What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me

                 Going into the Facing History and Ourselves course, I was unaware of how a film could affect my perception of history and myself.  As the course progressed, however, I learned that the “civic agency” that Mr. Gallagher always talks about could truly be achieved by immersing oneself in these films and trying to grasp the situations being portrayed.  The Holocaust is so unimaginable for teens in a suburban Massachusetts town, but the lessons I learned in this course can apply to any walk of life.  Genocides still occur.  And hate and oppressive behavior will never cease to exist, but the sheer scale of the Holocaust is something I can only hope will never be repeated.  Mr. Gallagher has a very deep connection to this time in history and I understand why he is so passionate—ignorance to this mass killing is an extreme detriment to our society.  Collectively, the films displayed the horror of the Holocaust and ingrained those images in my mind.  There are many lessons I learned throughout the course from the various movies and most importantly, each one gave me a better understanding of my own character.

                “Belonging” was the first concept that we explored in class and the film “Mrs. Elliot” was shocking to me as it demonstrated how easily a person can be convinced of their status in society.  The study was done on young kids and adults alike, and in both cases, the majority of the individuals involved did not speak up for themselves or the victims being oppressed.  It became pretty apparent that belonging is an innate human desire and a person will usually do what it takes to be a part of a group.  This is such a simple idea, but I believe it was my biggest take-away from the entire course.  I learned that individuality is equally as important as belonging to a group.  When your own thoughts are questioned by a larger group of people, it is your duty to challenge them and not submit to their power.  The most intellectually smart German citizens joined the Nazi party first and the nation as a whole was one of the most progressive countries in the world; yet, the need to belong took over.  The course has challenged me to make a consistent effort to stick up for myself and others.  There is always going to be a victim, and whether it is me or someone else, it does not matter.  Mrs. Elliot showed how people can be so convinced that they are better than someone else.  My upbringing has always been to treat everyone equally, and I strive to never lose sight of this key value.

 

               Collectively, the documentaries about the Nazis taught me a lot about how the Holocaust could even be possible.  Yes, Hitler’s ambitions were sick and twisted, but his German contemporaries enabled him to carry out anything that he wanted.  Anti-Semitism exists because humans want to belong to the group in power.  The bystander allowed the Holocaust to occur as well as the genocide in Rwanda and the discrimination against African-Americans in the U.S.  In each instance, a particular group was targeted and although they were harshly treated to an extreme, no one on the other side of the fence wanted to alienate themselves and stick up for the victim.  

Out of all the films we watched pertaining to the Nazis, “Swing Kids” was the most relatable for me.  The main characters were all young males around the age of 20, and I felt like I could put myself in the shoes of Peter as he struggled to keep his identity.  I was able to really see how these men were deprived of their freedom and forced to believe in something they may have totally despised.  Peter obviously wanted to belong to a group as he loved being a “swing kid,” but he could see past the glamour of the Nazi party; still, he was eventually reluctant to join.  I admired Arvid the most because he was able to completely resist joining the regime, and I was sympathetic to him because at times, no one had his back.  I began to realize that Arvid is the type of person that this course strives to create.  He is the “resistance,” and despite being less physically capable than everyone else, he maintained his dignity.

                “The Pianist” was probably my favorite film that we watched as far as the acting and directing, but more importantly, it illustrated the dire conditions of the ghetto and juxtaposed life for the Jews before and after the Nazis controlled Poland.  Szpilman was a well-regarded citizen of Warsaw and was known as a gifted pianist; nonetheless, his family and belongings were stripped of him and his only focus was to survive.  Jews were treated like dispensable garbage as they lay dead in streets and some were murdered just to serve as an example.  The particular scene I am referencing is when the Nazis barged into the building across from Szpilman and a crippled man was thrown out the window, still in his wheelchair.  Terrible images like this really stuck in my head and I began to realize just how worthless the Jews were in the eyes of the Nazis.

                The final film that we watched in Facing History was footage from the Nuremberg trials.  We didn’t have a class discussion about the film because the images pretty much spoke for themselves.  As the Allies liberated concentration camps, they discovered the killing machines that left bodies piled up and men and women on the verge of death.  The sleep and food deprivation and the torture left human beings in an incomprehensible state; they were living in total agony and no innocent human being should ever have to endure that.  This film was unlike any of the fictional movies that we watched before it because the realism was absolutely shocking.  I thought about what I had just watched throughout that school day.

                In retrospect, I am thankful that I was able to take this course because it gave me a stronger awareness about how to treat others.  I hope that my memories from the films and lessons will be long-lasting, so that I will never forget the travesties that occurred during the Holocaust.  Mr. Gallagher taught me that the power of a group should never take precedent over my own values and beliefs.  As college nears, this lesson is relevant as the majority professors impose their own beliefs on students.  Everything I learned in Facing History and Ourselves is applicable—it is about doing the right thing and standing up for the victim.