Blended Poetry Based on The Cage

We read The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender.  When we finished that book, the students highlighted passages that really spoke to them and then answered a few prompts of their own.  They then took those highlighted portions of Sender's work and mixed them with their own answers to the prompts, creating a blended poem.  These are a few really good ones, though they all turned out spectacular!

"It is Good" by Brooke and Ruth Sender

It is good to be alive

    With hopes of a bright future

I must never again give up

    My family is counting on me

I want to take everything with me

    All those precious moments

I must carry them in my heart

     the sights, the sounds, the laughter

We still dream

     a family, a husband

A life almost forgotten

     with old hopes comes new

Hands reach out,

     to grasp that old life

I want to shout for Joy!

     memories never fade.

"Hope" by Snezhanna and Ruth Sender

It is good to be alive

     God and my religion keep me going.

Beauty and horror around me.

     I want to be happy.

I must never again give up.

      My friend helped me get through so much.

I am going to write again.

     Writing stories keeps me sane.

A world of poetry, beauty, and hope

     My dreams are an inspiration, giving me hope for a better day.

"Memory" by Elliott and Ruth Sender

A gentle breeze caresses my face

     A feeling that my mother is right there beside me.

A world of love

     The future with my own family

I must never give up

     Guidance from my dad in the right direction

Dream of a better world

     I hope to one day help others in need

I must carry them in my heart

     The memories with my cousins

A tomorrow that is coming for all of us

     A future of happiness

It is good to be alive

     The advantage to travel to a beautiful place to live in my memory

Every detail.

"He's Always Listening" by Ashley and Ruth Sender

He listens with interest to my every word

     God, He's always listening

I speak to Him of a tomorrow

     to become a teacher, to have a nice home

Forgetting death knocking at our door, we still dream

     to get married, to have kids

How lovely it must be to run freely among such surroundings

     Disneyworld, Childhood fun

Hands reach out to touch him

     God, He's always listening

He listens with interest to my every word. 

"Life" by Emily and Ruth Sender

A gentle breeze coming through the window caresses my face.

     Married happily and with a healthy family.

It is good to be alive.

     Jesus, my Savior, who has given me a life to live.

They all left traces of their lives here

     At the table on Sundays after church during lunch.

Set amid majestic mountains.  Such beauty.

     The view of the sunset from my porch falling behind the ridge of mountains.

Like a prince in a fairy tale,

     large grassy yard to freely play in.

Beauty and horror all around me,

     Mom's and dad's encouraging inspirational words surround me.

Rescue and Resistance

Reflect on the following statement from the Talmud: 

 "He who saves one life, it's as though he has preserved the existence of the entire world."

Week of April 27

I know it has bothered us a little not having a defined schedule, but I think it was worth it to get to hear Sonja, right?  This week we will get back on track.  I am giving you ONE day this week to FINISH your artistic projects.  That's it.  They will be graded on May 4.  If you will have more to do, it will have to be done outside of class.  OK?

Monday, April 27

Seminar, activity over The Cage

Tuesday, April 28 

Resistance

Wednesday, April 29

Finish artistic projects

DUE:  Journal response

Thursday, April 30

Liberation and rescue

Friday, May 1

Liberation

"Escape from Sobibor"

“Most people only dream their nightmares. However, I and my fellow survivors actually lived this experience,” said Philip Bialowitz, one of only seven remaining survivors of the Nazi extermination camp, Sobibor, where an estimated 250,000 Jews, including most of his family, were murdered. “We fought hard for our dignity and our lives. The inhumanity of the Nazis knew no limits.”

“Shema” by Primo Levi

You who live secure
In your warm houses
Who return at evening to find
Hot food and friendly faces:

Consider whether this is a man,
Who labors in the mud
Who knows no peace
Who fights for a crust of bread
Who dies at a yes or a no.
Consider whether this is a woman,
Without hair or name
With no more strength to remember
Eyes empty and womb cold
As a frog in winter.

Consider that this has been:
I commend these words to you.
Engrave them on your hearts
When you are in your house, when
you walk on your way,
When you go to bed, when you rise.
Repeat them to your children.
Or may your house crumble,
Disease renders you powerless,
Your offspring avert their faces from you.



Here is a link to a website about Philip Bialowitz where I got this information. Any response to his story, the movie, the poem?

Your Cause

In the English II Honors class, Sonja DuBois challenged them to pick one cause to devote their time, energy, and resources to. As you age, there will be lots of requests and demands of you for social causes and charities. One lesson of the Holocaust is that "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." (Edmund Burke) We are responsible, throughout our lives, as citizens of a democracy, of a society, for doing our best to correct injustices around us. Too often we do one of two things: we either ignore these problems or we try to give a little to everything to ease our guilty consciences. As Sonja so eloquently pointed out, imagine if each person chose ONE cause and devoted him or herself to it for life?

