One Survivor Remembers Blog

1.       The scenes from the video One Survivor Remembers that really resonated in my mind and truly had an impact on me are the video clips of the Jewish women, so deprived of nutrients that they look skeletal. These scenes really made me think about how fortunate we are to have things such as food and water. The message of the video clips is that people should be thankful for the things in our lives that we don’t take for granted, such as 3 consistent meals per day.

2.        The Nazis dehumanized Jews in many ways. For example, they treated Jews like garbage. For years, Gerda was called nasty words, and that is what made her future husband’s initial kindness seem so wonderful when she was being liberated. Gerda worked to overcome dehumanization with her friends by focusing on trivial things, such as bets concerning strawberries. Gerda and her friends focused on things that weren’t war related so as to keep them from losing all hope. At one point in the documentary, Gerda states, “I believe that the people that were the most realistic and straightforward were the ones that died first.” This quote signifies that only the people who shoved their fears aside made it out of the holocaust.

3.       I think I take the majority of my day to day routine for granted. I believe that if I was in Gerda’s shoes, I would miss seeing my friends every day, ice cream, and holidays. I think that holding on to special memories such as those would keep me going throughout the dark times.

4.       I believe that persecution is commonplace in today’s world. On a smaller, still serious scale, hate groups such as the KKK are still in existence, and they have been known to do awful things to ethnic groups such as Jews, blacks, gays, Asians, etc. I think that in order to cease such awful intolerance, children need to be at a young age to accept other Human Beings, and that we are all created equally.

5.       The heroes of One Survivor Remembers are the Jews and their liberators. The Jews instill me with hope by showing how awful life was like, and how at the same time they were brave and perseverant. Their American liberators instill me with hope because it feels good to know that the world did not turn its back to the suffering of the Jewish community, and that at our core, humans are good. I can make the world a better place by doing what I believe in, and by sticking up for others.

Sarah's Key Blog #3

For my portion of research in relating to my book, I chose to study the relation between France and the Nazi Regime. On June 22, 1940, France was invaded by the Third Reich. A mere 3 days later, France and Germany formed a truce. During the time in which the cease-fire was enacted, Germany annexed large portions of French land. Eventually, Germany had occupied the remainder of northern and western France. Within months, the Nazi Regime had installed some of its SS officers as positions of high power and influence in the French Government, such as Commander of Security Police and Jewish Affairs in the Central Office for Security. Even the Government from parts of France that weren’t occupied by Germany were in close collaboration with the Germans. Within little time, France started issuing anti-Semitic propaganda, and enacting laws such as excluding Jews from public life, expelling them from the military, and not letting them work in education, medicine, and law. Soon, Jews’ valuables were confiscated, and a process of what was called “Aryanization” was enacted in even the unoccupied parts of France. Less than a year later, following the Wannsee Conference of January 20, 1942, it became mandatory for Jews to wear yellow stars sewn into their clothing. Not long after, the deportations to Concentration Camps began. Thousands of French Jews were transported to Auschwitz and other horrific places. At about this time, the French police rounded up over 13,000 individuals to be sent to a large indoor stadium known as the Velodrome D’Hiver. This is where historical events tie into the literature that I am reading. In my book, Sarah and her family are collected in the massive Vel D’ Hiv roundup, and are left in inhumane conditions. Finally, after several more years of injustices, the French are liberated by the French resistance. I believe that this whole chunk of World War 2 history just goes to show a huge example of “Mob Mentality,” and that people have to stand up for what they believe in. If all of the various nations that the Nazis influenced had opposed Hitler’s ideals and had put up a fight, not nearly as many innocent lives would have been spared.

Sarah's Key blog #2

The characters from Sarah’s Key, Night, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas have many similarities. For example, all 3 of the protagonists from the stories are Jewish young adults/children. They were all innocent prior to the holocaust, and emerged mature. The protagonists are all brave and family oriented. Furthermore, all of the main characters are very questioning, thus providing opportunities for the reader to ask themselves along with the protagonist, “How could this injustice be tolerated?” I believe that for all intents and purposes, the characters might as well all be the same person. Although they have different experiences, they are all typecast as the strong-willed, ‘life-is-hard-but-I’ll-make-it-through’ Jew that people want to read about.

