This week you watched The Grey Zone. The film is based in part on the true story of Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, a Hungarian Jew chosen by Josef Mengele to be the head pathologist at Auschwitz. The film showcases the moral delimma of the the Sonderkommando Jews and follows their plans to carry out the armed revolt that took place at Auschwitz. Please post your reflections about the film.
 |
| (Dr. Nyiszli is pictured in the photo wearing the white lab coat when U.S. troops liberated Donau concentration camp.) |
28 comments:
This film taught me a lot of things that I found very interesting. I had no idea that the guards were Jews who were killed every four months. I cannot believe that prisoners were forced to do the dirty work of the camp and help kill their own people. It was also a huge surprise to me that they tried to rebel and ended up destroying two crematoriums. I felt relieved in a way after finding this out because I needed to know that people were human and recognized the horrific nature of the work at Auschwitz. It really made me sad though how the guards admitted that they didn't want to live because they were ashamed of themselves. Overall, I found this film to be extremely informative, engaging, and shocking.
I found that I could relate this movie to The Uprising. They were very similar in the fact that some of the prisoners did not just sit back and wait for their deaths. Some Jews chose to fight back. The scene that I found most shocking was when the man was being beaten for his watch. Not only did the man end up dying, but the man's wife ended up being shot too for screaming too loud. I agree with Mia. I also couldn't believe that the Nazi's made the prisoners do the dirty work and help to kill their own people. There were many scenes that showed prisoners putting the bodies of their friends and families into ovens for them to burn.
While watching this film i had learned a lot of things that i did not know before. I was surprised that they had forced Jewish people to work in the camps, and then killing their own people. They just kill but would not show any emotion. I was also shocked that the girl had survived the gas chamber, and that she was the only one. The end was disturbing when they had them all lined up and were shooting them one by one, making the girl watch, and then shooting her.
I agree with Mia and McKayla that it was crazy that they had made the prisoners kill and do the work.Also agree with McKayla that this film was similar to the Uprising film.
My overall impression to the film was mostly shock. The little details are still stuck in my head like the doctor who hid when the rebellion was taking place. It was extremely good to see the Jews fighting back. However, I couldn't understand how Jews were being forced to kill their own kind. What really made me squirm during the film was when the two women who knew where the powder was didn't give it up as they were watching the women being shot one by one which led them to commit suicide. I agree with McKayla's comment on how prisioners had to put their families bodies in ovens, it was utterly disgusting and unbearable to watch.
"The Grey Zone" left me with several thoughts, mainly how several Jews decided to fight back, kinda like we've seen in other films before this semester. For me, a good deal of the torture and killing was definitely inhumane and hard to watch. You definitely just can't understand what happened without actually seeing pictures, films like this, etc. A lot of human characteristics, such as putting one's self first, even before his or her's family, was put on display for all of us to see. This part was shown when some Jews cremated their family members, often just to receive more food, water, or better housing.
I also have to agree with McKayla, in terms of how the fight that the Jews displayed was a lot like that shown in "The Uprising", although in "The Grey Zone", it seemed less confrontational. (No gun attack on the Nazis, no real attack until the end, more refusing to tell them where the powder was and what they were planning.)
Other than being just an examination of the horrors that occurred in the concentration camps. Th Grey Zone raised a question of what lengths someone would go to to stay alive.
Like Karli, I also found this to be the most graphic, and disturbing movie we have watched so far, what makes it incredibly disturbing for me personally is the fact that it is based on an eye witness account.
I agree with Doug in how this film showed that some Jews decided to fight back which was different from the first few films we watched such as the Pianist.
I only got to see the end of the film because I was absent, but what I saw showed me a lot about what happened at the camp. I was impressed that the Jews were able to pull off the uprising, and realizing that it was the only revolt made it even more impressive. I was shocked at the end when all of the men were told to lay on the ground. The soldier just casually walked by all of them and shot them one at a time. Seeing them take all of their lives in such a cruel way reconfirmed how evil the Nazis were. They took so many lives simply because the people were Jewish, and when they shot the girl at the end, it was like a final statement to demonstrate the power they had. Even though I didn’t see too much of the movie, I think that from what I saw, it was an important story to see.
Olivia commented that she learned a lot from the movie. I also learned about what exactly went on in the work camps and what the Jews were forced to do.
The thing that resonated with me the most about "The Grey Zone" was the brutal and heartless acts that occurred in the Auschwitz. The one of the most disturbing aspects of the movie I found was the fact that the Sonderkommandos could look all of their kin in the face and tell them that the gas chambers were safe delousing chambers or showers and just as coldly throw them over their shoulder as if they were rag dolls to incinerate the corpse in the ovens. It was equally disturbing to see the Hungarian Jews being marched into the camp past a truck full of ashes as if to say that this will be you in a couple of days or even hours. Not to mention that a truck full of ashes would have been a depressing large number of people. Then there was the systematic shooting of the Sonderkommando and the cell block of the women that stole the gunpowder. And as sad as those events are it is necessary to show them because people need to the straight truth about what happened in not just Auschwitz but in Death camps throughout Germany and Poland.
In response to Doug...
I agree that it seemed kind of futile for the Sonderkommados to help the Nazis kill more Jews, because after all it didn't spare their life it only bought them a little bit more time. In addition to that if it weren't for the Sonderkommandos aid, such a large scale extermination would not have been possible because the Nazis were short on reserves since they were fighting two fronts. The Eastern front against the Russians and the Western against the United States and Britain.
