1. The documentary we watched today enveloped the grievances and nightmares faced by a young girl during the Holocaust. No doubt, anytime one hears of the Holocaust a shiver is sent down their spine. One particular scene from the documentary was exceptionally powerful to me. The excruciating three month journey through freezing, starved, and dehydrated conditions known as the death march was the last part Gerta and her friends would have to bear before liberation. The part that got to me most through the death march scenes, was when Gerta's dear friend, Ilze, was approaching her last breaths. She said these words to Gerta just before she died, "I'm angry at no one, and I hope no one is angry at me." How, when someone has just been exposed to so much hatred, and has been faced with so many wrong-doings, can they say they are not mad at anyone? Not even the Nazis, the ones who killed her and her family, had implanted their hatred into her soul.
Another scene that struck me as powerful, although more disturbing, was when Gerta described the frozen conditions during the death march by saying that woman who didn't have the proper foot wear ". . .broke their toes off like twigs." As I said in my other blogs, a person can read and learn about the Holocaust as much as they like, but no man or woman can fully understand the experiences hundreds of thousands of people went through.
2. Though the video didn't say much of how the Nazis dehumanized the Jews, it gave us a few examples. One way they dehumanized them was by forcing them to live in ghettos, separated from the town, Gerta was lucky though, her home stayed her home, though she was confined to living only in the basement. Also, they were dehumanized by being forced to do labor, by having their heads shaved, and by being separated from their families. Gerta Weissman overcame dehumanization partly by imagination, and partly by an SS woman who cared for her and the other girls while they were forced to labor at a factory. In the story Gerta says something along the lines of, "If you were blessed with imagination you could survive." She told a story saying that throughout her time during the Holocaust she would imagine different things, different memories, and let them take her to a world where she could ignore the cold wind on her bones or ignore the ferocious growl coming from her stomach. There was a person though too, she was an SS officer who was in charge at the labor factory. Gerta recalls her as her first hope in the world, for she saw that not all Germans were cruel and evil. Gerta says that she most likely would not have made it through the war, if this SS officer had not entered her life.
3. I believe that if I were in Gerta Weissman's place, I would dream of myself dancing. I would think about the movement, the freedom and each breath that I take when I dance. I would also sing. In a time when I can't move where I want, and I can't speak unless spoken to, I would imagine myself doing just those things and expressing myself through song and dance. I would also imagine my friend and I, doing the many crazy things that we do. I think this memory would trigger fantasies of laughter. These things are the types of things that keep me happy, that keep my mood elevated, so that is why I would think of them.
From watching the documentary, I realized how many things I take for granted. How a simple thing, that I have become accustomed to, a thing that I have thought myself entitled to, can be become something so scarce that I have to work for it and fight for it is thought-provoking. For instance, food is something that I get every day, that I eat in plentiful amounts and push away when it is not satisfying to me. If I were put into Gerta's shoes, I would not get food everyday, I would eat tiny portions, so as to have enough for the next day, and I would have to eat whatever it was, whether it was cold, revolting, or stale. Another thing I no doubt take for granted, is my family. Hearing the stories of Gerta and her family, of her having to live with being the last of anyone she knew breaks my heart. It's like starting life over again, only the past haunts you all the time. When compared to the victims of the Holocaust, my whole life is taken for granted.
4. In today's world, genocide still occurs. For the most recent examples, I see the genocide in Darfur and works of the Taliban. In these specific genocides, the Janjaweed target the Darfurians, and the Taliban, similar to the Nazis, target anyone who is not an Islamic Extremist (anyone who isn't like them). There are certain ways that we can prevent different genocides. We can advocate in our community and send letters to political leaders to express the need to put the cause as a higher priority. The problem with Darfur is that since it has been going on for so long it has been pushed to the side. If enough people bring the cause up, they would have no choice but to bring it back up into discussion.
5. In the film, Gerta dedicates her survival to a few people. The first is the SS officer mentioned earlier, the one who monitored the factory where Gerta was assigned. The second person is her father. Two things in particular that he told Gerta kept her from dying twice. When Gerta was having suicidal thoughts, she was brought back to the stern voice of her father telling her that it is cowardly for one to take their own life. The other time was when he demanded Gerta to wear her ski boots that summer day, the day he secretly knew they would be taken to the camps. This demand saved Gerta's life while on the death march, keeping her warm and keeping her feet from being exposed. Her other hero was Kurt Klein, who was first described as this, "He looked like God to me." He was the man who brought her officially to safety, and a year or so later, was the man who wed her. We can make the world a better place by taking a step back once in awhile and seeing what we can do to help the people around us. If we look into the souls of others and realize how lucky we are, we can simply say one thing or do one thing that can change a person's day, month, or lifetime. We don't need to be like Kurt Klein to be brave or to make a difference, we just have to find a second in our day to make the world a better place.
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