Genocide Project!
Project Description: In this project I had to pick a Genocide of my choice and a focus in that particular Genocide. My focus was the underground resistance armies in the Holocaust that planned and persued uprisings in death camps and ghettos. After doing extensive research in two parts for two weeks I created an OP. ED. (below) with the thesis statement of "The victims of the Holocaust did not sit quiet like sheep to
slaughter like most think; they resisted." My thesis statement was also the focus of the political cartoon (above).
Cartoon Reflection: I have grown as a political cartoonist by mixing humor with the seriousness of the situation. When I did my Rwandan cartoon I had the background to make a picture that represented the Rwandan Genocide but I did not know how to use irony, analogy and other cartoonist techniques. The cartoonist techniques aloud me to create a cartoon that displayed the underground resistance armies in the Holocaust in a funny, yet serious fashion.
Op-Ed Reflection: This type of writing was very different then ways I have written in the past in humanities. It is very short and concise using evidence as analysis. This writing is very much like the technical writing I use in biology class. Through the process of writing my Op. Ed I learned that in order to make a point in writing you either need to get straight to the point without the "flowery" deceptions or use these "flowery descriptions" as a tool to better describe your point. In the future if i have a limited amount of writing space I can use more of an Op. Ed style of writing to get my point across.
Cartoon Reflection: I have grown as a political cartoonist by mixing humor with the seriousness of the situation. When I did my Rwandan cartoon I had the background to make a picture that represented the Rwandan Genocide but I did not know how to use irony, analogy and other cartoonist techniques. The cartoonist techniques aloud me to create a cartoon that displayed the underground resistance armies in the Holocaust in a funny, yet serious fashion.
Op-Ed Reflection: This type of writing was very different then ways I have written in the past in humanities. It is very short and concise using evidence as analysis. This writing is very much like the technical writing I use in biology class. Through the process of writing my Op. Ed I learned that in order to make a point in writing you either need to get straight to the point without the "flowery" deceptions or use these "flowery descriptions" as a tool to better describe your point. In the future if i have a limited amount of writing space I can use more of an Op. Ed style of writing to get my point across.
Heres my Op. Ed!
Underground Armies in the Holocaust
Heidi Williams
The Holocaust: a word of Greek origin created by Nazi forces meaning, "sacrifice by fire". The community of the world is repugnantly unaware of how the victims of the Holocaust did not “sacrifice” anything, they met the Nazi power with equal “fire” in the form of an underground army within the borders of concentration camps and ghettos called the Resistance Party. The victims of the Holocaust did not sit quietly like sheep to slaughter like most think; they resisted.
The majority of the world has been educated that “the Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately 11 million non-Aryan people. Six million were Jews including 1.5 million Jewish children in Europe killed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators that took place between 1933-1945”. (Andersweung )
The majority of the world is aware that concentration camps were where the “Nazi regime built a series of detention facilities to imprison and eliminate so-called "enemies of the state." Or in other words, non-Aryans. Most prisoners in the early concentration camps were Jews, German Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and persons accused of "asocial" or socially deviant behavior. The prisoners at the camp were often tortured, raped, and executed.” (Andersweung )
These facts are indeed true. But, there is much more to know about the heroism that existed within the borders of ghettos and concentration camps that is still, sadly, unknown to society.
One of the most fascinating topics of life is the heroes and leaders of history and how they shaped the world. The leaders of the Resistance Party shaped both the Warshaw and Sobibor uprisings into successes. Hanna Krall, Lt. Aleksandr “Sasha” Aronovich Pechersky and Leon “Leibl” Feldhendler led a group of 800 men and women ranging in age from 14 to 40 to freedom. Hanna, Sasha, and Leibl were Jews who decided to start the army just to “supply some hope” (Krall). They also said “We planed the revolts not out of the fear of death but the longing for change, the conditions in the camps made us see how astonishing our lives used to be no matter the amounts of tragedy that invaded our everyday lives. It made us see the beauty in another place. We ran to get back to those places” (Pechersky). The egregious state of the prisoners drove then into heroism, it drove them to resist.
