutations! I'm Jenni Spencer from Lakeview High School, I'm currently a sophomore. I have studied the holocaust before such as going to the holocaust muesum in 2006 springtime, and seeing the story different times while studying different genocides. The idea behind the holocaust or anyother genocide is truly evil in the event that someone can kill millions of innocent people with no reason
Hi, my name is Erika Regner i am currently attending Lakeview High School as a sophmore. To me i feel that the Holocaust was a horrible thing, I went to the museum in Washington D.C. and also the one in Chicago, IL. I have never read a book about the Holocaust but the museum put alot of facts in my head. I would recomend going if you have the chance.
It's nice to meet all you guys from Columbia falls high school and i want to let you know i am looking foward to blogging with you.
'Ello, I'm Meaghan. 17 and going strong, I'm currently enrolled in Lakeview high school as a sophomore. I don't know much about the holocaust, but I do know about the mass amounts of innocent deaths involved. Poor souls...
Hello again!!! Erika's post reminded me i went to Washington D.C. this summer, and got to go to the Holocaust Museum. It was completely unreal. The things that happened are... *shudder*.
Anyways... i can't wait to see what the book is about!!!!!!!
X)
First off i want to say sorry for kidding around on this blog. I want to let everyone know that i am excited to work on this blog with everyone.
Hello, I'm Liz Huston, I go to Lakeview High school. I just learned a lot of the Holocaust in US History this year. It really upsets me that people would do something like that. I think its crazy and wrong. I have not read any books on the Holoccasust this will be my first and im looking forward to reading "Night"
Hello. My name is Elena Hensel, i'm 15 years old and currently a freshman at Lakeview High School. Other than Night, i don't really think that i've read any other books about the Holocaust but mostly because i haven't had time to read them. But in my opinion, i think that the Holocaust is something everyone needs to at least know about. Although there are still people in the world that, because of religious reasons, don't believe the Holocaust even happened, i personally think that everyone, whether they believe it happened or not, should at least know the happenings of the Holocaust.
Now i'm hoping that this won't be the longest comment i've ever left, so i think i'll stop here for now.
My name is Jesse Cowles, and I am a sophomore at Lakeview High School. I have almost no prior experience with the holocaust other than videos that were shown to me in school, but i do find the stories of the survivors to be fascinating, and wish to know more about past events
Im shelbi from lakeview high school. I haven't read many books about the holocaust, but im excited to start reading this book. I hope to learn more about it through blogging.
I'm excited to blog with all of you guys :) The Holacaust is truly the root of evil Jesse, i agree with you!
Hey, it's Nicole again!! I've read through some of what your guys have said and I have to agree with Tori. We need to learn about the holocaust so we do not make the same mistake again. The say goes "Those who do not learn from their past, are doomed to repeat it." I also could not have nearly the strength the survivers did. To make it through such a bad time and live to tell the tale is amazing! Well. Back to the book. I'm almost done with Chapter 1, and will post my blog with the next day. Hope everyone's enjoying it... well, not the bad stuff that happened anyway.
XD
Greetings to you all. I'm amazed how many of you have already posted their thoughts and feelings. I too, beleive that this was a great, but avoidable tradgedy.
I mean THE SAYING!!!
sry... bad at typing!
Nicole
XD
so i feel partially oblivious for the moment because i was waiting for another post to just show up on here so i could continue the blogging "thing".
...guess not...
i shall find time at home tonight to actually post something for my thoughts for the moment are majorly scattered.
talk soon, i guess.
Hello, my name is Cierra Y. and I am currently a Freshman and Lakeview High School. When I read the Diary of Anne Frank, I interpreted the Holocaust as of course not a pretty time period and an attempt and Genocide. I haven't read any other books as far as the Holocaust goes. I would definetely say that this is a touchy subect with many people becuase it was wrong and descriminating. In a way, it's like the segregation between blacks and whites. Night, so far, has showed that even in the beginning it was a living Hell. The only thing they had to live for was their families, and that was if they hadnt already been separated. Luckily, Eliezer had a family and right now they are moving along and facing possible deportation. It's getting intense. Thats all i have to say for now. Talk to you soon. Enjoy
i agree with Cierra (and a few other people as well) that the Holocaust was just a horrible group of happenings that destroyed lives and separated families. if you actually think about it, the holocaust could be compared to the segrigation against african american people. they weren't giving much of a chance, and were treated so horribly just because of the color of their skin. the same is with the jewish people during the Holocaust only instead of color it's religion.
