Make a Difference Essay

“What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me”

            There are no words worthy enough to explain the impact this course had on me. The films I watched and the information I learned benefited me as both a student and as a person. When signing up for Facing History and Ourselves, I knew that it was going to be a difficult course to handle considering that it involved an in-depth look on the Holocaust. Though, I was not prepared for the graphically accurate films and pictures I would soon see. Watching films such as, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, as well as “The Grey Zone,” made it very difficult for me to watch without shedding a tear of how these innocent people were treated. The graphic violence, the cruel conditions, and the sadness all together left me sitting in shock after each class. Each day, the class was shown a deeper look into the truth behind the Nazis and their actions, making me realize the extremities of the Holocaust and its aftermath.

"The Grey Zone," one of the movies we watched in class involving the Holocaust.

            Being Jewish myself, I had some previous knowledge about the Holocaust from both Hebrew school and earlier history courses. I always knew that the Nazis’ actions were inexcusable, and the torture they caused upon the Jews seems almost animalistic. Even though I had previous knowledge about this subject, the films and pictures I watched over the past semester will be forever implanted in my mind. For example, the film “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” was one of the most meaningful films to me. This is because it was very interesting to see the Holocaust from the point of view of a young boy, whose father was a Nazi. Bruno, the boy whose father was a Nazi, did not understand the Holocaust or what was going on. He just wanted to make a new friend; therefore, he sneaks out every day to the barbed wired fence and visits Schmule, a Jewish boy his age being held captive at the concentration camp. The saddest part to watch for me was the innocence of these two boys. Seeing Shmule starving, dirty, and weak at only 8-years-old was almost unbearable to watch. Shmule and Bruno were able to see past their religion and still want to be friends. When Bruno dies in the end because he snuck over to Shmule’s side to help him look for his father, I couldn’t help but cry. Bruno, only 8-years-old, died in the gas chambers because he wanted to help his new friend, Shmule, find his father. The fact that Bruno died from the same gas chambers that his own father supported and enforced, left me feeling sick inside. I felt that this was so unfair that Bruno died trying to help a new friend, while so many Nazis who tortured and killed innocent people were still alive. Leaving the class feeling sad, and frustrated after watching this film makes me realize that this movie truly had an effect on me.

Here is a picture of Schmule (left) and Bruno (right) talking through the barbed wire in the movie,
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas."

            Another lesson in class that had a huge impact on me was the photo album from Auschwitz that Mr. Gallagher revealed to us. Though we watched several films in class showing the Jewish people at the concentration camp, as well as walking to the gas chambers, seeing real photos made the Holocaust seem more real to me. The photos showed women and their young children, looking helpless and starved. Other photos revealed men who have not eaten for days at the camp, with bodies resembling a skeleton. The album also included the pictures of the extraordinary amount of people being shipped off to the concentration camp, only to die two hours later. These pictures that I held in my hand showed real people; they showed real faces of children, women, men, and grandparents who all had no hope left. The main reason why seeing this photo album was so meaningful to me was because I was finally able to put a face to the stories we have been hearing and watching in movies all semester long in class. Every time we watched a movie or film based on the Holocaust, I always had in the back of my mind that these were still just actors. But when I held those pictures in my hand, I saw the faces of real people, not just actors. To this day, I still find it hard to believe that there are some people out there that do not believe the Holocaust ever existed. I find those people to be truly ignorant, considering there are several sources of evidence and real photographs of the Nazis and their horrific actions upon thousands and thousands of human beings.

"The Auschwitz Album"

Here is a picture of a starving concentration camp victim also from the Auschwitz Album

Here is a picture from the actual Auschwitz Album.

            A specific lesson and continuous class discussion that was also very meaningful to me was the class debates about bullying and being a bystander. In class, several discussions came up about bullying and whether or not any of us have ever been bullied or been the bully ourselves. We constantly talked about how bullying can affect a person physically and mentally, and how being a bystander can almost be as worse as being the actual bullying. After every lesson, Mr. Gallagher always brought up the idea of not being a bystander, and was always able to relate our recently watched film to the topic of bullying. These discussions really got me thinking.  I began to realize that the Nazis were nothing more than bullies themselves. They were able to shut out an entire mass group of people, solely on their religion and were able to get a way with both murder and indescribable acts of torture against innocent people. These “bullies” succeeded in getting what they wanted because of the thousands of bystanders who sat back and watched these animals take over. If more people stood up for the Jews and the people being put into the concentration camps, the Nazis would have had a harder time getting away with as much as they did. These discussions involving bystanders and bullying really impacted me more then I would have expected. Knowing that all it would take was for a group of people to say that what the Nazis were doing was wrong to put an end of the Holocaust, made me very frustrated. I feel that because I have watched these films on the Holocaust, as well as viewed real photographs, I understand the meaning of a bystander much better now. I know that I will not ever want to be a bystander now haven taken this course and seen what can happen when too many bystanders sit back and watch victims suffer.

            The decision to take this course was one of the best decisions I could have made. Though, the films and material we watched and discussed in class was tough at times to bare, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Knowing the truth of the Holocaust had a greater effect on me and made our class discussion much more meaningful. I definitely feel I am a changed person for the better after having taken this course. Having the opportunity to experience this course only makes me want to strive to someday make a difference.