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"In this place, there is no such thing as a father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone (Wiesel 110)

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This quote truly encompasses the environment in the camps. Men live for themselves and loose all sense of compassion in their struggle for survival. People in the camps live in an animal like mental state forced by the dreadful living conditions.

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(victims of the auschwitz concentration camp stand on the platform in birkenau station, awaiting selection for either the gas chambers or forced labor)

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This image shows the initial sorting at Auschwitz where people were either chosen to work in the labor camps, or were sent to death by gas chamber. This was a pivotal moment in Elie's life it is where him and his father were separated from his mother and sister. This was the last moment Elie ever saw his mother and sister, for they were sent to death in the gas chamber.

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Never shall I forget the first steps through the door.

Never shall I forget how we raced through the house in awe.

Never shall I forget how I took in everything I saw.

Never shall I forget the excitement of the first night in my new bed.

Never shall I forget reminiscing of old memories.

Never shall I forget that house.

Never shall I forget the adventures and dreams that reside in the place I can no longer call home.

Never shall I forget.

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I wrote this poem about my experience moving into my new house. The first four lines explain all the excitement and joyous feelings I had. After that, the poem begins to turn solemn and the biter-sweet feeling of leaving the home I have know for so long sets in. I wanted to write about moving because it was such an important event in my childhood.

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"She acted with no regard for the fact that I was young and she was violating me in a way that could never be undone" (Kelly 157)

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At this moment the character Kasia has just arrived at Ravenbruck concentration camp. It was at this moment she realizes her fate at camp, and how truly weak she is compared to the power of the Germans

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(Common lilac flowers)

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I chose an image of a lilac not only because it is the name of the book, but it is also a minor detail that occurs through out the characters stories. The American, Caroline grew lilacs at her home in Connecticut. The polish girl Kasia had wild lilacs growing near her home in Poland. Through out the dark times of the war these women were able to appreciate the beauty of these simple flowers.

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One of the main characters, Herta is a German woman who supports the Reich and is an active Nazi citizen. Her father however, is somewhat resistant to the ideals of the Nazi party. I find this interesting, because it is not often that I see WW2 media portray a Nazi as a protagonist. It is somewhat startling to read her internal thoughts about the Jewish, and to accept that many truly supported and believed in Hitler's agenda.

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To closely compare the two books I think it is best to only compare one of the characters from Lilac girls, because she has the most in common with Elie Wiesel. To begin both of their lives were uprooted, and irreversibly ruined by the Nazi party. They were both trapped in concentration camps with their parents and had to see their parents die in the camp.

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Throughout both of their times at the camp they were forced to endure tragic atrocities that no kid should have to go through. However, unlike many adults in the camp they stayed caring and kind because they had family with them they felt they had to protect. For Elie he had his weak father that he made sure never left his side, and was willing to give his life for. Kasia had her mother and sister, after her mother died she spent all of her time with her sister who had fallen ill with dysentery making sure she ate and stayed alive.

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Both kids are extremely unselfish. Elie lives his life in the camps for his father. When his father gets sick he give up his rations of food and gives them to him despite criticism from his acquaintances. Through out the multiple transfers and sorting's Elie risks his life to make sure that his father stays by his side, for example when his father was sorted to be killed he ran after him and saved him. Kasia spent all of her efforts after her surgery trying to take care of her sister Suzanna. She would trade with other women at the camp to get her supplies and whatever spare material she could to keep Suzanna warm. Kasia even risked being taken away when she sent a letter to her father in Lublin detailing the atrocities of the camp.

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The combined trait that truly saved them was their intelligence. Elie quickly learned how the camp worked and realized that he needed to blend in with the crowd. He could not let him or his father fall behind or succeed to much, either way would draw unwanted attention to the two of them and risk them being sent away. With Elie's ability to blend in he survived until he was liberated. Kasia's intelligence was more bold she wrote multiple secret letters to her father outlining the crimes and travesties in the camp. She wrote the letters in her urine making the messages invisible.

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Elie must remain obedient and silent in order for him to survive in Auschwitz, through out the camps he keeps his father and himself alive by keeping his head down and following orders. Kasia is the opposite of Elie, before she is taken away because she is a part of the polish resistance where she passes messages and makes deliveries for the under ground army. Even after she is taken to the concentration camp for political crimes she continues to make trades and break the rules of the camp to give her and her sister a better chance of surviving.

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Kasia is a very dedicated person, she is willing to give her life for the rebellion and is almost killed multiple times. Because of her dedication she is taken away along with her mother and sister to a concentration camp, she is once again almost caught while performing a reconnaissance mission for Caroline Ferriday. Elie is forced to a shy manner in his living conditions, for he know that if he does not live there is no hope for his father. Because of this he makes no friends in the camp aside from a few friendly acquaintances he builds no relationships and focus' solely on his own survival.

