This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
PERIOD 6 - THE GESTAPO
You have been watching the BBC documentary, The Rise of the Nazis - A Warning from History. Please share your thoughts about the segment on the Gestapo that you saw today. What did you think of the interview with Resi Kraus?
30 comments:
Eric Oswill
said...
I thought that the interview with Resi Kraus was interesting because she admitted that the signature was hers and that the address listed on the letter was also hers but she said the letter wasn't. She tried lying and denying that she typed up the letter and sent it, which accused her neighbor of being against the Nazi party. It was also interesting how she said that the people who were digging things up from 50 years ago were bad and then at the end in an effort to change the conversation she said that it was starting to rain. That statement was such an obvious indicator that she was just trying to change the subject because she didn't want to continue lying and have what she did brought up against her.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very strange, because she acted as if she had no idea of the document. She admitted that it was her name and signature, and her address. That couldn't just be a coincidence. She also got very defensive, saying that they were digging up old things. All this evidence shows she ignorant about what she did, and by not admitting it, she might have'nt even learned her lesson.
I think Resi Klaus seemed like a coward through the interview. It was obvious that she wrote the letter to the Gestapo, but she claimed that she had no recollection of writing it. She admitted that it was her signature on the letter, and the address was correct, but she refused to take responsibility for what she had done. It seemed like she was in denial through the entire interview, because she kept trying to change the subject. Every time the interviewer asked her a question, she gave a brief answer and talked about something completely unrelated.
I personally was quite appalled at Kraus's reaction. To blatantly deny that she knew anything of the document, while admittiing it was her signature, I found hard to beleive. Especially considering how defensive she got at how people were bringing it up fifty years later, as well as mentioning that she didn't kill anybody herself. To me, this seems to point to the fact that she was lying, and just didn't want to talk about it.
While watching this documentary, I was appalled at the attitude that Resi Kraus displayed towards the evidence, as well as the interviewer. It was fairly clear that she was denying the fact that she wrote the letter that sent her neighbor to a concentration camp. The fact that she denied knowing where it came from, but confirmed her signature and address was absurd and really bothered me. I think that by saying, "I didn't kill anybody, didn't murder anyone," made her feel less guilty for her actions, when really, it should have, because what happened to her neighbor was a direct consequence of the letter she wrote. The fact that she didn't display or show any regret at all for having someone killed amazes me.
I agree with Mike's point about Resi Kraus not wanting to take responsibility for her actions. She had to feel some kind of shame or guilt deep down because it seemed like she was in denial throughout the entire interview, becoming very defensive and not directly answering questions that the interviewer asked.
I was shocked at how Resi Kraus reacted in the interview. I thought it was a little ridiculous that she would admit to the signature, address, and name but not the content in the letter. She even tried to change the subject by talking about the rain! Just because it had been almost 50 years later doesn't mean that what she did doesn't matter anymore. She was a part of the Nazi Germany time and helped keep the descrimination alive.
I also agree with Mike L. that Kraus seemed like a coward. If you have the ability to write such a horrible letter and get a probably innocent woman arrested, you should have the ability to own up to it. She was very obviously lying and it was sad to see her pretend like she had no idea what the interviewer was talking about.
I think Resi Kraus's response was cowardly. At one point in her life she felt so much conviction enough to turn in her fellow neighbor, a human being, in to the Gestapo which basically meant a sentence to death. Her convictions were based upon prejudice and arrogance, saying she was breaking the law by not 'fitting in,' not socializing with her German neighbors, and having Jewish friends. Now she claims to not remember ever doing this or where all the proof of records and documents came from. For me personally, watching this and hearing what she had to say was extremely powerful. It made me disgusted to know that she had no remorse for what she did and instead was questioning why the matter was being brought up again. I think that is so cowardly and disgusting. If you made a mistake, you made a mistake and no matter the severity of it I think true remorse and repentance and acknowledgement of your mistakes can deem forgiveness but she had none of that.
Connie mentioned how Resi Kraus claimed that she didn't kill anyone or murder anyone and I agree with how she feels that that is ridiculous because Ilse Totzke's death was a direct consequence of Resi's denunciations to the Gestapo. I did a little further reading and came across this opinion from Professor Toby Haggith and Joanna Mary Newman, "Ilse Totzke was eventually deported to Ravensbruk and she died there, as far as can be established. Resi Kraus continued with her life; ironically it was Hitler who said, 'People only remember from their past what is convenient for them.' -perhaps she has just removed from her mind an uncomfortable an inconvenient fact." (Holocaust and the Moving Image: representations in film and television since 1933) I think it's so important to embrace your mistakes, despite the weight of guilt or shame. The fact that Resi Kraus is not owning up to her mistake is an injustice to Ilse Totzke's death, which was ended before her time while Kraus got to live a long life.
