This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
PERIOD 1 - THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUM
Please share your thoughts about the segment you saw from Sophie's Choice and the pictures you viewed in class today.
24 comments:
Julie Masterson
said...
The segment that we watched from the movie was incredibly depressing. For one, the fact that the woman was asked to choose which of her two children that she wanted to keep and which she would let die in the gas chambers was mind blowing; how could anyone ask a mother to do such a horrible thing? Secondly, the fact that she ended up trying to sacrifice her daughter.. I can't imagine how i would feel if my mother chose me to be killed and kept my brother to live. The pictures that we got to look at in class were very haunting, especially the ones where one of the captive jews is making eye contact with the camera. They definitely made the Holocaust more real to me
That segment from Sophie's Choice was incredibly haunting. I imagined things like that would happen, but since we never talked about that exact situation before, I didn't focus much on it. It killed me to watch that little girl scream for her mother when the Nazi's took her. I have no idea what I would do if I was in that woman's shoes. I would hope that my mom would choose my brother, because I think I would live in guilt knowing I got to live and he would die. At the same time, I would feel like my mom loved me less. It's just too hard to comprehend. I felt so bad. Those pictures were haunting as well. The ones with the small children being guided made me sick. I won't forget those faces.
These I thought would be more pain ful becasue we were told we would see what really happen. All I saw was pictures of people just standing with kids in lines or else were. I thought that I would see more exclusive pictures base on what the teacher said. But it was great that someone could take picture on that day and now for others to see.
I can’t even describe the amount of utter shock that I had when I watched the scene from Sophie’s Choice when she had to decide whether to give up both of her children to be killed or pick just one. Personally I was disgusted by the fact that she would do anything to save herself, yet hand her baby girl to the killers and have her die just to be able to save herself and her son. How on earth could one person get to choose who lives and who dies? How could she justify sending her little girl over sending her son. Killing one of them is just as bad as killing both of them, because this means that she didn’t love her child enough or equally to do anything to save them both. In regards to the pictures we saw, that brought on a whole new wave of emotion, I can’t believe that we got to see pictuers of these innocent people in the last moments of their lives. I was upset to see the children and parents holding hands while they walked towards their death trying to hold onto their strength. I can’t believe that people which I do not consider the Nazis people I consider them scum, would go around and take pictures like some sort of sick scrap book of the innocent people they killed. I feel like this was a special opportunity to see these photos and that we should all thank Mr. Gallagher for sharing these important pieces of history with all of us.
The segment we watched from Sophie's Choice was very powerful. It really captured the ominous horror in the Holocaust. The fact that she had to choose between her children-it is so awful there aren't words to describe it. I could never choose one of my children. The little girls screams when the Nazi ripped her out of her mother's arms was very haunting to me. As for the pictures, some I had seen before. I hate seeing pictures, to be honest. I hate seeing my people who look frightened, but tame...literally walking towards their death. The picture that really hurt me was the picture of the gas chamber. It is so haunting. I can't imagine being there. Seeing pictures literally makes my heart ache and my stomach churn.
The segment from Sohpie's Choice was so depressing. I felt so bad for her because she has to live with the fact she gave her daughter away. I was digusted when the Nazi made her choose between her children. I couldn't even imagine what I would do in that situation. I wouldn't want to live with the guilt that I picked one child over another. The pictures we saw in class were also quite disturbing. The looks on the children's faces is what really got me. They had no idea of the horrors that awaited them. The picture of the Grandma walking with her grandchildren holding hands was so sad. Seeing these pictures really made me feel for all the Jews who were lied to and brought to their deaths within hours of getting off the trains. Truely disgraceful and sickening.
the segment that we saw today from the movie "sophie's choice" was completly heartbreaking. the thought of even making a choice on which child to give up is unimaginable, and even more knowing that if you did not make a choice both would be taken and killed was even worse. however i still find it hard to believe that at the last minute she started shouting to take her daughter instead of her son. the pictures that we saw today were ones that could put a choke in your words. to look into the eyes of actual people that were going to their deaths made this class that much more real, they are photos that you cannot forget.
