Night Blog 2/24

     Elie Wiesel's experiences during the Holocaust changed him in many ways as a person; such as his religion. One way that Elie was changed was with his faith in God; towards the beginning of the book, he was very religious. On page 1, it says; "During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple." which showed how he was religious at the start of the book. 

     However, when he spends time in the concentration camps, his point of view for religion changes. On page 34, it said; "I too had become a completely different person. The student of the Talmud, the child that I was, had been consumed in flames, There remained only a shape that looked like me. A dark flame had entered into my soul and devoured it."  This was only one of the many quotes that showed him doubting/believing less in God.

     One thing that also was a huge change because of his experience during the Holocaust was his personality. Something that changed in him was that his only focus was survival. On page 109, it said; "Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread." This section showed that they were only thinking about their top priority which was their survival. 

     Especially after his father died, Elie seemed very empty and that is probably why he didn't want to talk about what happened to him for ten years. At the end of the book there is a quote that states; "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me." This quote made an image that Elie was a separate person that the one in the mirror and he was completely separated. 

Night 2/17/16

Prompt: After reading I wonder...

     After reading nearly all of Night by Elie Wiesel, I wonder many things. This book provokes many questions when I remember that this is all real and it all happened. One thing that I wonder about is if Elie knew that his mother and sister died when they got separated, or if he learned that later. I think about this because I imagine it would be an even bigger weight on his back from everything that he was going through (if he knew right away). I wonder if he knew right then and there, or if he found out later.

                                                          

     One other thing that I think about is if Elie ever started to believe in God again. I would assume he would, since he is alive to write this book, but I'm not sure if he ever was religious again. This is making me think about it since when he was young, he used to be extremely religious. Although, all of his time spent in all of the camps slowly made him less and less of a believer. He would stop saying the Kaddish and not fast.

     After reading, I also wonder how exactly did he manage to get out if the camps? How did he feel? Also, how was his life after he recently got out? There are many things that I wonder about what happened after he got out. I also wonder how many people managed to escape with him, and what had happened to the rest of the people who didn't escape. Sometimes, I also wonder about the perspective of the leaders of the camps and what they were thinking. Those are just some if the things that I wonder before finishing the book, so it might answer them later.

Holocaust Aow Impressions 2/12/16

     From today's gallery walk on Holocaust Aow's, I learned a lot of new things that are currently happening involving the Holocuast. Before, I didn't really know about current events about the Holocaust, let alone know that there was currently events on the Holocuast. There was a few articles that I saw repeatedly.

     One article that came up quite a few times was an article about a Jewish Holocaust survivor that wants to help Syrian refugees. It's called "Holocaust survivors demand Israel help refugees" by CNN, published on September 10. This survivor named Avital, born in Romania; thinks we should help with the Syrian refugee crisis because she relates to them. The reason that she can relate because she remembers "being forced form her home by Nazi soldiers and spending years hiding, afraid for her life." as a little girl. This is the reason that she puts herself in their shoes or positions.

     Another article that was quite interesting was about a Jewish survivor/speaker that talks to a school of the importance of being an upstander. This article is called "Holocaust speaker tells students to not repeat history" by nwi.com, updated on February 11, 2016. Tibor Kopfer talks about his experience as a Holocaust survivor and how many of his family members died. He tells his parents' story because he doesn't want anyone to forget, and doesn't want anyone to repeat the tragedy of the Holocaust.
     He says that there still are genocides such as in Syria and Darfur. He teaches the students by saying some memorable words. He says these two things: "The Hoocayst did not begin with gas chambers. It began with words." and "Silence never helps a victim.".


                                

Butterfly Project 2/12/16

"I am a Jew" Poem by Franta Bass

I commented on: Justin, Rebecca, Jared, and Mia's blogs.

Berlin Memorial Activity 2/3/16

From the Berlin Memorial activity that we did in class today; I learned that many Non-Aryans, especially Jews; lost most of their rights when the Nuremberg Laws took place. First, they lost their privileges of enjoyment such as sports or choir. Then, they all started losing their jobs and couldn't even graduate! When 1938 came, everything started to go bad; it was the year the Kristallnacht took place and thousands of Jews were put into concentration camps. They were starting to be banned from going to the movies, to swim, operas, concerts, and much more. As well as that, they had to be identified with a "J" on their passports and had to hand in drivers licenses.

     I think that the Berlin Memorial Monumnet was built to remember all the innocent people that died in the Holocaust from 1938-1945. It really helps to remember the people who didn't deserve to die; also in the Berlin Memorial, many of the people's names are listed. It's called the "Place of Information".
     I noticed that the number of the Nuremberg laws increased a lot in certain years. One of the years that there was many, many laws that were new, was in 1938. This was because that same year, it was "The Night of the Broken Glass", or Kristallnacht, and that's when Jews were put into concentration camps. The other year that had many laws come into place was in 1942; in 1942, Berlin was bombed during WWII. Lastly, there was only one law in 1945 since this was the year that Germany surrendered and the war ended in May. The law read; "Official acts documenting anti-Jewish actions are to be destroyed. 2/16/45"

    One of the restrictions that I think I would have the most trouble dealing with is the law against having pets because I have a dog right now and I know that I wouldn't want to give my dog away. Also, another law that would be really hard to deal with is is to label myself with a yellow star saying "Jew"; because I would not want to physically label myself like that and I would probably not follow that law which would be bad. Then, the last one that I think would be hard to deal with is not getting to use public transportation because I wouldn't get to go anywhere.