Q6. Why are there so many books, movies, documentaries, etc. about the Holocaust? Why do we keep retelling this story?

I think there are so many books, movies, documentaries about the Holocaust because it’s something that should be never forgotten later in life. As the years go by, the holocaust stays in the past and soon no ones going to know about it. And what if this kind of event happens again? The holocaust is an event that should never repeat. All though many people think history repeats itself, this is one event that shouldn’t. The holocaust can be compared to prejudice that is still happening around the world. When you make assumptions of somebody that you don’t know, that’s being prejudice, and if you act upon those thoughts of prejudice, that person, is victimized. Like Hitler, when he made those assumptions of the Jews, he killed them, yet even if you’re not killing them physically, inside, you are destroying them by all the mean things that you say.
Also books and movies and documentaries are made so that people will have a better idea on what the Jews had gone through. By reading and watching books and documentaries, it makes us go in to the victim’s shoes and understand what really felt like to lose hope and go in despair.

Q5. [m]

If I could ask the survivor of the Holocaust I would ask them:
1. Were you in hiding? If so, where, and how long did you stay there? Who was your rescuer?
2. How did you feel when you heard news of your loved ones, as you were still alive in hiding?
3. What was the hardest part in hiding?
4. Were you with other people in hiding? If so, with whom?
5. Did you go into hiding in search of hope or despair?
6. Do you blame God for what happened to the victims of the Holocaust?
7. When suspect to come out of hiding?
8. Why didn’t you act like you weren’t a Jew?
9. Where did you stay in the concentration camps?
10. When you were in the concentration camps how did it feel to be so close to death?
11. Have you ever thought of giving up?
12.The moment you were free, what did you do?

Q5, [f]

The Hanukah celebration is interrupted by the thief, and the green police. The thief broke into the warehouse, but no matter who it was, they had to keep quiet because they couldn’t let anyone have an idea that someone was living there. Even before the Hanukah celebration the family told Peter that they had to get rid of Mouschi. However, Peter didn’t want to because he took Mouschi as part of the family. He believed that Mouschi wouldn’t make any trouble, but he did. While the thief was downstairs, the members of the secret annex didn’t even breathe. But Mouschi was going everywhere. Peter tried to catch him, but that whole thing broke the silence. The thief heard it, and started to have an idea that somebody might have been there in the warehouse with him. So he quickly packed his things and went out leaving the door open behind him. Again, one of the guards suspected something weird because the door was open, and they started searching through the house. Soon, they came up right in front of the book case. That was when Mouschi went up the sink and started making sounds. Later, he makes a cat sound, so they just leave. After this is all over, Mr. Dussel blames Peter for having the stupid cat, and says that if the cat wasn’t there, nothing would have happened, and no one would have suspected anything.

Q5. [e]

Anne’s nightmare reveals tension between her mother and Mr. Dussel. First with her mother, Mrs. Frank, because Anne doesn’t really liker her; it shows that she doesn’t want comforted by her mother when she has the nightmare. She turns away and asks for her father. Anne shows neglect towards her mother when her mother tries to show affection. Anne asks for her father instead. Anne tells her father (pg400) “You're the only one I love. Every night I think back over all of the things I did that day that were wrong.” This makes Mrs. Frank sad that she asks herself why Anne hates her so much. In Anne’s diary she mentions a couple of times of how her mother doesn’t understand her for who she is. I think that her mother tries to understand her, yet Anne doesn’t realize that. Another person that Anne has tension with is Mr. Dussel. He complains why she had to wake up in the middle of the night just because of a nightmare. He doesn’t understand her ‘being’. It wasn’t only the time of the nightmare that he and Anne reveal tension, but as well as when she goes to meet Peter. He is annoyed at the fact that Anne keeps the room to herself, while Anne thinks that he has the room to himself for the whole day. There are a lot more tensions that are happened that is mentioned in the diary.

Q5. [b]

I think for me, the hardest thing in life in the secret annex would be the fear of discovery. Honestly, I m a person who has to what I want and I surely can’t stay in one place for a long time. And I bet most of the people are like that too. But the Franks, the Vandaans and Mr.Dussel still went in to hiding while knowing that they have to sacrifice their desires. Why? Because they wanted to live and had hoped that the war would soon be over and everything will go back as it was before. I don’t think I can wake up every morning thinking to myself “today might be my last day here in hiding and I might be found.” The fear is going to be with you no matter how much you got use to the sharing of cramped rooms or need of keeping silent. I think the worst thing that can happen to a person is death. And they had to face that fear every single day and had no other to face it. Sometimes they heard bombs and certain scary noises and every time they did, they were so scared that they even hardly breathed.
Keeping silent for hours, not moving freely and sharing the small space with strangers were all done due to the fear of discovery.

