The Courage of Le Chambon

What did you learn from the stories of rescuers?
I learn't that you don't always need to regard yourself as a hero when you have done a good deed, as the people of Le Chambon did. They taught me that some things are simple and it is common sense to do them. For example, should I save the Jews or let them get killed? It is sort of an obvious answer even if most people didn't do anything to help.




What do they teach us about human behavior?


'If we do not work towards developing confidence in our spiritual resources, we will be responsible for producing in due tima a world devoid of humanity.' This  quote explains that if people are to scared to do the right thing everything will change later. That I think this quote is relevant to the question because our generation is the future and if we do silly things in the past, it will change the future for the worse.

Victory by Sonia Weitz

Victory
by Sonia Weitz

I danced with you that time only.
How sad you were, how tired, lonely...
You knew that they would "take" you soon...
So when your bunk-mate played a tune
You whispered: "little one, let us dance,
We may not have another chance."

To grasp this moment...sense the mood;
Your arms around me felt so good...
The ugly barracks disappeared
There was no hunger...and no fear.
Oh what a sight, just you and I,
My lovely father (once big and strong)
And me, a child...condemned to die.

I thought: how long
before the song
must end

There are no tools
to measure love
and only fools

Would fail
to scale
your victory.




This poem touched me because I can imagine that if I was going to lose my father, how devastated I would be. One of my favorite lines in this poem is 'little one, let us dance, we may not have another chance.' I loved this because again, I can't directly relate to it but the despair that would've filled me if I had to have just one last dance with my father would be huge. When I read this poem, I pictured a withering away father and a withering away daughter enjoying their last moments together.  They were dancing for the last time, with hope in their eyes and the terrible background of 'ugly barracks' fading away. I think the mood or feel of this poem was hope. The name of this piece is Victory because Weitz might have finally felt like she had one small 'victory' against the Nazis and the terrible things they were doing to the Jews. The fact that she was able to sneak into the men's camp and find her father was most probably the treasure that gave her the will to keep holding onto life throughout the bad things that happened to her in the rest of the holocaust. 'Only fools would fail to scale your victory.'

Germany 1918-1933

I believe that the creation of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 was one of the factors that helped Adolf Hitler and the Nazis rise to power. This was vital because so many of the German Citizens despised the treaty because it was putting them in debt, and since Hitler claimed he would expel that law he won many votes that way. The other event that helped the Nazis start leading Germany was the Reichstag  Fire in 1933 because Hitler blamed the communists and due to the fact so many people believed him he also won the votes that the communists had. I think these were the two events that helped Hitler gain power the most.

Nuremberg Laws

1. Who could now be defined as a 'Jew'?

In the Neremberg Race Laws anyone that didn't practice Judaism would be considered a Jew if they had four Jewish grandparents.

2. What was meant by 'aryanizing' Jewish Businesses?

In those circumstances aryanizing Jewish businesses was meant by all Jewish managers of workers would be fired and their companies would be bought by Germans for a small price.

3.How were Jews who were professionals (lawyers, doctors etc.) restricted?

As a Jewish doctor, you wouldn't have been allowed to treat any non-jews and lawyers would be stopped from practising law.

4. What did Jewish identity cards need to include now?

Jewish identity cards needed to include a red J stamped on them and a middle name if the person's first name wasn't recognizably Jewish.

5. What was the 'Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of German People'?

'The Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of German People' was a ban on any marriages including a person with a hereditary disease.

The Treaty of Versailles

Although there is several points of view on whether the Treaty of Versailles was fair, in my opinion it was not. I believe this because I don't think Germany caused the war, because they were not the ones that assassinated archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Serbians did. Since the Germans were not the ones who caused the original problem that started the war I don't think they deserved such a big punishment.

What Is The Purpose of Religion?

The purpose of religion is to answer questions that people have about life, such as how we got here, where we go after we die or why bad things happen in this world. A lot of times people feel lost in life so they go to a religion to find a path and answers to the questions they have. Also if people feel alone in life they put their trust and belief in a god so they can feel united with someone.

This I Believe

• the name of the essay
• the belief being discussed
• a summary of the essay
• why did it appeal to you?

This essay is named 'A Duty To Heal'. The belief that the Kenyan doctor, Pius Kamau, discussed was about equality and how colored people weren't accepted in America. The doctor spoke about how one day a young American man came into the hospital and was coughing blood after being in a car accident. This man didn't allow Kamau to touch him and since none of the other doctors wanted to treat him, Kamau had to communicate with the nurses to try and help the young man. It turned out he wasn't badly hurt and that day at the hospital left the Kenyan doctor wondering what he could've possibly done to make their encounter better. I really liked this essay because the recording says 'He doesn't know the date but he picked September 1st, 1941 because he said it sounded like a good day.' I think that even though Kamau had no idea what the date was he still went on with his story, just like after the encounter with that racist, white man he still continued as a doctor and didn't give up just because of one bad visit with one person.