I thought the interview with Resi Kraus was very interesting because she admitted that the signature and address were her's and still claimed she did not send the letter. She also said that she never killed anyone making it seem like she did nothing wrong. I think that describes many Germans feelings about the holocaust and everything that had happened before the end of the Nazi's, German citizens felt that because they weren't the ones committing the evil that the Gestapo and other Nazi's were that they were innocent which in my mind couldn't be farther from the truth.
I agree with David T's comment that she was absolutely lying about the whole matter and probably felt like that letter would have ever been brought up again and she seemed to be so thrown off guard that it had.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very interesting. After the interviewer showed her the document, she admitted that the signature and address was hers. She also said that she had no idea what the document meant and that she didn't know why people were bringing it up 50 years later. She was getting pretty defensive about the whole situation so I think that this shows that she's guilty.
I think the interview with Resi Kraus reflects the desire of those involved in the Holocaust or those who aided the Gestapo to forget their actions and act as if it never happened. Kraus was probably so ashamed of her actions against her own neighbor that she chose to deny it at all costs and attempt to change the subject. I think the guilt the Kraus was feeling during that interview was too much, so she just chose to act as if nothing happened and she chose to make herself look like the victim when she was really the perpetrator.
The interview with Resi Kraus was a perfect example of society's influence on people's opinions. Kraus lived in Nazi Germany, was a young girl finding herself in Nazi Germany. At the time the popular opinion and way of thinking was the Nazi way of race superiority. She had been told by society that this is the way that we should think, she was influenced by them. She reported her neighbor because she felt it was the right thing to do, the right thing for her to do for Germany. She had been told to report anything to the Gestapo. I will compare this to how our society tells us to report anything dangerous and illegal to the police. Yes, the actions taken afterwards are different, but the same need to report a crime to a person who is "protecting" you is a relate able feeling. Though in 2012 modern day time, society frowns upon the Nazi's. We are disgusted by them and everything that they stand for. So as society changed, Kraus changed. She says that she doesn't now how that letter got written, that all of her information is correct but she has no memory of writing that letter. She has changed her story and her opinion so that she can fit into society. It is all in human nature to follow the pack, to fit in, to blend so that you can be around other people. It was a perfect example of human nature
I was shocked to hear Resi Kraus deny the fact that she signed the letter, even after she admitted to it being her signature and her correct address. Kraus turned her neighbor in for not fitting in and having Jewish friends. Kraus did this at the time because her neighbor did not completely comply with the Nazi party, so she felt the need to turn her in for those reasons. Now that the actions of the Nazi party are considered unacceptable, Kraus denied her affiliation with the letter. She was ashamed of what she did, but chose not to admit to her past actions and even tried to change the subject.
I thought that the film was interesting because it not only revealed who the Gestapo convicted and what they did to them, but it also showed people reporting others to the Gestapo for certain unsupported "suspicions." I thought it was strange how easy it was for people to report their own neighbors to the Gestapo, knowing that they would most likely be taken away and be killed, even though there was no real proof of anything they reported. I thought it was particularly strange to see Resi Kraus openly deny her direct involvement in reporting one of her neighbors to the Gestapo. She validated that that was her name, address, and signature but still denied any knowledge of the report. It's fascinating to watch people convince themselves that they did not do something that they later realize is wrong instead of owning up to their mistakes.
The interview with Resi Kraus was confusing to me at first. I wasn't sure if she had written the letter or if it had been forged by the Gestapo. When I was thinking about the interview again, I realized that she did write the letter. She didn't want to say that she wrote it, and was in denial the entire time. This denial is the doing of the Gestapo, they inflicted fear so deep into peoples brains that the fear continues to remain today. This was an eyeopening interview that showed me the power that the Gestapo really had.
Resi Kraus was a frightening person in that she openly denied any involvement in the deportation, and ultimately the death, of her neighbor despite the fact that her signature and testimony was recorded in a document. She even seemed sincere in her denial, as if she had convinced herself that she had done nothing wrong. The part that got to me the most was when she shifted the blame to the reporters. I feel like she believes that the reporters are the wicked ones and that 'burning bridges' is the only way to escape the atrocities committed during Nazi rule.
I like what David said about Kraus' remark that she did not personally kill anyone. I believe the Gestapo created a mindset of the German People that reporting individuals was not an act of cruelty, but a noble one. I think the German People truly believed that they were 'purifying' their country and creating a better nation.