Just as their characteristics are similar, so are their motivations. One of Elie Weisel’s primary motivations to continue living was his family’s welfare, whilst Shmuel wanted desperately to find his father, and Sarah is constantly worried for her younger brother. This proves that since the protagonists lost almost all that was important to them, they would not let their families be taken away from them as well. Also, all of the characters are motivated to simply live, and to get back to their normal lives before the troublesome times of the war.

Finally, proving my initial point that all of the fictional protagonists are loosely based off of the same Elie Weisel type of character, their experiences are generally the same as well. Sarah, Elie, and Shmuel were all taken to Concentration Camps and lost various members of their families. The main characters all lost their childhoods to the war, and never had much of a chance to enjoy being a kid. All of the documented experiences of the Jewish protagonists include them coming in contact with someone that is losing his/her mind, as a literary tool to show how severe the times were. I believe that I would enjoy reading a holocaust novel that depicted the main character with more faults and insecurities, thus making him/ her more human, but I can understand why the author doesn’t typically do that, as it could be seen as a betrayal to the brave Jews of the era.

Sarah's Key Blog #1

Hello blog enthusiasts! I write to you now, post-completion of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, at the introduction of Sarah’s Key by Tatania De Rosnay. I hope for Sarah’s Key to be a better read than The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Before I begin to discuss the characters, setting, and problem of my new book, I would like to mention several complaints that I have about my previous book choice. First off, I find it extremely simplistic and historically inaccurate that Bruno, the nine year old protagonist of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas would be so annoyingly innocent throughout the book. It is unreasonable to believe that a German boy, let alone a son of a Nazi Commandant, wouldn’t be enrolled in Hitler Youth and be force-fed the ideals of the Nazi Regime. He would have grown up under the supposition that Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals belonged dead. Bruno would have believed that Shmuel was a filthy Jew, and he never would have made friends with a boy that was inferior to the Aryans.

Anyway, now that I have expressed my discontent with the flawed brainchild of a historically inaccurate author, ‘tis time to divulge the details of Sarah’s Key. As of yet, the plot of the book shifts by chapter between the life of an as of yet unnamed French girl who lived during the holocaust, and a middle aged American woman living in France with her family in present day. Thus far, while Julia, the American woman, has been busy discussing the possibilities of renovating the house that used to belong to her grandmother in law, the story of our other protagonist, the unnamed French girl, has been much more thrilling. Our young heroine was awoken by a French policeman knocking on her door, telling her family that they have 10 minutes to pack all of their things before they are forced to leave their home. While the girl and her mother surrender themselves to the policeman, her younger brother and her father go into hiding. At the sight of his wife and daughter walking away, never to be seen again, the father relinquishes himself as well, leaving his son trapped in a hideaway beneath the floorboards, presumably to die. The setting for both of the plot lines is Paris, France. Julia’s plotline’s problem is undefined, whereas the problem of the other girl’s plotline is that she is being forcibly taken to a concentration camp because of her religion. The characters themselves are all quite flat at the moment, and the author is using the writing style of dropping the reader into the story with little background knowledge about the characters.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Blog #2

Hello blog readers! When I last concluded reading my exciting assigned portion of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, our protagonist, Bruno, had just moved into his new home. Since my last blog installment, very little has happened. In a short, the last 4 chapters consisted of Bruno inquiring about the ominous and unfriendly looking Concentration Camp near his house, and his family refusing to make the situation clear to Bruno. I have recently made several inferences from the text. Throughout the introduction of the book, Bruno’s sister Gretel was not referred to by name, but simply referenced as the “Hopeless Case.” I inferred that Gretel had a mental illness, as in the early 1940s, people (Nazis are no exception) were less accepting of those with disabilities. I also infer that the place next to Bruno’s house that has only been described as “a nasty place…” (37) with a “very high fence…” (31) and “no greenery anywhere to be seen in the distance…”(32) is a Concentration Camp. When Bruno asked his father to tell him who the people behind the fence were, his father clearly stated, “They’re not people at all.”(53) This leads me to conclude that the mysterious place next to Bruno’s new house must be a Concentration Camp, as Bruno’s father is a commandant in the Nazi regime, and it is common knowledge that the Nazis thought of Jews as if they weren’t people, but were rather a scourge, plaguing the superior Aryans. I have one question of the text as of right now.  My question is, “What string of events will lead Bruno to encounter the title character?”  Throughout the duration of the book, Bruno has often fantasized of running away from his new home, back to Berlin, and I believe that it will be this desire to get away that will lead Bruno to lose his way and end up at some part of the perimeter of the Concentration Camp. Bruno is also a curious child, and I think it is also a possibility that his curiosity got the best of him, and he took a stroll down towards the Concentration Camp.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas Blog 1