Obviously my passion is respect for your fellow man. I have devoted myself as an educator to a study of the Holocaust in the hope of educating those around me about making the world a safer place. I feel that every human being deserves respect. As far as my "cause", beyond being a Holocaust educator, I am committed to a ministry for abused and neglected children called Royal Family Ministries. My church does a camp every summer for nearly forty children in the foster care systems of Bradley, Hamilton, and McMinn counties. I have served as a counselor at that camp almost every year since its inception in 1999. This is our tenth year for Royal Family Kids Camp, and we have expanded that ministry to include a middle school retreat about five years ago. I serve on the Royal Family board at my church, Kraig and I are both counselors, and we have chosen to make this ministry the source of our financial support. You know that I try not to ask you to do anything I would not/am not doing, so I wanted to answer the question that follows before I asked you to.

My question to you is, what is your cause going to be? What are you passionate about? What do you see as something that merits your time, energy, and resources? Or are YOU going to stand by and do nothing?

What Did You Think?

Pictures to Come!
You all had an opportunity on Thursday to do something that very few people in your generation have gotten to do, and fewer and fewer people in the future will do. You (Holocaust Lit and English II) got to hear the story of Sonja DuBois, a survivor of the Holocaust. I really don't want to post a bunch of questions on here or put words in your mouths. I mainly want to hear your response to her story.

I will tell you that I was so interested in what she said about the moment that she decided to start sharing her story with others was when she saw the Bible study about Esther and realized that she, too, lived a double life. And just like Esther, there were lots of people involved in saving Sonja. I, as a parent, cannot imagine what her parents must have felt when they left her at the station, her mother who put the necklace around her neck, and then walked away. Even if I KNEW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Emma and Kelsey would be safer left behind (and her parents didn't KNOW), I cannot fathom what it would feel like to put them in the arms of a stranger to them and walk away, not knowing what would become of them. The pain they must have suffered at that moment probably hurt so much more than the death they encountered later. I also was staggered by how much we take for granted with our own lives, in that we all have people who can tell our life stories, who we look like, act like, and so on. She has no one in her life who can do that for her.

I said I wasn't going to put words in your mouths and I guess I did. I could probably write forever about my response to her story and the feelings it stirred in me. She was so arresting, such a powerful speaker, yet so approachable. But now, the responsibility lies with you and me. We are among the few people who have heard first hand the story of a Holocaust survivor. What, now, will we do with it? Sonja's story lives on with us. Her parents live on in us, because we know the sacrifice they made so that she could live to tell. It is your duty, your obligation, to bear witness when the time comes that no one is alive to say, "I was there. It happened to my family. I saw the camps. I lived it." YOU will have to stand up and say, "I heard the story of a survivor. I saw the necklace her mother left her, saw the one surviving photograph of her parents." It did happen, and we have to make sure that the lessons learned are applied to our daily lives.

I guess that's my sermon for the day.

Week of April 20

Wow, you guys are going to have such a special week. I am so anxious for you to hear Sonja this week. It is going to be something to remember.

Monday, April 20
Hidden Children lesson

Tuesday, April 21
Special guest, Sonja DuBois

Wednesday, April 22
Resistance

Thursday, April 23
Poems, anthology
"Escape from Sobibor"

Friday, April 24
"Escape from Sobibor"

Week of April 14

I have to say, I am probably the most impressed with you all this week than I have been all semester.  Your artistic Remembrance projects are seriously amazing.  You had awesome ideas, you actually made them happen, and at the end, you started to work well together and pull it off!  I can't wait to see the finished projects.

Tuesday, April 14

Watch "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"

Wednesday, April 15

Finish "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"

Thursday, April 16

Work day

Friday, April 17

Children Lesson

Ecphrastic Poetry Extended Project

After writing an ecphrastic poem in response to the photo of the Little Polish Boy, the students were given an assignment of finding a work, whether a photograph, painting, sculpture, monument, song, or book, and writing an ecphrastic poem based on that. There were some really great ones but the three I included were three that I could easily find the work to portray with it.

America is Too Strong by Ashley
Our nation as a whole, so strong and so bright
It was crushed to the ground by two simple flights

The losses they caused and all the sadness we shared
America is still great even though we were all scared

What wold we do, how will we take a stand
America is our big, beautiful, and bright land

We will stand strong and not let them see
The hurt, pain, and agony that left us to be

We are Americans, known to never give up
The damage that's done is not worth a million bucks

Great innocent lives were lost forever
But their memories will be here and gone never

A beautiful light stands on Ground Zero
You all are truly every American's hero

We will all still stand big and tall for our survivors and ones we lost
This is living proof to see this beautiful cross.

