This course has a major impact on me because of my connection with the holocaust. My grandfather was a holocaust survivor and his parents died in a concentration camp. When I learned this about my family I immediately started researching and learning as much as I could about the holocaust. When I was picking my classes for this year last March, I was reluctant to sign up for this class because I felt like I knew enough already and I didn’t really want to be upset more if it wasn’t necessary. However, this course really opened my eyes and filled my head with knowledge that I am grateful to have learned.
The first thing that really sticks out to me out of all the new information I learned is the fight the Jewish people put up against the Nazis. Before I took this course I knew about the fight in the Warsaw Ghetto, but I didn’t know how long it went on for and I didn’t know about the rebellion at Auschwitz. I really glad to hear that some people managed to fight back even under unimaginable conditions. I also didn’t know about the S.S officer who attempted to stop the holocaust. I also had no idea that the Catholic Church knew what was going on and still decided to remain neutral. They didn’t even condemn the actions of the Nazis.
It is one thing to read about the horrors of the holocaust and an entirely different thing to see it with your own eyes. I found the real footage from the camps the most disturbing thing in the entire course. The victims didn’t look like people anymore. They were only the skeletal remains of innocent people who had been abused beyond belief. The piles of bodies stacked and open graves of men, woman, and children who all did nothing to deserve the horrible treatment they received. I also found it really disturbing how the Germans deceived their victims by continuously telling them that they were going to be fed and given water. They lead them right to their deaths without ever acknowledging what they were doing. The sheer numbers of the holocaust are really mind-blowing. The way they were able to create such efficient death factories is truly unbelievable. The trains never stopped running and nobody ever tried to stop them.
I feel a special connection with this subject because of my family history, so learning about the holocaust has an especially strong impact on me. So, it made me happy to hear of tales of rebellion from the Jewish people. I also learned what a horrifyingly brilliant job the Nazis did at convincing the public that murdering innocent people was the right thing to do. The people who worked at the camps were volunteers, they didn’t have to be there but they wanted to. They convinced the public that Jews were like pests on society and needed to be exterminated. Learning about these horrific acts committed by the Nazis made me shocked at what terrible things human beings are capable of when they are brainwashed.
The first facet of the course I found particularly interesting was the way it exposed certain aspects of the holocaust that weren’t actually how they appeared to be. I found it interesting how people think that Jews didn’t fight back when they actually did. I also was never taught before about the methods the Nazis used to make sure their victims how no idea what was going on at all times. Who wants to believe they are going to be slaughtered like animals when they are being told otherwise. No systematic murder had ever taken place like this. The holocaust was completely unprecedented because people didn’t have the technology to commit such organized mass murder. The Nazis would completely deprive their victims of water and food for days while they were shipped in cattle cars to camps. These trips could last up to three days and the trains were so crowded that nobody had anywhere to move or sit down. Then when they finally got to their destination they were immediately told by the sonderkomando who spoke their language that they were going to get food and water. They went willingly into the gas chambers because they had no idea where they going.
The second thing I found interesting, was how long anti-Semitism has actually existed for. I had no idea that anti-Semitism had existed since the creation of Christianity. People still believe to this day that the Jews killed Jesus and the holocaust is a hoax. The difference between the religions is so minor you would think there wouldn’t be so much violence between them. I knew people had a hard time being accepting and tolerant but I didn’t know the extent and length of time this hatred had gone on for. The movie we watched in class called The Longest Hatred really helped to shed some light on this subject. I was really disturbed by this movie and the continuous violence that has followed the Jewish people wherever they have turned throughout history. I can completely understand why they would want to have a place to call their own. All throughout history they have been persecuted and treated as less than human.
The third thing I found really interesting was the fact that nobody even tried to help the Jews get away from Nazi Germany. I learned in one of the readings in class that boat loads of Jews who had managed to escape the Nazis weren’t allowed into this country. They were sent back to their deaths when they could have easily been saved. This made feel really ashamed to be American. The Allies also never bombed the train tracks leading to the camps and the Americans only joined the war effort when Hitler was trying to take over the world. The whole world let 12 million innocent people and sat back and did nothing. I found that especially disturbing.
Facing History and Ourselves was one of the most interesting and valuable courses I have ever taken. I was really impressed by what a good job the course does at accomplishing its goals and forcing the participants to think about the world around them. From an academic point of view, I found the information very interesting and full of new information that I was previously unaware of. I also felt massive empathy for the victims and disbelief of the horrific capability for evil that humans have in them.
