Tuesday, December 17, 2013

PERIOD 2: 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 above wearing the white lab coat. The photo was taken after the camp had been 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-Birkenau. Please post your reflections about the film.

19 comments:

Kevin Blackney said...

The Grey Zone was a very intense and at some points disturbing movie. Considering the movie was based on eye witness accounts, it is still hard to believe some of the scenes that unfolded. I couldn't imagine what it was like for the old man to cremate his entire family. The fact that a young girl was able to survive from the gas chambers is incredible. I learned how great at deception the Nazis were and also some of the risks and actions the Hungarian Jews took while in the camps. This film was very intense but it was also extremely useful in learning what actually occurred.

Jackson Venditti said...

The Grey Zone was a very disturbing film to watched because of the scenes of torture, and mass killings were very dark. To me the fact that people could survive the gas chambers was incredible and also very frightening, because i think knowing you were supposed to be killed with hundreds of others and watching them die is to horrific for one person, let alone a child to bare. It was very disheartening to see the prisoners revolt only to be stopped and killed one by one. This movie was very eye opening to me and the fact that most of this actually was accurate was very scary for me to see and think about.

Kevin skirvin said...

The grey zone was a very interesting movie to watch because it was based on a eye witness. One thing that suprised me was that the labor workers had access to food and valuables that they could use to bribe gueards. This suprised me beacause i thought they would still be treated as less than human and be forced to starve. The most disturbing parts for me was when it showed the old man cremating his entire family, and also when it showed them cleaning out the gas chambers after a gasing. These two scenes in particular really were hard to watch

Rebecca Piscia said...

The Grey Zone was a terrifying and disturbing movie that had a profound impact on me. Some scenes, such as the bodies in the shower and the women being tortured and shot, were absolutely horrible to watch. Knowing that the events are based off eyewitness accounts makes it even worse. The film really made me refect on what I would do to survive or to help other people survive within a death camp. It also continued to open my eyes to the horrors of the Holocaust, and feel more commited than ever to make sure that nothing like this happens again in our future.

Austin Breitkreutz said...

After watching The Grey Zone I think it changed the way I looked at the Holocaust. Before seeing it I knew what happened in the death camps but after seeing the movie it gave me a visual of it and it shocked me how much more terrifying than i thought. I think the most shocking scene to me was the women being executed outside and what the showers looked like after the gassing. I think that everyone should watch this movie so that you aren't caught in the disbelief of this actually happening.

Maggie Tragakis said...

The Grey Zone illustrated a new perspective to me. It was interesting to hear from a witness that had a different experience then most prisoners, since he was kept alive for his medical skills. This movie was the first time I heard of the 4 month plan which sounds horrible since people knew they would be worked hard to just be killed in 4 months. I didn't know each zone had a different plan in the camp. It was horrible seeing how some people came right off the train and walked right into the gas chamber. I also learned that the Nazis made prisoners paint the gas chamber walls so the new people being led in would not panic. The movie taught me a lot of disturbing things that happened.

Siobhan Burke said...

The Grey Zone was one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. The scene that disturbed me the most was when they were killing all of the women in one of the blocks in order to obtain information about where gun powder was going, and one woman ran into the electric fence. I can't believe the nazi's saw the jews as "not real people", how could every single one of those soldiers not have any problem with gasing people and burning their bodies. This film was very intense but necessary to watch

Kayla Harrington said...

Watching the Grey Zone honestly gave me a whole new view perspective on the meaning of life. These jews were taken from everything they had known to basically hell. The scenes throughout the film were so grusome and sad that I don't know how some could live with themselves. Seeing how clueless all of these individuals were up to the scenes of the gassing was truly unbelievable. Up to this film "gas chambers" had just been another vocabulary word, until I finally was able to see what had actually happened. Hearing about how individuals would stack themselves like pyramids just to get the last breath of air was so depressing. Every human being takes for granted just being able to breathe each second. Words can not express how much this film really touched me and how much it had taught me.

Brian Hodgdon said...