To chose one of your children to die. To have her ripped away from you. To watch her crying for what she does not know as she is taken to be murdered. Why. I knew that families were forcefully separated but I could not even think of a choice like that being thrust upon anyone. In a split second she saved her own life but that life was forever plagued. I can not fathom how one could live with that. The photos. I will never forget them, despite yearning to never think of them again. The actual faces. The door. The eyes of children unaware of anything.
The portion of the film "Sophie's Choice" that we watched was horrific. Just the thought of a mother being forced to choose which one of her kids would die is depressing. She suffered a fate worse than her own death by having to live with this decision which she was cruelly force to make. However, if she didn't make the choice both kids would have died. The photos which we viewed in class especially hit me hard because unlike the movies, where the Jews getting killed were actors on the set, these people actually were killed. It haunted me by the fact that i was staring into the eyes of another person only hours away from their death. The picture which probably disturbed me the most was the picture of the Nazi officers and the Women laughing and appearing to have a good time. These women were forced to give the impression that they were having a good time, but i can only imagine the depth of the actual fear they had.
The segment we watched was extremely upsetting. The decisions and choices people in this time were faced with really make my heart sink. The thought of a mother having to chose between her little girl in her arms or her little boy gripping her leg is just beyond me. What's even more upsetting is there had to be a choice made. During the times of the holocaust I really believe that people's morals and character are shaded by human nature of fear and survival. It's so hard to sit in our seats watch everything get played out and then answer the question what would you do? We have all gained civic agency and yes I can put myself there mentally but emotionally you never know in times like that. In the mothers case when she decides to let her crying baby be stripped from her arms, she made the choice because both her kids and herself probably would have died. The only thing I can say is a hate the nazis. I hate what the holocaust did to people. One of the most difficult things for me is it tore apart families on the basis of survival, I would die for any one of my family members and on the other hand I would fight against and fight hard because I'd rather be dead then helping sick and disgusting people get away with such atroscities.
The segment from Sophies choice was extremely heartbreaking. How anyone could be so cruel as to make a mother choose between one child or another, with the consequence being death, is beyond comprehension. Knowing that things like this really did happen ,makes me sick. Seeing the desparation on that womans face, even if it was just a film, still made it feel incredibly real and horrifying. Looking at the actual photographs from the Auschwitz album was truly haunting as well. Looking at people from toddlers to the elderly, not knowing where they are going but being only moments from death was simply awful. These people were walking to their deaths on the promise of a food and water, little did they know the horror that awaited them. The photograph that stuck with me the most was the one of the empty gas chamber. Who knows if hundreds of people were just taken out of that room or if hundreds were about to be let in. The presence of just that door open to an empty room, whose sole purpose was to go about causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, it was beyond what words can describe.
When i looked through all the photos from the auschwitz album it became a lot more real to me. in all the movies we watched we saw people acting out what happened in the camps. in the photos, i saw real people who went through the real event. these people has so much more emotion in their eyes because they were actually being starved and neglected and abused and put down. they were forced to make horrible, life changing decisions. i feel so bad for the people that had to go through this, especially the little children whose lives were so suddenly and wrongfully ended.
The part of the film that we watched almost brought me to tears. To see the cruelty of the Nazis is never easy, but to see it happen to a mother who can never choose between her children just makes it even tougher on us. The pictures were extremely tough to look at. Just looking at the look on the faces of the Jewish people was incredibly depressing. When you also take into account that some of the pictures were taken of kids who were only a few short hours away from death, it makes it even tougher for you.
the segment we viewed with the pictures gave me a different perspective of what the camps were really like. the films give the emotional outlook, as weve seen thusfar, but the pictures were real material and i could relate to it better than the movie. the section of the movie involving the choice of the children was rediculous because the nazi gave an inhumane decision to someone who clearly could not make it but because he had power, forced her to make it. it showed the huge abuse of power the officers had against the jews in the camps and how little authority the jews ad during the holocaust
The segment we saw from Sophie’s choice was hard to handle. Not only did the ss officer make her sleep with him but he made her choose between her two children which for a mother is a really hard decision to make. The really upsetting part was that if she did not choose then they were just going to take both of her children which would have been an even greater lose to the mother.It must have been really hard for the children to handle as well. For the girl knowing that her mother chose her as the one to be killed and as for the boy to feel as though because he is living his sister is dead. The photos that we saw in class were also really hard to look at because most of the people in the photos were walking to their deaths without even real zinging it because all they wanted at that point was something to drink. It was hard to see the photo of the gas chamber especially because that is where they had killed millions of people. It is the place where millions of people died in such and inhumane way.
