When I began taking the Facing History and Ourselves course, I never imagined that it would hit me so hard. I thought this for a few different reasons. The first reason was that it is a history course and I had never liked history or found it at all interesting or relatable and when I heard that this course was mostly going to be about the Holocaust I didn’t really know how to react. I had never really learned anything about the Holocaust or what it was; you say that word to me and I give you a blank stare which is really sad but it’s true. The only thing that I could associate with the Holocaust was Hitler. The second reason was that I had liked and found classes enjoyable but I had never been moved by the material within a class. People had told me it was a good class but that was it. I was blindsided.
Before I took this course there were things that I always knew but never really paid much attention to. One topic that we discuss is bystanders and the fact there are bystanders to everyday events but in order for something of this magnitude to occur everyone has to be a bystander; everyone has to turn their back on what is going on. Based on the fact that I was not knowledgeable about the Holocaust I was also unaware of all of the bystanders. How could that many people turn their back on innocent people being killed? It was not until we watched “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” that I realized that not all Germans agreed with what happened. The other thing that shocked me about this movie was the fact that the German Nazi soldiers who were in charge of the camps but never really saw what went on inside, where shown these films of a glorious place for people to be. I was infuriated by that. This made me see that people are so easily manipulated by authority figures and by the press. People are afraid to say no, they just do what they are told.
Once we were into the Holocaust and learning about it, I was deeply affected by what I saw but I still could not relate to it; it seemed so far away and unreal. When Gabe Stahl’s grandfather came in that changed. We watched the home video that Gabe’s grandfather had created and it still did not feel real to me at first but seeing Gabe talk about it, someone who is in my senior class with me, made me realize that this really did not happen that long ago. Just seeing Gabe’s grandfather talk about his survival story made it set in for me. Then I started to wonder about my past. I am not Jewish but that doesn’t matter. I am Polish and German both of which were involved in the Holocaust and it makes me want to dig backwards into my history the way that Gabe did and find out if I have any ancestors that were involved in the Holocaust. And I also now know that just because they were German does not mean that they agreed or even knew what was happening.
During the course we also watched the movie “The Uprising;” I have never seen anything like it and I don’t want to again. There were dead bodies just laying in the street that people would strip naked because they needed the clothes to sell since they needed the money to feed their families. Mothers, babies, and young kids were blatantly shot; the German authorities treated the Jewish people as they’re puppets; like they were worthless. I am in absolute disbelief that human beings could ever be treated this way by other human beings.
I was also amazed by Adolf Hilter. We watched many movies on him and the speeches that he gave, and the way he led, and his loyal followers; which is exactly what amazes me. I don’t think I will ever understand that Holocaust, or Hilter for that matter, completely. I do not understand how so many people could be so passionately against an entire religion of people who really never did anything wrong. All of those people were senselessly killed and all of those people were supporting it. Hitler had a way of mesmerizing people. I am simply intrigued by it and do not understand how he could get away with everything that he did.
One of the things that we were told to think about on one of the first days of this course was our identity. This course was about discovering ourselves; finding out “Who am I?” At the beginning of the course we read a book called The Bear That Wasn’t to learn about identity and what we think it is. I am amazed by the fact that someone can be so strongly convinced of their identity and then authority can change that. I learned a lot about myself during this course. I already make sure that I watch the news everyday because I like to be socially aware of what is going on in our world and I know that is something that a lot of people my age don’t do. But seeing the horrible things that I saw in these movies only reinforced that, I want to make sure I know what is going on every day, I want to know about every horrible thing that happens so that maybe I can help in some small way like with all of the disasters that we have had. I also learned about myself emotionally. I have always been a person that goes out of my way for others and puts other people before myself but this course caused me to be a more caring, empathetic and considerate person. I can never tell what a person has lived through just by looking at them or what their family background is or where they come from. I cannot judge someone by what I see and by what they look like to me and I can only hope I will receive the same. This course has changed me and my outlook on things. I can honestly say that I will never forget the things that this course has taught me and what I have seen. Thank you Mr. Gallagher.