The story, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne opens with a boy named Bruno encountering his maid packing all of his things into several suitcases. Bruno learns that he and his family are going to leave their friends and old lives in Berlin behind to move far away. Bruno is saddened by this idea, but the only explanation of the relocation is that his father’s job is taking him to a new area in Germany. Upon Bruno’s family’s arrival in their new home, Bruno is appalled by the lack of greenery and cheerful things in the vicinity. I ended my assigned reading with Bruno’s shocking discovery that his new home is actually right next to a Nazi concentration camp. Bruno is a polite and curious 9 year old boy who lives in Berlin during the early 1940s. Throughout the entirety of the book’s introduction, Bruno has only ever been depicted with semi-angelic qualities. Although he was reluctant to move away from his three best friends for life and his house with the large bannister that he would so frequently slide on, he never argued with his parents about this new change in lifestyle, and he decided to adapt to the situation at hand. His often mentioned (yet never physically depicted) father has a high-power job in the Nazi regime, as evidenced by the following quote, “…The large dining room where the Fury had been to dinner the week before.”(p.2)  As of yet, no real problem has emerged from the plot, although I do believe that since Bruno has just discovered the Concentration Camp, conflict in the plot lies ahead.

Flower Garden Short Story Analysis

The short story Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson was a provocative tale of racism and the effects that it has on other people’s friendships. Flower Garden’s protagonist is a woman by the name of Helen Winning. Helen married into a wealthy family, and lives a happy life. One day, Helen meets Mrs. MacLane, a woman who moved into town with her son. For weeks Helen and Mrs. MacLane are close friends, until Mrs. MacLane decides that she can’t maintain her beautiful, new flower garden alone, and hires Mr. Jones (an African-American). Slowly, Mrs. MacLane and all of her new friends from town start to grow apart, and more people start talking about Mrs. MacLane behind her back. In the end of the book, the alienated Mrs. MacLane’s flower garden gets destroyed by a falling branch, leaving her to contemplate moving back into the city.

               

                I found this story interesting, and I believe that there are many levels of symbolism throughout the plot line. I believe that the flower garden symbolized the friendship between Mrs. MacLane and the townsfolk. In the beginning of the tale, Mrs. Maclane is popular, and the flower garden is colorful and gorgeous, but, soon after Mr. Jones starts associating with Mrs. MacLane, the flowers in the garden start to wilt and die. When things are at their worst, a large branch crushes the garden, also coinciding with Mrs. MacLane’s choice to move back to the city from which she came. I think that the main theme that Shirley Jackson wants readers to think about is tolerance. I could infer that the setting of the book is somewhere in the south, where some people’s views on African-Americans are cruel and askew, and that Mrs. MacLane moved from some big city in the north, where there is more tolerance for minorities. Mrs. MacLane didn’t understand why the townsfolk were shunning her because she has a more inclusive sense of equality, and on the other side of the same coin, the townsfolk didn’t understand why a popular woman such as their new neighbor would be seen with such “poor company.”

Query

Query

Ben H.

According to Dictionary.com, simplicity is the property, condition, or quality of being simple or un-combined. In other words, simplicity is the act of leading a lifestyle without overwhelming stress or demands brought upon you by the complexities of life. There are 8 main types of simplicity; there’s uncluttered simplicity, ecological simplicity, family simplicity, compassionate simplicity, soulful simplicity, business simplicity, civic simplicity, and frugal simplicity. Although uncluttered simplicity and frugal simplicity are the two branches of this mighty tree that are the most often referenced, the type of simplicity that I plan to talk about is compassionate simplicity.

