The motion picture,
The Pianist is the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman who was one of the most accomplished musicians in Poland in the 1930s. This film does an excellent job of explaining why it became impossible for the Jewish people living in Europe to escape the Nazis and the plight of hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Warsaw, Poland. What did you learn from the film that you did not know before?
33 comments:
Some things that I learned from this film is that a lot of people were eft on the street to die. Like when someone died they wuld be left there on the street, which makes the sanitation of the ghetto worse than I thought. Also, the Nazis made Jewish people dance for them for their entertainment. Lastly, if any Jewish man or women had a slight infraction, it would result in the death of them. One thing that I thought was just awful about this film is that the Nazis just barged into people's homes in the ghetto and made them stand up for them. So this one old man in a wheel chair could not stand, so the Nazis decided to throw him out the window off of the second floor. This was just heart breaking because how could they be so emotionless and just throw an old innocent man out a window. When I saw that I was just discouraged.
Before watching this film I was unaware that these ghettos existed in places like Warsaw I originally thought that all jews were taken to labor camps. I also did not know how the Nazis progressively became harsher as time went on, for example the old man got hit in the face for not bowing to the Nazi where as he would have been arrested or killed later on, I used to think it all happened at once.
I agree with Rob's comment in pointing out the heartlessness of the Nazis in what they did to the man in the wheelchair and his family. They clearly didnt just do this to follow orders because they made the jews dance for entertainment which proves they're intent to impact.
Before watching this film, I was unaware of the environment that was ensued within the ghettos. I didn’t know that the Jewish people were actually living in houses and neighborhoods; my idea of the ghetto was more blatantly cruel and grotesque. From the outward appearance, the ghettos seemed like your typical neighborhood, but when you dig deeper inside the barricaded walls, the ghetto was a torturous jail. This movie enlightened me to the harsh reality of the ghettos, and helped me realize that there was more than meets the eye within the barbed wire walls.
From "The Pianist," I learned the true conditions of the Jewish ghettos. Nazis and Jewish police just killed people and left them in the streets to die while the other Jewish people just had to walk by them because they couldn't do anything to help them anymore. Some people even went mentally insane due to the extreme and torturous conditions, like the woman desperately searching for her husband (who was unfortunately, probably dead). Also, people would do absolutely anything for food. One man accidently knocked over a woman's pot of soup in an attempt to take her food, then proceeded to viciously eat the food off of the dirty streets. Many people seemed to just live in constant fear and horrible depression. I learned how disturbing and terrible the conditions of the Jewish ghettos were and it was so much more of an eye opener seeing a movie like this rather than just hearing or reading about the ghettos.
I agree with Robert that the most heart breaking moment was seeing the men throw the old man in the wheel chair over the balcony for not standing up, something he didn't even have control over. It was horrifying to watch because it seemed so real and because it's hard to believe that people can literally be heartless like that. The Nazis seemed mentally insane and horribly brainwashed.
I have already watched this film, prior to being in this class, but no matter how many times I've see this film, I always think it does an excellent job of giving us the feel of what it was like in the conditions of those ghettos. I like how the producers illustrate the inhumanity that the Jews were being treated with at that time, without 'hiding' anything. It makes it much more realistic, which also makes it easier to engage myself in. This film has helped me understand more of what the Jews were faced with (the brutality and the environment they had to live through within the ghettos) and why they couldn't just flee Europe at that time.
I found parts of this film to be very disturbing and before watching I didn't know that it was that bad. The one scene that really stood out to me was when the Nazis went into the apartments into the ghettos and threw the man in the wheel chair over the ledge because he couldnt stand. I found that to be horrific. As well as i didnt really know how bad and underkept the ghettos were. There were dead people on the streets, robberies happening all over, it was dirty and gross. It really showed into the life of those living in the ghetto and showed that just because they werent sent to work camps like other Jewish citizens that they didnt have it any easier because of the conditions and situations that they were placed in every day.
I agree with Juli in how there is more than meets the eye with the Ghettos and really helped show the terrible conditions that the Jewish people were forced to live in.
Before watching this film, I was not aware that the Jews were forced out of their homes and into the ghettos. The conditions were absolutely awful, and it showed how the Nazi became so powerful because they completely weakening the Jews. There were dead men all over the street, little food to eat, and completely unsanitary living conditions. It was really sad to see the extremes the Jews had to go to get food, for example the starving man grabbed food from the elderly woman, and even ate it off the ground when it fell.
I learned more about the cruel and unjust rules and punishments that the Nazis enforced on the Jews. The Nazis treated the Jews as less than human, and I thought this was clearly demonstrated in the film. I also learned more about the conditions of the Ghetto. I was previously unaware of just how unsanitary and disorganized the Ghetto truly was. This helped to provide me with a more accurate understanding of life in the Ghetto. The Nazis has no remorse; they killed men and women, children, grandparents, and so on. This was also shown in the film on various occasions when Jews would be beaten for not bowing or taking off their hat when approached by an officer and other scenarios.
One thing that I learned from the movie was that the Nazis actually hired jews from the ghettos as police officers. The way these officers treated the jews in the ghettos really surprised me as well. They would beat them whenever they wanted, much like the Nazis did. I also saw how ruthless and cold hearted the Nazis were. Much like Robert, the part that I most remember in the movie was when the Nazi soldiers threw the man off the balcony. It's don't understand how someone could do that to another person.