You Showed Us Reality by Laura
Does the world stand still in this moment?
As your flesh was torn from your bones?
As your blood curdling screams filled the air,
Did anyone hear you?
Or did they turn their heads the other way?
In this hour, no one moves, no one speaks, not a creature rushes to your side.
For you are marked as dead. I know you aren't, but child, it doesn't matter...
The famine has claimed you,
In its eager arms, I see it pulls you near,
It has promised to hold onto you.
As inhumanity's bells ring clear,
I see your woeful fate draw near.

Man Sitting Alone by Paulina
It's late
Maybe it's early

A man just walked in with his date
They must be tired, surely

They talk about what they have done
They talk about what they will do

The lights above them shine like the sun
The man behind the bar says it is two

I have no one to talk about the time with
No one to talk about the past

She left June fifth
Of the year last

Now I sit here along
At the restaurant where we met

Now my heart turns to stone
I haven't forgotten her yet

How she used to order a sundae
Every Friday

How she would giggle
At all my jokes

How her little finger used to wiggle
How she wouldn't eat her egg yokes

Her voice was soft and sweet
Like tiny silver bells

There was no stranger she wouldn't greet
No one she wouldn't wish well

She had no faults
She glowed like the morning dawn

I was like an empty vault
Cold like the morning dew on a lawn

Afraid to tell her how much I loved her
Masking my true emotion

Like a cur
I hid my devotion

Now all I can do is wait
Here with all my woes

I hope for the kindness of fate
I miss her from my head to my toes

I sit here waiting for her to come back
I'll wait here for her every day

I'll make up for all I lack
I'll wait until in my grave I lay

READ THIS!

Ooh, look at my new widgets on the sidebar!!! Do you not think they are SO cool?!?!?!

For posting your comments... There are a LOT of options to comment on this time. Please scroll down and read them all before you decide on one. Also, it is not going to count if you comment on the schedule posts. :)

Week of April 6

Different kind of week next week. After discussing our plans for Remembrance Day, I am still unsure. I don't want to plan something just for the sake of planning it, but I really do want to have some specific recognition of the memory of the Holocaust. Regarding our artistic responses, however, I am excited. The garden (which I will be honest, I was not expecting to progress and now I am half-thinking that it might be completed!) sounds amazing, the website is such an incredible idea, and the montage/collage is something that I would love to work on myself. The only thing I am still unsure of is the bench. I have looked at some over the weekend and I am just not sure what we could get that would hold up well outside. I don't know. I really thought that a bookcase would be awesome. I also went to some antique stores this weekend and got kind of interested in something like a trunk that could be painted, put on wheels, then used to store some of my Holocaust resources. We can talk more tomorrow about this. OK? I'm excited about it!

Morally Outraged?

I wasn't originally planning to post any more about "Europa, Europa," but I was interested in how differently this class seemed to feel than some of my class members last year. Perel "became" "racially pure", not just "racially pure", but actually a German soldier and then a member of the Hitler Youth, in this movie. Most of you seemed to view this as admirable, a triumph of sorts because he "outsmarted" the Nazis. Some in the past have been almost morally outraged at his decision, and have viewed it as a betrayal of his people and his brothers. I would venture to guess that Holocaust survivors who have viewed this movie also have varying opinions on the topic. For the sake of argument, I just wondered if there was anyone who did not speak up in class on the opposing side but would like to do so on here. If this post speaks to anyone, I am very curious to hear your opinions.

No Academy Award

"Europa, Europa" won a Golden Globe Award from LA Film Critics. However, the German film committee decided not to nominate it for an Academy Award. The response in Germany to this film was, for the most part, negative. Some called the main character "opportunistic and cynical," while others questioned his morality. What is your reaction to the denial for this film to be eligible for an Academy Award by its own county's film critics?

Klein Foundation

I had told you that I would put a link to their foundation on this site. Here is the link to the Klein Foundation.

Clean Slate

The first nine weeks is now behind us. All grades are starting over, completely fresh and new. Everyone has a clean slate, if you will. Now is the time to decide to change the habits from last grading period, if you weren't happy with your grades. Now is the time to reinforce the good habits and attitudes from last grading period, if you are pleased with the results. But whatever you choose to do for the next nine weeks, there are still nine more weeks of school. Nine more weeks of assignments, tests, projects, and grades... I don't know about you, but I am happy to have nine weeks left with you guys. We have lots of information left to cover, great books to read, powerful films to watch, and thought-provoking discussion to have. Thanks for making my job fun, if not always easy! You might have heard it said, "Choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life." I can testify to that statement and I can say to you that it is the best advice I could give as far as your future and your career.

20 lbs...

