The motion picture,
The Pianist, is based upon the true life story of Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family. Mr. Szpilman was one of the most accomplished musicians in Poland before the Nazis attacked the country in 1939. The film does an excellent job of explaining why it became impossible for the Jewish people living in Europe to escape the Nazis and showcases the plight of hundreds of thousands of Jews forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto. What did you learn from the film that you did not know before?
23 comments:
Before watching this film, I was aware that hundreds of Jews were forced into ghettos but I did not realize the extent of the brutality. I didn’t know that some Jews became police inside the ghettos and that even they treated their own people so harshly. The ghettos were completely closed off from the rest of the towns and cities and families were forced to either send a family member that could pass as a German for food and supplies, or beg their German friends to send some over the wall. Dead bodies became so commonplace on the streets in the ghettos that few so much as flinched when walking past them. Jews were shipped off East if they were unemployed and had no work permit but eventually, they were all removed. Entire Jewish families were killed within the ghettos by the Germans, just because they could. An old man could easily be thrown straight out of a window if he was in a wheelchair and could not get up. The family would be released and told to run as the German police shot at them, like it was a sport. A man could hungrily eat food off the ground and a woman in fear of the police could smother her baby’s cries and accidentally kill him.
I knew a little about what the Nazi's did to the jews and how they were treated. I also knew about consentration camps and the Nazi's gasing the jews but I did not know they were forced into the ghetto and had to fight for survival. No matter what the jews did they could not win, it was only a matter of time before they were all eliminated. The Jewish police force was no better than the Nazi's. They turned against there own people only to follow in the Nazi's footsteps and then be killed later on. There was no escape if you were Jewish. The Nazi's would kill others just because they were different and thought they could. From this film I learned how the Nazi's could do what they wanted just because they could and wanted to.
I was so happy to be watching The Pianist in class because I have seen the film before and I thought it was a really good depiction of how the Jews were treated by the Nazis, even though it was extremely difficult to watch because it was so graphic. Before viewing the movie, I knew that Jews were forced to live in ghettos, but I didn't know how horrible the conditions were in these ghettos. I was appalled at the number of dead people, even children, that they showed just laying on the side of the streets. I also wasn't aware of the fact that food was so short in the ghettos. As shown in the film, some people resorted to stealing from others just to get something to eat. Lastly I was really surprised about the extent to which the Nazis physically abused the Jews for no apparent reason. They shot people, beat them, and even threw an old man out of the window just because they could. In all The Pianist is a very powerful movie that I think everyone should see to fully understand the Holocaust.
After seeing the Pianist a 2nd time in the same week i saw it in a different way. There arn't many movies I like to see more than once but The Pianist was one where I learned new things watching it the second time. There were so many powerful moments in this movie that made me so angry. I makes me realize how lucky I am to have my family. Picturing my grandparents having to go through what the other elders had to go through was the hardest thing for me to imagine. The Nazis had all the power and could do anything they wanted, thats the sad part. If they saw a jew walking they just shot them. If a jew asked a question they just shot them. The jews were never thanked for the physical labor they were doing. I think that one thing everyone should realize is how strong the jews are, Instead of focusing on the terrible people the Nazis were. I hate that people can't stand up for what they think is right, including me. I can stand up for someone if i disagree with what people are saying but I could never change a situation like this and thats the unfortunate part. Lastly, I have learned not to get upset over the small things in life. We live in a perfect little town compared to other people in this world.
I was not in class for this assignment
Before watching this film I wasn't aware of the height of cruelty the Germans showed to the Jews. Hatred is one thing but torture of this level is something inhuman and indifferent. Whatever is the reason and depth of hatred the Germans have for the Jews it is definitely not enough to justify this kind of act. I was really shocked when I saw the cops throwing the man from the wheel chair. The Jews were forced to wander around the places in search of food, house and family members. This film really brought in a strong feeling of disgust and sympathy in me. The Germans were brainless inhuman, emotionless creatures.