In this film, I learned the extent to which degradation was applied. Jews were embarrassed routinely, and forced to do things to dehumanize themselves, by taking away their pride and self respect. The Jewish population was also left with no means of countering this degradation, as they weren't even able to perform decent tasks such as burying their dead.
One thing I learned from this film that I didn't know before was that many Jewish people were just left on the street to die. People would just walk over you and leave you there like it was something normal to do. Also I learned that when a Jewish person walked by a Nazi, they had to bow their head or else they would get hit. This film was so powerful and really showed me a lot about how bad the Jewish people were treated.
Some things I learned from this film are that a lot people died in the street. They killed them and left them. A lot a people don't have food. They don't have a job, or money so they can't do anything.
After watching The Pianist I learned how horrible the conditions were in the Jewish Ghettos. I never realized that they wree forced into those and given barely anything to eat. I also didn't know that Jewish people joined forces almost with the Nazis and made the Jewish Police Force.
What I learned from the film is the human aspect of the Holocaust. When you are told that 6 million Jews are murdered it is difficult for your mind to fully grasp and understand the large number. By learning about this small family of less than a dozen people it puts into perspective the amount of people that died, and how sad it really was as people who really cared about one another were fighting for food and living in the worst possible conditions.
The film showed me the hardship and adversity that the Jewish people faced within the ghettos of Nazi occupied Europe. I had seen some footage of these ghettos and had a faint understading of the hunger and disease that the Jews faced, but I was unaware of the torture and murders dealt by both the Nazis and the Jewish Police.
From The Pianist, I learned how horrible the situations in the Ghettos were. I didn't realize how desperate some families were for food and that if they were caught outside the barrier they would be executed. It also taught me that not only were the nazis that treated the people poorly, but also the Jewish Police.
I agree with mark that The Pianist puts a face to the Jewsih people who suffered in the ghettos. Without films like this one, students are told about the blight of the entire people, which can be difficult to grasp. Once someone sees the effects on each individual, each human being, they begin to truly understand the situation and feel for the Jewish People.
I agree with Jen in the sense that I also really didn't understand how poorly the people were treated. The scene that bothered me most and that illustrated this the most was the scene when they throw the man off the balcony from the wheelchair.
I learned from the film that the polish got it almost just as bad as german jews did. To have their own seperate country go through that because another country's ideals is just horrible. I also learned the the Nazis weren't even giving them a chance. I knew they sent to the ghettos, but i thought from there they had a fighting chance to survive, but germans looked for any reason possible to beat them or kill them. When i saw them pick up the man in the wheelchair and throw him over the balcony with no hesistation, I felt it was bad. Everyone tells us how bad the holocaust is, but that scene just made me feel it.
I agree with Hannah, i also didn't know many were just left on the streets to die.
The film enlightened me to the extent that the Jewish people were treated i knew they were beaten and forced to live in closed areas, but seeing the peoples housed raided, people killed, and jewish people betraying each other for their own protection.
Something that I learned from this film was how bad the ghettos that the Jews had to live actually was. I always knew that the conditions were very bad from prior knowledge but this film really illuminated the fact of how bad these ghettos actually were. I also had never known there was such a thing called the Jewish police and i thought that was interesting to see.
I agree with David T's point of how Jews were humiliated on so many levels.
Through watching this film, I learned a lot about the Ghettos set up by the nazi's. First, I learned that the ghettos were in urban places like Warsaw, previously, I thought they were rural and separate from the non-Jews in Poland. I also learned how poor the conditions were in the ghettos, the nazi's were essentially trying to starve the Jews, and many people died in the ghettos. The Nazi's had zero tolerance or respect for the Jews and would do anything they wanted to them. It is horrible that anyone would want to do such a thing to a group of people, and it is crazy that they could pull it off. It should never happen again.
I agree with David's comment about the Germans throwing the man in the wheelchair out the window. That scene really angered me, and it is horrible that nothing could be done about it.
This film gave me a further understanding for the ghettos and just how harsh the people policing them were. The Nazi's were very cold and heartless, it was alarming when they dumped the man in the wheelchair off the balcony, showing no respect for life what so ever. The film also showed just how powerful the Nazi's were they truly could do whatever they wanted to whom ever they wanted.
I agree with what Julie said, as bad as the ghettos were, I had envisioned worse living conditions in terms of housing it was interesting to see their decent accommodations but the lack of resources.
In the film I learned how horrible the living conditions were during the Nazi takeover and how hard it was for the Jews to escape. I always wandered why the Jews never ran, and this film really helped me see why it was so difficult for the Jews to leave Poland which was under Nazi control.
I was absent for this
This might not necessarily be something that I learned, but seeing the Jewish people all being forced out of their homes and made to walk to the new formed ghetto was something that I found really interesting. I know that the Nazi's were masters of torture amoung other things, but the way that they tortured the jews was not just physical. The Nazis used many ways of public humiliation to bring down the spirits of the jewish people as well as their will to fight back. The psychological torture was something I didn't really have a good grasp on.
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