Lives of Holocaust Victims After the Holocaust

The Holocaust was tragic event in history that took lives of over 10 million people. Throughout this period, men, women, and children of various races and culture groups, were taken from their homes and put in concentration camps. In these camps they were forced into heavy manual labor. Along with this work, these people were malnourished and energy deprived which made their lives that much more difficult. The people that did survive the war and the concentration camps faced a long road to recovery. After the concentration camps were liberated by the allied forces, most of the refugees were placed in refugee camps where they could've stayed in for up to 3 years. With all of their possesions gone, most people had nowhere to go to for financial assistance. Many refugees faced conditions that were in many ways similar to those in the camps themselves. Poverty, malnutrition and sometimes homelessness left refugees in a position that was very difficult to climb out of. Eventually as time progressed, refugees slowly started to get their lives back one step at a time. Although it is true that many people never made it to a state where their life after the war was the same as it was before.

People can be awesome

In discussion of such a satanic topic, it becomes hard not to assume a somber attitude. There is such unwritten devastation, such disgusting injustice, such grotesque images that we can sometimes forget that people are willing to do good, too. A recent article in the New York Times reminds me that people can be awesome! A recent demonstration in Dresden had Neo-Nazis outnumbered 12:1 by counter-demonstrators consisting of police and anti-fascists. Over 10,000 people attended the anti-Nazi march, reaffirming the message that was broadcast worldwide after the Holocaust: “Never again”.

---

After hours of preparation, we are finally approaching the event. As I write this, the room is buzzing with peripatetic students making the last touches to their work. Myself, I am excited for this evening’s events: a great deal of effort has been contributed by my peers to ensure quality presentations tonight.

---

"Never Again"

One of the worst things about the Holocaust is that we allowed it to happen again. In Rwanda and eastern Europe, genocide continued to happen while the rest of the world stood by. Elie Wiesel said in an interview “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Elie Wiesel says this both reflectively, and about the genocide in Rwanda. He believed that the US should have sent out a radio broadcast to warn the Jews about the trains and where they were headed, so they could have avoided getting on them at all costs. Although, some experts believe that this could have encouraged the Nazis to speed up the process and openly killing more Jews and other groups. Many people in the US also did not know to what extent the Holocaust was happening. The Rwandan genocide, on the other hand, was much more open, which is one of the reasons it was controversial that we did not get involved. The world thought the holocaust was the end of all genocide, but superpowers need to be less tentative to intervene when it comes to innocent civilians being killed.

It can get worse

Here is a link to a New York Times article that claims to have found records that prove the Holocaust was far greater than we ever knew.

What does this mean for us? For many people, the Holocaust is easily the most horrifying event in human history. It is already a struggle for us to cope with it. And now? What if this is true, and it was even more shocking than we already think? Does it matter, if we already find it the worst scenario possible? Does this change your perception?

This article was published two days ago. People are still studying and documenting the horrors that occurred during WWII. It is still a raw wound, the conflict is still alive within us. We hope to see you tonight so we can wrestle with these questions, even if we might not answer them.

The Nuremberg Trials

After committing some the most atrocious war crimes in history, the leaders of the Nazi party finally met their judgement at one of the most famous war crime trials in history. The main heads of the party that brainwashed and convinced an entire nation to do their bidding in a war that had some worst atrocities in any war that came before it.

After Berlin toppled in May of 1945, the Soviets arrested the remaining Nazi party leaders. After this occurred the Allies squabbled to find a solution to sentence these crimals to justice in a court that would be fair in the eyes of the public, where they had an oppertunity to prove their innocence. 

The trials were held in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg in Central Germany, where the most important German trials were held. The Soviets, British, Americans, and the French all sent their diplomats to represent their countries at trial. The German opposition had a defense attorney that was seen to be one of the best attorneys in all Germany at the time. During the trials there was a significant amount of evidence and documents that showed that the defendants were guilty. After most of the defendants were found guilty, most were sent away to Soviet prison camps, where most died years later. After all was said and done, the Nuremberg Trials finally granted justice to men and women who suffered at the hands of these men.