Both the Sobibor and the Warshaw uprisings required extensive planning, time, and energy. The uprisings would take place on the eve of a Jewish Holy day when the sections that separated the men, women and youth in the camp were aloud to merge for the night. After making connections to the Home Army (an underground resistance army made up of Aryans that gathered weapons and materials to make small weapons (such as pistols) for the rebels) the leaders of the uprisings would advise everyone to, “appear sad and broken. Look like you have accepted your fate as death and do not wish to change it” (Feldhendler) If Nazi forces were aware of the planning of the uprisings the penalty would be death. Yet, the rebels proceeded to plan.
Pursuing both the Sobibor and the Warshaw uprising was extremely valiant. The uprising started with an ambush of the SS men guarding the camp, and ended in fire. On the eve of Passover, “My group was told to cut the telephone wires then hide behind a cluster of trees by the gate, while this was happening a group asked the SS men to accompany them to one of the wash rooms. There, they murdered the guards with hand made axes and daggers. While that was happening a group was instructed to break down the gate with tools they received from the home army. Somewhere along the line someone lit the camp on fire claiming almost half the escapees. It is still unknown to this day who lit the fire. The other half escaped into the forest to be picked up by busses with blacked-out windows” (Feldhendler ). The fire in the Sobibor camp was a surprise, unlike the one in the Warshaw ghetto uprising. The fire in the Warshaw uprising was meant to burn all evidence of the uprising and destroy the bodies of the SS men.
Dr. Andrew Bernstein, a philosopher who focuses on the heroism in history says, “whatever one's individual tastes in heroes, one fact is abundantly clear: the great men and women whose achievements provide inspiration for millions come with an assortment of specific characteristics. The heroes in the Resistance Party demonstrated every single one of these characteristics, and yet they’re unknown.” (Bernstein, 72). The community of the world should be educated not only about the terrors non-Aryans faced during the Holocaust, but the terrors non-Aryans willed to face while pursuing these revolts. If we were taught about people standing up for what they believe in it could make standing up for greatness more prominent in our society to ultimately eliminate the hate that causes Genocide.
As a citizen of the world I am going to use the inspirations presented to me though the Warshaw and Sobibor uprisings to stand up for what I believe: “It is truly insulting that mankind is unaware of the acts of valor that occurred during the revolt of the Holocaust. If I had one wish to make to better humanity it would be to have today’s youth be educated not only on the terrors non-Aryans faced daily but how those terrors drove prisoners to become engaged in something more extraordinary then the fact that is still goes unknown.” (Bernstein)
When we hold the courage to stand up for not only our lives but for another’s we become a hero. The heroes of our society are the glue of our social norms, the idols of youth, and the shepherds of greatness. So ask yourself, are you the shepherd or the sheep?
Work Cited:
Andersweung, Bill. "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188>.
Bernstein, Andrew . Hero's of humanity . New York: P. Lang , 1994. Print.
Krall Hanna, Pechersky Aleksandr, Feldhendler Leon "Sobibor Camp Survivor." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/survivor/raab.html>.
Heidi Williams
The Holocaust: a word of Greek origin created by Nazi forces meaning, "sacrifice by fire". The community of the world is repugnantly unaware of how the victims of the Holocaust did not “sacrifice” anything, they met the Nazi power with equal “fire” in the form of an underground army within the borders of concentration camps and ghettos called the Resistance Party. The victims of the Holocaust did not sit quietly like sheep to slaughter like most think; they resisted.
The majority of the world has been educated that “the Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately 11 million non-Aryan people. Six million were Jews including 1.5 million Jewish children in Europe killed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators that took place between 1933-1945”. (Andersweung )
The majority of the world is aware that concentration camps were where the “Nazi regime built a series of detention facilities to imprison and eliminate so-called "enemies of the state." Or in other words, non-Aryans. Most prisoners in the early concentration camps were Jews, German Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and persons accused of "asocial" or socially deviant behavior. The prisoners at the camp were often tortured, raped, and executed.” (Andersweung )
These facts are indeed true. But, there is much more to know about the heroism that existed within the borders of ghettos and concentration camps that is still, sadly, unknown to society.