Gerda Weissman Klein and her family members were told that they could carry 20 lbs worth of items when they were deported. Look around your room, your house, your car, your school... can you imagine if your entire life, your history, your life story had to be collected into a 20 lb package? What impact must this have had on Gerda and her family? What impact would it have on you? Is there a societal difference between the world she was living in prior to the Holocaust and our materialistic country?

Response to All But My Life

Please respond to one (or both, if you are an overachiever) of the two questions below in response to the novel. Feel free as well to make other comments related to the novel.
1. It has often been said that major historical events provide an opportunity to see humanity's darkest side, as well as humanity's best side. What examples from the novel illustrate both points? Can you think of historical events from your lifetime that can be explained from each perspective? Give some examples.
2. There were so many instances in the text when someone did something that seemed insignificant for Gerda, yet it affected her strongly. Name some of those things and discuss how they had such an impact on her. Are there things that happen in your own life that might seem insignificant to others, yet are very encouraging to you?

Week of March 30

Well, I know that we are probably all missing the sleeping in and sunshine rain and time to do as we wish, but the facts are that we have to come back! :) So, we might as well make the most of it, right???

You guys are watching what is quite possibly my very favorite movie this week. It is a true story and is totally amazing. I can't wait for you all to see it. (And I enjoyed our relief day last week, too!)

Monday, March 30
All But My Life seminar

Tuesday, March 31
Watch ABML
Book Circles activity
DUE: Ecphrastic poems

Wednesday, April 1
Watch "Europa! Europa!"

Thursday, April 2
Finish "Europa! Europa!"

Friday, April 3
"Living On"

Important Sidenote Regarding Commenting

Just a side note, the commenting seems to be about the poems. The poems are there merely as a showcase. Please feel free to comment on them. However, your grade comes from commenting on the other postings. You may have to hit the button to go to older posts to see them. Thanks!

And one last personal plea: Would one person PLEASE PLEASE comment on my passage from my book? Someone? Anyone? I was so excited about hearing what you had to say about it and discussing it with you. I beg of you-- comment on mine. Just one person is all I ask...

Week of March 16

Spring Break is upon us!

Monday, March 16
T-4 Euthanasia program
Mobile Killing Squads

Tuesday, March 17
Camps Echoes and Reflections

Wednesday, March 18- Dachau documentary, Camps lecture

Thursday, March 19
Relief day

Read All But My Life over break. We will seminar over it on Monday, March 30. PLEASE read this text carefully. There is so much to talk about and it's such an excellent work. Do not slough this off. This is the story of someone's life. Treat it as such.

Ecphrastic Poems

These are some of the ecphrastic poems this class in response to the photograph of the little Polish boy. I have read them, listened to you read them, then read them again and I am in awe of how amazing this writing was. You guys did an incredible job. Thank you.

"To the World Who Turned Its Back" by Kassie
I walk away with this child at my side.
You walk away with violence at your back.
I walk away with all my personal belonging in this small bag.
You go home at night with all your luxuries at hand.
I sleep in a small room with two other families on the cold floor.
You crawl into your lush pajamas, and into your warm bed.
You may have a limited supply of food due to rations,
But we are so limited we don't have enough to eat every day.
I now walk away at gun-point,
and you walk away blind-minded.
If you had to live one day in any of our shoes,
then maybe you would have taken a stand for humanity.
One day in our shoes and you could really see what happened when your back was turned.

"No Mercy- to the Nazi Soldier" by Nick
Nazi soldier, how do you live with yourself?
Do the screams of those you have slain not haunt you?
Now you point your gun at a little boy
The poor little Polish boy never stood a chance.
How do you live with yourself?
Do the screams of the innocent not haunt you, soulless, heartless soldier?
One day you will receive their same fate.
Once your day comes I will laugh at your downfall.
I will laugh at your misery.
You ask me to show mercy.
I will not.
You never showed anyone else mercy.
As the darkness surrounds, you will say, "Help me please"
I will laugh at your misfortune.
You will never receive my mercy.
I will watch as your soul burns in the fiery pits of the underworld.
I will watch as you receive the punishment you deserve.

"Watching" by Adam
Everything happens for a reason.
There is no chance, only truth.
Herded together, trapped, demoralized, headed for death.
Yet they stay loyal. They are chosen.
They pray, yet I do not answer their prayers.
Everything happens for a reason, and nothing by chance.
Arms stretched toward me, yet this time it is not in worship, but fear.
Fear that a mother may be stripped of her child.
Fear that their belongings may be torn away.
Fear that their very life may be taken away and put into another human being's hand.
He, being the same as you, in every aspect besides the way in which he worships me.
But everything happens for a reason.
So I let it continue, watching quietly from the clouds.
A million unanswered prayers in a box beside me.
Prayers full of suffering and pain.
But everything happens for a reason...
Right?