Comradery in the holocaust

Throughout the book, ideas of comradery and support of one another are shown from father to son, brother to brother, and friend to friend.  "From time to time, I was able to send a piece of bread to my father." Despite small rations Elie still devotes some of his food to his father, this shows the close relationship between Elie and his father despite the fact that any day could be their last.  I found it amazing that even in the face of death, a boy can overcome his primary thought to survive and look out for his father.  At times even the German officers showed sings of support with the inmates. "It all went well.  Don't worry.  Nothing will happen to anyone.  Not to anyone..." The Blockälteste attempts to re-assure the inmates, after the selection, that everyone will be ok.  This surprised me alot, that even the Germans who were fighting against the Jews saw them as people with emotions and showed sympathy towards them.  Although the Blockälteste is lying, he is supporting the inmates by making them belive they'll be alright.  The Germans goal in the holocaust was to de-humanize the Jews, but with such a strong force of comradery, the Germans often did not succeed.

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

― Aldous Huxley, Complete Essays 2, 1926-29

  A quote that we all must keep in mind, especially as the event draws near and the class reaches the end of its preparations. Discussion groups are going into detailed research; poster-makers seek out visual resources. Press release reminds the community of our important role as witnesses through Mr. Wiesel. The result is this– we are learning more and more about the Holocaust, and much of this is painful.

Why do this? Why make teenagers learn about the deceit of a government, the corruption of a people, the great evil that humans are capable of committing? Has it not passed? What good does it do to suffer uncomfortably through these facts, memoirs, horrifying photographs? What good does it do to drag the rest of the community in with us?

Because we owe the victims this. Because we are responsible to understand their suffering. Because unless we understand, we are doomed to repeat. Because even if we ignore them? It's all still true.

"What would I do with one million Jews? Where would I put them?"

- a British diplomat, refusing to deal from the Nazis: a million Jews for 10,000 trucks

Passivity

The Jews of Sighet display a theme common to many of us today. With the regularity of everyday life, they allowed themselves to slip into regularity; a sense of security. As many have experienced in their own lifetimes, this illusion of permanence is so comfortable that we try to protect it by ameliorating the effects of a world moving on – the new, strange and awkward should be avoided at any costs.

And so, a theme of passivity is established in Night, to the extent of denial. Is it that the community simply does not believe Moishe the Beadle? No – Moishe is respected enough for his story to be credible. Rather, the community finds it easier to simply deny the reality than to accept and prepare for the truth. This theme is continued throughout the opening chapters: “They will stay in Budapest”. People ask why so few of the Jewish settlements put up resistance to the Nazis – even when they were aware of the consequences of allowing themselves to be taken. In order to prepare a defense, one has to accept the reality of a situation. And acceptance is the most painful stage: how many of us have refused to believe that a close one is gone?

After the Holocaust was exposed for what it was, nations of the world united in saying “Never again”. And yet, genocide still continues. Persecution is still commonplace. And still the world watches silently.

---

Terezín and Music During the Holocaust

The persecution of Jews during the Holocaust would not suggest that every bit of tradition was left behind when they were taken away from their homes and transported to concentration camps. Music and its composition was a key role in society which was not to be easily forgotten no matter what the conditions were. Most musical pieces were written in a few camps, those camps being made simply for notable musicians, writers, artists, and leaders. However, one camp, by the name of Terezín (Teresienstadt), was the place where composers such as Hans Krasa, Pavel Haas, and Gideon Klein stayed (by the commission of Hitler, of course) during the Holocaust. Musical masterpieces were written at Terezin, including "Passacaglia" (Krasa), and had a profound affect on those who listened to them, whether it was a small audience in Terezin or people of this modern era.
The emotion/mood of orchestral pieces that were written during this time by Jewish composers living in the camps was of a deep longing for what once was and holding on to the last thread of hope that could lead to a brighter future. The depth in these pieces came from a two to three cellos which produced a floating, yet almost bouncy, foundation for the violins and violas that accompanied it. The tempo often reflected what kind of effect the composer wanted and the rhythm reflected the sentiment that corresponded to the slower or faster tempo.
Influences from countries outside of Europe, for example East Asia (China, Japan, etc.), gave pathways of direction for many pieces written during the time. "String Quartet, No. 2 Opus. 7," (Haas) has an almost Japanese feel to the more rhythmic, fast tempo sections of the piece, and releases a sense of free-moving emotions that could easily fill any audience with warmth and buoyancy.
For many, many years, music has been a way to escape from any pain or suffering in any of its forms. The composition of music has especially contributed to the survival mechanisms of inmates in camps like Terezín and we can see how that had brought to light many new and brilliant composers.