The segment that we watched had an affect on me but it was not as profound as some of the other things we have seen. I have seen movies that had similar scenes in them. I will say that it is very sad to watch something like this. It feels horrible. It's just not new material for me. The pictures, however, were different. They showed how the camps actually looked. They were new, as I have never seen them before, but they did not have as much of an emotional aspect as movies.
The scene from Sophie's Choice was extremely upsetting. How could she choose between her two children? When the Nazi soldier took her little girl away, and that was they last time she would ever see her again, I found that so disturbing. Situations like these actually happened, usually there wasn't a choice, the whole family was taken to the gas chambers. She wasn't Jewish, so she got a choice. One, the other, or nothing. The pictures in class were sickening. I am glad we got to see some of the real stuff, because the acting in the films just is not the same. Nobody in the pictures knew what was going to happen to them. That fact scares me the most, that they thought they were being shipped off to a better life, however, they were being sent to their death.
The part of the movie we saw from Sophie's Choice was very depressing. The fact that she had to choose which kid she wanted to die was just unbeliebable. I have no idea what I would do in that situation. I think I would just be so scared and shocked that I wouldn't be able to say anything. I can't believe that people had to choose which kid they wanted to keep is hard to even think about. The pictures were depressing as well but I am glad we got to see them. I'm glad we were able to see real pictures of the camps for real because it showed us exactly what it was like there getting off the trains. For me, the picture that was the hardest to look at was the one of the gas chamber. The fact that we saw a picture of the actual gas chamber where so many people died is very upseting.
I thought the segment from "Sophie's Choice" was very hard to watch. If honestly could not even imagine myself in that situation. Having to choose between the only two kids that i love, knowing if i refuse to choose i lose them both. That is absolutely rediculous and I dont know how a human being, even if he was a nazi solder, could ask that of another human being. That man must have absolutely no conciense, and frankly, it makes me sick to the stomach. The pictures we saw in class were incredibly disturbing, and the second i saw those pictures, that were actually taken from the camps, was the second it hit me just how real it was. It hit me that it wasnt that long ago that this happened.
Sophie’s choice, although not gruesome was something that was incredibly hard to watch. I honestly could never even imagine being put into that situation, let alone having to actually choose. Putting others before me is one of my morals but this is the most extreme situation. The only thing that I could even fathom doing would be letting the men have myself as opposed to my kids. If there was the slightest chance that they could go on living, then I would give them that chance. That may be one of the cruelest things the Nazis did, despite all of their murderous acts. What low life individual would make a mother choose between her kids. That is horrible. The album of photographs was also hard to bear. Actual footage of what actually went on is intense. To be honest, at some points I couldn’t really imagine this situation. Almost like this is unreal, and it wasn’t that bad. But that was proof of how terrible the situation was. And now it is truly believable for me. Until saw that actual footage I couldn’t relate or understand the situation, now I can.
The scene from the movie was really sad because she had to choose which kid had to go and which one had to stay with her. I thought it was terrible that the Nazis would actually take little kids to the gas chambers and kill them there. The pictures we saw during class were just sad to see. Just looking at the jews faces were sad because you can see that they were suffering and really want food and warmth or anything to even survive.
The part of Sophie's Choice we watched was completely heart breaking. The Nazis are so cruel for making a mother choose which of her children would die and which would live, no person should ever have to do that. The pictures we looked at in class made everything that happened during the Holocaust more real to me. Looking into the eyes of children who were walking to their deaths, but had no idea they were was devastating. The pictures were very powerful and I will never forget them.
This film was very sad because a human should never have to pick between one of there children that is a decision that I could never make. It is disheartning that she could actually pick her son over her daughet. The pictures that we saw in this class made everything seem so real. They were horrifying and it was weird and ery to hold this pictures in my hands.
