What is Facing History?

Works Cited

Aushwitz Gate. Google images. Image. 21 May 2013.

Holocaust Death Camps. Google images. Image. 21 May 2013.

The Grey Zone. Google images. Image. 21 May 2013.

Milgram Experiment. Google images. Image. 21 May 2013.

Mrs. Elliott. Google images. Image. 21 May 2013.

                What Facing History Means

Facing History and Ourselves. The name is self explanatory. It is a course that explores history and the psychology behind things. As a student, you are forced to face some difficult moments in history as well as question yourself and your values as a human. The class gives history of the Holocaust as well as gives a better understanding of why things happen. The class begins with understanding yourself better. Through films, documentaries, and readings, you explore what makes people believe certain things and how they can be so easily influenced. Through learning more about the psychology of how people think, when entering the Holocaust it is easier to understand why the Nazis were so easily influenced. I live in a bubble. Current events are not my forte and I don’t really understand the outside world. I am the student that puts my head down and does the work that is asked. I have my friends, my activities and sports and I don’t stray from that. I tend to stay inside my comfort zone but this class has opened my eyes. I chose to take the course after hearing from numerous people how much deeper they understood themselves after the class was over. I wanted an experience that couldn’t have been given in a regular classroom setting and to stretch my boundaries.  Rather than seeing lectures, watching slide shows, and reading textbooks, Mr. Gallagher immersed us in the Holocaust and gave us the whole truth about what happened. Before coming into this course, I believed I knew so much about the Holocaust. I have read books and been to the museum. I never realized how much I was missing. I was naïve before and feel like I have grown to understand and accept so much more about who people really are. When I had learned about the Holocaust before, the average question is “Why?”Why would anyone be so cruel, how could no one stop them? These questions are answered along with much more.

This course has made me become more aware of not only what is happening around me but more importantly, what I am doing to affect the world around me. Throughout the course there were 4 films that stuck out to me as well as one discussion that made me think and question my values and who I was. The first film was Mrs. Elliott. She was making children believe that those with blue eyes were better than browns eyes and then switched it. Even at a young age, the children showed hatred toward each other. It is true that young kids are impressionable but it made me wonder, “Can everyone be influenced that easily?” Mrs. Elliott 

was an authority figure and had control over the kids. As soon as one kid went along with it, the rest followed. Teachers in my classrooms today, in high school, tell me what to do all the time, and I do it. There are never questions asked because in society, questioning authority is considered rude and impolite. It not only affected the children on top, but those on the bottom as well. Test scores were lower and they were mean to each other on purpose. I think that the way someone is viewed by others certainly affects how they view themselves. It is hard to avoid. Everyone says, it doesn’t matter what others think, but it does. It is nearly impossible to ignore those negative thoughts. That is why, today, so many kids try to fit in. They wear the right clothes and listen to the right music, all in an effort to belong somewhere. The kids in Mrs. Elliott’s class were given groups they belonged to and they took advantage of this obvious separation, the same happened with adults. It made it easier to understand how things that seemed unimportant, such as religion (Judaism), can alienate you so easily and how much influence one person really has. The second film that was really interesting was the Milgrim Experiment. While unsuspecting people were shocking others, it seemed as if some felt no sympathy for those on the other side of the wall. It was strange to me to see people laughing in the class while a man was complaining on the other side. It isn’t unusual for kids to have a nervous laugh. This was an uncomfortable situation because there is nothing we could have done, watching a screen. To me it seemed obvious that someone should have stopped the experiment but as it went on, I could begin to see why some chose to continue. The scientist was such a power figure, he claimed no one would be hurt and said it must continue. The people administering the shocks felt hopeless. The scientists would repeat that there was no choice when they obviously had a choice. Before the course, I probably would have done the same thing. Now I have come to understand how my actions affect others and the importance of doing what is right. The film “The Grey Zone” was very intense and kept my attention by questioning so much of what I thought was right. Seeing prisoners kill each other was really surprising. One would think that in time of struggle, people should bind together again the power. Instead, these prisoners would kill off the weak link to keep themselves alive. When the prisoner beat the older man to death, it was so strange to think that it seemed to be for no reason. This one man was ruining the shower illusion and they couldn’t risk an outburst. In just an instant the prisoner in charge went from killing to saving a life. Seeing the girl struggle put everything into perspective. Also, the women were so focused on their gun powder transport they were willing to die if that would help burn down the crematories. Seeing the woman run into the electric fence proved how strong their feelings were. Others would do anything to live another day.  The movie seemed very real especially when the Nazis went down the line shooting prisoners. It emphasized how innocent the prisoners were when the girl was brought in. Some worked very hard to save her because she had done nothing wrong. After all that time the girl finally saw light but she was shot for no reason. After we watched the clip of the woman having to give her child up we had to think about what we would have done. I tried to be logical by choosing the younger child who wouldn’t know what was going on. To be honest, there is no logic to that situation. Thinking harder about it, my decision seems worse and worse but I could never send the other child away either. I am the younger child and I would never want to be sent away for any reason. As selfish as it may sound, I wouldn’t choose to kill myself for my family. As a mother, no matter what my final decision was, I would never be able to forgive myself if I could even live with my decision. I still cannot imagine what the prisoners endured and what a real life decision could have felt like. I feel like that was one of the cruelest things that Nazis did to people. They put them through impossible decisions knowing that people would do anything to live another day. That cruelty is one of the few that Jews would have to live with for the rest of their lives. The final film we watched, The Death Camps, was truly haunting. Although there wasn’t much of the actual cruelty shown, the aftermath said enough. What really caught my eye was how skinny every person was. They were forced to work without enough food and I can’t imagine even going a day without enough food. Also, the number of people just in piles was astonishing. Seeing people being bulldozed into graves gave me actual nightmares. I don’t think I will ever forget the piles of people being shoveled and thrown around like garbage because there were so many of them. So many went unaccounted for and the people cleaning the camps became accustomed to piles of dead bodies. This film was too real and something that not everyone could handle. The whole semester was preparing me for this film to be able to understand it but I don’t think anyone can understand it unless they were there. This course gave me a deeper understanding of myself but also a realization that some things can never be understood.