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 Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:52 am
Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who helped track down Nazi war criminals following World War II, then spent the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people, has died at age 96.
Wiesenthal, who helped find one-time SS leader Adolf Eichmann and the policeman who arrested Anne Frank, died in his sleep at his home in Vienna. Wiesenthal was a survivor of five Nazi death camps!
Simon Wiesenthal
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:29 am
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:09 pm
It's so sad that we keep losing Holocaust survivors. For most of us, our children will never meet a Holocaust survivor in person. For me at least, this was a staple of the Yom Ha'Shoah program at my JDS. Doesn't that seem a little scary, that the next generation will be learning about the Holocaust only second hand?
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:50 am
Kiashana It's so sad that we keep losing Holocaust survivors. For most of us, our children will never meet a Holocaust survivor in person. For me at least, this was a staple of the Yom Ha'Shoah program at my JDS. Doesn't that seem a little scary, that the next generation will be learning about the Holocaust only second hand? It's very scary. Matter of fact, it freaks me out so much sometimes I consider throwing all I've planned aside and become an educator to make sure kids won't forget it. I know that if, or when, the day comes when a child says "stop telling me about it, I don't care and it doesn't evolve me. I don't want to hear about it anymore" - really would be one of the most disappointing days of my life. I've always been close to this issue, I've always cared much about it and I can't imagine what it would be like when it becomes "not relevant". Our memory tends to focus on latest events; it's very easy to forget about it and say there are more urgent issues to deal with. So that's how history becomes just a myth - in 100 years, when the survivors are long gone, and their children are gone, and we are gone, and the old camps will be all decayed, and there would be no one alive to even remember a survivor - people would care less. And as time goes by, past events get less and less important. Who of us can really feel some of what we feel on Yom HaShoa on Ab 9th, for example? Ab 9th is, of course, not as worse - yet it was a terrible tragedy that has changed everything in the Jewish world completely; but Ab 9th is 'old news' - and I'm afraid that one day, so will the Holocaust be. It is terrible, it must not happen - but I know for sure we can't change that fact. I do think we should, and must, work on documenting every piece of evidence and making sure that other generations will see it. I like the concept of the new museum of Yad VaShem, where the story is told mostly by video shots of survivors telling their own story. Numbers lack meaning - seeing a person that tells you about him and his family is a completely different experience than listening to flat facts. It makes it more alive and vivid - and that's something we should encourage. I do not think people in 100 or 200 years will care about the Holocaust as much as we do; we must make sure it'll take a hell lot of time until they see it as "none of their business".
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:27 pm
cry cry cry cry cry cry cry
i hate it when the jewish history teachers in skool make you read holocaust books. i started crying when i read one.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 2:15 am
Which one have you read (just curious)?
I really do think it is very important to read those books; right now it seems like a burden to you, but try not to forget the fact it is a part of each and every one of us. It's our history and I, personally, know that it has shaped many parts of my personality. I wish they wouldn't have to make you and you'd do that on your own; however, maybe you do have a point and we should consider the way we teach young children and even preteens about it, and make sure we don't damage them in the process.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:10 am
Bloodless Amber Which one have you read (just curious)? I really do think it is very important to read those books; right now it seems like a burden to you, but try not to forget the fact it is a part of each and every one of us. It's our history and I, personally, know that it has shaped many parts of my personality. I wish they wouldn't have to make you and you'd do that on your own; however, maybe you do have a point and we should consider the way we teach young children and even preteens about it, and make sure we don't damage them in the process. i read like the life of this one girl who was in the holocaust when she was a teen. then i wrote like this poem about what i would do in honor of the people in the holocaust and i had to read it in front of the whole school neutral
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 10:30 am
mellella i read like the life of this one girl who was in the holocaust when she was a teen. then i wrote like this poem about what i would do in honor of the people in the holocaust and i had to read it in front of the whole school neutral Are we talking about Anne Frank? It's really great that you've read it. *Thumbs up*
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:04 pm
Bloodless Amber mellella i read like the life of this one girl who was in the holocaust when she was a teen. then i wrote like this poem about what i would do in honor of the people in the holocaust and i had to read it in front of the whole school neutral Are we talking about Anne Frank? It's really great that you've read it. *Thumbs up* no, thats like 8th grade material. it was somebody else
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:10 pm
I read Night in 8th grade by my language arts teacher, and it was so sad and I kept crying. That's the most recent I've read.
Now in history, we're reading about Jewish people coming to America, and trust me, its not very uplifting. It said something about Jewish, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, and Italian people being the most discriminated against in the northeast; I'm all but Italian if you go back far enough xd
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darkphoenix1247 Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:42 pm
what a coincidence, just today our jewish history teacher gave us a packet about simon and now we have to do a project about him xd
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:57 pm
On the books and such- I know that they can be upsetting, but they are an important part of our history and as the survivors pass away, they will become our only first hand accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Night is an excellent choice. I would also recomend Survival in Aushwitz by Primo Levi. There are also many excellent movies out there, besides the classic Schindler's List. The Pianist is a good one to look for.
Can anyone tell I took a class on this stuff? Ninth grade at Hebrew School, Holocaust Film and Lit. It was supposed to be just 10/11 graders, but four of us requested to be allowed to take it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 12:58 pm
Where Primo Levi is mentioned, is where you find me.
"If this is a Man" is one of the best descriptions I've ever read. I do recommend it for all. It is a difficult book, but whoever is interested and wants to understand - should give it a try.
(Oh, I've just checked and it is called "Survival in Auschwitz" in the U.S.A. I'm joining to your recommendation)
On the opposite side, "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl really gives a very similar story, told from a different angle.
I read lots of testimonies, I've always been kind of, I do know what to call it - and you can actually see how each and every prisoner looks at their situation differently and even though the conditions are sometimes the same, each and every one has their own unique way of telling their story and every one of them experienced things differently. That's what helps us" re-humanize" those dehumanized victims, I believe.
Right now I'm reading "Holocaust" by Gerald Green. I can't believe I wasn't aware of this book before - it tells the story of a holocaust survivor and an SS man. I'm only on the 60's page, but I'm fascinated.
Besides, the books by Halina Birenbaum are astonishing. If anyone gets to lay their hands on one - don't hesitate. She's an amazing woman.
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:52 pm
I felt Night was the best way to understand the Holocaust. It's such a distant thing, and you wonder why people do those kind of things, but then reading Night is like reaching backwards and looking at yourself.
Being Hispanic, my family never had to come to America. America came to us.
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:55 pm
Do you feel that after reading "Night", you understand why people do those kinds of things?
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