Holocaust: Lots and lots of bad yet some good

Today at assembly Rabia talked about her experience of World War II and the Holocaust. I thought that it was lucky that she came to talk while we were studying the Holocaust. One point that she made that I hadn't considered was pondering whether I would have hid Jews from the Nazis during WWII. Would I risk the life of my family to help save the life/lives of others? It is a large risk to take but many Gentiles did during the Holocaust. Not only did many Gentiles hide Jews to help save their lives, but also were kind and helpful towards the Jews unlike the majority of Nazi officers. We witnessed one of these helpers in Maus II when we meet the Hungarian Mancie who helps relay messages between Anja and Vladek. I had never truly thought of the helpful Gentiles during the Holocaust because one usually thinks of the concentration camps or ghettos. It is truly important to recogonize both the good and the bad but to also understand different points of view in each situation. The one thing that I truly took away from her talk was the fact that although lots of bad things were going on during the Holocaust some people went out of there way to help others, these people risked their lifes to uphold their moral and ethical duty.

17 year old girl flogged by Taliban

While reading the New York Times, I discovered a shocking article regarding the Taliban, “Video of Taliban Flogging Girl draws Widespread Outrage.” Reading further into the article, I noted that the 17 year old girl denied the request to marry a Taliban commander and was publicly flogged as a result of her actions. In our history class we recently discussed the Taliban and in particular its control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan. This event took place in Swat Valley - which is the region Pakistan gave to the Taliban.

In other articles we have read about concerning the Taliban, women have no rights.  Even with that knowledge this article still comes across as a shock. Someone watching the event was filming with their video recorder on their cell-phone, while the young girl yells phrases such as, “For God’s sake, please stop, stop it, I am dying.” It doesn’t specify who put the video on the Internet, I imagine (and hope) it was someone who was trying to show the world what the Taliban is really about and this video is just one plea of help.  

"The Lines a German Won't Cross"

I found an interesting article in the NY Times about modern Germany. "The Lines a German Won't Cross" discusses the way Germans strictly adhere to so many unwritten social and legal rules that it is astounding when compared to the U.S. or other European countries. The author states that he can't blame Germans for Ordnung (order) or, "the unwritten road map of one society's concerted effort to permanently banish the instability and violence that have marked its history". He says it's understandable by looking at their past; they let "a little charismatic speaker with an even littler mustache" order them around and it was followed with horror and chaos. 

However; Germany may be doing well now, but I think it was partly their strict adherence to the rules that led to their downfall of WWII. Germans blindly followed irrational laws and social regulations, like boycotting all Jewish stores or not speaking up when people heard the terrors of ghettos and camps. They blindly followed a man who was crazy with his rules and where did that leave them? Maybe if they weren't so focused on staying within the boundaries, someone would have questioned the leadership more. It is a lesson to all of us not just to follow the rules because they are there and perhaps we should think for ourselves a little bit more. 

Below is the cartoon that went along with the article

Socialism, Capitalism, and Modern Propaganda

I found an article in the New York Times discussing a recent poll that was taken. In this poll, 53% of the American people supported capitalism over socialism, 20% supported socialism, and 27% were unsure. But of the people under 30, only 37% of the people under 30 were in support of capitalism, and 33% were in support of socialism (the rest were unsure). This is a pretty drastic shift in numbers, and there are several possible causes for it. One of the most likely is that to these two groups of people, capitalism and socialism mean very different things. People who lived during the majority of the Cold War were used to socialism being associated with the USSR and saw it as a bad thing. It gained a negative reputation. But people who didn't really live through that time, or at least lived through less of it, never picked up on that same view. To them, it is not necessarily such a bad idea, and to many, it seems like a better option.

The article also states that in an earlier survey 70% of the American people said they preferred a free market economy. While a free market and capitalism are not exactly the same thing, they do tend go hand in hand. Though this poll was taken earlier, it was not much earlier. So this difference is most likely due to the ideas associated with the words and the propaganda behind them. The words "free market economy" appeal to our belief in the freedom to choose, while capitalism tends to be seen as the rich getting richer while everyone else struggles.

These discrepancies show that many people don't understand what we consider basic economic policies. Maybe the problem is that these "basic" policies are not so basic anymore. Terms like socialism and capitalism and even communism have been used in so many different ways to describe so many different policies that they have lost any meaning they originally had. They have simply become modern propaganda. Perhaps new universal definitions or completely new words are needed.

This article provides an interesting opinion of this topic and includes the opinions of many other people as well. So if you are interested in learning more click here.

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

This political cartoon by David Low, depicts how Hitler was able to reach his goal by stepping all over the "spineless leaders of democracy" that appeased him. 

The are many interesting elements in  this cartoon. The first component that strikes me is  how  people like Neville Chamberlain the British prime minister that appeased Hitler were described - "spineless leaders of democracy." Another thing I saw was the carpet laid out for Hitler as he ascended the ladder of "taking over the world." In this cartoon Hitler is thumbing his nose, which is a sign of disrespect. Disrespect and Intolerance is exactly what he showed as he planned the murder of innocent people that he "believed" were "in his way and out to get him and destory his perfect world."

 This cartoon illustrates a point. Hitler was able to reach his goal from the results of appeasement. If you give a mouse a cookie, he will probably ask you for some milk. If you give Hitler Germany, he will probably want to take over the world. 

I found this article in the New York Times and thought it was an interesting and relevant thing to share with the class(es).  A summary:

A group of fifth and sixth graders from a public school in a poor, minority-dominated area of the Bronx is going to the remains of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

I personally side with some of the teachers in the article who think this is a little early to learn about the Holocaust on site.  Nearly everyone quoted says that they are afraid of the the kids' reactions will be, with just reason.  Most of the buildings are still standing, and it is no place for kids unless there is a very good reason to be there, such as ancestral history.  This seems like a very bad choice by the teachers, but it will certainly be a memorable experience for the students.

Heinrich Himmler, The Mind Behind Hitler

This YouTube video, is one of many, which illustrates the life of Heinrich Himmler, the number one man behind Adolf Hitler. This video is a little messed up, has ominous music, and probably the most ridiculous comments (the first one below by kingbub09 is plain f***ed up) but I felt that our textbook had very little information on one of the most important men during WWII. This video is a great resource when looking at the rise of the Nazi regime.