"The Little Boy" by Kate
Fear:
You start by taking Grandma
Next you take my sister
Now my whole family is gone
I am alone.
Hunger:
From dawn to dusk I work in the dusty streets
Your yells mingle with the voice of sleep
Calling to me and pulling me under
Spoiled bread crust now tastes like heaven
I got caught stealing my friend's portion
All I can think about is food.
Power:
Now you point a gun at me
I have done nothing
My home, my family, my dignity, and my dreams gone.
And how you ask of me the one thing I have left
My life.

"To the Little Polish Boy with His hands Held Up" by Corey
To the little boy with his hands held up
I am sorry for the pain you had to bear.
I am sorry that my fathers before me did not
hear your cries of help when you so desperately needed it.
I am sorry that you were stripped of your youth
and never had a chance to reclaim it.
I am sorry for the hole you were subject to by the cruel world
you were raised in.
I am sorry that you were held accountable for decisions that were not yours to make.
I am sorry that you were categorized as a person not deserving of life.
I am sorry for the inevitable fate you had to face.

"Little Boy, Don't Cry" by Elizabeth
-Look at him, scared to death
Little boy, don't cry
-We're about the same, could I be next?
Please little boy, don't cry
-How could they do such horrid things?
Little boy, don't you let them see tears
-We'll be ok, maybe not now but soon
Little boy, keep that head up
-They'll put their guns down, they won't kill us kids
Come on little boy, don't cry

"Final Words" by Trevor
Don't take me before you think
Think of my parents, brother, and friends.
Think if someone did this to your own family.
Think of my future
I know killing's your job, but does that make it right?
Think of my blood on your hands
Think of my tears when you sleep at night.
Think of my final words before you sent me to the gas chambers.
Is saving your own life so important, that you will kill thousands of others?
Think of explaining to your kids what their daddy did at work today
Think of holding your baby with the same mouth that shouted death orders.
If you still want to kill me, then that's fine.
All I wanted you to do is think.

"Look at Me, Mr. Soldier" by Hannah
Look at me, Mr. Soldier
With your calm shiny face with your little mustache
Who am I? Do you know me?
Am I what you are fighting deep inside?
Look at me, Mr. Soldier
What do you see?
The little boy with the deep fear in the pit of my soul
OR the man I could become?
Do you see my mother desperately trying to save me
Or the father of my own children I could become?
Look at me, Mr. Soldier
With your laxed trigger finger dolting my fate
Standing there so strong, so powerful, so calm.
As I stand here with the blood pumping through
My tiny body for maybe just a second longer
Look at me, Mr. Soldier.

"To the Heartless" by Sarah
What makes you a man?
Holding a gun to a child's head
Terrorizing those defenseless
Who makes you a man?
The women who cower in fear
As you traipse through the streets
As if you have power over their lives
You wear a symbol on your arm,
Follow your orders as well we any trained dog.
Does this make you a man?
No.
This makes you
a coward.
This makes you as defeated as those
starving, tortured souls you claim
authority over.
This makes you a monster.
Continue to kill, continue to make those people bleed
On the outside.
As you will surely die, and bleed, soul-less on the inside.

"Instrument of Death" by Sierra White
Sadism consumes the core of my heart
Malevolence dictates my being;
Indulgent upon bloodlust and power
I stare at the vermin, seething.

Pathetic! So weak, so pitiful and questioning;
What did they do to me?
Asking why, "Why so heartless, sir?"
I chuckle silently through this nonchalant facade
"Sonny, what you did was breathe."

I am not sorry,
I do not hate it,
For I am a monster
And I embrace it.

This is a gore-flecked realm
in which the reaper thrives,
And in thrall to shadows
I became the destroyer of lives.

"To the Photographer" by Paulina
Keep standing behind your camera
Watching as they march to their death
But does it matter if they live or die
Because they are just rats and vermin
You capture the moment to show your glory
But I can only see your malice
You captured this moment to show your pride.
But I can only see your hate
Keep clicking your camera
As they keep walking to their death
But does it matter if they live or die
Because they are only human
They are only women and girls
Boys and men
What does it matter
You capture this moment to show your dominance
But I can only see that their memory lives on
You capture this moment to show your triumph
But I can only see your failure
You planned to wipe them out
But you failed
Because I will remember them
So they won't be forgotten
So in a way
A very small way
I'm glad you captured this moment
So I can remember your malice, hate, and your failure
I'm glad you took the picture so l can remember this little boy
His family
His friends
His innocence and youth
Keep clicking behind your camera
Watching them as they walk to their death
But what does it matter if they live or die
Because I will remember whether they lived or died.

Response to a Quote...

