Evil and Heroism in the Writings of the Holocaust by Sherri Mandell

Transcription

1 1 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13, 1999 AFTERNOON SESSION A 14:00-15:30 Evil and Heroism in the Writings of the Holocaust by Sherri Mandell Purpose We will examine testimony on the Holocaust in the form of diaries, memoirs, fiction, and poetry in order to explore the way that writers portray good and evil during the Holocaust. By examining how the protagonists in the writings or the writers themselves in their own lives deal with moral choices, we will look at the role of responsibility, choice, and courage in the time of the Holocaust and in our own times.. Background: Many students today have a hard time acknowledging that evil exists. For example, Robert Simon, a professor at Hamilton College in New York says that 10 to 20 percent of his students will not acknowledge that what Hitler did was morally wrong. Instead they say that they don t agree with it or don t like it. Conversely, students have a hard time identifying heroes and defining and acknowledging acts of goodness. With public figures today often models of moral depravity, young people may find themselves in an abyss when seeking models of goodness. Testimony in the form of literature and biographical writings gives the student the opportunity to study the choices of victims during the Holocaust. By studying these choices, students learn to question and reevaluate their notions of good and evil. They learn that evil can mean standing by and doing nothing. Students recognize that terror and brutality are, of course, evil, but they learn that evil also wears a different face, the face of indifference or ignorance. On the other hand, students learn to recognize that heroism that may be involved in a simple, ordinary action. A heroic act may entail sharing a piece of bread, reciting a poem, or even just a person willing to stay alive. In this course, we explore acts of spiritual and physical heroism in the ghettos and concentration camps. Methodology: We will examine a variety of excerpts that include the writings of the following authors: Hannah Senesh, Her Life and Diary, New York, Schocken Books, Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, New York: Simon and Schuster, The Periodic Table, New York: Schocken 1995.

2 2 Elie Wiesel, Night, New York: Bantam,1982. Anne Frank, Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, The Definitive Edition. New York: Bantam, Arnost Lustig, Diamonds of the Night. Illinois: Northwestern University Press, Other resources: Mandell, Sherri, Writers of the Holocaust, New York: Facts On File, First class: Preliminary Discussion: Before introducing the literature, it is important to get the students first reactions to these questions: 1. What are the qualities of a good person? 2. What are the qualities of a bad person? 3. Who is a good person on television? 4. Who is a bad person on television? 5. Who is a good person from history? 6. Who is a bad person from history? ACTIVITY: Have the students write 5 or 10 qualities they associate with a good person, and 5 to 10 qualities they associate with a bad person. Put the qualities up on the board. Discuss these qualities with the students and determine their validity. You may be surprised at your students answers. For example, in my class, I had to point out that an intelligent person is not necessarily a good person, nor is a funny person necessarily good. If time allows: Give the students quotes from Katznelson s work Look, look and learn, you filthy Jews, see how one spits-- /And the German spat into the rabbi s mouth: Swallow it!? The rabbi did.... Discuss the nature of evil. Ask students for images of evil. Is evil glorified in today s world? Have students discuss the way that music videos or movies portray evil. What does evil mean today? CLASS 2 Just as our hunger is not that feeling of missing a meal, so our way of being cold has need of a new word. We say hunger, we say tiredness, fear pain, we say winter and they are different things. They are free words created and used by free men who lived in comfort and suffering in their homes. If the Lagers had lasted longer a new, harsh language would have been born; and only this language could

3 3 express what it means to toil the whole day in the wind, with the temperature below freezing, wearing only a shirt, underpants, cloth jacket, and trousers, and in one s body nothing but weakness, hunger and knowledge of the end drawing nearer. Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz Discuss Levi s quote and this question: Can language portray the evil of the Holocaust? What are the limits of language? Aharon Appelfeld says that he had to write fiction because if he remained true to the facts, nobody would have believed him. The reality of the Holocaust surpassed any imagination. According to Elie Wiesel, testimony is the most powerful tool we have for remembering the Holocaust. Discuss the importance of literature and testimony in understanding the Holocaust.using the following headings. 1. Immediacy 2. Emotion 3. Individuality 4. Empathy Aharon Appelfeld says that literature is a person s private language. Does that statement contradict or support the importance of literature as testimony. Can literature be true? Is a person s diary more true? Or her memoirs? Quote from Ida Fink s play The Table Oh you want proof don t you? The snow of the town s streets was red. Red! Does that satisfy you? Prosecutor: Unfortunately, Mr. Zachwacki, snow doesn t constitute proof for judges, especially snow that melted 25 years ago. Second Class Hannah Senesh: The Girl Who Parachutes Into Danger Purpose: To acquaint students with the heroism of Hannah Senesh and to point out that heroism sometimes includes a touch of madness.

4 4 Reading: Give out the poem Blessed is the Match and get students reactions without explaining the background to the poem. Give biographical information from Writers of the Holocaust Discuss the situation of Hungarian Jews during the war. Give students Hannah Senesh s letter to her brother from December 25, 1943 (from Her Life and Diary) Read poem again. Discuss poem in light of historical information. Questions for Discussion: 1. Was Hannah s choice a rational one? 2. How good were her chances of success? 3. Even if a person s chances for success are poor, what is a person s responsibility to his or her family? 4. From where did Hannah get her courage? Questions I see the hand of destiny in this just as I did at the time of Aliyah (moving to Palestine). I wasn t master of my fate then either. I was enthralled by one idea, and it gave me no rest...now I again sense the excitement of something important and vital ahead and the feeling of inevitability connected with a decisive and urgent step. Hannah Senesh Why wasn t Hannah master of her fate? What does she mean by fate? Can you think of a time when you felt that you weren t master of your fate? When you were compelled or excited by an idea and went forward with it, without rest. What is the danger of that type of fervor? ACTIVITY Pretend that you are Hannah s brother George. You have just received her letter of December 25, Write a telegram to Hannah, no more than 25 words, in which you respond to her letter. 3 rd class Elie Wiesel: The Man Who Questions God Purpose: To show that heroism can be a matter of choice

