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PERIOD 6: THE GREY ZONE
This week you watched
The Grey Zone. The film is based in part on the eyewitness account of Dr. Miklos
Nyiszli (He is pictured wearing the white lab coat in the photo that was taken after the camp was liberated by the Russians.) Dr. Nyiszli was a Hungarian Jew selected by Dr. Josef Mengele to be the head pathologist at
Auschwitz while Mengele carried out his infamous experiments on children who were twins. The film showcases the moral dilemma of the Sonderkommando Jews and
follows their plans to carry out the armed revolt that blew up two of the crematoriums at Auschwitz.
Please post your reflections about the film.
22 comments:
This film hit me especially hard. I don't know how Mr. Gallagher sits every single day and watches these films over and over again. It has to leave a huge hole inside of him, I know it has left one inside of me. That hole started the first day of this course for me and is only getting bigger with each day. I find I spend a lot of time during the films with my eyes closed trying to keep myself from crying or getting queasy. Not queasy because I am grossed out but because I sometimes don't physically think I can handle this material anymore. Day by day I become even more sick thinking about the Holocaust. It changes people to see these things and I now understand why people want to say it didn't happen. It doesn't seem possible. But it is, and it happened, and it is something we can never forget.
I found "The Grey Zone" to be one of the harder to watch films we have viewed so far. Even though its actors and 'not real', I find it pretty hard to believe that all of this happened or was even possible to do as human beings. The scene with the watch and the screaming of those in the gas chambers were probably the hardest to comprehend. Also the story of the old man from the beginning of the film and how he had to push his entire family's bodies into the flames is just unthinkable. I think that this movie was the hardest one to watch because its all true and it also shows the stories of the people in the camp just trying to live one more day.
This film was especially hard to watch as it was shown very realistically and true to what happened within the camps. The old man's story about pushing his wife, children, and grandchildren into the flames the first day he was in the camp hit me the hardest. To make someone do that to their family is disgusting. It took the life out of him and he after he was just going through the motions. In addition to this scene the prisoners cleaning out and repainting the showers really hit me because the Nazis did so much to keep the people in the dark about their fate. This film brought out the true horror of how the prisoners were treated inside the camps. From the torturing to shooting people the guards seemed immune to the screams of the people. They saw them as less than human and undeserving of any kind of decency and this continues to surprise me every time I see it.
WOW!This movie was the number one film that extremely had my emotion running wild. I even had to leave the room a couple of times during the film. This really got to me in a way I can't even explain. I didn't think that the films being shown in this class would have such a big impact in me. The scene where a man beat an older man to his death because he kept on asking him "did he come here to die" and to distract him he asked for his watch and he wouldn't give it up, so therefore his rage kicked in and he beat the man. Also it was sooo sad when the wife got shot because she was weeping in sadness. Also seeing the naked bodies being carried away on the wagons and taken to the crematoriums to be burned was difficult. The way they deceived the Jews into thinking otherwise was just evil. They washed and painted the gas chambers and had orchestra band playing in the field while they formed a line to their death. THIS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING I CAN NEVER FORGET!
This movie was extremely hard to watch because nothing was hidden from view. We saw all of the gore and horror behind these camps. It gave more emotion of the prisoners who were forced to kill just like the Germans. Most movies you can walk away from knowing that everything was not real but with this one I knew that these events and circumstances were true which was what made this movie so emotional. Watching people's faces when they know someone was going to take their life at that moment was horrifying. I don't think I'll ever get that image out of my head. Listening to the screaming in the gas chambers was especially painful. What made the movie the most horrific was the fact that the life of a human being was seen as nothing and was taken away without any thought or delay, like it was just a number.
Watching this film, at times i literally had to look away. This film really hit me hard and i even cried a little bit to be honest. Seeing the people go into the gas chambers and seeing the dead bodies and people being shot and hearing the screams was very disturbing. Being Jewish, this film also made me very upset/ angry. How could people be so EVIL (Nazis)?! It broke me heart to know how tortured people were and the consequences there were and how severe they were. It really choked me up when the people were told to take their clothes off because they were going into the "showers". That one man KNEW that they were going to die and was beaten to death because he was causing a scene. The films we watch get harder and harder to watch moving along in the course.