I was surprised at how far people would go to stay alive just for an extra few months. In the end it didn't really matter for the Sonderkommandos because they were going to be killed anyway. These jewish men would tell their own people that everything was going to be okay and then lead them to the chambers. They would also burn the bodies of their own people later on. All for a few extra months of life. The Germans were smart in using the incentive of a better life to get Jews to do whatever they want. The Germans manipulated thousands of people so they could be efficient with their killing.
I really like this film because of how it portrayed this really unique, bizarre situation where everyone knows that they are going to die, yet they continue to fight for survival. One part that is hard to comprehend is why, if they knew they were going to die anyway, the Jews would still follow the orders of the Nazis or they would plead with those women to give up the rebel plans so that they wouldn't be shot. I don't think any of us are capable of putting ourselves in their shoes, but this movie was a really good demonstration of what some of the Jews went through.
i was absent for this film
After watching The Grey Zone I thought I grasped a greater understanding of the psychological and moral dilemma both sides, Jews and Nazis, felt. Neither could ever walk away from something like the Holocaust and ever be the same. I think the message at the end was very important, that everyone involved, specifically I think they meant the Sonderkommando Jews, wished to be the person they had once been before this. And they did not know what they would do to survive until they were asked. That's so true! So many times people say "what would you do if you were in their shoes?" But really, who is to say? In situations like that I think your mind switches to survival.
In a way I thought this movie was very graphic in comparison to other movies that we have watched in this class. I think that was good. It's very easy to "sugar coat" in movies and make events less graphic so the audience doesn't walk away too disturbed or upset. But I think this movie helped people like me grasp a better understanding of the Holocaust and what Jews had to endure in camps like Auschwitz. It is a painful reminder why we can not forget the Holocaust.
In response to Alyssa..
I agree that it was encouraging to see that the Jews did fight back in a way. But at the same time the movie was packed full of emotional and hard hitting scenes that it was hard to watch at times, especially with those two women when they are being tortured. It was very realistic.
My overall response to this film was shock. I was surprised for an actual movie how in depth and gruesome it turned out to be. Granted everything was realistic yet, as a view I was expecting more of a happy ending. I did not like how in the end of the film they made the girl watch her saviors be killed, only to then give her the sense of hope that she might be set free only to shoot her as she is running away. I most horrific part in the film was listening to the girl speak in the end and how she talks about Jews killing their own because they have to.
I agree with Mckayla in that it was definitely hard to watch prisoners put their own familes’ in the oven but in all reality that’s exactly what they had to do. And every single prisoner was given a time period and at some point another prisoner was going to have to put their body in the oven.
The film "The Grey Zone" was probably one of the hardest films we have watched in this course yet. I think everybody can say it was hard to watch. I found the part where the older man was feeding the bodies in to get burned and when his own families bodies were placed there was extremely hard to watch. He saw his family dead, naked, and helpless. The only thing he could do was to feed them into the fire to keep himself alive for a little longer. One other scene that stuck with me is was after the uprising and instead of killing everyone involved right then and there, they made them all lay on the ground next to each other, and then one by one they were shot and killed.
I also agree with Karli in regards to this being the hardest and most painful movie that we have watched.
Me and McKayla agreed on this was it was amazing how the Jews could lie to the others Jews faces assuring them that they were going to be safe when they really weren’t.
This film was really hard to watch at some points. The way they showed the guards killing the innocent Jews was very realisticand was insane torture. It was very disturbing to watch and I compared the way the Jews were lined up and killed almost like the way we kill bugs, like it means nothing and we are doing a good thing. But the Jews were human and the fact that they were treated like bugs is disgusting and shameful. I agree with Doug that the movie was very graphic and that we learned what the camps were really like.
This film brought home a lot of very interesting and informative points about the Nazi death camps. I was unaware of the fact that Jews were forced to work at the camp, helping kill their own kind. It seems very disturbing that the Nazis would do that to them. It was also very alarming to watch that one prisoner who was beat and killed just for his watch. The jews were treated like they weren't even human. Overall, I found this film to be educational and involving and was very well put together.
I agree with Mia in that I was shocked to learn that it was Jewish men, not Nazis, who led the Jewish prisoners to their deaths in the gas chambers. It was disturbing to learn that not only did they play a large part in the mass-murder of millions but they also lied to the people in order to keep them calm. They knew they did not have much more than four months to live, yet they did what they could to simply buy themselves a few extra days. Another thing that I was surprised to learn was how some Jewish people did not feel like they could trust prisoners from other countries. The constant sense of betrayal permeated through the entire film and it proved the efficiency of the Nazi party turning people against each other.
I was absent for this assignment.
I was very impressed with the strength and courage that the women had in this movie. They were portrayed as significant roles in the plot of the insurrection to destroy the camp's crematoriums. The women prisoners took in explosive powders into the men's camp's through the horrific scenes of dead bodies everywhere in sight. After the women are caught for their actions, they were severely beaten and tortured to give details on their plan but regardless of how much they made the women suffer they never revealed anything.
I agree with John and Jake that many scenes of the movie were extremely difficult to watch. Seeing the Jews forced to turn against their own people was just heart wrenching to even fathom. Also, scenes where the shootings seemed like routine without any emotion were just incredibly distant to me. I don't see how any human could kill others in such an organized assembly-line fashion as they did in this film.
Post a Comment