Visual History Archive

     Recently, our Freshman Year Seminar Class has decided to use the Visual History Archive, a part of the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization that gives us an inside view of certain genocides that have happened in this world. The genocides that can be found on this website is the European Holocaust, Nanjing Massacre, Guatemalan Genocide, American Genocide, and Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Because our class is so focused on the Holocaust, I decided to spend my hour researching that topic rather than the other Genocides. Also, I am so interested in the idea of Altruism that I decided to look at the "Rescuer and Aid Provider" portion of the website because that is where I believed I would find someone I could consider an Altruist. The first person I decided to focus on was a woman named Irene Gut-Opdyke, a nurse who helped hide Jewish people and wasn't scared of what may become of her. Irene's story was very interesting and unlike anyone else's that I have heard before, but after doing more research on other rescuers, I have come to the conclusion that every rescue was different from each other and that is what makes it so interesting to study. After researching people from the "Rescuer and Aid Provider", I decided to look into the least common interviewee for the European Holocaust, the "Homosexual Survivor." I thought it would be interesting to study this because as a student in the Bay Area, we have access to visit the memorial in San Francisco dedicated to the Pink Triangle, or the stamp that Homosexual men had to wear during the Holocaust. I watched little bits of multiple survivors and picked up one thing in common for all them: they still were able to acknowledge the feelings they had and the good times. I thought this was very personal, and I'm excited to research this more.
     I rather enjoyed this website and I am very excited to look more into it as the semester goes on. Its interesting to watch online interviews with people who have survived such a terrible thing, and to see the emotion that they still have about it. Another function of the website that I enjoyed was the fact that they offered other genocides as something to study. I definitely hope to look more into that as I study it.

Besa: The Promise Reflection

   The movie "Besa: The Promise" tells the story of heroism in Albania during WWII through the voyage of two men, Norman Gershman and Rexhep Hoxha. Gershman is a well known Jewish-American photographer who became determined to take photos and document Albanian Muslims who helped to save Jews during the Holocaust.  Hoxha, a Muslim-Albanian, had to fulfill a promise to the Jewish Family that his father rescued during the Holocaust. His father saved a set of Hebrew books for this family, and now it is Hoxha's "besa" to give back the books to them. Norman helps Rexhep with his journey, and Rexhep soon find out that he is also a part of a Jewish family, and his faith was depressed by his raising in a Communist environment. In the end, Rexhep successfully gave back the books to the family and discovered the missing piece in his life that he never knew was gone. The film allows us an inside look of the many Muslim rescuers that we as a society rarely get to hear about.
    Personally, I thought the film was well done and had a strong message to get across, but I also felt like there was so much more that could have been focused on. I enjoyed the idea of "Besa" and seeing how far the journey took them to give the books. Besa is something that I feel every person should live for or by because it could help with our moral compass as people. Also, I believe the people featured in the film can be called Altruists. They saved so many lives and required no recognition of it which makes them true heroes.

"Man's Search for Meaning" P.41-93

     In Victor Frankl's second half to Part 1 of "Man's Search For Meaning", Frankl goes more in depth with the ideas of why people would fight to live or what led to people dying. He used very specific examples of what could be found within the concentration camp to give the prisoners the will to stay alive, including humor, solitude, and friendship. Frankl also went into detail about the idea of time, and how time seemed different for every prisoner within the camp. Time seemed to change when you were a prisoner in a concentration camp. Whereas we would feel a day go by, the prisoners within the concentration camp would feel as if a week had went by, but it was different for every prisoner within the camp. Also, Frankl makes it seem as if the people knew when there time was over on this Earth, whether it was by dying from Typhus or committing suicide on the electrical fence. Humor is a word you would normally never relate to the Holocaust, but Frankl states, "Humor was another of the soul's weapons in the fight for self preservation." (Frankl, 43) He found it important to have even the smallest sense of humor within the camp because it gave them a reason to see that there is still something funny within the world, especially in a situation where many people can't find a reason to laugh at all. Solitude was also important to Frankl because he believed that he needed time to be alone and away from the chaos of the camp. In his situation, the way Frankl would find his solitude was by hiding away as a doctor with all the dead bodies surrounding him. Although very sad, it allowed him to reflect on his life and purpose. Friendship was also important because it was a way for them to give inspiration to each other. It was very hard to be friends in the camp because of the idea of eminent death, but it was also a need. As a human being, it always helps to have someone you could turn too and consider a friend, especially in such a dark time.
    For this section of Frankl's book, I agreed with almost everything that he stated. He found little things within the camp to give him a reason to live, which I believe is the only way I would be able to survive in such a situation. If I could not find a reason to live, I think I would just let myself die, which is incredibly sad, but also seemed to happen a lot of times within the camp.

