This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
PERIOD 2: THE GESTAPO
You have been watching the BBC documentary, The Rise of the Nazis - A Warning from History. Please share your thoughts about the segment on the Gestapo that you saw today. What did you think of the interview with Resi Kraus?
25 comments:
Ashley White
said...
After watching the film in class today it made me mad. The interview played and I knew that Resi Kraus was lying. I dont think that was right because even if she realized how much of a mistake it was, she could've explained that rather than lying. I think lying is the worst thing to do. A lot of people make mistakes and she doesn't know how to handle it. Just that small portion of the film shows me she is a bad person.
Resi Kraus is one of those people that annoy and upset me so much I have trouble talking afterwards or thinking about them. She was a coward who realized that she had played a huge role in indirectly murdering an innocent person, just because she happened to differ from societal norms. Just because she was different. Instead of owning up to her mistake, she merely pretended she hadn't made one. She brushed aside her interviewer's questions and dismissed the events as something that is history and there was no value in bringing them up again.
Watching this segment on the Gestapo angered me a lot, especially the interview with Resi Kraus. Kraus clearly wriote that document to the Gestapo reporting her neighbor, and she didn't have the decency to admit to her mistake and fess up to it. This really bothered me because you would think that a grown adult would have enough character to take responsibility for her own actions. She would have gotten a lot more respect from me and many others if she had owned up to it and admitted what she did, even though it was wrong. What also angered me was how she referred to the situation as "raking it all back up again" as if it was an insignificant event that should just be left behind. She's clearly a very ignorant woman, as well as a liar.
After watching the interview I did not like what Resi Kraus had to say. I was angry with her words and trying to cover up what she did in the past. Even if her opinion had changes from the past she should have just said so instead of acting like she didn't remember signing the paper. It's not fair to discriminate against those who are different and Resi is a victim of that. Resi tried to save herself by turning others in because they are different. Resi was obviously wrong in the interview and she couldn't admit it.
The film, "The Gestapo" made me quite frustrated and really got me thinking. The women that reported her neighbor for suspicious acts made me really upset because Kraus denied it when she was asked about it. It wasn't fair of her to do that to her neighbor and she discriminated her because she may have been homosexual. She was wrong in her actions and lied about remembering it all. Finally, she couldn't face the truth and tried to get around it even on camera.
The second I viewed Resi Kraus's reaction when she was being interrogated for the letter she wrote I immediately knew she was lying. It is sad to think that a woman so mature in her years isn't able to admit her wrongs and come out. This really goes to show that people are so arrogant and self absorbed that they can't talk about their mistakes. It's quite baffling to say the least.
The segment when Resi Kraus was very disturbing to watch and made me very angry. It was obvious that she knew what she had done and I can't believe that she would not own up to what she had done. Also throughout the interview she would laughing when answering the questions, which I couldn't believe. If I was her I would have been so ashamed of what I had done and would be begging for forgiveness not laughing about it. Lastly I thought it was very wrong of her to say that they were raking it all back up again because this isn't an event that can just not be talked about what happened during the Holocaust was completely unethical and wrong and she should have never made that comment.
did not know a lot about the Gestapo before this film. I did not know that they were some sort of secret agency much like the CIA either. I found the interview with the Resi disgusting since she was blatantly lying to the interviewer. She changed her story just to not look like the awful person she is on camera. Her address and signature were on the documents and she stilled try lying. She gossiped about her neighbor and should at least own it for what she did.
I think what she did was finalized by what was revealed by her character. She started out as coming across as a Snitch who inadvertently got someone murdered. Yet this was a decision that was probably pretty consciously made with an end result in death or a concentration camp. This alone is something she must've thought about while she was writing such a long and detailed letter to the Nazi Regime. She then continues to bold face lie to someones face about a document that has her exact signature and address. She would've been more offended had it been a fraud and a lot less defensive. Resi Kraus is a weak old lady filed with a lot of ignorance. She can live everyday ignoring the fact that she is more guilty then those putting the gun to her head, if she's lucky enough to die that instantaneously. Moral of this story is be nothing like Resi Kraus, be your own person and make better choices; look out for your fellow man.