so far in Night, i interpreted that Eliezer and his family weren't the most wealthy of families to begin with. then when he, his family, and everyone else in the neighborhood was forced to leave their homes, it just turned into the great depression (or something similar)
hope someone can go off that, not sure if i made that much sense after i typed it out :)
talk soon
So far Elie studies caballism with Moshe. Then Moshe is taken away, sees terrible things, escapes, and tells the other Jews, but no one believes him. Then Elie and his family are forced to move into ghettos.After that they are forced to leave the ghettos to go somewhere unknown. So far the book is good.
I finished the book because I was bored and had nothing else to do.
I'm gonna state the obvious: it was depressing.
Hi everyone my name is Brittanie and im a sophomore at lakeview high school i have studied the holocaust befor but from what i know is that it's all evil and the night isa really good book i have read it befor you have to be focus to really understand it and what it's talking about i love to learn about the holocaust because every time i learn about it i learn more than what i already know i find something new to talk about.
THis is Evan. I am sorry for the double post earlier.
I also finished Night already. There were some things that suprised me in the first chapter, such as using babies as machine gun targets. I honestly thought that the Germans had more heart than that, which i will refer to later. Also, despite many rumors and warnings, especially from Moshe, I was suprised at how optimistic the Jews of Wiesel's community continuded to be. Sounded like denial to me.
Evan, i agree.
It was most likely denial in the case of not believing that the germans could do such a thing. Especially when they first came to Elie's community and they were so kind to everyone. No one could believe that such people could do such horrible things.
Ok... so i just finished the first chapter last night. It was really intresting and i felt so connected to the material. I guess i never really felt like the horrible things in the holocaust happened, even though i knew that they did. I had trouble imagining the gestapo's cruelty. But as i was reading Nigh, the author made everthing seem so REAL! I was so sad after reading the chapter, but i cant wait to read the rest.
i just remembered a few questions i had, and i was hoping someone could answer them. Are the grottos - is that what they were called, i cant remember - but where they basiclly just inclosed neighborhoods? Thank you to anyone who can answer this!
yes
the "ghetto" :) is an enclosed jewish community after the germans enter their society and start to take over.
it's pretty much a safe-haven (sort-of) but they're still guarded and patroled on a regular basis. i guess you could say that it's like the concentration camps without the mass murders of people.
The germans had control over everyone's lives, but no one would die because of religion just yet. you could probably say that it was the German's way of accounting for the number of jewish people that remained in the area.
hope that helped
Alex - Depressing or not, I'd be interested in knowing what you think about the story regarding our world today? I find a good deal of the popular music and many of the films of the day depressing. Darfur, the war on terror, folks losing their jobs can add up to a fair amount of depressing. Anyone else, in fact, isn't there a purpose beneath Wiesel's decision to tell this story, and our decision to teach it, that should motivate, encourage and get us all thinking about something more than 60 some odd years ago, something truly terrible happened?
Rachel - the ghettos were enclosed. You need to watch the film The Pianist, or read Leon Uris's Mila 18, both stories about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Each would give you a real clear picture of what life in the ghetto was actually like. Also, there's a reason in our country we describe some inner-city urban communities as ghettos. It doesn't always take bricks or barbed wire to trap a segment of society behind a wall they simply cannot cross over.
Hola!
My name is Allie and I am a sophomore at Columbia Falls High School. Before this semester, I haven't been the least bit interested in the Holocaust, and although the whole experience had to have been horrifying, I usually find it quite boring, and not to my taste in books. However, since we started reading Night and All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein, the discussians in class about the text have appealed to my...what's the word? I don't know, but I think you understand what I mean. I look forward to reading and responding to your blogs and am excited to hear your response to mine.