The Holocaust

Throughout history, the world has seen many serious tragedies. One of the worst tragedies is the loss of over 6 million Jews, gypsies, and other ethnic groups that died during the Holocaust in the mid 20th century. These people went through hardships that most of us can't even imagine, first being taken away from their homes, being stripped of all possessions, and then forced into hard manual labor camps or worse. These people not only lost their lives, but worst of all were treated like animals. we must learn from the mistakes that people have made for us so we won't have to make them for ourselves.

2013 - Ready, Set, Go!

We're getting ready for the third installment of the Palo Alto High School Community Book Event to study and discuss Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night. After a one-year hiatus, Facing History and Ourselves classes are organizing discussions about this powerful Holocaust memoir, and inviting adults from the community to come talk with students about the book.

Here are a few pictures from our most recent version of this event, in 2011.

We'll gather on the evening of March 4, 2013. Students will create posters, facilitate group conversations, teach new content, deliver short speeches, photograph and blog about the event. This event is for invited guests from the community, along with students and staff. I'll hand it off to our student bloggers to take over from here, and let them tell you some of their thoughts about the book, the class work and discussions, and their thoughts about our studies and our upcoming event.

Last Word.

I felt that the Night event went swell. I got the chance to go and listen to talks about resistance and targets of genocide. The talk I went to on resistance was very interesting. I mainly chose to go to that talk because I just wanted to learn more about resistance and see what the kids running it had to say. Then the talk I went to on Targets of Genocide was cool too! It was really interesting to hear about different groups that faced mass-genocide during the holocaust along with the Jews.

From my perspective, the event seemed to go great! I haven't heard a single complaint about it. The discussions seemed to turn out very well and everyone seems happy with the end result of their work!

Music in the Holocaust

One of the discussion groups that I attended at the event was the subject of music composed during the Holocaust, led by Dahae and Hannah from first period. At the second discussion, there were about seven people in the audience.

The audience didn't know much about Holocaust music when the presentation began. We first learned about how Jews in concentration camps got the chance to compose music: The ideal concentration camp, the fortress of Terezin. The world was told that Hitler had set aside a town for Jews in order to be protected from the dangers of war. This town, built in the city-fortress of Terezin, was the only camp opened to the Red Cross during the war. Prisoners were shipped there, and it produced several propoganda films during the war showing prisoners splashing in a nearby lake, apparently having fun. When the Red Cross came to visit, the storefronts were filled with bread and candies and other goods. The Red Cross concluded that the Nazis were treating the Jews of Terazine well, and were therefore treating the Jews of Austerwitz and Birknau and the other camps just as well.

In fact, the prisoners of Terazine were shipped off to be gassed after they were no longer needed. Hans Krasa and Victor Ullmann, the composers of the two music pieces that we listened to, were both murdered at the other death camps.

At the camps, to further the illusion that it was a place where prisoners were treated well, Jews were permitted and ordered to compose music. There were enough musicians for two full orchestras in Terezin. At the beginning of the war, musical instruments were not allowed in camps, so musicians would break down their instruments into component parts and hide those in their clothing. Later in the war, the ban on instruments was relaxed.