The interview with Resi Kraus was pretty despicable. It's sad to see that people would signal others out on the basis that they were different and honestly i got a little scared. It's not that I've totally lost faith in the human race (although maybe a little) it was that i took a look at myself and started to question whether i would have acted much different. I would like to think i would have in the lady's position, but really? It's now become the norm to look down on racism, discrimination etc, and certainly for all the right reasons but if i were raised differently, did not learn why antisemitism was wrong and if everyone around me thought oppositely to what is now believed to be the right way of thinking who would i be? It's interesting to question how vulnerable we all are to the norm of thinking. However i think Kraus passed several barriers no one would normally cross. The fact that she blatantly denies what she did and didn't show much emotion in the process came off virtually psychotic. Or maybe she it was just a great lack of maturity/development on her part.
This film not only brought a sense of empathy towards many Jews but also disturbed me about the way people just withdrew from their opinion. Resi Kraus was a woman not only full of hatred but also was a coward. The time when she saw the woman who behaved a bit differently and had Jew friends she did not hesitate to complain to the police but when she realized it was a mistake on her part and actually she indirectly murdered the lady, she did not have the guts to accept her mistake.
This movie really surprised me. There were some people from the Nazi party that understood Hitler's true goals after WW2 was over, but that one woman just couldn't wrap her mind around it. It was so upsetting that she could lie so easily, knowing that writing that letter sent her neighbor to a concentration camp to eventually be killed. I don't think I will ever be able to understand how she doesn't feel any remorse for her actions. I realize that she (and many other Germans) were influenced into following the Nazi party, but so many were able to recover from those poisones thoughts, why not her?
I would describe Resi Kraus as someone who goes with the crowd. This lady obviously only supports what is "in style" and as soon as it becomes unfashionable abandons it and picks up the new trend. It is clear that she has no idea of what the Nazi party was all about because she blindly supported them when their ways were popular. Present day, the Nazi ways are far from popular and therefore this lady goes against what she originally stood for to remain in the popular trend. She has no heart for anything. She wants to do solely what is popular and fit in and doesn't truthfully believe in anything. Those who truthfully believed in the Nazi movement went on camera and admitted that to this very day they believe in it and those people are a lot better than Ms. Kraus. We now know that the Nazi way of life was wrong but for people to still stand behind it is bold. Ms. Kraus saw that a trend changed and with it she changed, throwing everything she once supported in the garbage.
After watching this interview, I was very annoyed and frustrated with Resi Kraus. She does not admit to writing the letter and she does not seem to feel bad for any of her actions. When she said that she didn’t kill anyone directly, that made me very angry because she won’t admit that she did anything wrong. What she did in the past was not ok by writing those documents but the worse part now is that she can’t even own up to her mistakes and admit her faults. Kraus can’t even face the truth and seems as if she is in denial about the documents and the situation as a whole.
After watching the film on the Gestapo in class, its hard to believe the interview that Resi Kraus had done. It was very easy to see that Kraus was lying during her interview about her actions at the time. When Kraus was confronted about her report on her neighbor she initially started to say that she didn't have any involvement, but after she began to laugh and almost take the issue as a joke. For me it was hard to believe a person could follow the rest of society that much to the point where you put someone else's life in danger simply for being different.
I found "The Gestapo" to be very disturbing. What really shocked me is when the Nazis killed people who were mentally disabled in order to keep the race "pure". It was also disturbing to see that lady deny that it was her signature and her report. I think she should've just owned up to what she had done instead of making herself look even worse than she already did.
