For the past few days you have been watching the documentary entitled, "Amen." It is a film based on the testimony of Waffen SS officer Kurt Gerstein who visited Sobibor, Belzec, and Treblinka in August of 1942 and witnessed the mass gassing of thousands of Jews. Please post your thoughts about the film and comment on at least one other student's post.
16 comments:
This movie was perfect for this course. It showed me the power of one man and why someone needs to stay stubborn and keep pushing the right opinion.
For me this film seemed to do a great job at portraying the determination of both Gerstein and the priest. Before seeing this movie i was under the impression that most if not all nazi troops were pro-everything the nazi party did. But after watching this movie, it showed me that there was at least one if not many nazi officers who tried to do something about it but were unsuccessful. Gerstein's actions as an SS officer showed me that at any point in time he could, he would try to help either the jews individually, or even as a whole by things like determining the the crystals were bad. The movie was really able to capture the idea that no matter what one or two persons tried to do, they could not be fully successful without the help of many others, especially those with power.
I think this movie did a great job of showing what really went on in Europe during WWII. Everyone wanted to protect themselves rather than act to stop the mass murders of Jews. Every person Gerstein told either rejected what he said (probably because they were afraid of being involved in what Gerstein was trying to do), or they told him that nothing was to be done. Even the Nazi soldiers tried to protected themselves against punishment for what they had done once they knew they were going to lose the war. Ultimatley most characters in this movie were more concerned about there own lives then the lives of others.
I agree with what Sam said about the SS. Before the movie I just assumed that all members of the SS were with the cause 100 percent. I think it shows that even if others didn't act in the way of Gerstein, they were SS officer who were hoffified by what was being done.
I think that the pint of this movie was to show the efforts of some and even through those efforts people still ignored what was happening. The officer had evidence that it was happenning yet people still refused to believe that it was. I think this shows how little of an effort society made as a whole to try and do something about it.
I was absent for this showing.
I thought this film was extremely appropriate for this course; it touches upon everything we talk about. It shows how hard it was for those individuals to go against a group of people and highlighted those who were bystanders just trying to save themselves. I learned a lot from this movie, as far as what was going on in Europe during the war and not just Germany. Lastly it shows how important it is that if you want to change something you must go to the decision maker or those with the most power.
I agree with Sam this movie showed me a different light to SS officers and they aren’t all alike and for the cause.
The documentary, "Amen" did a good job showing different view points during the war. It was interesting to see it through an SS officers eyes. Through the movie viewers could also see sides from people such as the Pope, civilians, and other SS officers.
I agree with Shane. It was good to see different view points of soldiers such as Gerstein compared to other Nazi's. It showed not all soldiers were alike and that some people who knew what was going on, did actually try to stop it.
I think that this movie did a great job of showing what really went on during the Holocaust. When I saw how Gerstein tried to do everything in his power to help the Jews I was unaware that an SS member would be willing to risk his life for the people his country despised. Along with Gerstein was the priest who was also shut down by the pope when he wanted to spread the word of what was actually happening to the Jews through the words of Christ. This movie was able to show how the will of two men to help the Jews was not enough the stop the Nazi's from ending the concentration camps.
I agree with Sam that the movie was able to capture the ideas of more than one person as the tried to help the Jews.
I consider this film to be perfect for the class it really portrayed how one can stand up to such an overwelming force. I admired the man's dtermintaion and persitant acts against his fellow nautsies. He knew in his gut that something had to be dopne even if no one would listen to him and in my mind this is how everyone should be.
I was glad to see that someone tried to do so much to stop the Holocaust from happenings. Sadly, not many people were of the same mindset because they didn't believe Gerstein or were to afraid to help. I admire Gerstein's bravery.
I agree with Sam (N.) -- I think that when the people found out the facts from Gerstein and actually believed him, most of those people were too afraid to help the victims because they knew the power-hungry Nazi's could easily turn against them and their family too.
The movie showed a side of WW2 that most people will never know about. It showed that not all Nazis were heartless, cold blooded killers, and it showed that even the catholic church was afraid to stand up to Hitler. The continued denial of what was really happening by the Vatican was irritating and the continued effort by Gerstein was admirable.
I agree with Sam. I assumed all SS were 100% pro-Nazi.
I agree with shady that it was a great film for this course. It told a story that is not frequently told, a story of a Nazi sticking up for the Jewish people. Unfortunately, these attempts all failed. The movie showed that at least a few of the Nazi's had some kind of moral standards and tried to make a stand but in the end they were unsuccessful.
I also thought that this film was perfect for this course. This film showed that not all Nazis were in favor of what they were doing at the time, but despite what they tried to do, they weren't successful. This film also gave me a better understanding of how the church did not do anything about the Holocaust. The most important part is that someone was willing to follow what they believed in no matter what others said.
I was absent the first 2 days of the film.
I found this movie really interesting. I had no idea that someone inside the Nazi regime attempted to stop the holocaust. This movie made me feel better about people in general. This showed that there were at least a few people who resisted. I was really disturbed by the reaction of everyone involved with the Catholic church in this movie. They didn't care that millions of innocent people were being slaughtered for no reason.
I found this movie really interesting. I had no idea that someone inside the Nazi regime attempted to stop the holocaust. This movie made me feel better about people in general. This showed that there were at least a few people who resisted. I was really disturbed by the reaction of everyone involved with the Catholic church in this movie. They didn't care that millions of innocent people were being slaughtered for no reason.
Post a Comment