"Man's Search For Meaning" Pages 3-41

    In Victor Frankl's novel, "Man's Search For Meaning", he discusses his days in Auschwitz and what kept him alive. Unlike most holocaust novels that single out the dark side of being in a concentration camp and the many deaths, Frankl recounts his ideas and passion that gave him the strength to survive. The novel starts off with this idea when Frankl states, "This story is not about the suffering and death of great heroes and martyrs...but with sacrifices, the crucifixion and the deaths of the great army of unknown and unrecorded victims."(Frankl, 3) The first part discusses the entrance into the camp and how life was like while Frankl was in the camp. When Frankl and the other thousands of prisoners arrived at the camp, they were split into two groups: the labor group, or the group that was sent to the gas chambers. 90% of people were sent to the latter due to illness, disability-even the slightest, or being a member of the elderly. After the first selection, Frankl recalls the moments in Auschwitz that became part of his daily life. Whether it was the cigarettes or the shoes, ordinary every day items became a matter of life or death for the prisoners in this camp. If their shoes were to small, they would have to work barefoot which many times would lead to hypothermia. Things that we as a society take for granted became a last source of hope for people. He ended this first section of reading by discussing the nature of the world and his "beloved" whom he missed dearly. While discussing his wife, Frankl stated an amazing quote which says, "The truth-that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which a man can inspire," which also gives insight as to what Frankl's meaning was to stay alive. (Page 37) The idea of his wife gave him inspiration to keep surviving day by day, and that is something to admire.
   This first part of "Man's Search for Meaning" had a lot of sad parts, but at the same time held some of the most inspirational quotes I have read in a long time. Frankl's thoughts on seeing nature while in the camp truly struck me as beautiful and profound. The idea of a sunset being able to distract the campers even for a split second made me realize how fortunate we are to live in an environment that allows us to treasure the nature that surrounds us. Rarely do you meet a person who would take time out of their day to watch a sunset, but after hearing Frankl's description of the beauty of the sunset, maybe society, including myself, should begin to take five minutes of our day and watch the sunset and admire its beauty. You never know when death is coming, so while we are alive, we must make the most of what we have.

"From Cruelty to Goodness" Summary and Reflection

   Philip Hallie's article From Cruelty to Goodness explains his studies when it comes to the ethical differences in society. He defines cruelty as the opposing force while goodness is the rescue in which society is looking for. Hallie gives an historical example of each, and also gives a demonstration of how they contribute to society. He explains how he doesn't affiliate with the terms "good and evil", and instead prefers cruelty and goodness. He also goes into detail on how the Ten Commandments, one of civilizations most well known rules, is mainly concerned with stopping the cruelty of the world. When discussing cruelty, Hallie states that he believes cruelty is more likely to be an emotional attack more than a physical one. An example of how this is true in history is how the Nazi's would make the Jews feel inferior with their words and their actions so that when they finally began their extermination, the Jews would believe that this is justified. The main point of the article seems to be that although cruelty exists in many forms and it exists in history and the present, the only way for us as a society to move forward is to fight off cruelty with Goodness and kindness towards each other and to the people involved in situations of cruelty.
   I agree with Hallie in the fact that Cruelty can be defeated with Goodness and by being kind to each other, but I also believe there is a lot more to the situation than what Hallie explains. Society and history cannot be split in half by the words cruelty and goodness because there is so much more to us. Sadness is also a very important emotion, feeling, and can be very important to the history of society, especially with something such as the Holocaust. In my opinion, the Holocaust is usually studied through the sadness lens of learning rather than the Cruelty side. In this class, I understand that we will see the Holocaust as a viewpoint of cruelty and that should be very interesting to study.

Assignment 1: I'm done!