Would you be brave or patient enough to hide in a tiny space for three years with little food and nothing to do? Like the Frank family, many other Jewish families found secret places to hide. The Stermers, Bileckis, and Haars were all involved with hiding during the Holocaust to avoid being sent to concentration camps by the Nazis. For example, a family of 8 escaped to a cave in Ukraine around October 1942 (Arkell). This family, the Stermers, hid in a cave with five other Jewish families, 38 total people (Arkell). The mother, Esther, the father, Zaida, two of the brothers, Sam and Saul, and two more waited for 18 months in this cramped space (Arkell). They probably didn’t have to be quiet since they were in a cave away from civilization, but I wonder if they were scared of people roaming around. An SS officer came and invaded the cave, but after they had a little talk with Esther, they left and never came back (Arkell). She said, "What are you afraid of here? The Fuhrer is gonna lose the war because we live here? “(Arkell). At the end of the hard year and a half, the Russians liberated their Ukrainian town and they were saved (Arkell). There is a movie that came out that explains all the hardships that they suffered (Arkell). Unlike the Stermers who were hiding from the Nazis, the Bileckis actually helped many people hide. The Bileckis hid about 23 Jewish people in an underground shelter, says Louis Bülow. They made a shelter in a cave and disguised it with limbs and leaves so no one would know they were there (Bülow). They were forced to change their location because they were concerned of pedestrian traffic by the cave (Bülow). Their new spot was a lot closer to the Bilecki's home which made it a whole bunch easier to delive... ... middle of paper ... ...his were to happen again. This tragic event in history will forever remain in our hearts. Works Cited Arkell, Harriet. "Astonishing bravery of the Jewish family who escaped the Holocaust by hiding in an underground cave - for a year-and-a-half." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers Ltd, 05 Apr 2013. Web. 13 Nov 2013. . Bülow, Louis. "Julian Bilecki, A Holocaust Hero." The Holocaust, Crimes, Heroes and Villains. The Holocaust, Crimes, Heroes and Villains, n.d. Web. 18 Nov 2013. . Kelly - Goss, Robert. "Hiding from the Nazis, a Jewish family survives the Holocaust." The Daily Advance. The Daily Advance, 09 Jul 2011. Web. 18 Nov 2013. .
The historical documentary directed by James Moll, The Last Days, exemplifies the cruel conditions and sufferings of the Jewish people through firsthand accounts of five survivors. At night, Rabbi Eliahu and his son marched together from the concentration camp in Buna to a different camp in Buchenwald. When they marched to Buchenwald, the son “.had seen [Rabbi Eliahu] losing ground.he had continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater” (Wiesel 91). When Rabbi Eliahu’s son sees him fall while marching, the son continues to march forward and leaves his father behind.
Niewyk, Donald . "The Will to Survive." In The Holocaust Problems and perspectives of Interpretation, ed. Donald L Niewyk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. 59-66.
I decided to watch the testimony of Sally Roisman, a holocaust survivor. Sally had a strictly orthodox family, with a mother, father, and 10 siblings. Their family owned a textile mill which made dresses and suits. Sally attended a Jewish girls school but didn’t get the chance to finish her education before her school was closed down. Her teachers said very good things about her and that made her and her mother happy. Sally later returned and studied to finish school after the war. She still studies to make up for her loss today. Her family lived in an apartment complex were 15 families lived. 50% of the families were Jews in the complex.
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One was considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself. Elie Wiesel was considered to be one of those men, for he had his father working side by side with him. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, a young boy and his father were condemned to a concentration camp located in Poland. In the concentration camps, having family members along can be a great blessing, but also a burden. Elie Wiesel shows that the relationship with his father was the strength that kept the young boy alive, but was also the major weakness.
Between Night and The Hiding Place, comradeship, faith, strength, and people of visions are clearly proved to be essential in order to survive in these death camps. Corrie, Elie, and other victims of these harsh brutalities who did survive had a rare quality that six million others unfortunately did not.