I am reading a book right now called Reading Lolita in Tehran. It is a very interesting book that is a memoir about a teacher in Iran who gathered seven of her students in her home for a book club group to study forbidden Western classics. It is fascinating. However, I can't help but notice a few similarities between the situation in the book (limited freedoms imposed by the government) and situations in Nazi Germany in the late 1930's. There is one passage in particular that I would like to see if you have a comment on. The passage is copied below, with credit to the author, Azar Nafisi:

"I had asked my students if they remember the dance scene in Invitation to a Beheading: the jailor invites Cincinnatus to a dance. They begin a waltz and move out into the hall. In a corner they run into a guard: 'They described a circle near him and glided back into the cell, and now Cincinnatus regretted that the swoon's friendly embrace had been so brief.' This movement in circles is the main movement of the novel. As long as he accept the sham world the jailers impose upon him, Cincinnatus will remain their prisoner and will move within the circles of their creation. The worst crime committed by totalitarian mindsets is that they force their citizens, including their victims, to become complicit in their crimes. Dancing with your jailor, participating in your own execution, that is an act of utmost brutality. My students witnessed it in show trials in television and enacted it every time they went out into the streets dressed as they were told to dress. They had not become part of the crowd who watched the executions, but they did not have the power to protest them, either.
The only way to leave the circle, to stop dancing with the jailor, is to find a way to preserve one's individuality, that unique quality which evades description but differentiates one human being from the other. That is why, in their world, rituals-- empty rituals-- become so central. There was not much difference between our jailers and Cincinnatus's executioners. They invaded all private spaces and tried to shape ever gesture, to force us to become one of them, and in that itself was another form of execution."

It is long, I know, and detailed. But really read it and think about it deeply. It has a lot to say.

Torah Scroll from Bergen-Belsen

I also learned a further Holocaust connection to another item that Ilan Ramon took with him on that fateful shuttle mission. You can read the story of a Torah scroll and comment on this story.

Petr Ginz and Ilan Ramon

“Moon Landscape” connects the dream of one Jewish boy who is a symbol of the talent lost in the Holocaust, to the journey of one Jewish astronaut, who is a symbol of our revival. (Quote from Jewish education website)

We talked a little in class about Petr and Ilan Ramon (the first Israeli astronaut). I have been so moved by different stories I have discovered about their connection. Below are a few quotes and the picture. Please feel free to comment on this topic.

"Being the first Israeli astronaut -- I feel I am representing all Jews and all Israelis," Ramon said. Referring to his mother and grandmother, who both survived imprisonment in Auschwitz, he added, "I'm the son of a Holocaust survivor -- I carry on the suffering of the Holocaust generation, and I'm kind of proof that despite all the horror they went through, we're going forward."




"Speaking to the New York-based American Society for Yad Vashem from the Houston, Texas Space Centre where he was in training, Ilan Ramon said, "I feel that my journey fulfills the dream of Petr Ginz 58 years on. A dream that is ultimate proof of the greatness of the soul of a boy imprisoned within the ghetto walls, the walls of which could not conquer his spirit. Ginz's drawings, stored at Yad Vashem, are a testimony to the triumph of the spirit."

I wanted to commemorate the spirit of both these great souls, Ilan and Petr, by repainting young Petr's landscape in such a way as to show both of them, side by side, looking on the Earth from the vantage point of the dream they shared...as I like to think they now are. You can see the results of my efforts below.

The next time you look at the stars, think of them. They died so that one day, our children may turn to look at the distant Earth and see the pain and strife of this life in it's proper perspective. "
Barry Munden, Feb.1, 2003

Week of March 9

I think you all saw on Friday that things are getting more emotional. I really appreciate the sincerity you put into your letters. I have read a few and they are very well-written. I like that you put so much thought and effort into them. I hope to see more of that in the coming weeks. Be sure that you have finished the Salvaged Pages reading by Monday so that we can talk about it. I am pretty excited about Monday's activity as well, because I feel like you all are good writers. Tuesday's test is a big one. Study hard and take it seriously. There is also a blog assignment due this week, by Friday. I will give you several possibilities to blog on.

Monday, March 9
Continue ghettos
Warsaw Uprising
"To the Little Polish Boy"
Salvaged Pages
DUE: Journal entry #4

Tuesday, March 10
Evaluation (test)
DUE: Visual over the quote

Wednesday, March 11
Share visuals and poems
Wannsee Conference

Thursday, March 12
Wannsee Conference clip

Friday, March 13
Deportations

Week of March 2

We are now almost through Part 1 of the course. By the middle of next week, we will be starting The Final Solution.

