January 2025 Night Mini-Course by Echoes & Reflections

2025-01-13 16:08:51 UTC

In a world that was constantly falling apart during the Holocaust, people asserted their humanity by holding on to small acts of defiance and maintaining a sense of community, even in the most brutal conditions. In the ghettos, for example, despite overcrowding, starvation, and disease, Jews continued to observe religious traditions, celebrate holidays, and care for one another. They shared what little they had, offered comfort to the sick and grieving, and created underground networks to resist or protect themselves. In Night, Eliezer and his family try to stay close and support each other, even as their world is torn apart. These small acts of kindness, memory, and solidarity were ways people kept their dignity and humanity alive in the face of unimaginable cruelty.

CW

2025-01-13 21:11:17 UTC

In the Holocaust, people asserted their humanity by maintaining cultural and religious practices, even in the face of extreme danger, such as secretly observing holidays or reciting prayers. Others showed remarkable resilience by forming underground schools and sharing knowledge, preserving a sense of identity and hope for future generations. Acts of kindness, like sharing scarce food or offering emotional support to others, demonstrated that even in the darkest circumstances, compassion and solidarity endured.

Allison A.

2025-01-13 21:16:16 UTC

People asserted their humanity through a multitude of ways: Ellis Lewis talked about his father and mother being separated and calling out to each other to take care of the children they were with (in a system that was trying to fracture the family, his parents were trying to connect their family together); another way was by not clutching the child you were with during the selection process (if you announced that you were family by holding on to someone, you would be more likely to be separated); another way was by holding on to something personal - like the comb, prayer book, or photograph of a loved one (it was not permissible to have any personal belongings, so doing so in the face of danger was another way to protect your humanity).

Jennifer Hepworth

2025-01-14 19:35:25 UTC

People tried to assert their humanity in a variety of ways. I think of the small kindnesses that were shown to Elie. The man who tells him to lie about his age and his father's age. The way they say Kaddish for the dead. Those that shared advice with the new prisoners. Acts of kindness that we would view as simple, but in those circumstances, were extraordinary.

Richard D

2025-01-14 19:43:38 UTC

After watching the video The Final Solution from Yad Vashem, one example of how people asserted their humanity despite the horrors of the Holocaust is the acts of resistance, both large and small, within ghettos and concentration camps. Some people risked their lives to help others, whether by providing food, medicine, or simply offering comfort in moments of extreme despair. In Night, Elie Wiesel describes moments of personal reflection, where even in the darkest of times, his memories of family and faith kept a small flame of humanity alive inside him. Similarly, survivors like those in the ghettos and camps would attempt to maintain cultural practices or pass on stories, demonstrating resilience in the face of brutal dehumanization. Even in the most terrifying conditions, people held on to their dignity by making choices that affirmed their identities, values, and connections with others.

Amanda C.

2025-01-14 22:15:53 UTC

Even though the world was falling a part, Ellis was able to assert humanity by doing as his father says and by trying to keep his family together. Also by protecting each other and their welfare.

Yongchun Ye

2025-01-14 22:35:34 UTC

During the holocaust, we still can see people asserted their humanity like share food, show kindness and care each other. Compare those crazy Nazi, we are the same human being, but we are so different, and these history remind us, some wrong ideas could change people a lot, that mean education is very important for everyone.

Melissa G.

2025-01-15 15:22:04 UTC

The image of those who arrived at the camps clinging to family (Ellis's father shouting to his mother, Elie being separated from his mother and sister) is one that can help students see how these victims attempted to continue and a world that was falling apart around them. In addition, artifacts can help tell the story of how victims held on to their own identity, spirituality, and humanity despite everything that was being done to them to strip them of all of these. Their worlds were fractured and ruptured, and yet these examples show people who fought hard to keep dignity and remind themselves daily of their own humanity. These are powerful stories.

Patti

2025-01-15 15:48:13 UTC

In a world marked by constant fragmentation and disruption, people have asserted their humanity as a way to endure and make sense of the chaos. By embracing empathy, connection, and resilience, individuals have found ways to hold onto their identity and humanity despite overwhelming challenges. This assertion of humanity becomes a form of resistance, ensuring that, even in times of rupture, the essence of being human remains intact.

