After the novel

After finishing the novel I Have Lived a Thousand Years I have had many reactions to the last few things that happened. It really surprised me when after they got back they were put back into school. I thought that if you went through all of that, they tried to go back to a normal life. How could you go from all of these terrible things, to dropping it and pretending it never happened? I thought that it would be too hard to go back. Everything they experienced, will probably be in their head forever. So how would they make it at school when they are always thinking of the horrible events that they have been through? But I like how in the end of the book, the family sees the Statue of Liberty. I think that represented peace, and that they were now free in America. Here they can start over. Maybe even forget a little. The overall theme for this novel, would probably bystander. I think it is bystander because, if important people, or just anyone stood up they could have made things better. They could have stopped everything. Like, if the pope stood up, more people would have followed him. It would have been too hard for Hitler and the Nazis to kill so many people, if so many people were against them. But instead of that happening, everyone just watched. Which is being a bystander.

I have learned a lot from my novel. For example, I learned about all of the terrible things the Jews went through. I learned a lot about camps, ghettos, and the conditions they experienced. While blogging, I have learned, how to share my ideas, and listen to yours. I know how to find a quote and write what I think about it. I think that blogging is important for people our age, because writing out quotes from the book, and talking about what’s happening helps us understand the book more. It helps us understand the book, but it also helps other people understand the book. When we are confused we can ask you guys to explain it to us even more. It helps us so later in life we can find a way to understand things more. Thank you, everyone who has been there to help me understand my book more than I could have done my self.

A Final Rap Up

After finishing the book I was excited that the Jews were all liberated and they could return to their normal lives. I was shocked that the Jews were told they could get soup and the Nazi’s attacked them with machine guns. Why would they do that? Maybe a part of the final solution to try and get rid of the Jews? Another part that surprised me was after the Nazi’s attacked them with the machine guns the train kept going nonstop and many of the survivors died because of wounds, starvation or dehydration. The major theme of the book is bystanders and upstanders. I say it’s both upstander and bystander because there was several times in the book where people stood idle and many times where people took action during the holocaust.

My final thoughts on the project is that it was very interesting to read a book about the Holocaust and learn the story of Elli and how she survived. I learned from this book to not give up like the survivors they didn't give up they kept going. From doing this project I've learned of the life struggles that the Jews had to endure in order to have their freedom again. Lastly I would like to thank the contributors! Thank you guys for responding to our posts with your feedback it was really helpful throughout the project.

The Message of Everything

After finishing the novel I was mad because it didn’t give us anything how her life was after the War ended. It just told us, they were in New York and they saw the Statue of Liberty. I wanted to see how she was living in America because at first she didn’t want to go to America but she ended up going after. I was also confused about that part, she had a hard life as a kid in Somorja, Hungary but she wanted to stay. Why? Most survivors would never go back to where they came from. Her brother was almost killed by the Americans, wouldn’t that scar her for life? Even seeing the other dead bodies. I would want to leave right away. A major theme is human nature. Since Elli and her mom were together the whole time, it brought them closer together. Before they were in the ghetto or camp, Elli’s mom wasn’t very protective and she never held Elli close to her. After the war and when things went back to normal, her mom was talking to her a lot more and interacted in her daughter’s life more. I think after the war if some family is still there it brings them closer because they realize, they could have been gone and would never be together anymore. That’s the biggest way human nature occurs because it makes people open their eyes up and see what is really happening or what just happened.

The book gives a great message. It’s explaining to us how hard it was for a lot of Jewish families. Some people don’t realize how bad it was. This book in particular gives a message as you should always keep your family close because you never know when things are going to change and you can’t be with them anymore. From this blogging project, it made more sense of how to connect things with things outside of the things you’re working on. It also is an easier way to share your ideas with other people outside of your classroom. And it is important for teenagers the most because we are the next generation and to know the past is a good thing so we don’t make a mistake like that again. Reading novels like this gives us teenagers a better idea of an individual person that had a hard life during those times. It’s good to compare how the kids our age had a life and how we do now. Thanks to the contributors of taking your time to read my blogs and to comment your thoughts back on my connections!

A Final Goodbye

After reading I Have Lived a Thousands Years  I have a better understanding of what it was like in the Ghettos and concentration camps. It gave a good visual of what was happening throughout the book. There were moments that surprised me, for example if someone got severely injured, I would wonder how they survived. Ellie the main character kept up hope even if things looked bad. The overall theme for my novel would be Identity loss because throughout the novel Ellie and her family lost a part of themselves. When the women no longer looked liked women, when numbers became their names, when the Germans called them nothing but bad names, and when everything they had to call home was stripped away from them.

