The Crisis in Aleppo
Pol Pot's Shadow
Journals #9-14 due November 18th
Journal Prompt #9 – Elie & Oprah at Auschwitz documentary
Respond in your journal to the documentary, which can be found on my website. Your response should be a full page, single spaced. Feel free to respond to as many questions as you want.
Journal #10 – The Sunflower Pre-Reading
Respond to the following prompts for Journal #10. Response should be ½ a page, single spaced.
Journal Assignment #11 – Sunflower
Now this question falls to you. Given what you have learned about the Holocaust in Unit 1 and in the passages from Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower here, try to put yourself in the place of Simon at the SS soldier’s bedside. You must adopt a stance here - no fence-sitting allowed!
You will answer the question posed at the end of Wiesenthal’s book: “What would I have done?” And perhaps more importantly, why? You will need to refer to ANY of texts/videos we have discussed—and to the details of Simon’s experiences as shared in this packet—as you explain why you would have offered Karl the forgiveness he was so desperately seeking, or why you would have denied him this mercy, as Simon ultimately did. Support your answer with the ethical lessons you have been taught in your life (home/religion/school/ literature), especially putting an emphasis on literature, focusing on any of the pieces we have read in this unit or your previous experience with Holocaust literature. Your response should be a full page, single spaced.
Journal Assignment #12 – Sunflower Contributors
In class we’ve read and discussed the response of scholars, philosophers, and military personnel. Choose 1 that you feel that you most strongly agree with and explain why you agree with their interpretations. Did reading their response influence your own interpretation? Your response should be a full page, single spaced.
Journal # 13
Look over the chart from the Bystanders/Upstanders readings. What similarities do you see in what upstanders say and do? What similarities do you see in what bystanders say and do? What (in your opinion, supported by these passages) is the reason someone becomes an upstander instead of a bystander?
Further questions if needed:
Journal # 14
What similarities do you see between the Genocides of the 20th century? (You can include the Holocaust as well). How does the use of language and propaganda play a part in developing a genocide? How many of these genocides were you familiar with before this unit? Why do you think some of them are not as “well-known” as the Holocaust? Do you think there are any genocides going on right now? What should we (The United States, the world) do to prevent or stop genocides in the future?
Respond in your journal to the documentary, which can be found on my website. Your response should be a full page, single spaced. Feel free to respond to as many questions as you want.
- Do you think watching the documentary helped you gain a greater understanding of messages that Elie Wiesel hoped to convey in Night?
- What questions do you still have about Auschwitz or the Holocaust?
- What part(s) stand out to you?
- In one of the voice-overs Oprah said that the Allied forces knew about the Holocaust and Hitler’s Final Solution as early as 1942, 3 years before the end of the war. An additional 5 million people would be killed before all the camps were liberated.Should the Allies have done more to stop the Holocaust?What could they have done?Do you think it would be ethical to bomb a concentration camp?
- Respond to some Elie Wiesel’s quotes from the documentary.
- “We lived inside death”
- “[The Holocaust] was a scandal on the level of creation.
- “How may Nobel prize winners died at the age of one...two?”
- “Every step was programmed….death factory”
- “Suffering does not give any privilege.… Because I suffered, I don’t want others to suffer.”
- [discussing Block 11] “At least they had individual deaths.”“This became the privilege.”“Death was a release because it followed torture.”
- “One feels that those who committed these crimes had no feeling….But they were human.They had two eyes.They had love for their families.They loved music and culture and paintings.And yet, look what they have done.”
- O: “It’s unimaginable” EW: “They knew it.The wanted to push their crimes to the outer limit thus depriving is of the language to describe their crimes.”
- “Whenever people could try to conduct such experiments against another people we must be there to shout and say, “No.We remember.””
Journal #10 – The Sunflower Pre-Reading
Respond to the following prompts for Journal #10. Response should be ½ a page, single spaced.
- What does it mean to forgive?
- Is there power in extending forgiveness?
- Is there power in withholding forgiveness?
- Who has the right to forgive?
- What do you actually "give" when you grant forgiveness?
- Are there actions that are unforgivable?
- What would the world be like without forgiveness?
- Can you think of a time when you gave someone forgiveness? Or a time that you asked forgiveness from someone for your wrongdoing?
Journal Assignment #11 – Sunflower
Now this question falls to you. Given what you have learned about the Holocaust in Unit 1 and in the passages from Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower here, try to put yourself in the place of Simon at the SS soldier’s bedside. You must adopt a stance here - no fence-sitting allowed!
You will answer the question posed at the end of Wiesenthal’s book: “What would I have done?” And perhaps more importantly, why? You will need to refer to ANY of texts/videos we have discussed—and to the details of Simon’s experiences as shared in this packet—as you explain why you would have offered Karl the forgiveness he was so desperately seeking, or why you would have denied him this mercy, as Simon ultimately did. Support your answer with the ethical lessons you have been taught in your life (home/religion/school/ literature), especially putting an emphasis on literature, focusing on any of the pieces we have read in this unit or your previous experience with Holocaust literature. Your response should be a full page, single spaced.
Journal Assignment #12 – Sunflower Contributors
In class we’ve read and discussed the response of scholars, philosophers, and military personnel. Choose 1 that you feel that you most strongly agree with and explain why you agree with their interpretations. Did reading their response influence your own interpretation? Your response should be a full page, single spaced.
Journal # 13
Look over the chart from the Bystanders/Upstanders readings. What similarities do you see in what upstanders say and do? What similarities do you see in what bystanders say and do? What (in your opinion, supported by these passages) is the reason someone becomes an upstander instead of a bystander?
Further questions if needed:
- Whom do you feel you have a responsibility to care for and protect? How can your answer to this question help you make decisions about how to act and how to treat others?
- What have you learned from this unit that could help you make decisions in the future?
- Under what circumstances do you think it is appropriate to stand by while conflict or injustice occurs?
- Under what circumstances do you think it is especially important to stand up to injustice?
- What is your responsibility as an individual who lives and works in larger communities—in a school, a family, a neighborhood, a nation, a world?
- What advice can you give to friends and/or family about their role as individuals living in a larger community?
Journal # 14
What similarities do you see between the Genocides of the 20th century? (You can include the Holocaust as well). How does the use of language and propaganda play a part in developing a genocide? How many of these genocides were you familiar with before this unit? Why do you think some of them are not as “well-known” as the Holocaust? Do you think there are any genocides going on right now? What should we (The United States, the world) do to prevent or stop genocides in the future?