Hi, I'm Danielle Gilley. I live in Columbia Falls, Montana and attend high school as a sophomore. I have never enjoyed reading or learning about the Holocaust. I've always viewed the subject as sad and could never bring myself to better understand it. The only time I have read about the Holocaust was for school. After seeing some movies and documentaries and reading a couple books I have changed my opinion on the Holocaust. Yes it is a sad topic to discuss but a necessary topic. The Holocaust is a prime example of why tolerance and humanity have to be a part of the world. Although I am not able to understand everything I am somewhat eager to know more about the past to make a better future.
Greetings Alex, I am responding to you specifically. Yes the Holocaust was depressing, but that is not the only lesson to be learned. We must realize that acts of such violence and hatred should not be tolerated in our society. We need to learn from the past. That is the point of learning about the Holocaust, so we won't become indififferent, and so we won't be intolerant. People have done such bad things for years. It wasn't just the Germans. Intolerance is bad and evil, not just depressing and boring. But if you were bored and you read the book, and you were able to read the book, that means that the book must have made you less bored and was therefore not boring, but interesting and slightly depressing.
Hola, I'm Nate Thompson and I am a sophomore at Columbia Falls. This is my first year of studying the Holocaust. I don't have a "favorite" Holocaust book but I would recommend All But My Life to anyone that wants additional info.
Rachel,
I agree with what you say about how its amazing that one persons prejudice can transfer to another person, and another. You would think that the German soldiers who knew what was going on but weren't in the Gestapo and didn't share the same mind set, would rally together and revolt against Hitler. Of course, there was the fact that they probably would have been killed in the process and condemned for traitors, but if someone was unjustly prosecuting millions of your fellow countrymen, you would think that someone would step up and be a man. Contacting British or American officers would have been an option and they could have used their own knowledge to aid the American's.
The fact that your grandfather was there to liberate the people in the concentration camps must be really inspiring to you. I know it would affect my life in positive ways.
Good blogging with you....
Hey Nicole:
I am so excited that you agree with me. It is one of the biggest mistakes our world has seen and that is one strong point my teacher pointed out to me. So thanks...I am enjoying the book I hope you are too!
Tori
Hi everyone! My name is Madison Stolte and I am currently a sophmore at Columbia Falls High School.I have not read too many books about the Holocaust because I do not particularly like reading about the suffering of others.Just reading Night has led me to come to the conclusion that hate is born of intolerance and prejudice. I look forward to blogging and hearing from anyone!
Hello, my name is Christian and I am sophomore at the rather small high school Columbia Falls High School. From many of the books and documentaries that I have studied about the Holocaust I have come to see that the Holocaust came to be because of intolerance and misunderstanding, and was finished by cowardance, indifferance and hate. Hitler’s ideas of th perfect world were wrong, but his soldiers actions were even more wrong. I have studied the Holocaust previously in Junior High, and I’m coming to realize a great many details were kept from me. If I were to recommend any book about about the Holocaust I would recommend “Thanks To My Mother”. It shows a females perspective of the Holocaust rather than a males. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and responses.
Reading the books about the Holocaust is educational, and fun!
reading isnt neccessarily my favorite thing to do either, but dan you could fill up some free time if you were grounded or just bored, and learn about these people that fought for one thing, their life.
Its interesting, even though somewhat depressing, just know that the authors of any one of these books aren't writing to not make you feel bad for them, but to make sure this doesnt happen again. and to tell the stories of friends or families that cant.
Hi Rachel
The vividness that Wiesel was able to display in his writings is almost surreal. Very few authors are actually capable of producing the immersion that Wiesel puts into his writings and that's why i feel like its so easy to relate to the horrors in the book due to story almost coming off the page as if the man were right next to you telling it himself.
Hey Rachel,
I find it very interesting that you have a relative who liberated people from concentration camps! I would like to hear more about your grandfather's story if you are willing to share.
Evan,
In some ways I agree with you, the Jewish people did hold a lot of optimistic thoughts, but I think that it had a lot to do with faith, they were trusting God. And as cruel as everything seemed they always had faith to hold onto, and that is what kept their attitudes more optimistic.
Everyone,
In today's community there is so much hate and evil that build up minute after minute, day after day. Intolerance is one of the causes of hate, and hate can bring terrible things upon us. Intolerance is one of the many reasons for the begining of the Holocaust, and I believe that if we allow the hate and intolerance to build up, something very similar to the Holocaust can happen again.
