I am so thankful for Mr. Gallagher and for taking this class. This class has taught me more in one semester than I have been taught my whole life. I truly know who I am now and how I choose to deal with certain situations. I am in no way, nor will I ever be a bystander. Yes, maybe I was one when I was younger, but not now. Never.
The movie that had the biggest effect on me was The Grey Zone. The images and the plotline to that movie were really powerful and left a big impact on my heart and in my mind. I would go home every day and just think about it. I am so infuriated that people could treat one another in such a horrible way. The movie was really well made and taught me a lot. The other movie that really took a toll in me was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I honestly think that it is the most disturbing movie we watched. It really emulated how sick the Nazis were. The father let his own son be killed. How could such evil people exist? Who kills so many people, families, young children, innocent people?
The most important part of this course to me was what Mr. Gallagher would say after watching a film, or reading an article. Especially what he said at the end of the course. He told us that if we ever witness something that should not be happening, we must stand up. We must fight it, so nothing like the Holocaust can ever happen again. It was the most meaningful thing that anyone has ever said to me.
Another movie that really affected me was Swing Kids. I have learned about the Holocaust before, but never really about the Nazis. It was really eye-opening to see that there were Nazis who did not want to be Nazis. It was something I never really considered. To me, Nazis are pure evil, and that’s it. But it was very refreshing to see that they struggled with what they were doing. However, even though this film made me see this side of the Nazis, I still hate them. There is still no excuse for what they did.
Although Facing History and Ourselves taught me so much, it did not teach me why something like this could happen. What sick, twisted, evil people would try to wipe out a whole religion? I really cannot make sense of this. It is something that I do not think I can ever make sense of. I remember when I first learned what the Holocaust was. I could not sleep for weeks. My Rabbi took my Hebrew school class into the sanctuary, sat us down, and told us of the most disturbing, disgusting, evil man to have ever lived. My Rabbi told us of the six million people who were killed for no apparent reason. He told us about the concentration camps, how men, women, and children alike had to give up all their belongings, shave their heads, get a tattooed number, and work. They were worked to death. My Rabbi told us about the gas chambers. I was seven years old. I remember going home and telling my Mom what I had learned. I said the word Holocaust and her eyes slipped into a daze. I understand now. Now that I have really learned about it, I will pray even harder on Holocaust Remembrance Day. I will never let anything like this happen again. Ever.
On one of the last days of this class, we watched a documentary filmed by the United States Army who liberated the Concentration Camps. In that movie, I saw my people, Jewish people, among others whose dead bodies were stacked on top of each other. I saw my people, with sunken eyes, literally just skin and bones.
I have never grown more as a student and as a person in a class before. I learned that I cannot be a bystander. There have been three instances that have happened to me this semester that I could have let go. A couple days ago, my friend posted online that she was ready to die. A couple minutes later she posted again.
“I wrote my letter. I think I’m going to leave at 7:45. Good-bye.” I had never been so scared in my life. I sent her a message saying that she can get help and that it is not worth it to die. She has her whole life ahead of her, I went on and on.
Then she stopped responding. At that point it was 7:49 pm, and I started panicking. I wasn’t sure if I should call her or not, but I didn’t know what to do. There were many people who could have taken action; I thought to myself “no someone else will take care of her.” But it suddenly hit me that I might as well call and check in case no one else has.
I called her, and she answered the phone, barely able to speak. She was crying really hard, I could tell. I spoke to her about how much she means to her and everyone else here. I told her that she needed to call the Suicide Hotline. She said that she would, so we hung up.
She was gone for an hour. I started to freak out, but she posted again, and I felt so relieved. She was okay. She is okay. She is going to get help, and she will be fine. I keep thinking to myself:
“What if I didn’t call her?” She could be dead right now. I helped her. I could have been a bystander, and then I would have been responsible for a 15 year-old’s death. The important thing is, I’m not.
If I hadn’t taken Facing History, I would have been too much of a coward to do anything. I am so thankful for what I have learned this semester, because I know this will be with me for the rest of my life. It was very emotional, but I really do appreciate everything I have learned, both in history and about myself.
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