I was very intrigued by the interview of Resi Kraus because she admitted that the signature was hers and that it was her address. However she seemed to be in denial. She was saying that she wasn't the one who accused her neighbor of being against the Nazi's and led to their demise. It was also interesting how she said that the people who were digging things up from 50 years ago were bad and then at the end in an effort to change the conversation she said that it was starting to rain. That statement was such an obvious indicator that she was just trying to change the subject because she didn't want to continue lying and have what she did brought up against her.
I thought that the interview with Resi Kraus was interesting. She was denying every bit of evidence that she did something. She said that she never wrote that letter, signed her name or addressed it. It seemed as though she just wanted to be done with that part of her life. She also was trying to get around the things that the interviewer was asking, such as she was questioning why he brought up a letter from 50 years ago as well as was saying that it was starting to rain. She was lying to him and her body language and things that she was saying made that clear. She was denying the things that she had done in the past rather than owning up to it.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very unusual. She pretty much acted as if she had no clue what the document was even though all of the right information about her was on it, including her signature. I thought it was weird that she lied to the reporter and I think she did this because she was involved in the discrimination during the Holocaust.
I thought Resi Kraus was interesting because she said that the address and signature of hers was right but denied having anything to do with it. So she denied that she made someone get sent to a consentration camp and who probably ended up dying in the end. So she is most likely lying about this and also one thing that kind of makes it obvious that she is lying is that she randomly mentions that it is raining outside. Lastly, Resi said that she was not sure if the person she reported was "bad" but she just looked suspicious, so she reported her nieghbor to the Gestapo.
The film that we saw in class really exposed the Gestapo to not be as powerful as it was thought to be and that the citizens of Germany were fueling them. The interview with Resi Kraus was ridiculous because she was still in denial from all of these years that she had no part in any of the work the Gestapo were involved in.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very mysterious and engaging because she admitedt that her signature was indeed on the form but said that she did not do any of the things described. She clearly does not want to admit what she did to her nieghbor but this makes me wonder why she agreed to the interview in the first place if she is so secretive about it.
I agree with Johnny that the power and fear that the gestapo was able to unleash during this time still exists in these people today and is the reason Resi Kraus acts the way she does in the interview.
I came away from this interview feeling very skeptical about the whole scene. Resi was very misleading and was in total denial about the whole scene. It is hard to piece together the facts and I found it very weird how she admitted to having signed the document but not her actions. There is no place for this foolery in history.
30 comments:
I thought that the interview with Resi Kraus was interesting because she admitted that the signature was hers and that the address listed on the letter was also hers but she said the letter wasn't. She tried lying and denying that she typed up the letter and sent it, which accused her neighbor of being against the Nazi party. It was also interesting how she said that the people who were digging things up from 50 years ago were bad and then at the end in an effort to change the conversation she said that it was starting to rain. That statement was such an obvious indicator that she was just trying to change the subject because she didn't want to continue lying and have what she did brought up against her.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very strange, because she acted as if she had no idea of the document. She admitted that it was her name and signature, and her address. That couldn't just be a coincidence. She also got very defensive, saying that they were digging up old things. All this evidence shows she ignorant about what she did, and by not admitting it, she might have'nt even learned her lesson.
I think Resi Klaus seemed like a coward through the interview. It was obvious that she wrote the letter to the Gestapo, but she claimed that she had no recollection of writing it. She admitted that it was her signature on the letter, and the address was correct, but she refused to take responsibility for what she had done. It seemed like she was in denial through the entire interview, because she kept trying to change the subject. Every time the interviewer asked her a question, she gave a brief answer and talked about something completely unrelated.
I personally was quite appalled at Kraus's reaction. To blatantly deny that she knew anything of the document, while admittiing it was her signature, I found hard to beleive. Especially considering how defensive she got at how people were bringing it up fifty years later, as well as mentioning that she didn't kill anybody herself. To me, this seems to point to the fact that she was lying, and just didn't want to talk about it.
While watching this documentary, I was appalled at the attitude that Resi Kraus displayed towards the evidence, as well as the interviewer. It was fairly clear that she was denying the fact that she wrote the letter that sent her neighbor to a concentration camp. The fact that she denied knowing where it came from, but confirmed her signature and address was absurd and really bothered me. I think that by saying, "I didn't kill anybody, didn't murder anyone," made her feel less guilty for her actions, when really, it should have, because what happened to her neighbor was a direct consequence of the letter she wrote. The fact that she didn't display or show any regret at all for having someone killed amazes me.
I agree with Mike's point about Resi Kraus not wanting to take responsibility for her actions. She had to feel some kind of shame or guilt deep down because it seemed like she was in denial throughout the entire interview, becoming very defensive and not directly answering questions that the interviewer asked.