Q5. [a]

I think this statement that Mr. Frank said “But always remember this, Anneke. There are no walls; there are no bolts, no locks that anyone can put oh your mind” meant that nothing can keep her from thinking whatever she wants. By going in to hiding she can’t move the way she wants to and basically she’s locked up by the walls, bolts and locks. However even though she is, her mind is the only part of her that’s free. She might not have the freedom she wants right now but her mind does. And nothing/no one can control that except her self. I think he also meant that it doesn’t matter where or what kind of situation you are in, in order for your mind to be free. The fact that Anne is in hiding can’t affect how her mind thinks; the fact that Anne locks up her mind is what affects it all.
I do agree with Mr. Frank. Anne is in the situation where she is not allowed to move at a certain time of day, so physically she is not “free.” However mentally she is. Her way of thinking and her thoughts are something that she makes. Even though someone might tell you to “don’t do what you want, do this” “think like this …” deep inside you are the one who makes the choices. You might follow what the other person had told you to do or don’t do but you re the controller of your mind, you have the first priority.

Q4. Forshadowing.Why does Mr. Frank break down when he sees the glove ?

It is not directly said in the play whose glove it is but I think its Mrs. Frank’s glove.As he stood there in the hiding place with the glove in his hands he broke down. I think he started crying because the glove brought back memories about his family and his friends. Just being in that hiding place must have been emotional for him but finding the glove on the ground must have made it much harder. Mr. Frank even being alive is unbelievable however the fact that he is the only one between his family and friends that is alive is something much more unbelievable to him. I don’t think I can go on just living my life as it was before with out my family or friends and I bet that’s the same feeling that Mr. Frank had. That feeling will be stuck with him forever and nothing can take that feeling away.

Q3.What idea or insight it reveals about human existence ? What is the author’s message to the planet?

I think the author was trying to convey to the readers that not only Anne but her whole family and friends and all the Jews went through so much during the holocaust. Anne and her family had to be in hiding with the Van Daans and also with Mr.Dussel even though they had small amount of food and space. They all didn’t want to be together but they had to because all the Jews were in danger. They sacrificed what they had to help each other. It shows the true meaning of care and love inside this play. They might have some ups and downs through out the story however deep inside they still care about each other not only because they live together but because they share the same religion and same fear of death. Mr. Frank didn’t have to say yes to Mr.Dussel coming in to hiding with them but he did. He did that because as a Jew he knew what Mr.Dussel was going through. The writer also made me realize how hard it would have been for the Jews in hiding. They were stuck in that stuffy closed up room for more then two years. However it was their choice to hide or not and they chose to go in hiding. Freedom was the only thing they were asking for which they still didn’t get at the end; some did but most didn’t. The idea that the writer is trying to say about life is that without freedom it’s not what you call life.

Q2.What is prejudice?Where in the world have you seen prejudice? What are the affects of prejudice.?

I think everyone around this world have their own definition to the word prejudice. Some might say prejudice is judging people by their looks when others might say it’s judging someone by their actions. Again some might say prejudice is making a judgment about someone by their culture and their religion. However I think prejudice means judging someone with their first impression before you actually get a chance to know them. I don’t think I ever experienced prejudice happening to myself but I have read about the articles and events in history about them. There are so many events in history that have something to do with prejudice or either the cause of the event was because of prejudice. Unfortunately, prejudice wasn’t something that happened only in history and it is still common today. The first thing that pops up in my mind when I hear the word prejudice is the hatred feelings that were made between the blacks and whites in the past. It might still exist but it was a real serious problem long time ago. Another example of prejudice is judging someone by their gender. For a long time there were certain jobs that girls couldn’t have and jobs that people said boys don’t fit it. However I think that kind of changed over the years. Nowadays lots of jobs are more opened to girls and to guys. Anyone can get a job if they have the mind and enough training to. Again prejudice still exists.
These prejudices that happened in the olden days still are common because it’s passed along to kids in families or by the friends they meet. Also the media can be a big impact on giving a kid a wrong idea about prejudice. There are so many movies that show different kind of religions and races doing something that you shouldn’t do and those kinds of things can leave an idea that all people of that race and religion are like that in kid’s minds.

Q1.What do you know already about the Holocust?

To be honest, I don’t know a lot of information about the Holocaust. However, I am really interested in this topic. I have seen some movies like “the Pianist” and “Life is Beautiful” that has to do with the Holocaust and through these movies I learned so much. By watching these movies, not only did I understand what the Jews had gone through but I got to go beyond that and really feel their sadness and hope.
I know that the holocaust was one of the most terrifying events in history. It was the killing of Jews in the 20th century and other innocent people by the Nazis during WW2. Their leader was Adolf Hitler and by the end of ww2 the Nazis had killed more 2/3 of the Jews living in Europe. As I seen in the movies, most of the victims were killed by gas chambers and then burned but they were also killed in other horrible ways.

second book's setting

The setting of this novel,when my name was keoko, is important because of all the things that happen in it. The story would be totally different if the of the period of time and location was changed. The setting was what interested me the most. Because of its unusual setting, and unusual point of view, the writer was able to attract many readers. The Japanese, during the end of WW2, were going through a very hard time to get back to the mainland. Many of us think that it was Korea that only suffered, but Japanese people had suffered as well. This book shows us what the Japanese had gone through when in korea. It seems interesing to me that the japanese had watned to come to korea in the first place. Why wouldnt they stay in their own country? Yet, because of the setting, the character goes through many series of events that make up the whole story. It would honestly have been pointless if this story took place in Japan. The setting had played a huge role in this book. It had showed us what it was like for other people, and made me think of the other point of view, like the other half to the story. You cant know everything by listening to only one person, you have to listen to other people as well, and hear their situation. In conclusion, i think that the setting can create a huge effect on the story. Sometimes the whole story might be about the setting, as it was for this.

