Thursday, May 2, 2013

PERIOD 4 - TREBLINKA

You've just watched, "The Road to Treblinka" from the documentary, NAZIS: A WARNING FROM HISTORY. It is said, “The reality of the history of the Nazis is far harder to explain than the popular conception of a nation led astray by Hitler. That the Nazi philosophy of obedience, seizure and struggle had appeal in the thirties and can still appeal to millions today.” Do you agree with that statement? In addition - please answer the question, "What did you learn that you did not know before watching the film?"




28 comments:

Abby Stadig said...

I think that it still has appeal today. Think about all the terrorist groups out there. They are all about obedience and giving your life for this greater cause and they are doing similar things that the nazis did. i think it would be much harder for something like the Holocaust to happen in modern times because i think people are much more open minded and that we have so many systems to prevent it. i also didnt know that they had extermination camps where they would kill people right after they got off the trains. i thought they only had work camps where they would put people there to work. it was a little disturbing to think that they had places like that.

Marissa Kashmanian said...

I agree with Abby regarding the extermination camps. I always thought that people lived there for a while before they were killed and never knew that so many of them were exterminated only moments after they arrived. Although I think that there are terrorist groups who operate by a similar philosophy as the Nazi’s, it is definitely not to the same extent. While people are obedient, they are also more independent nowadays.

Shannon Williams said...

The holocaust is horrible and it was an important step for world's society and humans to learn from.

Kevin Neil said...

What many people don't realize is that ideologies like Nazism are still very much alive and active today. Although the Nazi philosophy itself might not be active, different organizations and terrorists groups have adopted much of the same goals (i.e. terrorism and ethnic cleansing). The genocide has continuously occurred since the holocaust, and is still occurring today.

Nick Lanciani said...

I would agree with the statement regarding obedience and whatnot. We've seen it in slightly different forms to this very day, and in some cases it is still exists in the same framing of how the Nazi's went about things. It's not just who we think it might be, but many other oppressed people around the world; whose stories are largely untold, either due to a lack of a spotlight or not. For one reason or another we have not changed enough to stop these inhumane notions. As for what I learned from watching the film, that I never knew before, well I guess I would have to say that I never knew exactly how many numbers of people, where they came from and why they were sent where they were sent. I guess mostly basic sort of stuff that I knew little about, but not in great detail.

Nick Lanciani said...

Kevin's comment is rather concise- short and to the point. Knowing of the journey's he has shared with us I am curious to know if he know's more regarding the topic of how the ideologies are still alive today.

Nick Pham said...

I'm with Kevin. Of course there is appeal for Nazi-like ideologies. The ethnic cleansing in Sudan and a number of other African nations is an example of "Naziism" on a global scale. Here in the United States there exits the neo-Nazis of America political group. Before watching the film, I had not known that the death camps and gas chambers were created in order to spare German troops the remorse of having to shoot unarmed men, women, and children at close range. However, if the shooters were obviously having difficulty killing unarmed Jews/undesireables, why didn't that set off any red flags with the Nazi's top brass?

Jeff Saltzman said...

Like Kevin said, genocide still goes on today. We know these facts and yet remain helpless within our developed societies while furthering our own ambitions and neglecting those dying every day. Is this our fault? Are we really bystanders if the deeds are being done over an ocean away? It is easy to feel helpless in these situations. Frankly, there is very little we can accomplish from our isolated positions. I do not have solutions for this dilemma; in fact,it seems no one does because none have been put in place. While the actual issue of killing millions of helpless civilians is unlikely accepted by many people in the world today, pretty much everyone lives in a state of helplessness about the atrocities being committed.
From this documentary I learned specifically that the Einstastzgruppen and firing squad perpetrators were dominated by civilians, not Germans. That terrifies me. Our neighbors could be our killers.

Tess Mitchell said...

I agree with Abby that it is very much present in our world today. We've witnessed it with terrorists and Japanese civilians during WWII where they would sacrifice their life for the leader or emperor. However, I think times have changed and it would be much harder for something as big as the Holocaust to happen in our modern times because people aren't as narrow minded as they used to be. They are more liberal.

Luke Hodgdon said...

I agree with what Kevin said, there are still many groups today that have goals similar to the goals of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Groups such as terrorist organizations are all more similar to the Nazis than we realize.

mankah hongla said...

I was absent this.day

Jeff Eisenbeis said...

This film showed me just how awful of people the Nazi's were and just how atrocious their cruelties towards the Jewish people were. I dont think that simple obedience is a acceptable accuse for actions, and the man interviewed who said that it was different and kept dodging the questions was a good example of just how dangerous blind obedience can be.

kendal simard said...

I also agree with Kevin. I feel that many people dont realize the're are many people still out there today that share similar feelings and have similar goals to the Nazis. It's horrible but true

Ashley Solares said...


What I learned from this film that I did not know before was how since the Nazis couldn’t handle shooting any more people they created gas chambers. It just all seemed to ironic as they weren’t able to shoot them but still would kill them. They were so inhumane and did not even realize all of the bad they were doing.

Ashley Solares said...

I agree with Kevin in that even though the Nazis aren’t the ones that are alive, their ideas and what they did are still around. With terrorism they have similar goals.

Anonymous said...

Yes i do believe that we van see it in millions today and i learned today was that no matter what i still fall asleep in class watching films which blows

Julia Heffernan said...

I agree with Marissa and Abby that I was unaware how quickly people were killed in the extermination camps. I also think it is awful how the former Nazi showed no remorse for killing innocent people.

Dana Burns said...

I was not here for this class

Danielle Neuwirth said...

I agree with Jeff it is just horrific.

alanna said...

What i learned was that the Nazis couldn't handle shooting the Jews anymore so they used gas chambers. The film just portrayed how horrible the Nazis were to the Jews. I also agree with Kevin on what he said about everything.

mike farrar said...

When watching the film i learned many things. When the jewish people thought they were going to the showers but were really going to the gas chambers. I think it is absolutely terrible what they did and when watching the interiviews with the former members of the nazi organization it seemed like they still dont have any remorse at all. Really sad.

Danielle Neuwirth said...

It was really horrible and disturbing. I also agree with Jeff.

Natielli Mendes said...

I would agree with that statement. An I do Agree with what Abby had to say as well. What I learned about this movie is how cruel the nazis really were. And how from the ones we saw in the document didn't even show a sign of remorse. This movie really disturbed me in many ways.

Unknown said...

I agree with shannon, the holocaust is an event that the entire human race should learn from and it is an event that should never have happened/should never happen again

Colleen King said...

I learned from this movie that some people really have a very defensive cold reaction to their actions in the Holocaust. Like the man that they interviewed. When asked about his reaction to shooting women and children and if he had any moral remorse the man didn't even pretend to have any. Honesty is the best policy, however his honesty about how little he cared honestly, disgusted me. I cant even image someone doing this to someone especially children and for a long period of time. I agree with Natielli that this movie too disturbed me in many ways as well.

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Anna Johnson said...

I would agree with that statement. I think that there are so many situations just like the holocaust occurring today on a smaller scale- genocides, terrorist attacks, even just bullying. Before watching the film I was unaware that people were killed so shortly after arriving at Treblinka.

Phoebe Evans said...

i agree with Abby and Kevin, it is true that there are certain people and groups that still support the ideas about obedience and sacrafice today. Behavior like this reflects the ideas and personalities of Nazis. From the movie I got to see how the camps are set up. I also was surprised about how quickly the jews were exterminatined right after they got off the train.