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?
41 comments:
Before I watched this film I didnt know how that the conditions in the ghettos were as bad as they really were. I couldnt believe how horrible the conditions they lived in were. It was really sad to see all the people walking around who were begging for food because they were starving to death. This film really helped to show what the conditions that the Jewish people lived in were like and just how horrible their lives were.
I agree with Amanda, the conditions the Jewish people lived in were terrible and The Pianist did a good job depicting that image. Although I knew the Jews were treated poorly and there was a lot of violence from the Nazis, it is different actually seeing it happen. It made me realize how much they were abused and punished for even the littlest reasons. The Jewish people went through tough times and there is no way to understand how bad it was, but The Pianist captured it well.
After watching this film, i really had a lot more knowledge of what it was like in the ghettos for these Jews. It made me sick seeing human beings treat others like that. I just couldn't handle it. It helped me learn a lot about how awful it truly was to live back then.
i agree with Amanda. This film did a spectacular job at showing what the conditions were truly like back then, and it was just awful seeing the people in the conditions that they were in.
Like many of the other students, I think that the movie really captured the senseless brutality that was practiced on the Jews. Before watching this movie, I didn't know that there was a literal wall that separated the ghettos from everywhere else, and that there was a constant patrol of the borders of the ghetto.
Like Kara, this movie has helped me understand more about just how horrifically the Jews were treated. It also makes me sick to think about how this movie is much more than a cinematic creation, but a stark reality that actual people had to undergo. Very unsettling.
I did not get to see the whole movie but from the small part that I got to watch shocked me. I cant say I was surprised about some of the things that the Nazis did but seeing it was very hard to watch. One scene that i cant get over is when they barged into one of the homes of the ghettos and the old man couldnt stand because he was in a wheelchair so they threw him off the balcony. They had no second thoughts it was like none of them had a problem with killing another human being.
I agree with Margo. I learned so much more about the ghettos, what they were like and how they were treated inside. I thought the ghettos were a safe place for the jews to go but from the movie I saw that it was basically as bad as being in the concentration camps.
I was unfortunately absent for this movie.
I'm stunned in the conditions of the ghettos. I've only heard stories about it so much of the beginning dint surprise me. But the moment were the class watched the small old man be tossed out the balcony that's when everything became shocking. I'm horrified.
I agree with Amanda its one thing to hear about what happened its another thing to see it I think its because it impacts you more it suddenly becomes more realistic instead of stories passed around.
After watching "The Pianist" I learned the desperation of people during that time, especially for things such as food, safety, and the protection of their loved ones. How someone could everything they could putting themselves at risk (for example the work permits/ records) and it wouldn't help them at all. What helped someone was knowing somebody on the inside who could free them. It also showed me how lost and confused so many of the people were and left me wondering where does one go, when they have no job, no family, no friends, no home, nothing to call their own?
I agree with Amanda about how I was really ignorant on the conditions of the ghetto. This film genuinely opened my eyes about what the war truly was. These conditions of the ghetto were unlivable and it was inhumane to this. It was very difficult to watch this film. I wanted to leave after a while because it was so horrifying, but that made me realize it made it that more important for me to watch. The Jewish police were so mean to these poor people who were also Jewish. I can't wrap my brain around how someone could treat another human the way that the police treated the members of the ghetto.
I had always heard that the conditions of the ghettos were inhumane and awful, but getting a firsthand source of that from "The Pianist" really gave me a better idea. I also found it shocking how they were treated - despite being a male or female, child or adult. One of the most dreadful scenes in that movie was when the women asked the nazi officer where they were going, and he turned to her and shot her in the face. I believe that is what it was really like, and its terrifying to know that humans were capable of such animalistic behavior back then. It makes me wonder if today we have a better sense of how to treat humans because of the halocaust.
I have to agree with Zoe when she said that she didnt know there was a literal wall that seperated the jews and ghettos, because i didnt know that either. I wonder if Poland was hit the hardest by the invaders of Germany, because i have never heard of such insane human control over other humans like that - literally herding the jews into ghettos. Its astonishing to me.