Pamela

2025-01-15 21:24:56 UTC

Rabbi Hillel (113 BCE - 10 CE) wrote: "In a place where there is no humanity, you must strive to be human." Elie Wiesel describes instances where one person would share his bread with another, or one would encourage another not to give up. They also observed holy days to prove that God was more powerful than and leader or regime. Those ore the acts of true human beings.

Lynn P

2025-01-16 01:07:35 UTC

In the video, we see examples of how people asserted their humanity even in the face of unimaginable horrors. They shared food, helped each other survive, and tried to preserve traditions like singing songs or saying prayers together. By creating art, writing diaries, and teaching their children, they held on to pieces of their culture and identity. These acts show how they refused to let the Nazis completely strip away their dignity and humanity.

Chelsea

2025-01-16 02:56:26 UTC

People were able to still show humanity by sharing food and exchanging smiles when it was possible. They were able to hold onto hope that things would change for the better.

Alex

2025-01-16 23:23:39 UTC

Maintaining Cultural and Religious Practices: Despite the dehumanizing conditions in ghettos and concentration camps, many prisoners found ways to hold onto their identity by performing religious rituals, such as secret prayers, observing Jewish holidays, or holding clandestine services. This allowed them to maintain a connection to their past and to a sense of normalcy, even in the face of destruction.
Acts of Resistance and Solidarity: Even when facing imminent death, individuals demonstrated their humanity by helping others. This could include sharing food, offering comfort, or participating in organized resistance efforts, such as the uprisings in some camps. These acts, often at great personal risk, were powerful assertions of dignity and defiance against their oppressors.

Elizabeth

2025-01-17 16:40:31 UTC

Families attempted to keep themselves together by not identifying that they were child/parent. "You take care of her. I will take care of him." Reciting of the Kaddish in case no one was able to say it for them when they died.

Erjola L

2025-01-17 17:17:28 UTC

In the video, people showed their humanity by keeping their traditions, like secretly praying or celebrating holidays. Some helped each other by sharing food or offering support. Others wrote diaries, made art, or told their stories to remember who they were. Even small acts, like teaching children or comforting each other, showed their strength. These actions helped them hold on to hope and stay strong in such hard times.

Meredith Howell

2025-01-19 01:38:25 UTC

People were able to assert their humanity even in these difficult times through keeping pictures, a comb that symbolized femininity, small artifacts, religious artifacts, and emphasis on staying with family even if forced to separate. Ultimately, these attempts allowed many victims and survivors to maintain a part of their identity that was forcibly stripped of them during the Holocaust. As a result, those items often provided hope and ambition to live in the face of adversity.

April K.

2025-01-19 02:14:04 UTC

People asserted their humanity a few ways. One way was saying the Kaddish for themselves. Another way was making the choice to wake up and live each day. Clinging to things like combs and photos was another way to assert their humanity, even at risk of death. Trading items was another way they asserted their humanity.

Annie Williams

2025-01-19 13:05:37 UTC

During the Holocaust, people asserted their humanity by maintaining their identity even though the Nazis tried to strip them of this. To do this, they kept artifacts, like a comb, prayer book, or photo. Other ways that they asserted their humanity was by trying to stay together as a family unit and maintaining some of their Jewish traditions (like saying the Kaddish).

2025-01-19 14:39:06 UTC

Not giving up, remembering and reminding others about this can keep humanity floating in order to fight evil.

Laura Evans

2025-01-19 19:40:36 UTC

To teach about the Holocaust and the Final Solution sensitively, it's important to focus on the personal stories of the victims, not just numbers, to help students connect emotionally. Acknowledge their feelings—such as sadness or anger—and provide context before showing graphic material. Highlight stories of resilience, like how some people maintained their humanity by holding onto faith, family, or cultural practices, even in the face of extreme hardship.

Laura Evans

2025-01-19 20:12:27 UTC

People asserted their humanity in the Holocaust through acts of resistance, maintaining cultural or religious practices, sharing stories, supporting family bonds, and showing compassion for others. For example, despite the brutal conditions, Elie Wiesel and others continued religious practices, and families like his father and him tried to support each other. Small acts of kindness or rebellion, such as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising or sharing food, also helped preserve their sense of dignity and humanity in a world falling apart.