I never understood why the Jewish people didn't flee the German occupation while they had the chance. I always would say to myself " if that was me I would have gotten out of the country long before the Germans came". I learned that the Jewish people had no idea that the Germans were going to torture them like they did. Many Jewish people remand in the dark about the Germans plan to murder them until it was far to late. The ghetto was only the beginning of the end for the Jewish people. If the Jews didn't escape before going to the ghetto they most likely never would escape. I also learned it was common for German soldiers to randomly go into houses and kill an entire family. This would happen daily in the ghetto and nothing was done to stop it.
I thought that the movie, The Pianist, did a very good job showing the true horror of the ghettos. I had seen this movie prior to seeing it in class and I thought it was one of the most powerful movies I have seen. It was just so awful to see how poorly the Nazis were treating the Jews. For me one of the most powerful scenes is when the police go into a home and throw an old man out of a window because he can not stand up. Even after seeing this movie a second time I still have trouble watching that part of the movie. The police only killed that family because they had the power to do so and they wanted to. Also when Wladyslaw gets saved by the police it was so sad to watch him try to get back to his family, because I knew that he was never going to see them again.
I was not here for this assignment.
I had already known that hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to live in the ghettos prior to watching the film. What I did not know was that the main point of this was to kill them off slowly through starvation and famine. I had no idea that people were dropping dead like flies in the streets and that people would walk over a dead body like it was absolutely nothing. I also didn't know that rule in the ghettos was held by a Jewish police force who would beat and punish other Jews living in the ghetto. The saddest part about this was that not even the Jewish police force was safe from what awaited them in the death camps. Most of all, I obtained a true picture of how brutal and cruel the Nazis were and how they did what they did simply because they could.
Before watching the film, I was aware of how horribly the Nazi's treated the Jews living in Europe. I thought the film did an excellent job of portraying how it was to be living in Europe at the time. I never knew that the Jews were forced into the ghetto and had to fight for survival which to me is just an awful thing. The film was hard to watch at some point because it was just so violent and graphic. After watching this film I now know how easily the Nazis were able to get away from doing what they wanted and noone could stop them.
Before watching the movie, I was aware that Jews had to face horrible conditions in the ghettos, but this movie made the cruelty real for me. It was horrifying to see the man in the wheelchair thrown off the balcony just because the Nazis could and they wanted to incite fear. I could never imagine something like that happening to anyone or imagine that someone could truly ignore the morality they had so they could obey orders. I was amazed that there were that many dead bodies on the ground and that no one would even take a second look at them because it was seen so often. It was sad to see people begging for food and water or trying to smuggle goods in so they could survive. I was astonished at how the Jewish people were treated and angered when the Nazis made the Jews dance for their own cruel entertainment. I also learned that some Jews signed up to be in a police force where they enforced the Nazi rules in order to survive. I can not rap my head around how someone could do such awful things to another person and how one could be so cruel.
I found this movie to be one of the most clear and vivid depiction of what truly happened to the Jews in Germany at the time. This video allowed me to experience what the streets were like during these impossible times. The characters struggled to stay alive each day and they could be killed for any reason at any point. This video showed me what the Nazi soldiers did and gave me specific reasons as to why, which I still don't understand. This video changed my views on life because I am so very thankful for all that I have and couldn't be more happy to live somewhere I am in danger. I learned a lot of things from this film that had enhanced my knowledge on this even and topic and am interested to see what lays ahead in this course.
Before the film, I had a good amount of knowledge of how the Nazi's treated the Jews. In my past history classes we have only skimmed over what had happened at the time and most of my knowledge was gained outside of school through books and documentaries. After watching this film it does not compare at all to watching documentaries or reading text. From the film you really see the heartless killing at the time just because they could. The Jews were beaten and killed because the Nazi's at the time were in complete control and the Jews really couldn't do anything about it. The film left me without any sense of how this could happen, why it did happen, and how a person can get completely morally twisted compared to what I see as a normal everyday person.