A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal is a memoir about his time as a Jewish child in multiple ghettos and death camps in and around Germany during World War II. The author shares about his reunions with family and acquaintances from the war in the years between then and now. Buergenthal wished to share his Holocaust story for a number of reasons: to prevent himself from just being another number, to contribute to history, to show the power and necessity of forgiveness, the will to not give up, and to question how people change in war allowing them to do unspeakable things. The memoir is not a cry for private attention, but a call to break the cycle of hatred and violence to end mass crimes.
It is in a child's nature to be dependant of its parents and family members. They rely on them to protect and take care of them, so when they are suddenly ripped out of that comfort and protection, imagine the impact it would have on them. During the Holocaust, there was nothing the parents could do to protect their children; it was inevitable if they were Jewish they were always at risk. But on top of their vulnerability, children were frequently separated from their family and loved ones. Whether it be going into a concentration camp or going into hiding, the Holocaust has many examples of families being torn apart. One example would be with twins. Twins we often used for scientific experimentation, and when they were brought into concentration camps they were immediately identified and separated. The children that were used for these experiments very rarely survived them, and if they did they never saw their twin again. In just a short amount of time they were ripped away from their families and comfort and thrown into this chaos and unbearable setting (Nancy Sega...
The three sources Behind the Bedroom Wall, by Laura Williams, “Survivors of the Holocaust,” and “Last Letters of the Holocaust: 1941,” all have characters and people who realize that through catastrophic events, that family is very valuable in order to surpass discrimination. In “Behind the Bedroom Wall” the characters Korinna and her mom learn that they have to understand each other and cope with each other believes in order to get through this tough time. Korinna had to open her eyes to what is really happening in order to realize the true situation. For everyone this is a very emotional time for everyone because that nobody really knew what was happening or how to fix it, they were all just trying to fit into what they were supposed to
Within months, the "Nazification" of the Dutch people began and the quiet life of the ten Boom family was changed forever. In keeping with their true Christian beliefs the family had always operated their home as a open house for those in need, helping whenever, and whomever, they could. So when their Jewish neighbors were at risk, the Booms hid them in their home and helped them to escape Holland. In May 1942, a woman showed up at the Boom's door. She told them that she was a Jew and that her husband had been arrested by the Nazis. She asked for their help, and they agreed to allow the woman to stay with them. These two acts of kindness sparked the beginning of "the Hiding Place”. The hiding place was false wall that was constructed in Corrie's bedroom, creating a small hidden room where the refugees could hide. The room was no larger than a small wardrobe closet. There could be six or seven people hiding in the room. There was a buzzer, so if danger was near, they buzzer went off and they had a little less than a minute to cram into the hidden room. The Boom family went on the this for about 2 years and an estimated 800 Jews were
"Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. University of South Florida, 1 Jan. 1997. Web. 19 May 2014. .
Buergenthal, Thomas. A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy. New York: Little, Brown, 2009.
The Silber Medal winning biography, “Surviving Hitler," written by Andrea Warren paints picture of life for teenagers during the Holocaust, mainly by telling the story of Jack Mandelbaum. Avoiding the use of historical analysis, Warren, along with Mandelbaum’s experiences, explains how Jack, along with a few other Jewish and non-Jewish people survived.
Dwork, Deborah, and R. J. Van Pelt. Holocaust: a History. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.
There is one thing all hidden children of the holocaust have in common, silence. Lola Rein Kaufman is one of those hidden children. And she is done being silent. Lola Rein was a hidden child during the holocaust. She was one of the lucky ones; one of the 10,000- 500,000 that survived. Her family wasn’t as lucky. Lola endured, los, abandonment, and constant fear, but has now chosen to shed her cloak of silence.
They all had to live in the Warsaw ghetto (“Children’s Diaries”). Halina, another child survivor, tells us what happened to her while in hiding. Halina and her family went into hiding with a friend of her mother in a basement (“Peabody”).... ... middle of paper ...