Fatima

2025-01-19 21:06:09 UTC

As I watched the video and listened to the testimonies of the survivors, I heard resilience and what it means to survive when so many did not. To hear the stories of their struggle for dignity and maintaining their identity even with the horrors they were going through. One woman gave up her daily ration of bread to buy a comb. A man risked his life for the prayer book. Elie Wiesel's talk on why they tell their stories is to make this world a better place and remember. We all must become messengers - those that have experienced it and those that have learned and heard about the Holocaust.

Joy Ammogawen

2025-01-20 02:13:53 UTC

I was so emotional while watching the videos, I can't imagine the torture and misfortunes the Jews had to bear that time. I can clearly see in them the value of family, being resilient, clinging to their faith in God, and their eagerness to survive.

Marcus Rose

2025-01-20 06:13:49 UTC

Watching the clip was emotional especially with October 7th.

But the Jewish people kept their humanity by taken care of

each other or said Kaddish for those who had no one. They also

kept up their strength through faith and holding on to personal

artifacts.

2025-01-20 14:12:32 UTC

The holding on to the assertion of humanity is vivid in the testimony of Ellis Lewis and the writings of Elie Wisel in "Night". Ellis remembers how, during the selection at Auschwitz. his father called out to his mother, "You take care of her (Ellis's sister), and I'll take care of him". Another example of humanity is the reciting of Kaddish (Elie Wiesel's father did so). I believe the sense of humanity is also kept by holding on top personal items, when doing so could mean your death. In the film, the keeping of a comb, a photo, and a prayer book are all mentioned.

Lindsay M.

2025-01-20 16:17:52 UTC

Under Nazi control, people held onto their dignity and sense of self in the following ways. Some held onto artifacts that reminded them of their life before. Things like prayer books, pictures and combs were mentioned in the video. Some people continued to perform religious practices such as prayer and ceremonies, despite them risking death if caught. Finally, many people made the choice to simply cling to their morals and not turn on each other, even if it meant severe consequences.

Emily Elden

2025-01-20 18:12:15 UTC

Ellis's father saying, "You take care of her, and I'll take care of him" is an example of human beings trying to find order and control in chaos.

Another moment that shows defiance and assertion of humanity and culture is when Elie Wiesel remembers the new Auschwitz "inmates" recite the Kaddish for themselves.

Julie Darwick

2025-01-20 18:27:22 UTC

People were able to assert their humanity by not abandoning their faith and morals. They kept praying and celebrating their Jewish faith. They kept important artifacts.

Helen R.

2025-01-21 03:46:21 UTC

"In an attempt to continue in a world that is constantly fracturing, rupturing, and falling apart" people asserted their humanity by keeping their faith and helping others as best they could--especially helping each other keep their spirits strong. People managed to have hope through their faith, their furtive efforts to preserve their education, traditions, and art. Above all, people had inner strength which is so admirable and a testament to how the good of the human spirit can triumph over the evil acts of those with no conscience or morals.

final solution

2025-01-21 04:11:06 UTC

I'm glad they decided they were gonna die with their humanity and not let all the evil of the others destroy their afterlife. They still decided to pray and be there for each other and hold out hope with their religion.

Linda Zippmann-Beery

2025-01-21 04:17:51 UTC

The testimonials showed how the Jews tried to keep their traditions alive and also keep something so they could remember who they were. Also, they thought of ways of how to keep themselves alive.

Pam B.

2025-01-21 05:32:53 UTC

The video shows how just hanging on to even the smallest of items for some feeling of humanity is so important. Small things such as a simple comb. A picture or as in the case of Elie's dad in Night a eating utensile which he gace to Elie when he thought he might not make it. Sometimes the smallest of things carry the biggest impact and memory.

Humanity

2025-01-21 14:11:07 UTC

When the Jews felt like the entire world was against them, they still would keep to their Jewish traditions; the major thing that made them be a target. When a person is a target for a certain reason, he/she might think they should stop all actions that make them the target. However, the one things that could not be taken away from the Jews was what was inside of them. They held on to their Jewish beliefs. Some brave ones would do actions like pray for the dead or pray with their tallit.

Vesna

2025-01-21 15:35:56 UTC

The prisoners tried to save their entire lost world by saving some of their personal items. Survivors want to be the world a better place and are sending a message of all.

Jamie

2025-01-21 16:05:35 UTC

Maggie

2025-01-21 18:04:11 UTC

Holding on to traditions, memories, and personal items was one way to keep their humanity and identify.