Before viewing this film I knew that the Jews were brutally exterminated but "The Pianist" really put it all in to perspective. The amorality that lies inside the Jewish ghetto is incredibly baffling. When the old man was dropped out of his wheelchair over the ledge to his death, my heart sank through the floor. I couldn't even watch the horrors going on in front of my eyes. It made me sick. The Nazi's completely abused their power and proceeded with Jewish slaughtering because they could.
I knew a lot about the concentration camps Germany created, and what horrific things went on in them, However I was surprised to find that the Germans started their brutal acts of violence and terror against the Jews long before they ever entered the camps; and they did so when the Jewish population were herded into the slums, where they carried out acts of violence totally unimaginable. I realized that the Jews were being exterminated, desensitized, and demoralized their entire time under the Germans control, all slowly escalating into the mechanized killing of the people.
Before watching the film I didn't really know how the nazis went about there business. I knew that the Jews were separated into camps but I didn't know they we're put into ghettos outside the camps. The way they moved the Jews around like cattle killing at random was inhumane. I can't believe anybody could be brainwashed into believing that's the correct way of doing things. The most stunning of all was the man in the wheelchair being killed because he didn't stand up. Clearly he's an old man he shouldn't be treated that way for any reason especially this one. It's horrible how they made the Jews live in constant fear.
I found this movie really upsetting. I've seen so many holocaust movies over the years, but I think it's safe to say that this was one of the most disturbing. Watching the old man in a wheelchair being thrown over the balcony, seeing the little boy being beaten to death and left on the sidewalk and watching Jews being packed into cars like cattle was terrible. I've heard of really famous movies about how the Jews were treated, but this one never came up. I was so surprised that a movie that influenced my thoughts so much is not a publicized as it should be.
Before watching the Pianist, I knew of the brutal conditions that the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto lived in, but to see it depicted just like it had happened is an eye-opener. I was not aware before watching the film that the intentions of the Nazi's in putting the Jewish people in the ghetto was to starve them. To see innocent people dying in the street because they can't afford food once the Nazi's have taken everything from them, and soldiers shooting people in the street or in their homes simply because they have the power to do so is sickening. At the same time, the film's depiction of this brutality is amazing because this violence was a reality of the time, and it is necessary to see this raw depiction of this violence to truly understand the conditions for Jewish people living in the Warsaw ghetto.
I was absent for this assignment
I found the pianist interesting. It showed a family aspect of the haulocaust and all the struggles families faced. I was shocked as to how graphic some of the scenes were. Especially the wheelchair scene. this film showed me that what most of the nazis did was just done because they can.
I've never seen this movie before in my life but I have heard about it. After watching this movie I got a true feeling of what it was to live in such a place in that time. Of course not the exact real feeling but from what I saw I got this oppressive and intense feeling. The horrible things that I saw and how badly treated the Jews were treated really impacted me as I watched this movie. I could hardly handle that violence that extreme violence that they had to endure and I felt very shocked. I can say now that I have a better understanding of the horrible life they had. It's a very very strong movie but it also has a very very strong message within it.
I'd never heard of this movie until yesterday, and missed a portion of the beginning and end of it due to absences, but what I did enjoy the little that I watched. I truly got a sense of the atmosphere of the time while watching this movie; the cinematography was incredibly realistic and astounding. While many of the images were absolutely horrific, the were beautifully captured by the videographer. The first scene I saw was of the pianist trying to revive a dead child in the street and, at first, I couldn't really fathom what was happening. I think it's human tendency to subconsciously deny what we don't want to believe to be true. By opening our eyes to the gruesome truths of the world we, ourselves, our enduring a new pain. Our resistance toward accepting the reality of the Holocaust, I believe, stems from our inability to comprehend total disaster and hatred.
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