I can honestly say I have never been so emotionally moved by a high school class before. Having Facing History and Ourselves first period gave me so much encouragement to get my ass out of bed and to school so, I wouldn’t miss a captivating lesson. This class is more like a journey about finding out the truth, questioning everything you think you know, and discovering yourself. I remember the first day of school we started by reading the children’s book, The Bear that Wasn’t. At first, I was confused why in a history class we started off by reading a children’s book but now I get it. It wasn’t to start the class off easy but to look at the book in a different perspective and relate it to historical events. In the book, the bear was told by so many people he wasn’t a bear; he was a man with a furry coat. He was told this so much he began to believe it himself. The moral of this story was actually more in depth than I thought it would be. It showed how it’s not what other people say which define who you are, so don’t let anyone tell you any different. Just like during the Holocaust, the Jews were made out to seem disgusting, evil, and repulsive beings. Yet, they were just like anyone else but the constant repetition of negative perspectives on Jews made others who were once friends with Jews turn against them. I wasn’t sure why we started with that book on the first day but I can say now I’m glad we did. I was able to relate a children’s book to history, connecting morals of today to atrocities of the past.
There were many lessons in this class that I will not forget. We watched multiple films and documentaries which have really made a lasting impression on me and how I view things. To learn about something on paper is completely different than watching it play out before your eyes. The impact films had during this course was unbelievable. One film that really moved me was The Grey Zone. This film realistically displayed what it was like to be a Jew living during the rise of Hitler with the constant fear of the Gestapo’s, afraid of being who you really are for you might get shot. I learned a lot during this film about the conditions of the concentration camps. I thought I knew much more about the Holocaust and what went on but boy, I was wrong. I knew the basic idea but this film displayed what really happened in those death camps. The constant haze of burning bodies and everyone covered in ashes really got to me while watching the film. Death surrounded everything and everyone there. Although, what really sickened me was the way the Jews were killed. They were lied to and piled into the "showers" like livestock into a barn. Soon they would find out that "shower" was a death trap. It really shocked me that the Nazi’s forced other Jews, "the working Jews", to gas, burn and kill their own people! That thought had never crossed my mind and I was so disgusted and shocked by it. In the film one man had burned four generations of his family within minutes. The psychological toll that takes on a person is something I can’t even imagine. Also, the film showed the types of torture that would go on to pry information from certain Jews which absolutely repulsed me. There were scenes that I would want to look away but I couldn’t. The content of this film was so compelling; it was just one of those films that after it ended I couldn’t move.
Even though we spent the majority of our time watching films there were multiple handout and articles that also made my stomach turn. The one article that changed my perspective on the Holocaust was Medical Experiments of the Holocaust and Nazi Medicine. I remember getting the article and being told about Dr. Mengele. Now, I am not one who enjoys in class reading assignments, especially ones with lots of pages. However, once I started reading the content of this article I couldn’t put it down. I was disgusted and mortified but couldn’t stop reading. I remember sitting in the back reading about the experiments with my hand over my mouth in utter disbelief. The torture these people went through made me want to cry. People were exposed to extreme freezing temperatures then reheated and exposed again then revived time after time until the person eventually died just for the doctor to get "experimental data". All I could do while reading was imagine what it was like for the victims, picturing them in my head, suffering again and again. The experiments performed on the twins really shocked me. The fact they were continuously tortured and operated on while fully awake with nothing to help with the pain made me so angry. I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like for them. I know personally I could never watch any of my sibling suffer like that. I feel as though they would have been better off dead than to experience such terrible, horrific and unethical "experiments". I know I took a lot away from that class that day.
As the course went on Mr. Gallagher would often inform us that the content we would be watching was only going to get worse and more difficult to watch. I would think, worse? How could these films get any worse than what we’ve already seen?! Well, they did. First, it started with The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas. This film really captivated me because it brought the Holocaust into the eyes of an innocent 8-year old. It is definitely a film I will never forget. I was at a loss after watching it; I tried to take it all in but couldn’t. It was probably one of the saddest films I have seen and I so badly wanted to go save those two boys from the horrors that awaited them. The last scene really touched me when the two boys got caught up in the appalling concentration camps and were shoved into the gas chamber without a clue as to what was to happen. The film did a good job of creating an emotional connection between the film and the audience which truly made a lasting impact. This film made me look at the Holocaust from a different perspective- a child’s perspective. I couldn’t imagine how scared any Jew must have been but to think of a child makes me so sad. Being ripped away from their parents, alone, scared and unaware what was to happen to them- truly heart wrenching. The next and final film we watched, Death Camps, was again worse than the last. It took a dive into all different concentration camps and exposed the horrendous conditions and treatment of Jews. This film really opened my eyes for I had no idea how many concentration camps there actually was! It showed some of the most horrific and sickening images of Jew who were so badly abused. They appeared more like walking skeletons than actual humans. The looks of despair and pain radiated from their eyes. I found it shocking when the town’s people were brought to see what really went on. They walked in all happy but once they saw the neglect, abuse, torture weapons, victims and dead bodies their disposition completely changed. They had no idea what was going on in their own areas and what they were supporting. The images shown in this film have not left me and made a lasting impression on my views and what I will think of when I hear the word Holocaust.
Overall, Facing History and Ourselves has taught me so much about history, the Holocaust and also about myself. Other history classes touched upon the Holocaust but never really went into it. Some teachers felt it would be too difficult to teach. I am really glad Mr. Gallagher is one teacher willing to present the matter with such passion. I learned so much I never knew about the Holocaust, how Hitler even got to power and what the Jew were really put through. I thank him for taking the time to teach us all about something so horrific and being open to showing us the truth. After taking this course, I noticed myself being more aware when people would make ignorant comments and I couldn’t help but correct them. I found myself taking a stand for others and for myself more than I had before. I also find myself more cautious of how I word things to others and more apt to make a difference. Facing History and Ourselves is a course I will not forget and I feel so privileged I had the opportunity to take it.
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