One of the most fascinating topics of life is the heroes and leaders of history and how they shaped the world. The leaders of the Resistance Party shaped both the Warshaw and Sobibor uprisings into successes. Hanna Krall, Lt. Aleksandr “Sasha” Aronovich Pechersky and Leon “Leibl” Feldhendler led a group of 800 men and women ranging in age from 14 to 40 to freedom. Hanna, Sasha, and Leibl were Jews who decided to start the army just to “supply some hope” (Krall). They also said “We planed the revolts not out of the fear of death but the longing for change, the conditions in the camps made us see how astonishing our lives used to be no matter the amounts of tragedy that invaded our everyday lives. It made us see the beauty in another place. We ran to get back to those places” (Pechersky). The egregious state of the prisoners drove then into heroism, it drove them to resist.
Both the Sobibor and the Warshaw uprisings required extensive planning, time, and energy. The uprisings would take place on the eve of a Jewish Holy day when the sections that separated the men, women and youth in the camp were aloud to merge for the night. After making connections to the Home Army (an underground resistance army made up of Aryans that gathered weapons and materials to make small weapons (such as pistols) for the rebels) the leaders of the uprisings would advise everyone to, “appear sad and broken. Look like you have accepted your fate as death and do not wish to change it” (Feldhendler) If Nazi forces were aware of the planning of the uprisings the penalty would be death. Yet, the rebels proceeded to plan.
Pursuing both the Sobibor and the Warshaw uprising was extremely valiant. The uprising started with an ambush of the SS men guarding the camp, and ended in fire. On the eve of Passover, “My group was told to cut the telephone wires then hide behind a cluster of trees by the gate, while this was happening a group asked the SS men to accompany them to one of the wash rooms. There, they murdered the guards with hand made axes and daggers. While that was happening a group was instructed to break down the gate with tools they received from the home army. Somewhere along the line someone lit the camp on fire claiming almost half the escapees. It is still unknown to this day who lit the fire. The other half escaped into the forest to be picked up by busses with blacked-out windows” (Feldhendler ). The fire in the Sobibor camp was a surprise, unlike the one in the Warshaw ghetto uprising. The fire in the Warshaw uprising was meant to burn all evidence of the uprising and destroy the bodies of the SS men.
Dr. Andrew Bernstein, a philosopher who focuses on the heroism in history says, “whatever one's individual tastes in heroes, one fact is abundantly clear: the great men and women whose achievements provide inspiration for millions come with an assortment of specific characteristics. The heroes in the Resistance Party demonstrated every single one of these characteristics, and yet they’re unknown.” (Bernstein, 72). The community of the world should be educated not only about the terrors non-Aryans faced during the Holocaust, but the terrors non-Aryans willed to face while pursuing these revolts. If we were taught about people standing up for what they believe in it could make standing up for greatness more prominent in our society to ultimately eliminate the hate that causes Genocide.
As a citizen of the world I am going to use the inspirations presented to me though the Warshaw and Sobibor uprisings to stand up for what I believe: “It is truly insulting that mankind is unaware of the acts of valor that occurred during the revolt of the Holocaust. If I had one wish to make to better humanity it would be to have today’s youth be educated not only on the terrors non-Aryans faced daily but how those terrors drove prisoners to become engaged in something more extraordinary then the fact that is still goes unknown.” (Bernstein)
When we hold the courage to stand up for not only our lives but for another’s we become a hero. The heroes of our society are the glue of our social norms, the idols of youth, and the shepherds of greatness. So ask yourself, are you the shepherd or the sheep?
Work Cited:
Andersweung, Bill. "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188>.
Bernstein, Andrew . Hero's of humanity . New York: P. Lang , 1994. Print.
Krall Hanna, Pechersky Aleksandr, Feldhendler Leon "Sobibor Camp Survivor." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/survivor/raab.html>.