When we had learned the background of the composition of the music, we turned down the lights and listened to a piece by Hans Krasa. I don't know the name of the piece, but here is what I have in my notes: It begins with a single cellow, playing slow and low, sadly. A violin begins to play, matching the mood but not the melody, playing at a much higher pitch. They go on in this manner, and then two more violins begin, playing the same notes at different octaves at the same time. The doubled melody rises and falls against the slow cellow and the high violin. Suddenly the doubled strings are silent, and there is a section where violins are plucked rhythmically. cautiously, as a single high thread is played by the first violin. Then a violin plays boldly, almost triumphantly in counterpoint to the mood of the rest of the piece, and is quickly silenced.

One member of the audience thought that the rhythmic, soft plucking reminded him of footsteps tiptoeing around, trying not to draw attention. "As long as food was coming that day and no one was being threatened, then it was a good day." I thought that each string represented a different prisoner's story, and that the doubled strings were the story of a boy and his father, or a girl and her mother staying together through the war, only to be killed before the end later.

The presentation was done well, and the audience was interested the whole time. I learned a lot, and so did everyone else.

Samuel Bak

A few days ago in class, we observed and analyzed paintings by artist and holocaust survivor Samuel Bak. The paintings we looked at were: "Flight From Berlin," "Family Tree 1," and "The Family." Flight from Berlin contains three men sitting in what appears to be a makeshift, childish, "junkyard"attempt at an aircraft. Family Tree 1 features a tree growing on top a small, run down stone building, which is probably the ruins of synagogue, with stars of David stuck on the branches. There is also some new sprouts coming up off the building. I think the withering tree symbolizes the old generation of Jews who died or survived through the Holocaust, and the new sprouts symbolize the new generations. The last painting I looked at was The Family. The Family features a mass of people, some of them deformed somehow, none of them seemingly particularly happy. Some of the people can talk, but have bandages over their eyes; some of the people can see, but have bandages over their mouth. I the very background you can see smokestacks, presumably from the crematory, and the people see coming from it. I think this painting symbolizes the terrible effects of the holocaust.

Last period of work

The event has finally arrived. The entire class is busy making powerpoints, creating posters, and discussing how to handle the audience. Mr. Cohen gave us more pointers on how to present our topics. Everyone's working hard, but we're calm. We're expecting a good turnout: in addition to the people invited by the students, there will be teachers, people from the FHAO organization, and the mayor!

At the event, there will be photographers and a student with a video recorder, and the post-event team will use them to create a documentary of the entire project. The six bloggers will also cover each session and write about them.

Holocaust Denial

Even today, there are groups that deny the occurence of the Holocaust, claiming it was fabricated by the Allied forces and the Jews. Common evidence provided by these groups include almanacs that report the number of Jews stayed stable during the war, and chemists and experts testifying that the gas chambers were mocked up and actually unable to execute anyone. The point of this argument is that the Nazis did not actually make plans to commit genocide on the Jews within Germany.

I came across an interesting article which takes a nicely sized sledgehammer to that position.

"Starting in 1942, the Jews began circulating rumors that they were all being killed. These rumors filtered through various news agencies, from various sources.

By 1945, the Jews had forged tens of thousands of Nazi documents, all "proving" that the Nazis had committed mass murder. The Jews invented the whole thing in a whirlwind effort. They invented the places where the gassings took place. They researched and invented the techniques that were used. They forged photographs and wove them into the documentary record.

Their Jewish chemists figured out which perfectly ordinary buildings would be palmed off as gas chambers. They forged reports of how well the gassing operations were going. They forged reports to Hitler saying that the Eastern territories were free of Jews.

They forged inventories of the morgues, saying there were showerheads and gas-tight doors in them. They forged the whole story about SS guards being taken to a special camp to get them used to the idea of killing Jews.

Everything, every bit of it, forged.

Somehow the Jews got their Jew agents to be there when this forged evidence was presented to Hoess and Broad and Kremer and all the dozens of Nazis tried in 1945 and 1946. All of them must have had the same initial reaction: "what!? I never wrote that!?" but the Jew agents, of course, slapped them around a bit until they admitted it was true. And the Jew agents were very good, because every single one of them admitted that it was true. Those agents must have been quite good at making Nazis admit things, because a lot of those Nazis were seasoned military men. Where'd they hire those agents from?