I look forward to hearing your responses!
Elena H:
So I can agree with you to extent on the segregation of the African American people. But, also we didn't put them into gas chambers and make them sleep on hay covered with lice.
I agree that what we did to the african people was wrong but it cannot be in the same catergory of the hate of Hitler, because we just needed people to do our work. Hitler wanted a perfect raise that is the difference.
Tori
Elena H.
I agree with you, the Holocaust can be compared to other times of segregations. The black were treated very poorly. I also believe that the holocaust itself remains on a far larger scale then any segregation we have had in our past and present. Not only were the Jews discriminated against but they went through much more. Blacks were lynched often but Jewish, Gypsy’s and other religious groups were exterminated. I believe we missed out on some truly amazing people. Imagine, how many of the people who died, could have been a part of your life if they were still alive today?
~Renae
hey Michael
in our world today, i think that we relate alot back to the holocaust, with all the innocent people that had to work in labor camps, and people that got shot only because they were the tenth person a Nazi pointed to.
its like when we go to Afghanistan and bomb people. they have no reason to be afraid to walk out of their door, and we have no reason to barge into it.
right right?
whats your opinion?
Dan,
I have read a lot of books on anything and they were pretty interesting! I would recomend almost any book on anything! Here are some good ones:
Anything but a Life, Scream Anything, Anything and Everything.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Mr. Christensen
Hey I totally agree with you. There is a reason for the Elie to tell his story along with Gerda. This reason is what I have already brought up in my first blog and I learned it from you. The reason that we tell stories is to let people know what is going on in the world around us.
They tell us about the Holocaust so we don't forget about what happened so we make sure that it never happens again.
Thanks for teaching me that
Tori
Hello Nicole L, I too went to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. But that was many years ago, and due my dreadful memory I remember very little. I wish to return there if provided the oppertunity. I think the Holocaust is interesting to study, and I think we all need to learn about it so we can become better people.
Hello, My name is Derek and i am a sophomore at Columbia Falls High School. We are currently studying the Holocaust in my English class and what is truly unbelievable is some of the things that were done during that time period. My views on why the Holocaust happened are based on the indifferences of all the Jews who were victims and there is no better way to understand or appreciate what happened then to read some of the memoirs and novels out there. Reading them really showed me not to take everything for granted because it was taken from them without any warning.
Hi Michael
As a follow up to your comments on the ghetto, I have to agree that the ghetto isn't just something physical that keeps people lock in. That just as much mental goes into the construction of a barrier. Once that barrier has been placed physically and mentally, it takes true strength to be able to endure both. Whether it be in the inner-city or World War II, the mental barriers created in one's mind are almost greater to those that are physical.
Erika, Jesse wasn't saying the Holocaust is the root of all evil, but indifference. Indifference may have caused the Holocaust, but it's caused many other events too. There was evil before the Holocaust, and there is now. The Holocaust wasn't the first bad thing that's happened, and it isn't the last.
What religion would claim the Holocaust didn't happen? Or what religious reasons could someone use to justify overlooking it or saying that it didn't happen? Thanks to anyone who answers my questions!
Tori
well on your point back to elena's disscussion i do believe that they relate to eachother.
we may not have put them into gas chambers but we did make them slaves and do things that they were not willing to do if it didnt mean to save their lives.
Mr. C,
I agree that there it can take more than bricks and barbed wire to trap a person in. But this can also just be all in their head. The modern day 'ghettos' can hold a person back. Believing that this is the life they must lead, and they will never become anything more than 'pimps and hoes'(please excuse my terminology). However, all it takes to escape is for someone to realize they can do better. They can be whatever they want to be. In some respects, I believe that some of those people want to be drug dealers or a child prostitute. If they didn't want to (not in all cases, because I know some circumstances limit success on this), they would not have to. It's all in their head.
Evan,
The Jews of Sighet were not optimistic in not listening to Moche. They were just not able to believe the story of how we managed to survive because they could not think that humans could do such things to other humans.
