"From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at m has never left me." pg. 115
After the liberation of the Jews became a journalist, but he vowed never to speak or write of his experiences in the concentration camps. He went to study journalism in France, where he met Francois Mauriac, a French writer. Mauriac then convinced Elie to break his silence, and speak of his time in Auschwitz. Elie then made it his job to use what had happened to him in a positive way; to inform people all around the world and make sure nothing like the Holocaust would ever happen again. He became chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust, planned many memorials to the murdered Jews, and wrote over 30 books speaking about Jews, the holocaust, and genocide in general.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/HOLO/ElieBio.Htm
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
What did the U.S. soldiers do when they liberated concentration camps?
" At six o'clock that afternoon, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald." (pg. 115)
The American troops liberated the camps of Dachau and Buchenwald, and other members of the Allied forces freed the prisoners in other camps. The soldiers were overwhelmed with the evidence of what had happened in the camps. Even though the Germans tried to hide what happened in the camps, there were thousands of bodies, and the smell of death hung over the site. The Americans found little survivors but many belongings, including some tens of thousands of pairs of shoes. When the Allies arrived there was little they could do for the remaining prisoners. Almost 2,500 of the 33,000 prisoners left in Dachau died within the six weeks after the liberation. They suffered from bad treatment, malnourishment, and various diseases for too long to be saved by the Allies. The soldiers were completely horrified by what they found, however they were glad to do what they could, even though it was too late for so many. On Army journalist said “Dachau Gives Answer To Why We Fought.” After the war ended, Ally forces put the Jewish survivors in a Displaced Persons program, and tried to help them find a new place to start over.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005131
The American troops liberated the camps of Dachau and Buchenwald, and other members of the Allied forces freed the prisoners in other camps. The soldiers were overwhelmed with the evidence of what had happened in the camps. Even though the Germans tried to hide what happened in the camps, there were thousands of bodies, and the smell of death hung over the site. The Americans found little survivors but many belongings, including some tens of thousands of pairs of shoes. When the Allies arrived there was little they could do for the remaining prisoners. Almost 2,500 of the 33,000 prisoners left in Dachau died within the six weeks after the liberation. They suffered from bad treatment, malnourishment, and various diseases for too long to be saved by the Allies. The soldiers were completely horrified by what they found, however they were glad to do what they could, even though it was too late for so many. On Army journalist said “Dachau Gives Answer To Why We Fought.” After the war ended, Ally forces put the Jewish survivors in a Displaced Persons program, and tried to help them find a new place to start over.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005131
Saturday, February 20, 2010
What was the meaning of Arbeit macht frei?
"This one had an iron gate with the overheard inscription:Arbeit macht frei. Work makes you free." Pg. 40
At the entrance of Auschwitz concentration camp, the sign read Arbeit macht frei, translating to work will set you free. The meaning of this, was taken by the prisoners of the camp to be mocking, for no matter how hard you worked, you would never be set free. However the phrase was explained as this "He seems not to have intended it as a mockery, nor even to have intended it literally, as a false promise that those who worked to exhaustion would eventually be released, but rather as a kind of mystical declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labor does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom." In a different meaning, prisoners who constructed the sign made it so that the the upper curve of the "B" in Arbeit was larger than the lower one. This was thought to be a sign of distress, and to show that things were not in that place.
"Auschwitz." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Feb. 2010
At the entrance of Auschwitz concentration camp, the sign read Arbeit macht frei, translating to work will set you free. The meaning of this, was taken by the prisoners of the camp to be mocking, for no matter how hard you worked, you would never be set free. However the phrase was explained as this "He seems not to have intended it as a mockery, nor even to have intended it literally, as a false promise that those who worked to exhaustion would eventually be released, but rather as a kind of mystical declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labor does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom." In a different meaning, prisoners who constructed the sign made it so that the the upper curve of the "B" in Arbeit was larger than the lower one. This was thought to be a sign of distress, and to show that things were not in that place.
"Auschwitz." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Feb. 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
What is Kabbalah?
"One day I asked my father to find me a master who could guide me in my studies of Kabbalah. " You are too you for that, Maimonidestells us that one must be thirty before entering into the world of mysticism, a world fraught with peril." pg. 4
Kabbalah is an obscure study of the mystical aspects of Judaism. It studies the relationship between god, and the world and everything he created, and the methods to understand them. The studies are meant to find deeper meaning in the Jewish Bible and the Torah. It is considered extremely hard to comprehend, as it deals with a lot of speculations, and interpretations. I think some of the significance of this being mentioned in the book is to show that though the Jews, especially Elie, are very smart, they are unwilling to see what is right in front of them.
"Kabbala." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010
Kabbalah is an obscure study of the mystical aspects of Judaism. It studies the relationship between god, and the world and everything he created, and the methods to understand them. The studies are meant to find deeper meaning in the Jewish Bible and the Torah. It is considered extremely hard to comprehend, as it deals with a lot of speculations, and interpretations. I think some of the significance of this being mentioned in the book is to show that though the Jews, especially Elie, are very smart, they are unwilling to see what is right in front of them.
"Kabbala." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)