They found a few thousand Jews who were willing to lie through their teeth and say that Auschwitz was an extermination camp, not a concentration camp. They must have held a big meeting, gathered all the survivors together, and briefed them. "OK," the Head Jew would have said, "repeat after me: Auschwitz was not a nice place to live. You did not go swimming at Auschwitz. Auschwitz used its morgues to gas people. In the summer of 1944 they burned bodies in ditches. Everyone on the left, you actually saw people being led to the gas chambers. You on the right, you did not, but you heard a lot about it." And so on."

-http://www.holocaust-history.org/~jamie/the-hoax.shtml

Our Progress in Pictures

Hola! I'm Mia, a photographer for the Night event. Even though I'm not necessarily a 'blogger,' I have some snazzy pictures to show readers our progress for the Night event, and some general info about the class!

First of all, this is out teacher Mr. Cohen. He's the main organizer for the event, and in charge of making sure we do all our work!
Then there is us, the period 1 students, always hard at work in preparation for the event (which is in a mere week!).
...well, unless we're looking at pictures in food blogs (how can you blame us!).
Anyways, in preparation for the Night Event, which will be held at Paly next Wednesday, March 23, the class has been divided into groups with different roles for the event. Below we have some group facilitators, the ever so essential heart and soul of the event. They will be holding discussions that will not only tackle issues mentioned in Night, but also ones dealing with the Holocaust and Elie Wiesel's life.
Along with the group facilitators, we also have a group of people making posters, opening and closing speakers, program designers, event designers, and more. We even have a documentary in the making. That's pretty exciting!

Basically, we're all working extremely hard to make the Night event a success (and the work doesn't end it class (well, at least for me) evidenced by me writing this blog on a Friday night (though it was my choice)).
I hope you are planning on attending the Night event next Wednesday, March 23, from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M at the Paly library and selected classrooms. While this event should be fun, it will also be extremely intellectually stimulating (and even a teeny bit mind boggling!).

Come with knowledge about the book Night and an open mind. We look forward to seeing you there!

Silence Isn't Always Golden

" And then I explain to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent when and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented"(Elie Wiesel).

This excerpt from Elie Wiesel's acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize was very thought provoking to me. Would I have the courage to speak out against something even if others around me were silent? I would like to say yes, but I am uncertain had I actually been put in the situation. His point is very strong. How can you be innocent if a crime is being committed and you are ignoring it to avoid involvement. He also says something about what we can do to help these victims. "What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stilled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs"(Elie Wiesel). Both these excepts seem very related to our studies of Night and offer some general insight of how Elie feels about oppression in general, and what we can do to possibly prevent future genocides.

What we're doing

People in my class have just recently started working on things. There is a group studying judgment of the Nazis after the war;  a group studying the paintings of Samuel Bak, who is a holocaust survivor; a group studying resistance to the Nazis; and a group studying how different generations dealt with the holocaust after they were liberated.

Life After Night

With our event just one class period away, I realized I had little understanding of what happened to Elie Wiesel after the end of Night, or how he became such a renowned author.

After the war and his time in the concentration camps, he went to France. There he became a professional journalist, as well as teacher of Hebrew, and a choir master. It took him ten years before he was willing to write about his experiences during the war. He initially wrote a 900 page work in yiddish entitled And the world kept silent. This work was eventually narrowed down into a 127-page version written in French called La Nuit(Night). Several years later he found a publisher for his French and English version, yet it did not sell many copies at first. From there he became a human rights activist for oppressed peoples, and eventually received the Congressional Medal of Freedom, and the Nobel Prize for Peace. Since then, he has spoken on behalf of victims of genocide and oppression. He has also written several fictional novels in the past few years.

I find it very inspiring how Elie was able to live a successful life at such a young age without his parents. I could not imagine moving to France as a teenager just having survived the concentration camps.