I did not watch all of this movie but the part that I saw horrified me. What bothered me most was that jews were treated like they were less than human. One part in particular that really shocked me was when a jewish woman was sobbing because she had smothered her baby when she was trying to prevent the nazis from finding her. Just the fact that she was put into that situation was unthinkable.
I agree with what Amanda said. This film did a good job of showing how awful the conditions were. I was shocked by how many people were starving to death and how little food there was.
As well as others, I was not able to see the whole movie but even the small parts that I saw definitely had an impact on me. I thought the movie did a great job with portraying the brutality of the Nazis. These characters were entirely terrifying and had no second thoughts towards killing another person. The one point in the movie that shocked me the most was when a women simply asked a question and the Nazi turned and shot her right then and there. This showed so much of how terrible the Nazis actions were. To me it seems that they were almost like robots, brainwashed to believe in specific things that they could never back down from.
I was absent for much of this film.
After watching the film, I really learned how ruthless the Nazi's really were and how hard it must have been for the Jews to live in Europe.
I agree with what Zoe said about the senseless brutality of the Nazis. I was stunned when I saw how the Nazis were treating people
I have already seen The Pianist, but seeing it again helped me pick up on some nuances. I learned just how strictly the Jews were controlled, so far as to let the soldiers force them out of their homes. Watching the film made me realize how terrible it was for the Jews to abandon their regular lives and be forced to take on a new life full of misery. I found it interesting to follow the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, because it shows how he had to give up his passion, lose his family, and later survive on his own. I think all of them were so brave for enduring the terrible conditions, but somehow carried on.
I agree with you Zoe. I was horrified by the violence in the movie, but that was not even as severe as it must have been in real life. It's eerie how the cinematography captured the essence of life in the ghetto.
This movie gave me a greater understanding of what the Nazis did to the Poles and how they isolated them from the Aryans and had multiple methods for killing them off. I never knew that they forced all the Poles into ghettos so I wasn't aware to any of the events that we witness in the film. Seeing people stealing clothes off of dead people on the street who literally just died of thirst was extemely powerful and disturbing. The Poles still tried to fight back against the Germans when they were in the ghetto and didn't give up on the idea of an uprising.
I agree with Kassandra and was surprised that hope for an up rising wasn't completely lost and people were still trying to make a living and get money for their families even if that meant risking their life. The Poles had the will to survive which I personally don't think I would of had during this time, especially if my family became separated and I didn't know if they were dead or alive.
Before watching this movie, I had no idea what to expect, but this movie left me really upset every time we watched it. After see the atrocities committed against the Jewish people, I would leave class very upset needing to calm down. The scene that struck me the most was when a family was sittin down for dinner and the police came in and had everyone stand up. The grandfather in the wheelchair was unable to, so they lifted his wheelchair and pushed him off te balcony. They then continued to have the family gather in the street and had them run down the street, bullets chasing after them. It really upset me that these people were starving and the police would manipulate the minds and terrorize innocent people. The worst part about this movie is that it was impossible to distance yourself from the action, because this happened during the holocaust, and much more. Also, I felt like the Jews were treated like animals, all packed like cattle into the city with a Neil wall with glass shards on top, so nobody was able to escape, then they were trying to be compliant with what the police asked to avoid the violence, but they were still beaten when loaded onto the cargo train.
I agree with Kassandra in regards to the desperation. I remember one woman had some food in her bowl and a man came by the fight her for it. It eventually dropped she started crying and he ate it off the ground. The way the Jewish were tortured, even if they had a work permit, is unspeakable. It saddens me to see the suffering. I also remember when some family members came back before the entire family was loade onto a train seeing a woman with her child dying of thirst and then shortly after seeing a young parent less child crying because her family was likely killed or captured while she was absent.
This movie did an excellent job showing what conditions were really like during this time. I guess I never really knew that the Nazi's would just raid the homes of the Jews at night. The ghettos were very crowded and the Jews suffered there very much. There really was no safe haven for them to escape to.