I was shocked at how Resi Kraus reacted in the interview. I thought it was a little ridiculous that she would admit to the signature, address, and name but not the content in the letter. She even tried to change the subject by talking about the rain! Just because it had been almost 50 years later doesn't mean that what she did doesn't matter anymore. She was a part of the Nazi Germany time and helped keep the descrimination alive.
I also agree with Mike L. that Kraus seemed like a coward. If you have the ability to write such a horrible letter and get a probably innocent woman arrested, you should have the ability to own up to it. She was very obviously lying and it was sad to see her pretend like she had no idea what the interviewer was talking about.
I think Resi Kraus's response was cowardly. At one point in her life she felt so much conviction enough to turn in her fellow neighbor, a human being, in to the Gestapo which basically meant a sentence to death. Her convictions were based upon prejudice and arrogance, saying she was breaking the law by not 'fitting in,' not socializing with her German neighbors, and having Jewish friends. Now she claims to not remember ever doing this or where all the proof of records and documents came from. For me personally, watching this and hearing what she had to say was extremely powerful. It made me disgusted to know that she had no remorse for what she did and instead was questioning why the matter was being brought up again. I think that is so cowardly and disgusting. If you made a mistake, you made a mistake and no matter the severity of it I think true remorse and repentance and acknowledgement of your mistakes can deem forgiveness but she had none of that.
Connie mentioned how Resi Kraus claimed that she didn't kill anyone or murder anyone and I agree with how she feels that that is ridiculous because Ilse Totzke's death was a direct consequence of Resi's denunciations to the Gestapo. I did a little further reading and came across this opinion from Professor Toby Haggith and Joanna Mary Newman, "Ilse Totzke was eventually deported to Ravensbruk and she died there, as far as can be established. Resi Kraus continued with her life; ironically it was Hitler who said, 'People only remember from their past what is convenient for them.' -perhaps she has just removed from her mind an uncomfortable an inconvenient fact." (Holocaust and the Moving Image: representations in film and television since 1933) I think it's so important to embrace your mistakes, despite the weight of guilt or shame. The fact that Resi Kraus is not owning up to her mistake is an injustice to Ilse Totzke's death, which was ended before her time while Kraus got to live a long life.
I thought the interview with Resi Kraus was very interesting because she admitted that the signature and address were her's and still claimed she did not send the letter. She also said that she never killed anyone making it seem like she did nothing wrong. I think that describes many Germans feelings about the holocaust and everything that had happened before the end of the Nazi's, German citizens felt that because they weren't the ones committing the evil that the Gestapo and other Nazi's were that they were innocent which in my mind couldn't be farther from the truth.
I agree with David T's comment that she was absolutely lying about the whole matter and probably felt like that letter would have ever been brought up again and she seemed to be so thrown off guard that it had.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very interesting. After the interviewer showed her the document, she admitted that the signature and address was hers. She also said that she had no idea what the document meant and that she didn't know why people were bringing it up 50 years later. She was getting pretty defensive about the whole situation so I think that this shows that she's guilty.
I think the interview with Resi Kraus reflects the desire of those involved in the Holocaust or those who aided the Gestapo to forget their actions and act as if it never happened. Kraus was probably so ashamed of her actions against her own neighbor that she chose to deny it at all costs and attempt to change the subject. I think the guilt the Kraus was feeling during that interview was too much, so she just chose to act as if nothing happened and she chose to make herself look like the victim when she was really the perpetrator.
The interview with Resi Kraus was a perfect example of society's influence on people's opinions. Kraus lived in Nazi Germany, was a young girl finding herself in Nazi Germany. At the time the popular opinion and way of thinking was the Nazi way of race superiority. She had been told by society that this is the way that we should think, she was influenced by them. She reported her neighbor because she felt it was the right thing to do, the right thing for her to do for Germany. She had been told to report anything to the Gestapo. I will compare this to how our society tells us to report anything dangerous and illegal to the police. Yes, the actions taken afterwards are different, but the same need to report a crime to a person who is "protecting" you is a relate able feeling. Though in 2012 modern day time, society frowns upon the Nazi's. We are disgusted by them and everything that they stand for. So as society changed, Kraus changed. She says that she doesn't now how that letter got written, that all of her information is correct but she has no memory of writing that letter. She has changed her story and her opinion so that she can fit into society. It is all in human nature to follow the pack, to fit in, to blend so that you can be around other people. It was a perfect example of human nature
I was shocked to hear Resi Kraus deny the fact that she signed the letter, even after she admitted to it being her signature and her correct address. Kraus turned her neighbor in for not fitting in and having Jewish friends. Kraus did this at the time because her neighbor did not completely comply with the Nazi party, so she felt the need to turn her in for those reasons. Now that the actions of the Nazi party are considered unacceptable, Kraus denied her affiliation with the letter. She was ashamed of what she did, but chose not to admit to her past actions and even tried to change the subject.