I thought this project was okay because it made me push myself over the minimum; it was hard but I pulled through it. I have learned that you need to keep believing and not giving up hope, even if things don't look your way. By doing this blogging project I learned that I need to write over the limit and give as much facts as I can in order to have a fantastic blog. This project is important to teenagers because it shows us that we need to go above and beyond our level of thinking. That writing a good blog post takes preparation and you have to write like you are the one talking, that the readers know that your speaking. I want to thank all the contributors that commented and gave ideas, it means a lot that you read our blogs!

Help or Rescue?

Think about the terms “help” and rescue.”  What is the difference between these two terms?  In the context of the Holocaust, how do you understand the difference between these two terms?  Can you think of a specific time when help was needed rather than rescue, and of times when Jews needed to be rescued?  Would you characterize those individuals who helped Jews as heroes?  Why or why not?

When you help people, you just give them something they need. For example, the Jews needed water, food, and proper clothing to survive in the camps. In the ghettos people would help by hiding them in their homes or they would sneak food for them. I think people that knew what was going on with the Jews didn’t try to rescue them due to fear from the Nazis. All they would do was help anyway they could by trying to keep them healthy for as long as possible.  When you rescue people, you gave them life. Jews always needed to be rescued, more so in the concentration camps and death camps than the ghettos. I read an article about a girl from Warsaw, Poland. Her name was Irena Sendler. She rescued more than 2,500 children in the ghettos. When the Gestapo agents found out about her rescuing some Jewish children, she went to to Pawiak Prison. In the article it says, “Irena was tortured brutally, but she refused to give any information about Zegota or about the children she had placed in hiding. She was sentenced to death.” That takes a lot of bravery and she should never be forgotten. She’s a true hero. She would rather save all these Jewish children then save her own life. Luckily, she escaped the day she was going to be executed. She had to hide until the war was over but still managed to continue on hiding the children. Helping and rescuing someone both is still very good but rescuing can make a bigger change than just helping.

Stolen Freedom

“I have just been robbed of my freedom.”- Elli, I Have Lived a Thousand Years, Page 182

I think that when people have their rights taken away, or are made to say or do something against their will, their freedom has been taken away. Freedom to me is being able to go wherever you want, whenever you want, being able to say and do what you like, and being in control of your own thoughts. But, in some ways people get freedom robbed from them. Someone who is making someone do something or say something that they don’t want to is robbing that person of their freedom. Freedom is something everyone should have. People make mistakes and get  freedom taken away. The amount of freedom you have  depends on you, and the people around you. Over time, many different people have gotten their freedom taken away, even if they did nothing at all.

For example, another time people got their freedom taken away was during segregation. They lost their freedom when blacks weren’t allowed to sit in the front of the bus, or go to the same school as whites. People weren’t allowed to go to the school they wanted, or sit where they wanted. Therefore blacks had their freedom taken from them. It wasn’t their fault. The people around them cause their freedom to be taken away. But there are good people in the world who help people get it back. Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped blacks get their rights back, by standing up for what they believe in and making a change.They, like upstanders during the Holocaust, risked their lives to help other people be free. Many people have gotten their freedom taken away, but some people are there to help.

U.S.’s Role In the Holocaust

Prompt: Write about your feelings toward your country and its role in the Holocaust.  As you respond, consider what you see as the U.S.’s role in current world conflicts.

To begin with, the U.S.’s role in the Holocaust was mainly to support the resettlement of the Jewish people. In the text “How the Holocaust Could Have Been Avoided”, it states that in the U.S., ¨Representatives from 32 countries and 20 Jewish and 19 non-Jewish refugee agencies met and talked about the urgent need to help Jews settle”. This means that we were aware of the problem and tried to help with the Holocaust but we didn't really want them.  As it said in “How the Holocaust Could Have Been Avoided”, “The Dominican Republic offered to take 500; no one else offered to take any more than their usual immigration quotas”. Our current role in world conflicts is that we are still actively in war in Afghanistan and we are also being threatened by North Korea but not fighting them. In my opinion, I believe that North Korea has gone quiet because we joined in the war with our nuclear strike abilities and criticism on the North. I conclude that the U.S had an important role in the Holocaust and we are still active in war.