                Compassionate simplicity is in short, the act of bonding with the community around you, and is synonymous with values such as cooperation and fairness. I believe that the world around us can benefit deeply if compassionate simplicity was a principle that was stapled into the beliefs of the general public. If I were to list three benefits of this form of kindness off the top of my head, I’d note that people would probably be more charitable, often looking out for others, and less socially harmful. Mahatma Gandhi, visionary and leader once said, “Live simply so that others can simply live.” The meaning of this quote is that if we live in kindness and compassionate simplicity, others live easier and better lives as well, and thusly, you aren’t just doing yourself a favor, but you’re also contributing to the wellness of a portion of the community! Here is a short video demonstrating the quality of compassionate simplicity.

http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/92-Generosity

                In conclusion, the world is a less confusing, and altogether warmer place if you decided to adjust your beliefs accordingly to the spice of simplicity. Whether on a small basis, such as focusing on needs instead of wants, or taking a fuller step and looking into more difficult options, such as really looking at your life, and deciding what’s important to you. This week’s query is, “How can I be nicer to people on a day to day basis?”

Simplicity Blog Post

By definition, simplicity is the property, condition, or quality of being simple or un-combined. In other words, simplicity is the act of leading a lifestyle without overwhelming stress or demands brought upon you by the complexities of life. There are 8 main sections paths on the journey to achieving simplicity; uncluttered simplicity, ecological simplicity, family simplicity, compassionate simplicity, soulful simplicity, business simplicity, civic simplicity, and frugal simplicity. Although uncluttered simplicity and frugal simplicity are the two branches of this mighty tree that are the most often referenced, the type of simplicity that I plan to write about in this blog entry is compassionate simplicity.

                Compassionate simplicity is in short, the act of bonding with the community around you, and is synonymous with values such as cooperation and fairness. I believe that the world around us can benefit deeply if compassionate simplicity was a principle that was stapled into the beliefs of the general public. If I were to list three benefits of this form of kindness off the top of my head, I’d note that people would probably be more charitable, often looking out for others, and less socially harmful. Mahatma Gandhi, visionary and leader once said, “Live simply so that others can simply live.” The meaning of this quote is that if we live in kindness and compassionate simplicity, others live easier and better lives as well, and thusly, you aren’t just doing yourself a favor, but you’re also contributing to the wellness of a portion of the community!

                In conclusion, the world is a less confusing, and altogether warmer place if you decided to adjust your beliefs accordingly to the spice of simplicity. Whether on a small basis, such as focusing on needs instead of wants, or taking a fuller step and looking into more difficult options, such as really looking at your life, and deciding what’s important to you. I would like to end this blog with a quote by Henry David Thoreau. “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!”

This I Believe Essay

I believe in pressing the shuffle songs button on my iPod.

          I believe in variety, and the power that people have to mix things up. Everyone can be very bland and boring when everyone listens to the same pop music playlist continuously, but I believe that it takes some alternative rock, hip-hop, or country music to make people interesting. My philosophy is backed by the belief that trying new things makes people more interesting, and provides a fuller world view. Just recently, on my trip to bear creek I was asked to perform a short sketch where I had the choice of adopting the persona of four different individuals. I could’ve impersonated Dr. Phil, Lady Gaga, a proctologist, or Newtown Friends School’s very own Jody Smith. My first impulse was to make fun of Jody Smith. I had already established a repertoire satirizing her in front of my peers, and I was looking forward to mocking her newest Jody-ism, the siren detention noise. But as people remember, I did not choose to disrespect our Queen of Upper School. I decided to mimic a proctologist. My reasoning was that if I had made fun of Jody, it would have been just another time doing so, instead of trying something new and different. Just as if I am listening to my iPod and decide to listen to some new alternative rock, it would be more notable than just hearing the same Ludacris song again, even if it means taking a chance with something that I might end up regretting or not enjoying. Pressing the shuffle songs button on my iPod also takes the form of another life lesson: accepting what is. Sure, I might not really like the *NSYNC song that just started playing, but I listen to it anyway because I believe that teaches tolerance. In life, I can get annoyed at people very easily, but I learn to accept that they are how they are and that I should learn to smile and accept them, just like how I’m not a huge *NSYNC fan, but I get into the mood and dance around anyway when young Justin Timberlake and his fellow boy band members start singing. So in the end, don’t keep listening to that same old tune, mix it up! Rocking out to the same melody doesn’t build the real memories!

Simplicity Video