Katrina

2025-01-21 19:54:21 UTC

The video mentions several people who held onto a personal belonging throughout the Holocaust. A woman traded her daily ration of bread for a comb because it made her feel like a woman to have that comb. A newly married man was able to hide his wife's photo on him the entire time in he was in various camps. These things kept the people from giving up. They were able to cling to a part of their identity & their humanity.

Ashley Mason Dyer

2025-01-21 20:59:13 UTC

Jewish prisoners continued to observe the Sabbath, fast on Yom Kippur, and hold makeshift religious services in secret, often risking their lives. These acts were a way to preserve their spiritual identity and affirm a connection to their heritage, even in the most horrific conditions.

Richard

2025-01-22 00:31:20 UTC

People show their humanity during tough times by standing up for what’s right, helping each other, and keeping their traditions alive, even when there is pain and danger.

2025-01-22 17:45:33 UTC

They clung to their humanity by adhering to their religious rituals and prayers, and by holding onto meaningful artifacts that connected them to life outside the camp.

Carrie F

2025-01-22 17:46:57 UTC

People cared for one another in different ways. It might have been in saying, "Take care of her," as Ellis' father told his mother. It might have been in saying Kaddish for someone you didn't even know so you could honor that person. The one lady held onto her comb for dear life. Another traded rations for a prayer book that survived the war and was donated to Yad Vashem. The smallest objects may have become someone's whole world. Wiesel said, "tell the tale, not for pity, but to help make a better world. Become messengers."

AMMOGAWEN,JOY

2025-01-23 05:42:49 UTC

It is so heartbreaking to know and watch the horror of the Holocaust where millions and millions of innocent people were killed because of a false belief. By upholding cultural customs, keeping secret diaries, and supporting one another in ghettos and concentration camps, people in the video The Final Solution demonstrated their humanity in spite of the Holocaust's dehumanizing powers.

Asserting Humanity

2025-01-23 12:41:58 UTC

As we see in Night and in the video testimonies included in this course, people asserted their humanity by clinging to and celebrating the connection to family. Also, attempting to practice their faith even in the darkest of circumstances. We see also examples of expression in music, storytelling, and recitations of spiritual texts. Finding hope and humanity in small gestures of sharing and compassion. It's very understandable that, if you are imprisoned and persecuted because of your religion, you would embrace and celebrate that part of yourself as much as you can. It is also equally understandable to see people struggling and even rejecting that faith, a struggle which Elie describes in Night.

2025-01-23 14:22:51 UTC

To survive and maintain their dignity the camp inmates had to continue to perform acts of humanity, such as sharing a kind word, saying Kaddish for a stranger or showing respect for one's elders, and by clinging to ordinary objects which at that point represented the memory of normal life at the risk of death, all the while having to make a decision whether to go on or to give up every morning.

Remembering

2025-01-23 15:51:50 UTC

Growing up, I remember some really good times and how when things are terrible or horrible, I remember that time when things were good and hope for better someday. Also, they are in a community, not alone in this horrific life?

Chappell

2025-01-23 17:21:51 UTC

The idea of people saying Kaddish for themselves because there might not be anybody left to say it for them is really powerful and extremely human. Also, it is worth it to taking a moment to pause on a photograph and just look at the expressions on people's faces.

Family

2025-01-23 20:04:10 UTC

Maybe their rememberance of a better time in their lives, the memories of their families, friends, and neighborhood kept their spirit going through the most horrific of times.

Darci Gibson

2025-01-23 20:52:22 UTC

They would say watch out for each other or say the Kaddish for themselves. Some even risked their lives to hold onto a personl item such as a comb or a prayer book. There is even a documentary that was released earlier this week about the Lost Music of Auschwitz - how music was still created and existed in spite of the horrific conditions. https://windfallfilms.com/project/18819/the-lost-music-of-auschwitz

S Jordan

2025-01-24 00:34:20 UTC

The examples that stood out to me were saying the Kaddish because it was unknown if there would be someone to say it for you. The father who pushed his son away to try and keep his family intact. The objects people would keep like combs and photos to remind them of their lives and humanity.

2025-01-24 02:00:16 UTC

Importance of Family

When Ellis Lewin's father instructs his mother to "you take care of her, I’ll take care of him," it demonstrates the importance of family remained a priority during this horrific time. The desire and attempt to keep the family together show the importance of family connections and love in all situations.