Monday, March 2
Library/Lab for research

Tuesday, March 3
Presentations

Wednesday, March 4
Presentations

Thursday, March 5
Presentations (?)
(Ghettos if finished)

Friday, March 6
Ghettos day 1 or day 2

Book Burnings

In 1821, Heinrich Heine wrote, "Where one burns books, one will, in the end, burn people." Consider what Heine meant by this statement. In your opinion, what is the danger of burning books? How, if at all, does burning books jeopardize human life?
[Note: Somewhat ironically, Heine was a noted German author who converted to Christianity from Judaism in the nineteenth century. According to the Nuremberg Laws, Heine would have been considered a Jew; therefore, his books were also burned and forbidden.]

Here is a link to some of the books/authors as well.

Week of February 23

I have really enjoyed class these past two weeks. I appreciate your cooperation. You guys are coming out with some great discussion points. Things are going to start getting personal and more emotional this next week. I just want you to be aware so that you won't be surprised on days when you just can't get something out of your head or don't feel like yourself. And sometimes the temptation is to try to distance yourself somewhat so that you DON'T feel things as strongly. While I am not every going to try and hype some big emotional response (I am VERY opposed to that), nor do I want you to distance yourself. I want you to actively engage in what we are learning and never forget that these were real people we are talking about. The man on today's testimony really struck me with the things he said. We have to remember that it was flesh and blood, not just characters from a play.

Monday, February 23
Kristallnacht
Primary/secondary sources
DUE: Journal Response 3

Tuesday, February 24
Salvaged Pages

Wednesday, February 25
Maus

Thursday, February 26
Maus
DUE: Maus completed

Friday, February 27
Poetry, essays

Our mini-research project will begin Friday and we will have Monday in the library. You will begin presentations on Tuesday. More details to come.

Week of February 17

Sorry this is so late!!!

Tuesday, February 17
Weimar Republic
Handout and discussion
DUE: Journal Response 1

Wednesday, February 18
Early Nazi Germany, Antisemitism, the Nuremburg Laws
Discussion

Thursday, February 19
Improvisation, Nazi Germany
DUE: Persona

Friday, February 20
Kristallnacht
Primary and Secondary Sources
DUE: Journal response

Journal Response 2, if you need it

Some historians point out that the majority of Germans were indifferent to the plight of the Jews. Their attitude was not rooted in hatred, but rather in complete apathy. Why might it have been that so many people simply didn't care what happened to their former colleagues, neighbors, and, in some cases, friends? Do you see examples of apathy in your school, community, and country? Why do you think people become apathetic toward problems that others might be facing?

Photo

This was in the same email as what's below. It is very striking to me. Talk a little bit about what this picture says to you.

Cartoon

I got an email with this in it. Any thoughts? (If it's too small to read, just click on it and it will put it in another window, larger.)

Propaganda

We studied a lot of different examples of Nazi propaganda in class today. I am posting a few examples on here, but not all. Which of the anti-Semitic examples of Nazi propaganda did you feel was the most "effective" for the Nazi idealogy? Which ones struck you the most?

Week of February 9

SHORT WEEK!!!!! SHORT WEEK SHORT WEEK SHORT WEEK!!!!!!!

:)

Monday, February 9
Propaganda and Anti-Semitism

Tuesday, February 10
Propaganda (Nazi and US WWII)
DUE: Example of Propaganda

Wednesday, February 11
Weimar Republic
DUE: Journal Entry

Enjoy your LONG break... some of us have to WORK... :)

"Defiance"

The text below is copied from the Tennessee Holocaust Commission's newsletter.  I would like for you to read it, link to the article on the USHMM website, and think especially about Elie Wiesel's quote.  Prior to seeing the movie, what are your thoughts on this?  Once we have seen the movie, you might want to comment again with another perspective.  

Jewish Resistance Focus of New Film

When Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel was asked why Jews did not fight during the
Holocaust, he replied "...the question is not why all the Jews did not fight, but
how so many of them did. Tormented, beaten, starved, where did they find the strength-spiritual
and physical-to resist?"
The new movie Defiance starring Daniel Craig is based on the real life experience
of the Bielski brothers who under the greatest of hardships fought as Wiesel described.
In December 1941 after the murder of Jews in the Baranowicze region in western Belorussia
which included their parents, the four remaining Bielski brothers fled into the
Zabielovo and Perelaz forests where they started a partisan unit. Led by eldest
brother Tuvia, the group grew from 13 to around 1000 between 1941 and 1944.
Tuvia insisted that resistance and rescue must go hand and hand and was vigilant
in his conviction that no Jew would be turned away whether armed or unarmed, young
or old, healthy or in need of medical attention. Remarkably at the end of the war
over 1200 Bielski partisans emerged from the forest thanks to the brothers and the
cooperative nature of the unit.