24 comments:
The segment that we watched from the movie was incredibly depressing. For one, the fact that the woman was asked to choose which of her two children that she wanted to keep and which she would let die in the gas chambers was mind blowing; how could anyone ask a mother to do such a horrible thing? Secondly, the fact that she ended up trying to sacrifice her daughter.. I can't imagine how i would feel if my mother chose me to be killed and kept my brother to live.
The pictures that we got to look at in class were very haunting, especially the ones where one of the captive jews is making eye contact with the camera. They definitely made the Holocaust more real to me
That segment from Sophie's Choice was incredibly haunting. I imagined things like that would happen, but since we never talked about that exact situation before, I didn't focus much on it. It killed me to watch that little girl scream for her mother when the Nazi's took her. I have no idea what I would do if I was in that woman's shoes. I would hope that my mom would choose my brother, because I think I would live in guilt knowing I got to live and he would die. At the same time, I would feel like my mom loved me less. It's just too hard to comprehend. I felt so bad.
Those pictures were haunting as well. The ones with the small children being guided made me sick. I won't forget those faces.
These I thought would be more pain ful becasue we were told we would see what really happen. All I saw was pictures of people just standing with kids in lines or else were. I thought that I would see more exclusive pictures base on what the teacher said. But it was great that someone could take picture on that day and now for others to see.
I can’t even describe the amount of utter shock that I had when I watched the scene from Sophie’s Choice when she had to decide whether to give up both of her children to be killed or pick just one. Personally I was disgusted by the fact that she would do anything to save herself, yet hand her baby girl to the killers and have her die just to be able to save herself and her son. How on earth could one person get to choose who lives and who dies? How could she justify sending her little girl over sending her son. Killing one of them is just as bad as killing both of them, because this means that she didn’t love her child enough or equally to do anything to save them both. In regards to the pictures we saw, that brought on a whole new wave of emotion, I can’t believe that we got to see pictuers of these innocent people in the last moments of their lives. I was upset to see the children and parents holding hands while they walked towards their death trying to hold onto their strength. I can’t believe that people which I do not consider the Nazis people I consider them scum, would go around and take pictures like some sort of sick scrap book of the innocent people they killed. I feel like this was a special opportunity to see these photos and that we should all thank Mr. Gallagher for sharing these important pieces of history with all of us.
The segment we watched from Sophie's Choice was very powerful. It really captured the ominous horror in the Holocaust. The fact that she had to choose between her children-it is so awful there aren't words to describe it. I could never choose one of my children. The little girls screams when the Nazi ripped her out of her mother's arms was very haunting to me. As for the pictures, some I had seen before. I hate seeing pictures, to be honest. I hate seeing my people who look frightened, but tame...literally walking towards their death. The picture that really hurt me was the picture of the gas chamber. It is so haunting. I can't imagine being there. Seeing pictures literally makes my heart ache and my stomach churn.
The segment from Sohpie's Choice was so depressing. I felt so bad for her because she has to live with the fact she gave her daughter away. I was digusted when the Nazi made her choose between her children. I couldn't even imagine what I would do in that situation. I wouldn't want to live with the guilt that I picked one child over another. The pictures we saw in class were also quite disturbing. The looks on the children's faces is what really got me. They had no idea of the horrors that awaited them. The picture of the Grandma walking with her grandchildren holding hands was so sad. Seeing these pictures really made me feel for all the Jews who were lied to and brought to their deaths within hours of getting off the trains. Truely disgraceful and sickening.
the segment that we saw today from the movie "sophie's choice" was completly heartbreaking. the thought of even making a choice on which child to give up is unimaginable, and even more knowing that if you did not make a choice both would be taken and killed was even worse. however i still find it hard to believe that at the last minute she started shouting to take her daughter instead of her son.
the pictures that we saw today were ones that could put a choke in your words. to look into the eyes of actual people that were going to their deaths made this class that much more real, they are photos that you cannot forget.