This film was extremely hard to watch and I found myself of the verge of crying multiple times. One scene that I found very hard to watch was when the man in the gas chamber was beaten to death for asking questions. The man knew he was being sent to his death and instead of answering any questions or continuing the lie, the guard beat him to death to get him to stop. After watching this film, I don't understand how someone could work everyday for months burning bodies or preparing people to be killed. I know that it was their only way to survive, but I would rather be killed than help in the killing of thousands of others. Another scene that I found particularly shocking and emotional was the final scene of the movie, when the work group was told to lie down on the grass and they were killed one by one. I could barely watch during this scene because they knew they were going to be killed and they couldn't do anything to stop it; if they tried to run, they would be shot; if they tried to fight, they would be shot; if they did anything at all, they would be shot. When the two men were talking right before they were killed, one of them said "we could have been neighbors" and that line stuck with me because any chance they had of a successful life was completely shattered just because of their religion. They could think about what their life could have been or what they would have wanted it to be, but they couldn't achieve it just because of their religion or nationality.
This film was not only the hardest film I've had to watch in this class but the hardest film I've ever had to watch. It made everything we've been learning in this class so real and it terrifies me to think something that horrible could actually happen. It was hardest to see how Jews would treat other Jews in order to keep themselves alive. They would lie to them and say they were safe and then would send them to their deaths in the gas chamber. There was one scene where a Jewish man who had been working in the crematorium said that after this is over he doesn't want to be alive. I think he said that because he doesn't want to have to live with all of the wrong doings they've done and all the painful things they've seen.
The Grey Zone is definatley one of the hardest movies I have ever viewed. All the things shown were unbareable to watch and what makes it even worse is these things actually happend to real people. seeing the gassings and the after maths of the bodies of those people after the gassings is an image I will never be able to get out of my head. It hasn't hit me so hard until this movie of what the holocause really entailed. Seeing how these people were killed and tourchered was awful. There was never a moment during this film that I wasnt in shock and compleltley distubed.
This film was very intense and depressing for me. I thought the men who took part in the resistance were very brave and courageous. Knowing that you are going to die is something that I can not bare to think about. This film portrayed the intense and nervous life inside the crematoriums. During the film certain scenes were very shocking and disturbing, such as, the scene with the bodies after the gas chamber. Knowing that the movie is based off eyewitness testimony shows the very realistic account of the crematoriums. This movie was very shocking for me and is something that I will not forget.
The sound of the screaming people in the gas chambers as they were being put miserably to death in one of the most cruel ways possible still resonates in my ears even though its been almost a week since seeing that scene in "The Grey Zone". This movie had many disturbing scenes that stick with you, but this one in particular is one I don't think I'll ever forget. I think that if I were ever to be forced to work in such a place as the crematoriums, burning up all the ashes of my family members, I'd rather just let myself turn to ash as well. It was sad, but true what the Jewish worker said to the Hungarian girl, that the only choice any of those people got to make was the choice to die. At the very end of the movie, the girl's monologue about her death and ashes really caught my attention. This part of the movie portrayed all of the feelings and emotions of the time and showed how the Jews felt that being dead was just as worse, if not better, than having to live the way they were forced to. Overall, I think this movie was the most difficult to watch so far just because of how realistic it all seemed.
At this point in the course I walk in everyday prepared for my day to be significantly dampened by the horrors of the holocaust regardless of whatever mood I was in previously. The grey zone was especially disturbing because of the fact that it was taken from a first hand account of all the events that took place. The most disturbing scene to me was after all of the Jewish people were forced into the "showers" and one of the fellow jewish people helped organize the whole situation and at the conclusion of the scene all we could see was the man sitting on the ground with his head in his hands the the increasing volume of screams erupting from the gas chambers. Thinking about that scene in particular gives me the chills. I am just about ready to stop watching these movies, can't seem to shake this feeling.
I found this film to be one of the hardest films to watch this whole semester. The scene that made the greatest impact on me is when the Jewish worker said to the Hungarian girl that only escape the miserable world they were living in was death. Each day the lived in fear, pain and agony. This mades me feel so upset and sympathetic toward them. Even though the two Jewish workers did not say it to each other when the were lying on the ground waiting to be shot, a beat they felt a little bit of relief in the fact that she would finally be dead. They would finally be in a place without pain and killing.
This film was harder to watch then the rest of the movies we’ve watched up until this point. The most disturbing scene for me was the man punching the guy with the watch to death just so he would give it to him and then the German officer hands him the watch in reward with a smile. I’m sure there was worse scenes then this, but sometimes I thought I couldn’t watch and took the easy way out by turning away from the screen. Looking back now though I wish I didn’t take the cowardly route because the stories in the movie were typical days during the holocaust that they had to not just watch, but live through. They had no choice for an easy way out, only the chance to live in the most anguish possible just because they’re Jews.