Melissa

2025-01-24 05:40:22 UTC

The line where he says, "This is an attempt to continue in a world that is constantly fracturing, rupturing, and falling apart" is the way to provide continuity in their everyday lives.

Christine C.

2025-01-24 15:55:45 UTC

The act of documenting atrocities, as seen in hidden diaries or testimonies, was a powerful way to ensure their voices and stories would survive, asserting their humanity against attempts to silence them.

Carrie Farrimond

2025-01-24 19:18:32 UTC

The Jewish people were brave even though so very terrorized. Many tried to keep personal items and watch out for one another. Saying the Kaddish. Just staying alive in such conditions and during such a time is a feat unto itself.

Harley Antley

2025-01-24 19:49:20 UTC

There were a couple different things mentioned that individuals used to keep their humanity. The first was the prayer of kaddish, which was used to honor the death of an individual. The second was special artifacts that were used to hold a precious life part of someone, such as Powel Fisk, who had a picture of his wife, or Janka who had a comb which symbolized her womanhood.

T. Gillman

2025-01-24 22:40:09 UTC

In the book, when the young girl helps Elie after he is severely beaten, it is an example of another human taking risks to comfort someone else during a time of extreme pain even though it was a risk.

Martha Judge

2025-01-24 22:59:19 UTC

It was very difficult to hear that men would recite the Kaddish prayer for themselves on their way to be killed as there may not have been anyone to recite it for them. It was as if it was their attempt to make sure that their life and humanity was still honored

Trading one's food for a comb to comb hair that has been shorn, to continue to imagine that one's grooming matters, to hold onto a talisman of life before the rupture.

2025-01-24 23:35:29 UTC

Christina W.

2025-01-25 01:28:32 UTC

While the world and death was occurring all around them, Ellis describes how is mother would take care of his sister and he would be taken care of by him. While this chaos was taken place, he realized that for him to stay alive he needed to not "cling" to his father.

2025-01-25 02:49:18 UTC

People often tried to hold onto to something personal. One example was the picture of the man's wife, married three days he went off to Auschwitz. Another example was the comb. I also remember hearing that people would say Kaddish when someone died (holding onto traditions).

Mary Jane Smith

2025-01-25 02:49:45 UTC

In a world characterized by continuous disintegration and significant turmoil, the Jewish community upheld their dignity through the cultivation of familial connections. They sought to remain cohesive, prioritizing the preservation of their identities in the hope of avoiding reduction to mere statistics. Efforts were made to retain personal and familial possessions as a means of safeguarding their memories.

2025-01-25 04:44:09 UTC

In Night and the testimonies, people showed their humanity by holding on to family and faith. They tried to practice their beliefs even in the worst conditions. Music, storytelling, and reciting spiritual texts helped them express themselves. Small acts of kindness and sharing brought hope and connection. Being persecuted for their religion made some embrace it even more deeply, while others struggled with or even rejected their faith, which is also understandable. Elie writes about this inner conflict in Night, showing how hard it was to hold on to faith during such immense suffering.

Cayo

2025-01-25 15:11:43 UTC

I think I posted this response already, but here goes again. All of the testimonies offered are memorable. However, I find myself thinking about the comb. I am struck by what it would mean to give up a day's rations for a comb. What it means to hold onto a comb as a means of holding on to one's humanity, holding on to a sense of the necessity for grooming. What it means to try to comb hair that has been shorn. What it means to find a place to hide that comb -- every day. The comb, then, is both a talisman of one's humanity, but also an object that could endanger the person who possesses it.

Stevie B

2025-01-25 17:55:15 UTC

People found ways to hold onto their humanity by holding onto their faith and traditions. Reciting the Kaddish for themselves and still holding onto their faith despite knowing they were not doing to survuve. Also since they were forced into labor and labeled as inmates they found friendship through one another as they encouged each other to hold onto hope. Some were not fortunate enough to be with family as they were separated as soon as those doors opened so strangers became friends and were forced to help eacother stay alive through the horrible conditions of dehumanization, starvation, freezing to death etc. Trading bread for a comb to help that woman hold onto the hope tht she would be able to use it again.

