Mr. Gallagher’s Facing History and Ourselves class has by far been the most beneficial as well as eye-opening class I have taken throughout my high school career. Throughout the course I have obtained information about World War I, African American hardships and uprisings, the Holocaust, the Death Camps, and about my very own identity. The information ranged from horrific images, shocking films and documentaries, and life changing articles that exposed me to certain information that I was unaware of. Out of all of the exercises that our class was exposed to, I was able to benefit from certain films that consisted of, "Amen”, “The Grey Zone”, and “The Boy in Stripped Pajamas”. From these selected films I was able see how a certain race of people, in this case the Jews, could be placed in forced labor because of their religious background, tortured beyond belief, and even be put to death for no apparent reason. By witnessing these films, I was able to notice the “hero’s” of the films that decided to take a stand and fight for what they believed was the right thing to do based on their very own circumstances. The fact that one individual was able to stand up to a nation was one of many meaningful aspects that I took away from the course that has helped me become aware of the world around me.
In the film “Amen” the SS officer Kurt Gerstein becomes an eyewitness of the concentration camps, particularly the gas chambers. When Gerstein sees the true horror trapped behind the steel doors of the gas chambers, he decides to take the initiative by spreading the word of the horrible acts the Nazi party is carrying out on the Jewish prisoners. Gerstein urged Dutch members to broadcast information about the concentration camps but in the end he was ignored and people refused to believe his, “gruesome narrative of mass murder”. This did not stop Gerstein for he continued to risk his life in order to attempt to spread the word of the mass murders taking place behind the barbed wire and walls of the concentration camps. To me this film had an extremely deep meaning based on how Gerstein was wiling to risk his life in order to save the lives of thousands of Jewish prisoners. This film truly showed how one individual could make a difference in order to protect the lives of the Jews. Since Gerstein decided to risk his own life for the life of others, he became the true hero when the camps were destroyed years later and the Jews were released.
The other film that was watched in class was “The Grey Zone” which displayed the struggles that the Jewish prisoners went through each and every day in the concentration camps. The scene in this particular film that stands out to me the most is when the prisoners decided to revolt and destroy the crematory buildings. The prisoners had been plotting a revolt and were doing anything in order to sabotage that Nazi party by smuggling guns or planting powder throughout the crematory buildings. When the time came to strike, the prisoners were willing to risk their own lives in order to prevent the Nazi’s from killing any more Jews. This part of the film was very meaningful to me for it showed how the Jewish prisoners stuck together through these tough times and attempted to stop the slaughter of any more Jews at this particular camp. By these Jewish prisoners risking their lives in the revolt, they were able to send a message that the Jewish population was not weak and only time would prove their true power. Even though this specific group was executed for their actions, they knew that they fought for their freedom and knew that it was worth their valiant effort.
The last film that I believed had meaning was “The Boy in Stripped Pajamas” which showed how a young German boy was able to become friends with the Jewish prisoners. Since the young boy lived fairly close to a Nazi concentration camp, there were often frequent visits of Jewish slaves that were ordered to work around that house. When the young German boy discovers a way to escape from his own yard in order to explore, he comes in contact with a young Jewish boy who is trapped in a concentration camp. As these two boys become friends they begin to grow closer to one another even though an electrical fence separates them. The part of the film that was the most meaningful to me was when the young German boy decides to help the Jewish boy find his father that went missing in the concentration camp. In order to help the Jewish boy he decides to dig under the electrical fence and wear the “stripped pajamas” in order to look like a Jew. By doing this both or the boys are round up with other Jewish prisoners and are brought to the gas chambers and are killed. This part of the film stuck with me because as the two boys were being killed they stuck together even though society told people that the Jews were terrible. I will never forget this scene for it also showed how sick minded the Germans actually were based on how they could execute children, women, and men for no apparent reason. Based on how the Germans could carry out executions like this still does not make sense to me based on how the Jews are people like everyone else. This film by far had the most meaning to me for it showed how to boys could have a friendship even though they were separated and also how it showed the true horror of the German soldiers.
Throughout the first and second quarters of my senior year of high school, I have learned a lot from this amazing course. I was able to discover that I have become more independent and aware of the actions that surround me. I have become more aware of my surrounding because of the numerous films we have watched about the Jewish concentration camp. From these films I was able to see the true horrors in the world, which opened my eyes to the struggles that some students in high school face on a day-to-day basis. As a result, I have realized that it is wrong to be a by standard and let things such a bullying occur similar to how the world refused to believe that the Jews were being exterminated. From these films I now know that one independent person decides to stand up to someone like a bully or the Germans, they can make a difference that can benefit the lives of one individual or thousands. As this course is beginning to wind down I am glad that I took the time to learn about these numerous historical facts as well as learn a little about myself. To me Facing History and Ourselves is a class that all students should take for it expands ones mind to their surrounding and indulges them to the history that has changed the world today.