Watching the portion of the video with the interview with Resi Kraus made me feel angry and frustrated. It bugs me that there is clear evidence of her contribution in the persecution of her innocent neighbor, yet she still denies it. She herself says that it is her exact signature and her exact address on the Gestapo document and she says that she doesn't know how it got there. How stupid does she think everyone is? It is both dishonest and disrespectful of her to play dumb on a serious matter rather than coming forward with what she had done and the fact that she went along with the group like a sheep. There were other people in the video who were interviewed and admitted that they had gone along with the majority simply to save themselves and those are the people that I respect.
After watching the part of the video of Resi Kraus it made me realize that she knew that her and everyone else at the time had messed up on what they did to the Jews. She felt guilt and discomfort with herself.
The film that we viewed today, which touched upon the topic of the influence of the Gestapo during the Holocaust, tended to infuriate me. Resi Kraus angered me to a point where I was at a loss for words. Her response to the interviewer's questions were cowardly; she played a role in the murdering of an innocent person. Clearly the fear of owning up to her faults during the Holocaust still affect her today, she still lives in fear of showing any weakness. Dishonesty is one of the worst traits a human being can possess. But, I feel that in Ms. Kraus' personal situation, lies are used as a defense mechanism and a protective shield. Resi Kraus was wrong in her actions, however, we can learn from her mistakes. Instead of dismissing those who might appear to be different, we need to encourage others to embrace characteristics of ourselves that are uncommon.
Watching this video made me realize how easy it was for people to conform to a society where the law was twisted and where it's leader was beyond psychotic. Neighbors turned on neighbors if they had an specific relations to Jewish people and would make up false accusations based on false beliefs to turn them in. There was no one to prove if the accusations where in fact true but even so, this made the whole society turn on itself creating this massive battlefield where people didn't trust eachother. What I really felt angered about was the fact that Resi Kraus, one of the people who turned in her neighbors, rejected the letter that she herself wrote. She said it wasn't her and that she didn't remember writing it and what gets me is the fact that she can't face her error and realize that is was a very big error. She should've owned up to her error and stop lying to herself. Everyone is different but because there are things like discrimination, certain individuals get tagged and get bashed on by others because they're different. I believe people should realize the fact that not everyone will be in agreement with them and that differences should be set free.
Watching the segment on the Gestapo both irritated me and surprised me.I was irritated because first off the records of the Gestapo show that a very little amount of officers were present. 28 to an entire city. That is far less than maybe the amount of police officers in Westborough. Yet these men held such great power over the people. All because the German people gave them all this power and acted on their behalf by spying on their neighbors and gossiping to the Gestapo. Also watching Resi Kraus was exceedingly irritating. She was being interviewed about a letter that she wrote to the Gestapo, one that played a part in a woman being sent to a death camp, and she was so so flippant. Not only does is she clearly lying to the man interviewing her but as he asks further questions she is sitting there laughing with an awful air of arrogance.She is denying something that is evidently her doing, and frankly I think shes a coward.At her age one would think that maybe if she sees her actions as a mistake she would own her mistake and now explain herself rather than lie.One might interpret her lying as an admittance of error but her behavior definitely shows otherwise.Now what surprised me about all this is that in regular life as German citizen the Gestapo were not your greatest worry. It was your neighbors.The fanatic and distorted nationalism that the Nazi regime brought turned people into vigilantes. It was like a constant game of "one of these things is not like the other" and God forbid you were that thing. It surprised me how a mentality that was supposed to unite the Aryans started to make them turn against themselves because it went too far.
I thought that the way Resi Kraus tried to defend herself was pathetic. She should have owned up to what she had done. It doesn't surprise me that she didn't because people never really change with what the type of person they are. She effected someone and she will pay for it later in life i believe. Rasi was a naive women and never wanted to admit she did anything wrong.
It was infuriating to watch Resi Kraus tell a blatant lie to the interviewer during the film. She rejected the fact that she turned her neighbor into the Gestapo during the Nazi regime, and in doing so she refused to take any responsibility for her actions in the past. While it can be said that she may have been brainwashed at the time and made a mistake, it indirectly resulted in the death of another person. She should have the decency to admit what she has done. It was very frustrating to watch the interview with Resi Kraus from the film.