2025-01-25 21:42:10 UTC

‘Life in the shadow of death’ was expressed in many ways during the Holocaust as illustrated by this video, Wiesel’s ‘Night’ and with so many other testimonies but all victims express that singular and incredible individual humanity and need for dignity. The previous world of goodness and dignity that the victims had experienced was held on to whether it be represented by a comb, a loved one’s photo, a prayer book, or gestures of sacrifice that could result in one’s death as described so many times in ‘Night’. These were the victims ways of ‘not letting go’ and expressing resistance.

Kelly Sandeen

2025-01-25 23:17:36 UTC

The desire of a parent to protect their children - of the connection and love between spouses- personal connections and hope show humanity . Pawel Fisk holding onto the picture of his wife- of risking his safety, allowed him to hold onto his dignity.

Holding on to what makes you human.

2025-01-26 00:25:46 UTC

When the people were stripped of their home and possessions, they held on to mementoes that made them human. They tried to hold on to precious memories. The most important thing is to remember the names and the people that the names represent.

2025-01-26 01:08:43 UTC

This video is about "self" and remaining human in a situation where others are stripping people of their identity. Sentiments were shared "Take care of each other -- you take care of her, I'll take care of him." Reciting the Kaddish (prayer for the dead) to hold onto the hope in God. Even in separtion, they tried to stay together in mind and prayer. Faces and names are presented to humanize individuals as mom's, dads, a teenager, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends. Holding onto artifacts meant holding onto individuality, dignity, identity. In the chaos, holding onto items such as combs, photos, a prayer book -- provided a sense of still being a human, an individual.

2025-01-26 02:31:12 UTC

Some needed their things like the woman needing her comb. Saying Kaddish when someone died and wondering if anyone would be there to say it for them.

Susan Stroud

2025-01-26 02:35:20 UTC

Humanity...holding on to treasures, like the picture of the man's wife or the woman and her comb

Saying Kaddish when someone died; hoping that there would be someone to say it when he died

Robbie

2025-01-26 04:06:58 UTC

People asserted their humanity by still practicing holidays, secret schools, journal entries, artwork, poetry. In order to continue to do these things they needed to stay alive and they did this by smuggling food and other resources. Adults sharing stories to keep kids going.

Christine C.

2025-01-26 16:15:16 UTC

people asserted their humanity by striving to maintain a sense of normalcy, even as the world around them fractured and fell apart. In ghettos and camps, individuals clung to daily routines, celebrated cultural traditions, and nurtured relationships to preserve their dignity and identity. Parents comforted their children with stories, communities organized secret schools, and artists created works to document and process their reality.

Tanya Owen

2025-01-26 16:49:13 UTC

People were asserting their humanity in adversity, holding on to who they were, despite the dehumanization by the Nazis. Through the pain, fear and sacrifice to survive, Jewish individuals held on to their religious riduals, small personal items, their hope of finding a loved one, after release -- a decision made every morning to fight or give in. "We didn't want pity," said Elie Wiesel. "We wanted the world to be a better world." He calls us to action through his own action --"...Learn and remember. We must become the messangers' messangers." -Elie Wiesel.

Holding onto Humanity

2025-01-26 17:58:36 UTC

Holding onto precious artifacts, treating each other with kindness and compassion, adhering to religious practices. All of these actions gave victims a way to hold onto their humanity in the face of incredible abuse and atrocity.

Antonella Tiburzi

2025-01-26 18:40:40 UTC

It was precisely the humanity of the persecuted that saved them at the end of the war. They never hated and did not take revenge against their tormentors. Elie Wiesel's speech on victimhood is very important to teach students and teachers to make them understand history and memory without rhetoric and clichés.

Separation

2025-01-26 19:09:12 UTC

Some students may have experienced separation in families like divorce or death. We could open up a discussion for students wanting to share such life experiences.

Maintain family bonds

2025-01-26 19:45:37 UTC

Many Jews continued to look after and protect their families, even in ghettos and concentration camps. Parents sacrificed their own well-being to care for their children, showing love and resilience in the face of brutality.

Art shows our humanity, even in, and especially through times when the world tries to dehumanize. Juliek's violin, other protest art, though they may strip humanity from you, they can't take away music, words, art of all kids. Small acts of kindness also keep humanity alive. Human to human, individual small acts erode the chokehold of systematic dehumanization. Search for these bright spots in the stories throughout Night and all these other accounts.

