My name is Michael Fahey and I’m currently in my senior year at Westborough High School. I’m eighteen years old and I’m an independent hard worker that doesn’t take no for an answer. Not a lot affects me because I’m the tough guy and I don’t let anything or anyone tell me otherwise. Ever since freshman year I had waited long to take this course and when the time finally came, I got overjoyed with happiness. I took this class because I wanted to get a better understanding of the Holocaust and also myself. Facing history is a course that teaches you the breakdown of what actually happened during the holocaust. Not only do you learn about what happened but you also get a better understanding of who you are. This course is powerful and it is serious. There is nothing but the up most respect towards the teacher and the class itself. Although you get a break down of the Holocaust you really get a break down of yourself. I’m glad I took this class because over the years I have heard nothing but good things and the fact that I’m able to experience this course, I’m grateful. Most of what you see is life changing. It really makes you think about life as a whole and brings you closer to the things that you love the most. It brings you to a certain point where you share passion for something that you never even heard of before. There are so many things left unanswered but this course can answer all those questions.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Reflective Essay
My senior year has been blessed with this course because otherwise I wouldn’t have learned more about myself. This course reflects the struggle of the Jews and the corrupt business of the Nazis. This class has changed me and made me a more passionate person about not only myself but others around me. After seeing the struggle and the tough hardship that the Jews had to go through made me wonder. Do some people have no sympathy what so ever towards different people? Can someone really kill people just because they are less superior to you? It’s sad to know that there are people out there that don’t care about anyone other than themselves. I can definitely say that I understand fully what it means to be a human being. A real human being would care for one another and treat people the way they want to be treated. No one’s above or below any one, we’re all equal and I feel like my fellow classmates have experienced their fair share of passion towards this class because I know I have.
One of the most meaningful films I have watched this year is “Swing Kids” because it shows a lot of pride and it really focuses on how resident Germans really felt about the H.J. It’s a good film because it shows a group of friends who go out party dancing and enjoying swing music. In this group there is one Jewish kid and all he loves to do is buy records and listen to them all day. Times begin to get tough for them because the H.J. has total control of the city and everyone’s reduced to follow whatever they say or do. It’s hard to understand though, everyone’s encouraged to join the H.J. but this particular group tried to always mess with them and break the law. It finally comes down to the point where they all are enrolled into the H.J. and they are practically forced to turn against everything they believed in. This film was most meaningful to me because even though they were reduced to join the one thing they all hated, they still had fun on the side, even doing exactly what there not supposed to be doing. It’s crazy how manipulative the Nazis party can be. One day you’re hanging out with your friends having a good time. The next you’re a part of what you hated, turning against the ones that matter to you the most. The one scene that meant a lot to me was when Peter got captured at the Swing joint and his own friend turned against him and was full on beating him up but then Peter snaps him out of it and he finally realizes how manipulative the H.J really is. The final thing he said to Peter was “Swing Hiel” and at that moment, he realized what meant the most to him. It’s powerful scenes like that, that make me feel like a human being because I could feel every bit of emotion that they were feeling.
Another film that we watched called “The Pianist” was one of the saddest and horrific films I had seen in this course. Although it was quite interesting because it focused more on how the Jews were being treated instead of focusing in on the Nazis. It really got every detail of what actually happened. It showed us where they put them and how they treated them and it was basically like hell. What stood out most to me was the fact that even though they were mistreated, they still had a lot of heart. It’s not easy to hold back anger towards ignorant people that think their better than you. I can understand exactly how they felt, just watching what the Nazis did to these people is hard enough to even fathom. Some scenes in this film were to brutal to even understand. The only question that comes to mind is how do people do such things to other people and think its ok? It’s tough to know that things so gruesome and ungodly happened to these people. Although tough to watch it’s liberating to see how they kept themselves together, no matter how bad times got they always were close and in reality family is really all you need. It’s a tough film to watch but if you can actually sit and watch you can learn a lot. I know I did.
I had never felt so dead inside after I had seen the actual documentation of the deaths camps. The film was horrifying and it’s honestly made sick to my stomach. I thought I had seen some pretty bad stuff but it doesn’t compare to this. This was the one and only film that really had a strong impact on me. This film gets graphic but I think it has to be this way because people need evidence and all the evidence is right in this film. Just like in the film the U.S. soldiers showed all the neighboring towns people what there government was really doing. My reaction was exactly the same as there’s. They were forced to look at each and every part of those camps so they could fully understand the real truth. It’s hard to believe that people could take away lives and not feel any remorse. Going through and looking at pictures of dead bodies and the gas chambers is too much for me. Knowing that these people were lied too and betrayed makes it even worse. It’s just one big set up. It’s just too brutal to even talk about. Some things are just too powerful for the human brain to comprehend.
This course is one of the only classes I can honestly say I look forward too because I learn so much and each time I watch a film, my perspective changes a little more each time. I can say that this course has changed me and it has benefited me in ways that I can’t even comprehend. Knowing these things have taken place changes my views on how countries actually function, whether or not they are telling the truth or not. I’m glad I can say I love my country because I do and I don’t go a single day without thinking that I’m safe and have nothing to worry about. I love every bit of this class and I hope that everybody can experience what I have experienced. I’m happy knowing that I got every bit of what I was looking for in this class. Mr. Gallagher is the only teacher that can teach this class because he started it and he’s the only person that can truly change your perspective on life and how you feel about yourself. I have him to thank and I’m glad you could share this experience with me.
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Works Cited
Picture 1: Nazis Brutality. Google Images. Online Image. May 24, 2012
Picture 2: Buchenwald furnaces. Google Images. Online Images. May 24, 2012
Picture 3: Shoes from Concentartion camps. Google Image. Online Image. May 24, 2012
Picture 4: Map of Nazis camps. Google Image. Online Image. May 24,2012
Picture 5: Swing kids. Google Image. Online Image. May 24, 2012
Picture 6: Auschwitz-Birkenau. Google Image. Online Image. May 24, 2012
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