What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me
The Facing History and Ourselves experience has been an eye-opening one for me. When I walked into the classroom on the first day, the only thing I knew about the course is that we would study the Holocaust. I had no idea that I would learn about myself, my identity, and my responsibility in society. I feel that after taking this course, I have a greater understanding of racism, prejudice, bias, and their negative impacts on society. When a society separates themselves into “we” and “they”, monstrous events can and will occur, such as the Holocaust. We have watched many films this semester that have resonated with me. After learning all of the subject material in this course, I feel I have civic agency. Civic agency occurs when a person makes a moral, intellectual, and emotional connection to the content. I have learned the beliefs rooted into the citizens of Nazi Germany, so I fully understand how the Holocaust happened. As a result, I am much more sensitive when people make racist jokes or snide comments. I know that because of this racism and ignorance, terrible things can happen. The four main movies that I will always remember are The Warsaw Uprising, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Sophie's Choice, and The US Army Nazi Concentration Camps.
Before we delved deep into the events of the Holocaust, we learned a lot about Hitler and how he created Nazi Germany. Germany was in a tough economic time, and Hitler blamed it on the Jews. Propaganda was used to make the Jews seem like the enemy to all of the citizens in Germany. This is a perfect example of separating society into “we” and “they”, “we” being the Germans and “they” being the Jews. Eventually this anti-Semitic view spread across Europe and Hitler was a hero in many people’s minds. To Jewish people, he was a monster. The majority of Jews could not do anything about what was happening to them. A select group of Jewish people and people opposing Hitler stood up for themselves. This was shown in The Warsaw Uprising. This film left a lasting impression on me because it was about the 63-day struggle in 1944 to free Warsaw, Poland from Nazi and German Occupation. The movie showed how much tremendous courage these citizens had. This left a lasting impression on me because I did not realize that there was a minority that went against the majority. This is not easy to do. The citizens going against the Nazis believed in themselves and that they deserved better treatment. Though they suffered many hardships in the movie, they are commended for their excellence in courage. This movie made me realize that though it is hard to go against the majority, it is possible. This changed my thinking because I always went with what the majority wanted. Before when I was in a group situation, I would avoid conflict and go with what everyone else wanted, even if it wasn’t what I believed in. Now, I will think differently whenever in a group scenario.
The second movie that changed my views on the Holocaust was Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This movie portrayed the Holocaust in the point of view of a little boy, Bruno. He befriended a boy in a concentration camp named Shmuel, who was a Jew. Bruno did not understand the atrocities of what was going on at the camp, he called it a “farm” and he was jealous that he could not be inside with his friend to play. The fact that Bruno befriended Shmuel is particularly interesting because the rest of his family, including his father (a Nazi soldier), were against the Jewish people and knew what was happening in the camps. Bruno is eight years old and naïve, so he does not understand that the Jews are “the enemy” in the eyes of the Nazis. Bruno becomes friends with Shmuel purely because he is a very nice little boy. Bruno and Shmuel do not notice their differences, which is why they become such great friends. In the end, both little boys die in the gas chambers, but they die together, holding hands. This is an extremely tragic ending, and I thought about that scene for a long time afterwards. This movie made me realize just how atrocious the Holocaust was, taking the innocent lives of Jewish people no matter their age. This movie makes me think about putting people’s differences aside and not judging them based on religion, race, or beliefs. In the end we are all living, breathing human beings who deserve to be loved. If we can eliminate the separation of “we” and “they”, the world would be a much more peaceful place. This is not an easy feat to tackle, but if we all take responsibility it becomes much easier.
The movie we watched that really gave me a sense of civic agency was Sophie’s Choice. This movie was about a woman who was taken to a concentration camp with her two children. A Nazi soldier approached the woman, Sophie, and told her two choose one of her children to keep. She had a little boy and a little girl. Sophie eventually gave her daughter up under the high pressure situation. The Nazi was yelling at her and telling her to choose or else he would take both of her children. When I watched this film, I tried to put myself in Sophie’s shoes. I could not even fathom choosing between my children because I know what the concentration camp really involved. Sophie did not know all of the facts though; she was being deceived into thinking the camp was a “work camp” and that she would survive with her children. Since she did not know what was really going on, I think the decision becomes a little bit easier. If I was her, I would have given up my daughter as well because she is weaker than her son. Though this choice is a very hard one for me to think about now, I believe she did the right thing at the time. She did not want to lose both of her children. Though that decision haunted her years afterwards, she just did what she was told to. This movie gave me civic agency because I understood what was going on morally, intellectually, and emotionally. I really put myself in Sophie’s shoes and thought about what I would do if I was in that situation.
The last movie we watched, US Army Nazi Concentration Camps, was the movie I will remember for years to come. I cannot forget the images of the corpses piled up in the barns of various concentration camps. I cannot forget the bulldozers that dumped the bodies into a ditch because the surroundings were becoming “too much”. I cannot forget the picture of the crematoriums, the gas chambers, and the human ashes. I cannot forget the faces of the citizens who lived nearby the concentration camps after they saw the bodies, the filth, and experienced the stench. This movie made me realize just how large the Holocaust was. It showed me just how far people will take it to separate themselves from the enemy. I was truly shocked after watching this movie. It changed the image of “The Holocaust” in my mind. I realize now the extent of Hitler’s hatred, and the bystanders who let him have his way with the Jews. His beliefs were infectious, and I cannot believe that no innocent bystanders did not stand up for other humans.
Facing History and Ourselves has changed my views dramatically. Though the course material was intense and tough to watch at some points, I truly believe that taking this class was a positive experience. I was very ignorant about some historical events such as the Holocaust. I was also ignorant in thinking that I was better than some other people. Whenever my friends made racist jokes or comments degrading other people, I let them do it. I even laughed along with them. Now that I understand what can happen when you separate yourselves from other people, I will never laugh at those kinds of jokes again. Though I am not perfect, I am much more sensitive to these kinds of jokes and comments. Taking this course I have gained extensive knowledge of historical events, but I also learned a lot about myself and my true identity. That is what Facing History and Ourselves has meant to me.