5 5 Preliminary Discussion: First ask students what they know about Elie Wiesel. What have they heard about him? Tell students that Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize. Discussion: 1.What is peace? 2.What does it mean to seek peace? 3.How do people seek peace? 4. How have the students sought peace in their own lives? Background Reading: Writers of the Holocaust First Reading: Night (Bantam, 1982) Read pages Questions: 1. Why does Rabbi Eliahou s son leave his father? 2. Why had Wiesel done well to forget that he had seen Rabbi Eliahou s son running ahead.? 3. Should Wiesel have told Rabbi Eliahou the truth? 4. Why does Elie Wiesel pray? 5. How can Wiesel pray to a God in whom he no longer believes? Now read pages What is Wiesel s choice? 2. Why does Wiesel maintain his allegiance to his father? 3. Who is the head of the block? Why does it make sense that he would instruct Wiesel to abandon his father and take care of his own needs. How does a man get to be head of the block? Question for Discussion: Was what Wiesel did feeding his father and not eating his ration heroic? Or was it the obligation that a child has for his parent? Activity: In groups Make a list of 10 rules describing what a child owes his parents. Discuss in class

6 6 Activity: Have the students write a definition of heroism. Use synonyms, personal anecdotes, testimony of experts, negation, comparison, process, and examples to develop a one page definition. Then answer this question: Was Hannah Senesh a heroine? Was Elie Wiesel a hero? Support your choices with excerpts from their writings. Also, was being a good person during the Holocaust a form of heroism? 4 th class: Anne Frank: The Girl Who Believes in Goodness First read background on Anne Frank, Writers of the Holocaust p diary entry, July 15, That s the difficulty in these times: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to meet the horrible truth and be shattered. It s really a wonder that I haven t dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. Pick out excerpts from the diary for further reading Questions for discussion: 1. What were Anne s ideals? 2. How did Anne keep her ideals alive? 3. What does it mean to be good at heart? 4. Is being good at heart sufficient? 5. What do you think Anne would have said about people being good at heart after being sent to Bergen-Belsen? 6. What sustained Anne through her ordeal? What were the choices that she made? Activity: According to her diary, make up a schedule of a typical day in Anne s life. Try to account for every hour. Was filling her life with meaningful activity a form of heroism? 5 th class: Purpose: To question the morality of passive bystanders Primo Levi: The man who witnesses Background reading: Writers of the Holocaust Read Survival In Auschwitz, A Good Day and The Canto of Ulyssees,

7 7 1. What does Levi tell us about the nature of suffering? 2. For a few hours we can be unhappy in the manner of free men. What does Levi mean? 3. According to The Canto of Ulysses what is the value of literature in Auschwitz? Was reciting literature a form of heroism? The Periodic Table Vanadium I admitted that we are not all born heroes, and that a world in which everyone would be like him, that is, honest and unarmed, would be tolerable,but this is an unreal world. In the real world the armed exist, they build Auschwitz, and the honest and unarmed clear the road for them; therefore every German must answer for Auschwitz, indeed every man, and after Auschwitz it is no longer permissible to be unarmed. Questions 1. Is honesty enough? 2. Why is it no longer permissible to be unarmed? 3. What does unarmed mean? 4. What was Muller s rationale for his own behavior in Auschwitz? 5. Does Levi accept that rationale? Activity Imagine the meeting between Muller and Levi if it had occurred and write a dialogue describing that meeting. Activity Even less do I accept hatred as directed collectively at an ethnic group. For example, all the Germans; if I accepted it, I would feel that I was following the precepts of Nazism, which was founded precisely on national and racial hatred. Primo Levi 1. What do you learn from Levi s statement? Write Levi a letter where you agree or disagree with his statement and give examples from your own experience.

8 8 6 th Class Arnost Lustig Purpose: To understand the role of courage Read in Writers of the Holocaust Diamonds in the Night Preliminary Activities: Discuss the title. What is the meaning of the image--diamonds in the night Discuss the meaning of courage: Activity: Have students write about a moment of courage in their lives. As a class, try to define courage. Give synonyms, personal stories, examples, negation, comparisons, and causes. Read A Bite to Eat in Diamonds in the Night The dead father is laid out in the hallway. The boy steals the dead father s pants, selling them for a piece of bread. He yanks out his father s gold tooth, selling it for a lemon to help his sick sister. Questions: 1.Did the boy deface or desecrate the dead? 2. Did the boy harm the father s dignity? 3.Why doesn t he eat the bread? Was the boy courageous according to the definition that the class produced? Courage in that decisive moment when your life is at stake is also your indifference to that life, and the only yardstick of your courage is the depth of your concern and responsibility for the lives of the others. Arnost Lustig 1. Do you agree? How does this definition accord with the class s definition? 2. Have you seen this type of courage demonstrated ever? 3. How does a person gain courage? 4. Is courage something you re born with?

9 9 Final Class: Define good and evil as portrayed in the literature we read. What is a good person? What traits does a heroic person have? What traits does an evil person have? Is a good person a heroic person? During the Holocaust was a good person a heroic person? Use examples from the readings to support your points.