Friday, March 2, 2012
When I began reading what had shocked me the most, besides the intensive cruelty put on by the Germans, was on how obvious it was to the Jews that they were going to be overran and taken from their homes. The Jewish people had it coming, I know people always say to be positive and think for the best, but this is taking it too far. Totally blind to the situation, they make comments such as "The Red Army is advancing with giant strides... Hitler will not be able to harm us, even if he wants to..." (page 8). They had a warning from Moishe the Beadle, they told him they were coming, he said "I can no longer live. I am alone. But I wanted to come back to warn you. Only no one is listening to me..." (page 7). They Jewish community had a full out warning on the situation, and what was happening, only the fact that they kept their blinders on throughout the whole problem. I wonder why they had been so lenient to the about what was happening believing it would never happen, and when living in a four block sized community how could that be a good thing? "People thought this was a good thing. We would no longer have to look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares. No more fear. No more anguish. We would live among Jews, among brothers." (page 12). I cannot understand why they would be so happy believing they were protected because they closed down a street that could easily be run over. The Jews could have listened to what they had heard from Moishe the Beadle, but no every thing was fine to them. You know what I say, Bem-feita. (that's what you get)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I completely agree with your view about the Jewish people putting their "blinders" on- that's exactly what I thought when I read the section. I forgot to mention it in my individual response, but it's true what you said about Moishe the Beadle. He told them directly that something awful was going to happen to them, but they refused to believe him. And Bem-feita is right; they had it coming for them, and they knew it. Obviously we should feel terrible for them, because the Anti-Semitism being taken out on them is inhumane, and is by no means justified. Their situation is horrendous, and they should have our sympathy. But at the same time, as we both noticed, they could have done a lot more to try to escape the situation. But instead, they just kept their blinders on, oblivious.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the points you have made; I believe that the Jewish people were unaware. As I read through this section of the text, I too felt frustrated that the Jewish people didn't acknowledge the dangers of the situation until they finally reached Auschwitz. They held blinders to their faces and allowed the German soldiers to come and take them by the hand, leading them to meet death. It is almost as if the Jewish people didn't want to accept reality. Wiesel writes, "The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out-and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling." (10) and "My elders concerned themselves with all manner of things - strategy, diplomacy, politics, and Zionism - but not with their own fate." (8) How frustrating! They were completely unaware as to what was going on around them! They had so much trust in the government which caused them to think they were safe from the Germans. They allowed the Germans to come into their towns and even let them into their houses thinking they could trust them. The Jews fell right into the trap set up by the Nazis. This makes me wonder if we can even trust our government today. But if we can't trust the government, then who can we trust?!
ReplyDelete