25 comments:
After watching the film in class today it made me mad. The interview played and I knew that Resi Kraus was lying. I dont think that was right because even if she realized how much of a mistake it was, she could've explained that rather than lying. I think lying is the worst thing to do. A lot of people make mistakes and she doesn't know how to handle it. Just that small portion of the film shows me she is a bad person.
Resi Kraus is one of those people that annoy and upset me so much I have trouble talking afterwards or thinking about them. She was a coward who realized that she had played a huge role in indirectly murdering an innocent person, just because she happened to differ from societal norms. Just because she was different. Instead of owning up to her mistake, she merely pretended she hadn't made one. She brushed aside her interviewer's questions and dismissed the events as something that is history and there was no value in bringing them up again.
Watching this segment on the Gestapo angered me a lot, especially the interview with Resi Kraus. Kraus clearly wriote that document to the Gestapo reporting her neighbor, and she didn't have the decency to admit to her mistake and fess up to it. This really bothered me because you would think that a grown adult would have enough character to take responsibility for her own actions. She would have gotten a lot more respect from me and many others if she had owned up to it and admitted what she did, even though it was wrong. What also angered me was how she referred to the situation as "raking it all back up again" as if it was an insignificant event that should just be left behind. She's clearly a very ignorant woman, as well as a liar.
After watching the interview I did not like what Resi Kraus had to say. I was angry with her words and trying to cover up what she did in the past. Even if her opinion had changes from the past she should have just said so instead of acting like she didn't remember signing the paper. It's not fair to discriminate against those who are different and Resi is a victim of that. Resi tried to save herself by turning others in because they are different. Resi was obviously wrong in the interview and she couldn't admit it.
The film, "The Gestapo" made me quite frustrated and really got me thinking. The women that reported her neighbor for suspicious acts made me really upset because Kraus denied it when she was asked about it. It wasn't fair of her to do that to her neighbor and she discriminated her because she may have been homosexual. She was wrong in her actions and lied about remembering it all. Finally, she couldn't face the truth and tried to get around it even on camera.
The second I viewed Resi Kraus's reaction when she was being interrogated for the letter she wrote I immediately knew she was lying. It is sad to think that a woman so mature in her years isn't able to admit her wrongs and come out. This really goes to show that people are so arrogant and self absorbed that they can't talk about their mistakes. It's quite baffling to say the least.
The segment when Resi Kraus was very disturbing to watch and made me very angry. It was obvious that she knew what she had done and I can't believe that she would not own up to what she had done. Also throughout the interview she would laughing when answering the questions, which I couldn't believe. If I was her I would have been so ashamed of what I had done and would be begging for forgiveness not laughing about it. Lastly I thought it was very wrong of her to say that they were raking it all back up again because this isn't an event that can just not be talked about what happened during the Holocaust was completely unethical and wrong and she should have never made that comment.
did not know a lot about the Gestapo before this film. I did not know that they were some sort of secret agency much like the CIA either. I found the interview with the Resi disgusting since she was blatantly lying to the interviewer. She changed her story just to not look like the awful person she is on camera. Her address and signature were on the documents and she stilled try lying. She gossiped about her neighbor and should at least own it for what she did.
I think what she did was finalized by what was revealed by her character. She started out as coming across as a Snitch who inadvertently got someone murdered. Yet this was a decision that was probably pretty consciously made with an end result in death or a concentration camp. This alone is something she must've thought about while she was writing such a long and detailed letter to the Nazi Regime. She then continues to bold face lie to someones face about a document that has her exact signature and address. She would've been more offended had it been a fraud and a lot less defensive. Resi Kraus is a weak old lady filed with a lot of ignorance. She can live everyday ignoring the fact that she is more guilty then those putting the gun to her head, if she's lucky enough to die that instantaneously. Moral of this story is be nothing like Resi Kraus, be your own person and make better choices; look out for your fellow man.