Mr. C,
The War On Terror is not as depressing as you illustrate it to be. Definately, not as depressing as the Holocaust. There's an extreme difference between the killing that occured during each. The Jews were killed because of their religion, while Terrorists are being killed because they want to kill us first. It's a part of their religion to do so. Also, we are winning the War as well. The civilians in the middle east, specifically Afghanistan, love us for what we are doing. I have spoke with my uncle about exactly that. He told me that the Afghani's love us because we are fighting for their freedom. However, they hate the British. . .
Erika,
The Holocaust is not the Root of All Evil
Hello Nolan R, I think that Holocaust denial is people just trying to make excuses for the bad things that they did. There is way too much evidence for the Holocaust to not have happened.
Micheal Christensen- The Holocaust from the past can relate to our world today. No one thought it could happen or would happen to us was a remark in Night. Why do people today believe the Holocaust will never happen again? It is happening today. Intolerance and indifference is happening greatly in the Middle East and throughout the world. Are we doing somehthing to stop it? Or are we ourselves living in the same illusioin of Night?
Nolan
we know what the book is about, and from the looks of the blogs it seems like it has pretty high ratings,
can you relate to the book or any of the characters?
~Hanna :)
Deirdra,
There's a Catholic sect out there that has said that the Holocaust has never happened. Pope Benedict just welcomed them back to the Church. However, not all Catholics believe that, just that certain sect. I am just a normal Catholic and I believe the Holocaust happened.
Rachel
one of my goals in life was to talk to a holocaust survivor, i got to when i was in Washington DC. bbut how cool is that that you have a grandfather?
want to chat about it some?
maybe he can come blog with us! :)
~Hanna
For anyone who wants to do further reading on the subject, I recommend "Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl.
Tori
Yeah, i totally agree with you, and i just got done with the first chapter. Babies as machine gun targets!!! it made me want to throw up! Us lakeveiw kids (or at least the ones in 3rd block) watched a MTV movie thing about the different kids diaries in the Holocaust. I remember one about a 16 year old named Petr and his sister Eva. Petr was really good at drawing and writing but 6 months after his sister Eva arrived at the camp he was sent to another camp. She ran in front of all the people held on to her brothers hand one last time before being pushed back into the crowd. Eva and her parents survived, but only to learn that Petr and her cousin were murdered in a gas chamber.
The first chapter was depressing. Moshe warned them, and they didn't do anything about it!!!! it could have saved their lives, for crying out loud! i'm reading more tonight and possibly finish before the night is over.
Stephanie
yeah i went to the Holocaust musieum and would go again. there was so many things there, and one thing they had was a kind of Life As A Jew kind of thing. it was cool and scary at the same time....
MC
i agree with u. There are many things out there today that are depressing. and what with the current state we are in as a country it might be getting worse. I do believe that if we don't learn from this we might do it again.
To go with Elena's comment. i agree. the african's were treated differently because of their skin color and the jew were treated different because of what they believe in. So really it's like the wheel round effect. don't know if anyone gets what i'm saying.
Stephanie has a good analyis about being bored and then not bored cause you were being entertained by the book. and she's right, the Holocaust was an act of evil. To kill without thought, just because of their beliefs, and the ways they killed them want to make be throw up! the word holocaust means to set things aflame. I believe that the Holocaust metiphoricly means that human moral went up in flames as we killed thousands just because they were different.
i agree with Rachel and Allie.
someone should have stood up and told the american or the british armies. but they didn't. to let so many people die just because you were scarred to stand up and fight is stupid! and then some even had the nerve to deny that the Holocaust even happened!!
And that's really cool Rachel how your grandfather helped those people.
but really folks, to just sit and let millions die... i get disgusted when i think about it.
sry, i have so many blogs all at once, but i wanted to comment on all of your guys thoughts. don't be affraid to discuss anything with me! ok.
hey if you want here's my email.
darkwolfangel16@gmail.com
Ask me anything and i'll respnd. or if you just want to talk that's cool too.
this blog is hard to respond to but i'll do my best. Well, got to go read chapter 2 and beyond!
Victoria and Renae,
i understand how you would both only be partially in agreement with what i had said about the comparison between the african american segrigation and the Holocaust, but i never said they were killed the same way.
all i said was that the african american people were involved in this great hatred against them just because of something as simple as the color of their skin, and the way that i compare that to the Holocaust is how the jewish people were hated because the simple fact of them being apart of the jewish religion.