Week of January 26

Due to our unexpected "snow", Unit 1 took quite a while!!! Unit 2 and 3 will go much faster. This week we are going to work on learning about the Jewish culture and life prior to WWII.

Monday, January 26
Finish "Fiddler" and discussion

Tuesday, January 27
Research Pre-WWII Jewish life (library)

Wednesday, January 28
Research town, etc (library)

Thursday, January 29
Further research

Friday, January 30
Share and discuss your research

REMINDER: WE ARE GOING TO PREMIERE TO SEE "DEFIANCE" ON MONDAY, JANUARY 26, AT 4:20 PM. THIS IS FOR WHOMEVER WOULD LIKE TO GO. IT IS NOT REQUIRED OF YOU.

Inauguration '09

Inauguration '09

The above text is hyper-linked to the transcript of President Obama's speech from Tuesday. We spent a lot of time on Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech in class. What effective strategies did Dr. King employ that you can find elements of in President Obama's? Would you consider this a moving speech? Why or why not? If so (or if not), do you think it achieves its purpose, whatever purpose he intended?

A Unit of Semantics

What thoughts do you have after our initial unit, which is a foundation for the class? We have discussed prejudice, discrimination, racism, anti-Semitism, genocide... Were there things you wanted to say in class, but didn't? What are your feelings on having watched "GATTACA"? Can you see the dangers of an "equal" society?

Week of January 21

What can we say about a THREE DAY WEEK!?!?! How lucky are we? :)

Wednesday, January 21
Holocaust/Shoah/anti-Semitism/Genocide
Notes, group activity
DUE: Stereotyping TV log

Thursday, January 22
Test over Unit 1
Elements of Drama
Intro to "Fiddler on the Roof"
Begin "Fiddler"

Friday, January 23
Watch "Fiddler"

Don't forget your Mindwatch journal! I have had a few entries in mine this week.

"I Am" Poems

In our introduction to the class, we talk a lot about identity and the fact that we have to really know ourselves and how we think and perceive the world around us. These are a couple of outstanding examples of the "I Am" poem we started with this semester.

Who I Am by Paulina
I am a mixture of cultures but can't speak the language
I am sure of where I am going but not how to get there
I am a football fan who doesn't know the rules
I am sunny beaches and a snowy day
I am a swimmer who is afraid of open water
I am a world traveler who hasn't really been anywhere
I am a reader of food labels but don't care what they say
I am aware, but not involved
I am comedy
I am quiet but my thoughts are loud
I am a friendly smile
I am a busy bee looking for things to do
I am a keeper of random facts
I am an observer
I am spiritual and religious
I am done with this poem

Who I Am by Elliott
I am movies that make you cry
I am an airplane flying to a different place
I am stars twinkling in the night sky
I am salt water and sand between toes
I am a lounge chair soaking up the sun
I am chocolate raspberry in a waffle cone at Brewster's
I am the thrill and adrenaline before a roller coaster ride
I am the bud to a flower blooming
I am sunsets in the sky
I am bike riding, hiking, and snow skiing
I am swimming pools and hot tubs
I am bright colors, yellow, pink, and lime
I am TV Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and the OC
I am creative, fun, loud, and friendly
I am soccer in the fall
I am ambitious and know what I want in life
I am books that can't be put down
I am the lightning in a thunderstorm
I am the one laughing in a group

Week of January 12

Well guys, I do feel pretty good after Friday's discussion. I am sure that over time we will all get more comfortable with each other and our topic. This week should go along way in doing that, as we will have many more such discussions!

Monday, January 12
Stereotyping
Fact vs. Opinion
Circles of my Multicultural Self activity
DUE: Parent letter and "I Am" poem
ASSIGNED: Keep a log of television watching and record when you see a character being stereotyped.

Tuesday, January 13
"GATTACA"
DUE: Fact/opinion activity

Wednesday, January 14
"GATTACA" and discussion

Thursday, January 15
Racism

Friday, January 16
Holocaust/Shoah/antisemitism
Genocide

Don't forget your Mindwatch journals!!!

Welcome to Holocaust Humanities Study in Film and Literature!

Well guys, welcome to our class blog. I will be requiring you all to comment once a week on the blog. I will certainly try to put interesting discussion topics, resource material, and conversation starters on here, as well as hopefully some amazing work by all of you. I cannot begin to express to you what it means to me to get to teach this class, a class on my passion for Holocaust education. Last year's class was beyond amazing and I know that you all will raise the bar even higher.

If you haven't seen it yet, "Valkyrie" was quite a good movie. I was most impressed with the accuracy to the historical information and contexts, as I know it. I also just finished The Book Thief. This book is narrated by Death and, as you might imagine, that provides quite an interesting format. I am anxious to start our class reaading and discussion. Have you read anything Holocaust-related lately? Seen anything?