I agree with Catie's comment. The Pianist truly affected me and it was painful to watch. They were treated like animals - any of them that had the smallest flaw were immediately killed, and it seemed like they were set up to have flaws which is just unfair. I can't believe that these people went through this less than 100 years ago. It's just so inhumane.
After watching this video, i realize how even one of the most honorable man can turn into a theif and attempt to eat his attempt at stealing someones food because he was starving,off the ground. This is what really stuck with me.
I agree with Amanda, the conditions were beyond horrible. I also agree with Zoe, its terrifying to think that people could have this much power over someone else's life and take whoever's life they wanted for no just reason.
One thing I noted from the film was that it raised the possibility of escape for Jews if they could get to Palestine. This seemed to indicate that, perhaps, the Jewish people in Poland [and elsewhere] could be saved if they had only been able to get to Palestine. In reality, the Zionist leaders there were not interested in saving the Jewish people - only in colonization. As Chaim Weizmann, later the first president of Israel put it,
"The hopes of Europe’s six million Jews are centered on emigration. I was asked: “Can you bring six million Jews to Palestine?” I replied, “No.” ... From the depths of the tragedy I want to save ... young people [for Palestine]. The old ones will pass. They will bear their fate or they will not. They are dust, economic and moral dust in a cruel world ... Only the branch of the young shall survive. They have to accept it."
(Ralph Schoenman, The Hidden History of Zionism)
The film reinforces the lesson taught to us by the Russian revolution - the only way to beat antisemitism is through unified struggle of workers of all faiths and ethnicities, and the attempt to do so by a Zionist project was nothing but a reactionary utopia.
I believe that this movie did a great job in personalizing the Holocaust. The connect that was made between the character in the movie and the view before the tragic events that took place really personalized the situations.
I agree with bost Amanda and Zoe in that the conditions were beyond horrible , and it iss terrifying to think that people could have this much power over someone else's life and take whoever's life they wanted for no just reason.
Before watching the film I knew that the Jewish people were in a tough position during the 1930’s and 1940’s. The Nazis had control over the Jewish people just because they didn’t like them. It didn’t hit me until watching this depressing film that I realized that people actually lived like this. It was tough for me to watch the film because there really wasn’t anything to hope for in the future. I know that I would not be able to survive if I were to live like this today.
I agree with what Kara had to say about the film. It was tough for me to watch a movie like this because I realized that people actually lived like this. Like I said before, I know that I would not have survived if I was Jewish in the 1930’s or 1940’s.
I'm mostly Polish so this movie was particularly tough for me to watch. I could see people similar to my family there; poor, hungry, and trying to get out. The conditions these people lived in were beyond words and it bothers me that something like this ever happened.
After watching the film, I learned more about the ghettos that the Jews had to live in. I did not realize that the conditions were that bad, and it helped me to further understand exactly what the Jews had to go through, although I could never actually imagine the reality of it. I was also horrified when the Nazis invaded people's homes and killed them for no reason at all.
I agree with Catie. I think that the scene that I was most sensitive to was when the Germans invaded the apartments and yelled at the grandfather to stand up out of his wheelchair, it being clear that he physically couldn't. They literally took him to the window and dumped him out the window, with his entire family watching helplessly. I thought it was truly terrible that things like this happened all the time during this time period.
Like several students have mentioned, I think the movie put us into the perspective of the Jews during the early 40s. We were able to clearly understand what actually was happening to nearly all Jewish families. I feel that it was more clear watching the brutality rather than just hearing or reading about it. Before the movie, I did not know how poor the Jews were due to the Nazis, and did not realize that families were literally starving to death due the lack of jobs and money for the Jewish people. The movie was extremely hard to watch at times, but I now have a completely clear understanding of what the Nazis were doing in Germany at this time, and it makes the word "Holocaust" more disturbing in my eyes.
I agree with what Zoe stated. Before the movie I did not realize that their was an actual brick wall separating the Jews in the ghetto, and i did not know the harsh state the Jews were living in. The streets they lived on were so dangerous, and constant fear stung in everyone's eyes. I did not understand how sever times were, even before the Jews were sent to the death and work camps.
I was absent this day
I was absent for most of this movie.
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