I thought that the film was interesting because it not only revealed who the Gestapo convicted and what they did to them, but it also showed people reporting others to the Gestapo for certain unsupported "suspicions." I thought it was strange how easy it was for people to report their own neighbors to the Gestapo, knowing that they would most likely be taken away and be killed, even though there was no real proof of anything they reported. I thought it was particularly strange to see Resi Kraus openly deny her direct involvement in reporting one of her neighbors to the Gestapo. She validated that that was her name, address, and signature but still denied any knowledge of the report. It's fascinating to watch people convince themselves that they did not do something that they later realize is wrong instead of owning up to their mistakes.
The interview with Resi Kraus was confusing to me at first. I wasn't sure if she had written the letter or if it had been forged by the Gestapo. When I was thinking about the interview again, I realized that she did write the letter. She didn't want to say that she wrote it, and was in denial the entire time. This denial is the doing of the Gestapo, they inflicted fear so deep into peoples brains that the fear continues to remain today. This was an eyeopening interview that showed me the power that the Gestapo really had.
Resi Kraus was a frightening person in that she openly denied any involvement in the deportation, and ultimately the death, of her neighbor despite the fact that her signature and testimony was recorded in a document. She even seemed sincere in her denial, as if she had convinced herself that she had done nothing wrong. The part that got to me the most was when she shifted the blame to the reporters. I feel like she believes that the reporters are the wicked ones and that 'burning bridges' is the only way to escape the atrocities committed during Nazi rule.
I like what David said about Kraus' remark that she did not personally kill anyone. I believe the Gestapo created a mindset of the German People that reporting individuals was not an act of cruelty, but a noble one. I think the German People truly believed that they were 'purifying' their country and creating a better nation.
I was very intrigued by the interview of Resi Kraus because she admitted that the signature was hers and that it was her address. However she seemed to be in denial. She was saying that she wasn't the one who accused her neighbor of being against the Nazi's and led to their demise. It was also interesting how she said that the people who were digging things up from 50 years ago were bad and then at the end in an effort to change the conversation she said that it was starting to rain. That statement was such an obvious indicator that she was just trying to change the subject because she didn't want to continue lying and have what she did brought up against her.
I thought that the interview with Resi Kraus was interesting. She was denying every bit of evidence that she did something. She said that she never wrote that letter, signed her name or addressed it. It seemed as though she just wanted to be done with that part of her life. She also was trying to get around the things that the interviewer was asking, such as she was questioning why he brought up a letter from 50 years ago as well as was saying that it was starting to rain. She was lying to him and her body language and things that she was saying made that clear. She was denying the things that she had done in the past rather than owning up to it.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very unusual. She pretty much acted as if she had no clue what the document was even though all of the right information about her was on it, including her signature. I thought it was weird that she lied to the reporter and I think she did this because she was involved in the discrimination during the Holocaust.
I thought Resi Kraus was interesting because she said that the address and signature of hers was right but denied having anything to do with it. So she denied that she made someone get sent to a consentration camp and who probably ended up dying in the end. So she is most likely lying about this and also one thing that kind of makes it obvious that she is lying is that she randomly mentions that it is raining outside. Lastly, Resi said that she was not sure if the person she reported was "bad" but she just looked suspicious, so she reported her nieghbor to the Gestapo.
The film that we saw in class really exposed the Gestapo to not be as powerful as it was thought to be and that the citizens of Germany were fueling them. The interview with Resi Kraus was ridiculous because she was still in denial from all of these years that she had no part in any of the work the Gestapo were involved in.
The interview with Resi Kraus was very mysterious and engaging because she admitedt that her signature was indeed on the form but said that she did not do any of the things described. She clearly does not want to admit what she did to her nieghbor but this makes me wonder why she agreed to the interview in the first place if she is so secretive about it.
I agree with Johnny that the power and fear that the gestapo was able to unleash during this time still exists in these people today and is the reason Resi Kraus acts the way she does in the interview.
i was absent
I came away from this interview feeling very skeptical about the whole scene. Resi was very misleading and was in total denial about the whole scene. It is hard to piece together the facts and I found it very weird how she admitted to having signed the document but not her actions. There is no place for this foolery in history.
I agree with what David said about the movie, there are no coincidences occuring in this situation and Resi needs to stop beating around the bush.
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