The Holocaust was horrible in the way that it destroyed peoples lives and tore apart hopes and dreams for the future. And so i agree with you,Renae, in that there are many a peoples who would be a great help and a great insperation if they had not died in the concentration camps or ghettos during the Holocaust.
I'm sorry if that caused any confusion to people, and i hope that it makes a bit more sense now that i attempted to explain it a little more. please let me know if my answer/response still makes little or no sense and i will try my best to clear it up for you.
now, it is extremely late, so i shall stop here for now so i don't end up going into a slight rant to try and make my thoughts more clear.
sorry (again) for the confusion and hope it helps,
Elena
Dan,
I was just kidding, those aren't real books (I made it all up). I just found the comment fitting to your blog! ;)
Just throwing a thought out here...
Isn't it a a little unfair that most people only relate the holocaust to the death of Jews?
So many different kinds of people died during the holocaust; Homosexuals, mentally and physically handicapped people, rebels, etc. but it seems that only the jews are remembered. I understand it was a tragedy for everyone but still, it's a little unjust in my opinion. =/
This is off-topic and I doubt anybody will see this, but what is the school mascot for Columbia Falls?
Marissa-Sophomore, 15 years and 8 months. =D And my favorite color is yellow.
I have learned so much through the Holocaust. I think there is a very important message we need to learn: as soon as a culture begins to separate people into classes, and becomes as intolerant of certain classes or groups as Nazi Germany, that whole culture has lost their humanity. I know that our class has talked a lot about the Jews having their humanity robbed from them. But I also strongly believe that by taking another's humanity and identity away, the Nazi's lost their's as well. The thing that makes it worse is that we can see this process in high schools everywhere, and you can't deny that. We have taken people's identities and humanity away by labeling them as emo, jock, nerd, prep...and by doing so, we are failing our own humanity.
On another note, I think it's terrible that it is still happening and a lot of people are still centered on the Holocaust. (I am not trying to downplay what happened at all, btw.) It is no longer possible to prevent the Holocaust. We can, however, work on raising awareness to present "Holocausts." For example, 13 years ago, the Rwandan genocides. Right now, Darfur, Sudan. We watched the movie Hotel Rwanda in our English class last week, and it was the saddest movie I have ever seen. To see humans so intolerant, indifferent to all those lives, those living, breathing, feeling people and so...so...inhuman that they would take all that life away without flinching was heartbreaking.
The Columbia Falls mascot is a wild cat. I think the Holocaust focuses mainly on the Jews because more Jews died than the other people who were persecuted. It is a little unfair, but the main points such as dehuminization. It doesn't matter that much who it happened to, just that it was horrible and we need to make sure it doesn't happen again, to anyone.
Blog Topic: Dehumanization
Throughout the book, and others like it, the Jewish people were dehumanized by the Germans, and in turn, the Germans were dehumanized in the eyes of the Jews.
By first being segregated from the rest of the community, and then having to wear a yellow star to show what they are, Jewish people were being considered almost 'sub-humans', like they were'nt worthy enough to mingle with the 'pure' Germans. The yellow star was a label, a collar for an animal to tell who the wearer belongs to (which in this case was the Jewish community).
The Germans, however, do not get put into the "sub-human" category. They became far worse in the eyes of their victims. By showing no mercy they did not seem human at all. What kind of person could do such a thing? He must be no man at all, but a monster! Humanity completely left some of the German soldiers
Hello friends,
My name is Jennifer Jurva, I am currently going to school at Columbia Falls High School. Over the years I have learned of the true intolerance that humanity can cast upon our fellow brothers and sisters. One of the darkest moments in history has been a part of my curriculum for the past four years, this isn't to say I haven't known about the Holocuast, but the depth of my study as increased over time. Studying the Holocaust sparks many emotions which is probably why in the past I chose not to become lost in the tragedy, even though I realize now, it’s important to grasp everything that has happened. A great book that I recommend is Thanks to My Mother, I book that shows you the length someone will go for the love they have in their heart.
I look forward to hearning from you! =]
Alex,
our mascot is a Wildcat! rawr!