To chose one of your children to die. To have her ripped away from you. To watch her crying for what she does not know as she is taken to be murdered. Why. I knew that families were forcefully separated but I could not even think of a choice like that being thrust upon anyone. In a split second she saved her own life but that life was forever plagued. I can not fathom how one could live with that. The photos. I will never forget them, despite yearning to never think of them again. The actual faces. The door. The eyes of children unaware of anything.
The portion of the film "Sophie's Choice" that we watched was horrific. Just the thought of a mother being forced to choose which one of her kids would die is depressing. She suffered a fate worse than her own death by having to live with this decision which she was cruelly force to make. However, if she didn't make the choice both kids would have died. The photos which we viewed in class especially hit me hard because unlike the movies, where the Jews getting killed were actors on the set, these people actually were killed. It haunted me by the fact that i was staring into the eyes of another person only hours away from their death. The picture which probably disturbed me the most was the picture of the Nazi officers and the Women laughing and appearing to have a good time. These women were forced to give the impression that they were having a good time, but i can only imagine the depth of the actual fear they had.
The segment we watched was extremely upsetting. The decisions and choices people in this time were faced with really make my heart sink. The thought of a mother having to chose between her little girl in her arms or her little boy gripping her leg is just beyond me. What's even more upsetting is there had to be a choice made. During the times of the holocaust I really believe that people's morals and character are shaded by human nature of fear and survival. It's so hard to sit in our seats watch everything get played out and then answer the question what would you do? We have all gained civic agency and yes I can put myself there mentally but emotionally you never know in times like that. In the mothers case when she decides to let her crying baby be stripped from her arms, she made the choice because both her kids and herself probably would have died. The only thing I can say is a hate the nazis. I hate what the holocaust did to people. One of the most difficult things for me is it tore apart families on the basis of survival, I would die for any one of my family members and on the other hand I would fight against and fight hard because I'd rather be dead then helping sick and disgusting people get away with such atroscities.
The segment from Sophies choice was extremely heartbreaking. How anyone could be so cruel as to make a mother choose between one child or another, with the consequence being death, is beyond comprehension. Knowing that things like this really did happen ,makes me sick. Seeing the desparation on that womans face, even if it was just a film, still made it feel incredibly real and horrifying. Looking at the actual photographs from the Auschwitz album was truly haunting as well. Looking at people from toddlers to the elderly, not knowing where they are going but being only moments from death was simply awful. These people were walking to their deaths on the promise of a food and water, little did they know the horror that awaited them. The photograph that stuck with me the most was the one of the empty gas chamber. Who knows if hundreds of people were just taken out of that room or if hundreds were about to be let in. The presence of just that door open to an empty room, whose sole purpose was to go about causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, it was beyond what words can describe.
When i looked through all the photos from the auschwitz album it became a lot more real to me. in all the movies we watched we saw people acting out what happened in the camps. in the photos, i saw real people who went through the real event. these people has so much more emotion in their eyes because they were actually being starved and neglected and abused and put down. they were forced to make horrible, life changing decisions. i feel so bad for the people that had to go through this, especially the little children whose lives were so suddenly and wrongfully ended.
The part of the film that we watched almost brought me to tears. To see the cruelty of the Nazis is never easy, but to see it happen to a mother who can never choose between her children just makes it even tougher on us. The pictures were extremely tough to look at. Just looking at the look on the faces of the Jewish people was incredibly depressing. When you also take into account that some of the pictures were taken of kids who were only a few short hours away from death, it makes it even tougher for you.
the segment we viewed with the pictures gave me a different perspective of what the camps were really like. the films give the emotional outlook, as weve seen thusfar, but the pictures were real material and i could relate to it better than the movie. the section of the movie involving the choice of the children was rediculous because the nazi gave an inhumane decision to someone who clearly could not make it but because he had power, forced her to make it. it showed the huge abuse of power the officers had against the jews in the camps and how little authority the jews ad during the holocaust
The segment we saw from Sophie’s choice was hard to handle. Not only did the ss officer make her sleep with him but he made her choose between her two children which for a mother is a really hard decision to make. The really upsetting part was that if she did not choose then they were just going to take both of her children which would have been an even greater lose to the mother.It must have been really hard for the children to handle as well. For the girl knowing that her mother chose her as the one to be killed and as for the boy to feel as though because he is living his sister is dead. The photos that we saw in class were also really hard to look at because most of the people in the photos were walking to their deaths without even real zinging it because all they wanted at that point was something to drink. It was hard to see the photo of the gas chamber especially because that is where they had killed millions of people. It is the place where millions of people died in such and inhumane way.