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Elie is somber and serious, this is because he was locked in Auschwitz. The camp was extremely strict and the conditions were far worse than Ravensbruck (the camp Kasia where kept), it forced deep emotional trauma that aged him. Kasia was friendly and worked with the other women of the camp. When she was operated on along with many other girls in the camp, she remained positive and worked to help the weaker girls survive.

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I believe it is very useful to examine two experiences such as these side by side, because all though their lives were both uprooted by the Nazi regime, and they both suffered unspeakable traumas from their times in the camps. Kasia and Elie had very different responses and actions in their similar environments. I find Kasia's story exceedingly remarkable, because not only does she survive paroling events like the life threatening experiments performed on her, but she also finds a way to fight back and disobey the Nazi power. She was able to make a difference not only for her, but many other women at the camp. In no way am I trying to discredit Elie's story, it is a miracle that he survived such terrible things. I find it admirable that he was able to keep a level head and keep not only himself but also his father alive. He had to watch his mother and sister be ripped away from him, and eventually loose his father to illness. The fact that he remained sane and competent when so many other fell into madness for much less is inspiring.

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After the news about the Nazi's concentration camps became known worldwide many people denied the existence of these events, and they spoke of the holocaust as if it were myth. The first man to do this was Arthur Butz, he presented his opinions as "research", in which he attempts to prove that the holocaust was a fraud. ("Holocaust Denial Literature") But it wasn't only during the war that people denied the existence of the camps, many countries knew what was happening in Germany and Poland yet no one did anything. This often happens in war, for example in Lilac Girls Caroline's lover Paul is forced to return to France Caroline is unable to contact Paul because of the lack of communication overseas.

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Not only did the Nazis use concentration camps to exterminate millions of people, but they also used mobile death squads called Einsatzgruppen. These death squads would go town to town and round up whole families and large groups of people, and perform mass murders. Through out the entirety of the holocaust these squads were responsible for almost 1 million Jewish deaths. ("Holocaust") These men were portrayed the the book Lilac Girls, before Kasia was taken away she was allowed to live in her home town, but not freely. She had to make sure she was home in time every night, for it was known throughout the town people were often plucked off the streets after dark or taken from their homes in the middle of the night and shot without reason.

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I stand in front of you

Looking, anticipating my pains and nightmares.

How can you understand?

How do you feel?

How do I tell you about constant fear, losing family and friends to a Nazi?

A so- called human being?

How do I tell you about tortures and killings?

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I chose words that describe the narrators thoughts and feelings throughout their experience in Auschwitz. I tried to keep a common theme as the original poem by making the narrator talk to the reader and make them try to understand what they went through. The original blackout shows an image of fire surrounding the words. I drew fire because the poem of death and destruction reminded me of the fire illustrated by the old woman in Night.

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During the interview Elie takes a tour of Auschwitz with Oprah, and they visit all of the places where he was kept during his time there as a young man. While they discuss the events of his capture, he talks about his emotional state throughout his experience. Through out the interview he continues to say that "it did not feel real" he couldn't process the violence and horror he laid witness to every day in the camp.

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I think that the fact he didn't believe that what was happening was real is what kept him alive. Because of his doubt in god and the "realness" of the tragedies happening around him. This kept him alive because, unlike many other men he was not overwhelmed with fear. Many men died because they went crazy, Elie was able to keep a level head saving both him and his father.

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What is genocide? How does it affect humanity?

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What is genocide? How does it affect humanity?

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Genocide is the worst crime that one can commit against humanity. It tears countries by wiping entire populations of people. Genocide destroys cultures and leads to forgotten traditions and beliefs, for example as a result of the genocide of Native Americans in the 17-1800s many Native American traditions and languages have been lost or forgotten. As a result of the mass Genocide of the Jewish people, many children were left abandoned or orphaned due to their parents fleeing or being taken away by the Nazi party. In the book Lilac Girls, the American Caroline makes it her life's work to aid the children of France who have been orphaned by the war.

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Can one rise above the atrocities of war? 

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Can one rise above the atrocities of war? 

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I believe that people can rise above the atrocities of war by doing good. This is because when people do good and aid one another they form community, and that support and trust builds hope. For example in Lilac Girls, Caroline Ferriday spends the war working in the French consulate in New York, where send aid to French orphanages and helps those trying to leave Europe attain visas. By dedicating herself to charity Caroline helps hundreds of people across western Europe, especially the Rabbits of Ravensbruck concentration camp. These were women experimented on in a concentration camp, and without Caroline's help they would have never been able to fully heal from what they went through. So in conclusion, yes I believe that people can above the atrocities of war, and they can do that by working together and helping one another.