So Far From the Bamboo Grove(2nd post)

I'm done with reading So Far From the Bamboo Grove and I think it was a really good book. Not only did it give me the idea of what the Japanese went through , it also gave me the chance to understand them. Before reading this book, honestly I diddnt really think that I would enjoy this book because its in the perspective of a Japanese, but now I think about it, i dont regret reading this book. This story has alot of settings.The main two setting takes place in Korea and Japan however if you narrow it now, there are more then just two places. Because the family is on a journey, they move to places to places really fast. They go to Nanam to Seoul then Busan then to Japan.
The main topic of this book , is that you notice the loveliness of somehting after you go through a hard situtaion.

So Far From The Bamboo Grove

So far from the Bamboo Grove is a good book. A girl name Yoko tells the story about her terrifying journey that she had went through with her family. Yoko and her sister,Ko and her mother were forced to leave their houses in Korea because Koreans were mad and were trying to punish Japanese for what they did. Some of the Japanese that lived in Korea were neutral, like Yoko's family however Korean soliders diddnt understand that. So this book is mainly about those three, and Yoko's brother, Hideyo appears in the story once in a while.
Through out the story, Yoko comes out as a girl who is very young and curious. She asks alot of questions. At first she seemed like a girl who complains a lot but as the story goes on she learns to be strong and learns to just face the hard problems just the way it is. Even though it was really hard for her to walk all day long in the cold with her mom and her sister, she complained but never had given up. She might seem like a weak girl but deep inside she is strong hearted. To be honest, if i was in Yoko's shoes , I would of given up already and would of been really scared watching horrible things happening to people, like in the train. 11 is a pretty young age, however Yoko faced cruel problems even though she was young and learned from those by getting stronger.
I think Ko is a very good role model for Yoko. Yoko is also learning from her sister that she has to just face the hard situations.
For the past few days, reading this book has been a nice experience for me and I m happy to see how the ending is going to be like.

Secret =O

I remember when I was in 2nd grade; someone stole the candies in the candy jar. That day my teacher told the whole class to stay after school, until someone admitted that they stole it. For about an hour, no one admitted. So she sent us all home. The day after that, I went back to school and found out who stole it, my best friend, Katie did. She told me the whole story of how she stole it .Katie made me pinky promise not to tell anyone. The whole mystery about the candies didn’t settle down and my teacher seemed to really "care" about it. Then, I really didn’t understand why she's being so upset about the whole thing, but now I do. She wanted to teach us that stealing something isn't a right thing to do no matter how small or big or precious it is. As days passed by, the pressure of my guilt grew bigger and stronger as big as a monster. I remember every night before I went to bed, I prayed to God to please forgive me for not telling the teacher. About 2 weeks passed and my teacher told the whole class that if she finds out anyone involved in it, she is going to give them a big punishment too as well as for the person who did it. And later, the whole mystery quieted. One morning, I decided that what I was doing for Katie was right but wrong for our friendship. So after school, I went up to my teacher and told her the truth. I remember that day so vividly. She told my in a really calm scary voice that she's disappointed in me for not telling the truth for a month but also very proud of me. I begged her not to tell Katie that I was the one who bailed on her, and she didn’t. My friendship with Katie ended that day, but the big black monster of guilt went away to bother somebody else=]. Through this experience I learned a lot of things. For example, that you shouldn’t go with the flow, but you should go with the "right" flow and make good choices. A secret should be kept if its something that should be kept no matter how big or small it is. Even though this happened a long time ago, its still about ME, my secrect and it reveals my personality that I can't go under pressure of guilt for a long time but at the same time, I can't betray a friend

Courage

When I first entered Korean school, I felt scared. I didn't know the language nor did I know anybody there. It was like entering a whole different world. I felt courageous because I knew that I couldn't back out of this situation, and I knew, that if quit, I would have no where else to go back or forward to. Now that I look back, I'm glad that I went through it because if I didn't, then I wouldn't be where I am today. I would have to say that being in Korean school was one of the hardest times of my life, and the toughest experience that I went through. I had no friends that I could share my emotions with, and even if I could, they wouldn't understand. It was really emotionally hard for me. I felt so frustrated. My social life, had just crumbled. I had friends, but even if I did, like I said, we couldn't communicate. Then, my grades were going down as well. I didn't understand what was going on, and I was failing all my classes, except English. I understood then that communication is important and I also knew that everybody is good at something. Even in the worst situations, and you feel like you can't do anything, theres always and up side. In time, my friends had supported me and helped me through the year, and by the end, I was pretty fluent in the language, and my grades were pretty good. Through this experience I found about myself, that I'm scared of taking new chances, but when you put me in the situation, I can handle it. I can find an upside to the situation, and get my self out of it. In the end, I also felt courageous the moment I came into TCIS, because I really went through everything even though it was tough, and I faced the many obstacles life threw at me.