The Grey Zone was a very intense movie. The things they show that the Jews were put through, and the fact that it was based on eyewitness accounts, make it a very disturbing movie. I thought it was incredibly brave of the Jews to carry out their plan and blow up the crematoriums. But I also thought it was weird how they could continue killing their own people while they were working on this plan. The most disturbing parts for me were the torture scenes, and at the end when they had all the Jews involved laying on the ground and they just walked down the line and shot them all. What made the movie so intense and disturbing was the fact that it was all 100% real and based off eyewitness.

Justin Beron said...

The Grey Zone was one of the more graphic and disturbing movies shown in the class so far. What makes it even more gruesome is that it's based of an actual eyewitness account. It's one thing to try and understand what happened, but seeing the events unfold as they truly did is disturbing. One part that really stuck out to me was the old man who worked in the crematorium who had to put his wife, daughter, and two grandchildren into the cremators. I think this really shows how the Nazis broke the will of the prisoners by showing no mercy or pity to any. This film was both gruesome and enlightening.

Sam Kruse said...

The Grey Zone was the most graphic and bothersome movie I have ever saw. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that the events in the movie actually happened. Im not sure how the Nazis lived with themselves after doing the most horrific crimes possible. How could they make a man put his wife, daughter, and grandkids into a crematory? Quite frankly, this movie made me absolutely furious. I have developed an immense amount of hatred for Nazis after watching The Grey Zone.

Joey Bernatchez said...

This was the craziest movie that we have watched all year. For weeks now, we have been told about the awful things that happened in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. This movie took us inside the gas chambers and inside the minds of the kammandoes that were forced to murder and burn their own. I'm thankful that this movie could display the extremely high tension that always existed in these conditions. When the kammandoes revolted I found myself rooting for them more than I have ever backed a side of a battle. All I wanted to do was see them succeed. I was amazed at the trouble they went through to sneak the small amounts of gunpowder in and how after a semisuccessful rebellion, how quickly the Nazis could murder the revolutionaries and replace them with a new killing squad. The end of the movie left a feeling of hopelessness lingering and will help me never to forget this experience and the holocaust in general.

Leslie Donovan said...

This movie really had an effect on me. We have not watched something this horrific and graphic in this class such as this movie. It really gave you the main picture of what really happened there by showing you instead of just telling you. Just hearing about what went on gives you the main picture but this movie changed your whole perspective and really made you think. This movie was very interesting along with terrifying.

Michael Gallo said...

The grey zone was an extremely entertaining but disturbing movie. At times it felt weird being entertained by violence and was disturbed by the evil things that the Germans did to the Jews. One part that really got to me was the scene of the gas chambers when you hear hear people screaming and banging on the walls. The Grey Zone was accurate which was the most disturbing part of the movie, but important to watch none the less.

John Towne said...

I found this film disturbing because of the work that the Jews and other prisoners had to do. Day after day they were assigned tasks. Often times it was to clean out the gas chamber or carry dead bodies to the crematoriums. This itself is cruel enough as they had to witness thousands of men, women and children being murdered. Not to mention the fact that they were left responsible with cleainng up the mess. As far as blowing up the cematoriums goes, i'm still not sure how they were able to communicate with the women in order to get the gun powder.

Ryley Palladino said...

The gray zone was a very moving movie. I thought it was very interesting to see so many Jews fighting against the nazis. It was disturbing to see the nazis kill so many innocent people in the gas chambers and with guns. I enjoyed watching this movie and it was one that I will certainly remember.

joe p said...

the grey zone gave me a good account of what went on with the casual person in a camp. i never knew alcohol xuld be kept in the 4 month period. people were treated really harsh and it was shocking to see that people beat others up and went crazy.the gas chambers wwere awful and it was not doubtful to see the intent to destroy the chambers

Brett rice said...

I fould the film to be very disturbing, the movie help show me what it was like for the Jews inside the camps and how the bazi would make the next group not know that they were going. To die. I that the fact that Jewish people would go and tell other Jew

Brendan Shunney said...

The grey zone was one of my favorite movies that we've watched this year. It was a very tough movie to watch at times because of harsh things thatwere goin on. One of the toughest things to watch in this movie for me was seeing the man having to put his entire family In the crematorium. Overall it was a very interesting movie and I learned a lot by watching it