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Blog Post #5 - Alex



After spending the last few weeks studying and talking about the Holocaust it has brought
so much to my attention and changed my perspective on most of the world. We read examples
of literature which presented people’s first hand experiences, watched multiple films on the
subject, and even interpreted photographs from the camps and from other places during the
time period. After looking at all of this, talking about it, and analyzing these documents I have
experienced so many emotions but the one that resonated the most was that feeling of disgust.
How could another person possibly find a reason to do this to another person? What gives them
reason to do this? Multiple times I thought about this while watching the Italian film Life Is
Beautiful. When the men were carrying anvils to melt down and Guido is so overcome by pain and
fatigue that he is tempted to drop the anvil but only stops himself when his inmate told him dropping
the anvil would result in death. The thought of death and losing his son and leaving him by himself
gave him a reason to carry on and fight through the pain. An additional document I felt appalled while
witnessing was the book Night by Elie Wiesel. So many times he was crippled and doubting
himself and his belief and yet he prevailed. Elie presents a story that is unlike many others and
shows how he survived despite injury, sickness, and the mental crippling the Nazis had instilled in
not only him but all the Jews. Elie lost everything throughout this period including his family and
friends. He was stripped of his pride and the Nazis did this without a thought. It just horrifies me
that a human being could possibly do this to another human being.

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