Danielle,
Tribal differences are the greatest cause of "indifference" there is. Kurds, Sunnis, and Shittes don't care that they are all "Iraqis" or "Middle Easterners" they think of themselves as belonging to their tribe. Even Israelis don't think of themselves as belonging to a country. They feel that they belong to the Jewish race. That's why the Palestinians hate them so much. Not because they are Israelis, but because they're Jews. Also, there is nothing that we can do about the fighting that consumes all of these tribes. All these groups have been at war with each other for thousands of years. When people have been fighting for thousands of years, an outside force is not going to stop the bloodshed. The United States should not try to intervene in Tribal fighting.
Meaghan,
The Jews were the majority that was left behind and has the most survivors from concentration camps; that is why they are the ones that are related to the holocaust.
Have you ever read a book written by a gypsy that was able to survive the Holocaust?
Nicole,
Yes, i agree that if they would have believed Moche, they could have escaped their fate.
However, would you believe someone that came and told you all the people from Wisconsin wanted to sail over the Great Lakes and prosecute all the people in Michigan? You wouldn't. Especially seeing as in Night, Moche was an outsider. He wasn't really respected and no one really cared about his well-being. Perhaps if it was Elie's father who informed the townspeople of the atrocities that were going to happen, some might have believed. But they had such faith in humanity that no one wanted to believe that normal human beings could commit such crimes for no reason, other than they were Jews. So when you were told the Wisconsins wanted to massacre you, your family, and everyone you know, you will just say "O no, that won't happen. They can't kill us, they don't have the heart."
Try to put yourself in the Jewish people of that time's shoes. I would like to believe that the Holocaust and other Genocides like it (Rwanda, Sudan) didn't happen, but they did. I would also like to believe that it won't ever happen again, because I have more faith in Humanity than that, and will continue to until I am proven wrong, and 'fires consume my faith forever'.
Hello Jennifer friend. You look forward to hearning from me? I look foward to hearning from you too.
I don't think that if the Jews had believed Moche they could have necessarily escaped their fate. We can never know what "might" have happened. We can only guess. Their fate might have turned out even worse. They might have gotten away, but where would they have gone. The Holocaust spread a lot further than people ever thought it would.
Elena H.
I understand where you are coming completely, and i believe any type of genocide or mass killing or even a single death, is worth while to learn about.
But since our focus remains on the Holocaust, we should focus our conversation on it.
You voice your opinion extremely well and i agree with you, everyone just has their own ways of expressing their feelings.
So back to the Holocaust, I believe the Germans are at fault, but more so i belive it is all behind the mastermind, Hitler. Yes the Germans remain at fault for what they did, yet i believe they should be aloud forgiveness. How do you feel about the Germans, the ones who were told this Genocide was right, the young men who went around the town showing the soldiers where families were being hidden? If you were in their shoes, how would you feel today?
~Renae <3
Nate,
You have some very interesting views and I understand where your coming from. I too have a hard time not saying our country has problems why should we help others. We are not the police of the world but on those days you look around at the innocent bloodshed can't you not help but wonder what did they do to deserve it? I'm an innocent victim in all this too what if someday it's my innocent blood that's shed? Or am I even innocent? Are no humans innocent for watching this bloodshed? Nate you say people of the Middle East see themselves as belonging to a tribe, they have a name, a label. Labels are evil to the world toss away all the labels and what do we have? Humans. All humans. With no labels humanity appears.
Danielle,
I agree that we should get rid of labels. Look at how Indians label themselves in this country. It's gone from Indians to Natives to Native Americans and now to Montana Native Americans. We could get rid of those labels but then they would lose "celebrating" their history. And that's just something they're not willing to give up.
Also, why doesn't anyone talk about Stalin and his Gulags? More people die because of Stalin than Hitler ever imagined.
Nate,
That is true people do not want to give up their past giving themself a label yet we both agree we need to get rid of the labels. What's the answer then? Do you agree we should continue celebrating our cultures just not force our beliefs upon others or judge and act against those who see things a different way? Meaning show tolerance for all. Yet if we show tolerance for all what about those cultures who believe in inhumane acts as part of their beliefs?
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