The interview with Resi Kraus was pretty despicable. It's sad to see that people would signal others out on the basis that they were different and honestly i got a little scared. It's not that I've totally lost faith in the human race (although maybe a little) it was that i took a look at myself and started to question whether i would have acted much different. I would like to think i would have in the lady's position, but really? It's now become the norm to look down on racism, discrimination etc, and certainly for all the right reasons but if i were raised differently, did not learn why antisemitism was wrong and if everyone around me thought oppositely to what is now believed to be the right way of thinking who would i be? It's interesting to question how vulnerable we all are to the norm of thinking. However i think Kraus passed several barriers no one would normally cross. The fact that she blatantly denies what she did and didn't show much emotion in the process came off virtually psychotic. Or maybe she it was just a great lack of maturity/development on her part.
This film not only brought a sense of empathy towards many Jews but also disturbed me about the way people just withdrew from their opinion. Resi Kraus was a woman not only full of hatred but also was a coward. The time when she saw the woman who behaved a bit differently and had Jew friends she did not hesitate to complain to the police but when she realized it was a mistake on her part and actually she indirectly murdered the lady, she did not have the guts to accept her mistake.
This movie really surprised me. There were some people from the Nazi party that understood Hitler's true goals after WW2 was over, but that one woman just couldn't wrap her mind around it. It was so upsetting that she could lie so easily, knowing that writing that letter sent her neighbor to a concentration camp to eventually be killed. I don't think I will ever be able to understand how she doesn't feel any remorse for her actions. I realize that she (and many other Germans) were influenced into following the Nazi party, but so many were able to recover from those poisones thoughts, why not her?
I would describe Resi Kraus as someone who goes with the crowd. This lady obviously only supports what is "in style" and as soon as it becomes unfashionable abandons it and picks up the new trend. It is clear that she has no idea of what the Nazi party was all about because she blindly supported them when their ways were popular. Present day, the Nazi ways are far from popular and therefore this lady goes against what she originally stood for to remain in the popular trend. She has no heart for anything. She wants to do solely what is popular and fit in and doesn't truthfully believe in anything. Those who truthfully believed in the Nazi movement went on camera and admitted that to this very day they believe in it and those people are a lot better than Ms. Kraus. We now know that the Nazi way of life was wrong but for people to still stand behind it is bold. Ms. Kraus saw that a trend changed and with it she changed, throwing everything she once supported in the garbage.
After watching this interview, I was very annoyed and frustrated with Resi Kraus. She does not admit to writing the letter and she does not seem to feel bad for any of her actions. When she said that she didn’t kill anyone directly, that made me very angry because she won’t admit that she did anything wrong. What she did in the past was not ok by writing those documents but the worse part now is that she can’t even own up to her mistakes and admit her faults. Kraus can’t even face the truth and seems as if she is in denial about the documents and the situation as a whole.
After watching the film on the Gestapo in class, its hard to believe the interview that Resi Kraus had done. It was very easy to see that Kraus was lying during her interview about her actions at the time. When Kraus was confronted about her report on her neighbor she initially started to say that she didn't have any involvement, but after she began to laugh and almost take the issue as a joke. For me it was hard to believe a person could follow the rest of society that much to the point where you put someone else's life in danger simply for being different.
I found "The Gestapo" to be very disturbing. What really shocked me is when the Nazis killed people who were mentally disabled in order to keep the race "pure". It was also disturbing to see that lady deny that it was her signature and her report. I think she should've just owned up to what she had done instead of making herself look even worse than she already did.
Watching the portion of the video with the interview with Resi Kraus made me feel angry and frustrated. It bugs me that there is clear evidence of her contribution in the persecution of her innocent neighbor, yet she still denies it. She herself says that it is her exact signature and her exact address on the Gestapo document and she says that she doesn't know how it got there. How stupid does she think everyone is? It is both dishonest and disrespectful of her to play dumb on a serious matter rather than coming forward with what she had done and the fact that she went along with the group like a sheep. There were other people in the video who were interviewed and admitted that they had gone along with the majority simply to save themselves and those are the people that I respect.