This film is one of the most difficult ones we've watched so far. From being in this course and from general knowledge about the Holocaust before, I knew that many Jewish people were gassed and then cremated. However, actually seeing the piles and piles of bodies and hearing the screams as they slowly began to realize that they were not just there for a shower was a completely different story. Another scene that disturbed me was when the Nazi guards punished the entire women unit, simply as a bargaining chip to get two women to confess about the gunpowder. It struck me how extremely easily these lives were taken, how little they were valued as being fellow people-the Nazi officer only had to raise his hand, and another one would be gone. Watching this movie was definitely a shock for me.
I was absent for most of this film.
After watching, The Grey Zone for the first time I gained a huge sense of understanding of what it was like to be one person out of millions of Jews fighting for my life in the concentration camp. Although I will never know exactly what it was like, I learned how little each Jew mattered to the Nazis. I thought that the ending of the movie really portrayed the deception of the Jews. During the movie, the men tried to plan a bombing and uprising in the crematory thinking that it would do something to save their lives and thinking that it would mean something to the Nazis. However as shown at the end of the movie, when they are all forced to lie down on the lawn and were shot, it showed me that these uprisings meant nothing and did nothing for the Jews. They didn’t know of how little each of them meant to the Nazis because they are human beings with a soul. This just showed me how much the Nazis actually treated the Jews like garbage and the farthest thing from human. It showed me this to such a point where I found myself not being able to look at the screen in some parts.
I was absent for a lot of this movie. However the parts i did see were absolutely disturbing. there were several times where i had to fight myself to stay in my seat, because i felt like i had to leave. but in doing so, i realized it would not be fair. although it was just a movie, these are real stories. these people deserve to have their stories heard... they endured all of it so who am i to say i cannot stand just a movie of it? the scene of the block of women being shot one by one until the nazis could get them to confess was particularly disturbing. in the end, they chose to kill themselves to spare everyone else. the movie was incredibly sensitive too. in the end when the two men discuss where they used to live, how they were "neighbors" and finally saying "we did something didnt we? goodbye" was absolutely heartbreaking. how can you say such a thing with a smile and a tear and feeling like another complete stranger is your closest family? that is what i pulled from this movie as well... while many sold each other out and would kill for their own survival, in the end we are all humans and realizing our mutual fate really bonds people if only for a short time. this film really helped to broaden my understanding.
The Grey Zone was a disturbing film and the ending was particularly hard to swallow. Throughout the film, it showed the workers trying to go through each day as seamless as possible while secretly making plans for an uprising. Many people risked their lives and some were killed and tortured for holding on to their secret. By the end, they followed through with blowing up part of the crematorium and lost many men as well as killing the soldiers inside. The final scene was the girl, who was supposed to be freed, being shot and then narrating how the uprising, while a valiant effort, barely made a dent in the whole system. A new crew was brought in to replace the dead workers and the only lasting casualties were the destroyed ovens.
For me this film was very hard to watch there were so many disturbing things that we had to see. A particular scene that disturbed me was when they put all the people into the gas chambers and we heard them scream for their lives. It was heart breaking to hear their screams and was an awful thing to hear. Another thing that was difficult to watch was the nazis like up the people in the camps and just shoot them. The people just lied on the ground helpless and couldn't do anything to save themselves. It was such a depressing film and one of the hardest things I've ever had to watch.
This film was very difficult to watch, especially knowing that these events actually took place. It's very hard to believe.. I want to convince myself that it's just a made up story line and none of this actually happened. However, it's one hundred percent real. The events that took place in this film were very horrific. I always try to imagine myself in the situation that i'm watching and when I did for this film it became very difficult. There were many disturbing scenes in this film such as the gas chambers, the man getting beaten to death in the gas chambers, and the Hungarian girl getting shot at the end. It was very surprising to see the Hungarian girl survive the gas chambers, but it was very saddening to see how much it affected her body and how violently she was coughing. It helped me better understand how much torture these people had to endure. I was disgusted when I saw the types of torture methods the Nazis used when they interrogated their victims. It was very heartbreaking to see the people walk down into the gas chambers, being deceived that they are only taking a shower. How cruel and heartless for them to convince the people everything was okay when they were really about to annihilate all of them. After watching this movie, I now have a better understanding of what the death camps were set up for- which is complete annihilation of the Jewish people. No human being should ever have to go through any of the things that happened in this film.
I had a very hard time watching this film. Everyday I would actually dread going to class just because I knew how much the film was going to affect me. I got home from school one day and mom my picked me up and even said that I wasn't in the right state of mind just because all I could think about was this movie. The worst feeling in the world is having someone take something from you so valuable and having your own life taken from you is pure evil. I am so full of anger from this course. This movie especially made me want to kill every single one of those soldiers for what they did to the Jews. This was hell on earth.
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