2025-01-26 20:17:39 UTC

Stefanie Spivey

2025-01-26 20:23:40 UTC

People asserted their humanity by keeping items that had meaning to them. Not items that had particular value or use, but items that help hope. Things that gave them a sense that this that they were experiencing would one day be over. The comb, the picture, the prayer book, each of them different for each person just as each person is unique. Perhaps others used words spoken or memories they carried with them or even the smallest plans for the future even in the form of a full meal.

Michael Martin

2025-01-26 20:27:27 UTC

Teaching the Final Solution for second graders can still be controversial given the graphic nature of that historical significance. Personally, it is simply making baby steps for them to be ready at the right place at the right time when learning this. I can start by teaching them to promote kindness and making good choices. Eventually, they will understand as long as they are well-guided by teachers and parents/caregivers about practical applications of kindness and tolerance towards others.

Brianna R.

2025-01-26 20:56:07 UTC

There were many ways that the Jewish people would maintain their humanity while the horrors of the Holocaust were unfolding around them. They made sure to maintain relationships with their loved ones and continued to create new ones. They also demonstrated frequent acts of kindness towards one another as that is what they needed even though many others did the opposite. They also continued to practice, observe, and hold onto their faith. They would pray the Kaddish for themselves or others constantly and observe holidays such as Yom Kippur.

Jody B

2025-01-26 21:31:07 UTC

While certainly it would not be easy to maintain their "normal" lives, many of the Jews in the camps would still adhere to their customs and religious practices. They would celebrate their holidays when they could and continue the teachings of their culture. This could also be looked upon as a sign of resistance.

Wynter Meldrum

2025-01-26 22:22:44 UTC

Even while the Holocaust tried to dehumanize the Jewish people, they still held onto their humanity with an iron grip. Even though most things like education was outlawed, they still continued to endure and live as normally as they could in secrecy through underground education as well as celebrating holidays like Yom Kippur. They made sure to stay true and hold those they love as close as they could.

Trying to maintain any type of normalcy was one way. Trying to keep familial artifacts, photos, belongings. I find the reciting of Kaddish one of the most moving ways of staying connected to humanity and one of the most heartbreaking things in Night when he says they forgot to, and eventually, the feeling disconnected from God.

2025-01-26 23:33:23 UTC

Cari

2025-01-27 00:00:06 UTC

Finding humanity in the chaos was a way of resisting. Those that found any way to feel human gave them selves hope for another day. Whether it was with prayers, a kind gesture to another, holding onto a small treasure, it was these acts that reminded people that they were still human and worth living.

Megan Fairchild

2025-01-27 02:40:10 UTC

The assertion of humanity through saying the kaddish always stood out to me, both in Night and in other instances of Holocaust literature. This act showed a refusal of the Nazis to strip the Jewish people of their humanity, religion, culture, etc. A quiet act of resistance and to hold their humanity.

2025-01-27 04:03:52 UTC

I personally love to read and analyze poetry. I don't think I've had much success yet transferring some of that enthusiasm to my students. Actually, one activity I have done and will continue to do is blackout poetry. students take one page of text from Night, crossing out words or circling other words etc, until a new poetic form emerges where the students can make new shades of meaning from Weisel's words. I have and will continue to emphasize the power of ecomomy of words and the power of his poetic language and how we can appreciate his memoir as poetic text and not approach it as a less colorful history textbook.

2025-01-27 04:05:39 UTC

Juliek's violin, one example of many of protest art. Keeping your wits about you. They may take your physical strength and health, and they will also try to take your mind and your perspectives and expression, but they can't take those from you.

2025-01-27 21:24:59 UTC

Survival

2025-01-27 22:21:41 UTC

Dehumanization was not a success. Those charged continued to have feelings and emotions until death, many of them. What causes indignation is the application of the final solution to a population that presented no danger, and who had no means of defending themselves against injustice.

L. Frost

2025-01-29 01:39:52 UTC

Some of the main ways I think people tried to assert their humanity was the arts and religion. Even in the face of death, they clung to God and hopefully got some comfort from it.

Walter Porter

2025-01-29 17:38:00 UTC

The arts always speak to a sense of humanity. Even in the most horrible of circumstances, the arts can provide a tether to keep people connected. Arts can sometime allow someone to express meaning in situations where words simply do not work. Using art, whether images or songs or poetry, helps to humanize the experiences of those who were persecuted.