The segment that we watched had an affect on me but it was not as profound as some of the other things we have seen. I have seen movies that had similar scenes in them. I will say that it is very sad to watch something like this. It feels horrible. It's just not new material for me. The pictures, however, were different. They showed how the camps actually looked. They were new, as I have never seen them before, but they did not have as much of an emotional aspect as movies.
The scene from Sophie's Choice was extremely upsetting. How could she choose between her two children? When the Nazi soldier took her little girl away, and that was they last time she would ever see her again, I found that so disturbing. Situations like these actually happened, usually there wasn't a choice, the whole family was taken to the gas chambers. She wasn't Jewish, so she got a choice. One, the other, or nothing.
The pictures in class were sickening. I am glad we got to see some of the real stuff, because the acting in the films just is not the same. Nobody in the pictures knew what was going to happen to them. That fact scares me the most, that they thought they were being shipped off to a better life, however, they were being sent to their death.
The part of the movie we saw from Sophie's Choice was very depressing. The fact that she had to choose which kid she wanted to die was just unbeliebable. I have no idea what I would do in that situation. I think I would just be so scared and shocked that I wouldn't be able to say anything. I can't believe that people had to choose which kid they wanted to keep is hard to even think about.
The pictures were depressing as well but I am glad we got to see them. I'm glad we were able to see real pictures of the camps for real because it showed us exactly what it was like there getting off the trains. For me, the picture that was the hardest to look at was the one of the gas chamber. The fact that we saw a picture of the actual gas chamber where so many people died is very upseting.
I thought the segment from "Sophie's Choice" was very hard to watch. If honestly could not even imagine myself in that situation. Having to choose between the only two kids that i love, knowing if i refuse to choose i lose them both. That is absolutely rediculous and I dont know how a human being, even if he was a nazi solder, could ask that of another human being. That man must have absolutely no conciense, and frankly, it makes me sick to the stomach. The pictures we saw in class were incredibly disturbing, and the second i saw those pictures, that were actually taken from the camps, was the second it hit me just how real it was. It hit me that it wasnt that long ago that this happened.
Sophie’s choice, although not gruesome was something that was incredibly hard to watch. I honestly could never even imagine being put into that situation, let alone having to actually choose. Putting others before me is one of my morals but this is the most extreme situation. The only thing that I could even fathom doing would be letting the men have myself as opposed to my kids. If there was the slightest chance that they could go on living, then I would give them that chance. That may be one of the cruelest things the Nazis did, despite all of their murderous acts. What low life individual would make a mother choose between her kids. That is horrible.
The album of photographs was also hard to bear. Actual footage of what actually went on is intense. To be honest, at some points I couldn’t really imagine this situation. Almost like this is unreal, and it wasn’t that bad. But that was proof of how terrible the situation was. And now it is truly believable for me. Until saw that actual footage I couldn’t relate or understand the situation, now I can.
The scene from the movie was really sad because she had to choose which kid had to go and which one had to stay with her. I thought it was terrible that the Nazis would actually take little kids to the gas chambers and kill them there.
The pictures we saw during class were just sad to see. Just looking at the jews faces were sad because you can see that they were suffering and really want food and warmth or anything to even survive.
The part of Sophie's Choice we watched was completely heart breaking. The Nazis are so cruel for making a mother choose which of her children would die and which would live, no person should ever have to do that.
The pictures we looked at in class made everything that happened during the Holocaust more real to me. Looking into the eyes of children who were walking to their deaths, but had no idea they were was devastating. The pictures were very powerful and I will never forget them.
I was absent the day we watched this film.
This film was very sad because a human should never have to pick between one of there children that is a decision that I could never make. It is disheartning that she could actually pick her son over her daughet.
The pictures that we saw in this class made everything seem so real. They were horrifying and it was weird and ery to hold this pictures in my hands.
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