After watching the part of the video of Resi Kraus it made me realize that she knew that her and everyone else at the time had messed up on what they did to the Jews. She felt guilt and discomfort with herself.
The film that we viewed today, which touched upon the topic of the influence of the Gestapo during the Holocaust, tended to infuriate me. Resi Kraus angered me to a point where I was at a loss for words. Her response to the interviewer's questions were cowardly; she played a role in the murdering of an innocent person. Clearly the fear of owning up to her faults during the Holocaust still affect her today, she still lives in fear of showing any weakness. Dishonesty is one of the worst traits a human being can possess. But, I feel that in Ms. Kraus' personal situation, lies are used as a defense mechanism and a protective shield. Resi Kraus was wrong in her actions, however, we can learn from her mistakes. Instead of dismissing those who might appear to be different, we need to encourage others to embrace characteristics of ourselves that are uncommon.
Watching this video made me realize how easy it was for people to conform to a society where the law was twisted and where it's leader was beyond psychotic. Neighbors turned on neighbors if they had an specific relations to Jewish people and would make up false accusations based on false beliefs to turn them in. There was no one to prove if the accusations where in fact true but even so, this made the whole society turn on itself creating this massive battlefield where people didn't trust eachother. What I really felt angered about was the fact that Resi Kraus, one of the people who turned in her neighbors, rejected the letter that she herself wrote. She said it wasn't her and that she didn't remember writing it and what gets me is the fact that she can't face her error and realize that is was a very big error. She should've owned up to her error and stop lying to herself. Everyone is different but because there are things like discrimination, certain individuals get tagged and get bashed on by others because they're different. I believe people should realize the fact that not everyone will be in agreement with them and that differences should be set free.
Watching the segment on the Gestapo both irritated me and surprised me.I was irritated because first off the records of the Gestapo show that a very little amount of officers were present. 28 to an entire city. That is far less than maybe the amount of police officers in Westborough. Yet these men held such great power over the people. All because the German people gave them all this power and acted on their behalf by spying on their neighbors and gossiping to the Gestapo. Also watching Resi Kraus was exceedingly irritating. She was being interviewed about a letter that she wrote to the Gestapo, one that played a part in a woman being sent to a death camp, and she was so so flippant. Not only does is she clearly lying to the man interviewing her but as he asks further questions she is sitting there laughing with an awful air of arrogance.She is denying something that is evidently her doing, and frankly I think shes a coward.At her age one would think that maybe if she sees her actions as a mistake she would own her mistake and now explain herself rather than lie.One might interpret her lying as an admittance of error but her behavior definitely shows otherwise.Now what surprised me about all this is that in regular life as German citizen the Gestapo were not your greatest worry. It was your neighbors.The fanatic and distorted nationalism that the Nazi regime brought turned people into vigilantes. It was like a constant game of "one of these things is not like the other" and God forbid you were that thing. It surprised me how a mentality that was supposed to unite the Aryans started to make them turn against themselves because it went too far.
I thought that the way Resi Kraus tried to defend herself was pathetic. She should have owned up to what she had done. It doesn't surprise me that she didn't because people never really change with what the type of person they are. She effected someone and she will pay for it later in life i believe. Rasi was a naive women and never wanted to admit she did anything wrong.
I was absent
It was infuriating to watch Resi Kraus tell a blatant lie to the interviewer during the film. She rejected the fact that she turned her neighbor into the Gestapo during the Nazi regime, and in doing so she refused to take any responsibility for her actions in the past. While it can be said that she may have been brainwashed at the time and made a mistake, it indirectly resulted in the death of another person. She should have the decency to admit what she has done. It was very frustrating to watch the interview with Resi Kraus from the film.
I was absent
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