Art and Empathy

The Holocaust which was one of many of the controversial events that have happened in the history of our world demonstrated a significant amount of cruelty and dehumanization. Because of such a controversial event, many have suffered through physical and unfortunately psychological upheaval and distress. With previous knowledge and novels’ read on the Holocaust, it came to be known that the event was triggered through obedience and conformity due to the not specifically the Germans’ beliefs of anti-Semitic and propaganda, but more of leader Adolf Hitler. The time of the Holocaust was used to dehumanize which enhanced the understanding of mental health and human psychology. During the Holocaust, many psychological principles affected individuals forever. The principles include groupthink and of course knowing the outcome of the event. Such principles sooner explain the reality of life because it stresses how individuals react due to their past experiences like the Holocaust and most importantly how traumatic events build them as who they are today.  Innocent Jews went through starvation, terrible working conditions, and the elimination of race through torture such as gas chambers. Furthermore, the history of this controversial event is now being used to be alert of the health and wellness of those who have gone through such events that sooner change their behavior and mentality for the better or even worse.

In the past many horrific events have happened that many people choose not to believe. One of those events was the Holocaust. Millions of innocent people died during this tragedy, but what about the people who survived? How did this affect them? A survivor, Elie Wiesel, wrote about his experience during the Holocaust, and how it changed him as a person. In his book “Night”, the main character Elie went to the concentration camp Auschwitz. Throughout the story, he gained new character traits that he carried for the rest of his life.

The essay "Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education" was written by Yo-Yo Ma. It was an online article published on World-Post in January of 2014. It is an argumentative piece advocating elements of empathy provided by artistic endeavors, that is very lackluster within society today which seems to be much more STEM focused. The article would’ve provided a perfect spark for discussion if there weren’t a few glaring issues that hamper it from reaching its full potential. These issues arise in the author’s meager execution of the essay. These range from where the essay was published, having no statistical data to help forward his claim, to lastly the authors use of personal bias and experiences to further support his viewpoint of the topic.

The Holocaust, yet another unpleasant time in history tainted with the blood and suffering of man. Human beings tortured, executed and starved for hatred and radical ideas. Yet with many tragedies there are survivors, those who refused to die on another man’s command. These victims showed enormous willpower, they overcame human degradation and tragedies that not only pushed their beliefs in god, but their trust in fellow people. It was people like Elie Wiesel author of “Night”, Eva Galler,Sima Gleichgevicht-Wasser, and Solomon Radasky that survived, whose’ mental and physical capabilities were pushed to limits that are difficult to conceive. Each individual experiences were different, but their survival tales not so far-reaching to where the fundamental themes of fear, family, religion and self-preservation played a part in surviving. Although some of these themes weren’t always so useful for survival.

     The world that people lived in during the Holocaust is described by the personal experiences of the oppressed throughout the story Jack and Rochelle, written by Jack and Rochelle Sutin, and the memoir by Alexander Donat titled The Holocaust Kingdom. The horrifying mindset of the oppressors, particularly the Nazi`s, is illustrated in both books. The vicious and relentless emotional, physical, and psychological abuse the Nazi`s targeted at their victims is depicted in detail. The unspeakable cruelty received by the Jews dramatically altered their state of mind and how they lived their lives. The emotions of despair, distress, depression, hopelessness, helplessness felt by the Jews

The Holocaust was a traumatic event that changed everyone that survived. The psychological effects that survivors

The Holocaust happening and the art that came with the horrors, we can use the art for proof and to help us understand. We have many examples of brave men and women showing us in different ways. Yet, we will never know what the prisoners went through and what they felt. With all the art of the Holocaust, we have proof that it did happened and the horrors that the prisoners faced, young to old. With all this knowledge we will never forget about the ones who died and suffered. We have the artist art that shows us their story and what they went

ART can be risky depending on the group of youth and teens that you work with. Although troubled youth are mainly the top people who can benefit this, you still have to watch

“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.” The Holocaust, led by Hitler, targeted the Jews, LGBTQ individuals, physically and mentally disabled people and members of political opposition groups. Elie Wiesel in his novel, Night, focuses on his experience as well as the expense of fellow Jews during their time in the concentration camps. Wiesel, in his novel, shows the deshumanization during the Holocaust by portraying the loss of basic human rights, the loss of their individuality, and the loss of familial connections for the Jews and prisoners of the concentration camps.

In the cars, there were many people crammed into each one. “The Hungarian police made us climb into the cars, eighty persons in each one. (pg. 22)” The people in the cars were barely given any room and were forced into cars made for animals. The Jewish people were also only given very little food and water. They were not given enough basic human needs. “They handed us some bread, a few pails of water. (pg. 22)” But they chose to make the most of what they had. Soon, the people began to change in terms of how they treated each other. The people began acting very inhumane towards each other. “Our nerves had reach a breaking point.Our very skin was aching. It was as though madness had infected all of us. We gave up. A few young men forced her to sit down, then bound and gagged her. (pg. 26)” These human beings were being treated as they were animals, so they began to act as if they were. The author used the cattle car conditions and the concentration camp treatment to express dehumanization during the

Man’s humanity is lost during the time of World War II. People victimize other people. Family fighting family, brother fighting brother in an act of mass genocide. Thoughts are beaten and drilled into their heads turning humans into mindless, fighting soldiers for an outlandish cause of “purifying” the population. During the Holocaust many books were written about the survivors. One book, Night by Elie Wiesel, exemplifies the inhumane acts of people against other people. Eliezer was a young boy when he was taken to a concentration camp, he worked and traveled from camp to camp. Treated like feral animals, the prisoners are worked to breaking points and have to endure raucous conditions. Many events in Night show how sick the people were to one another, more than enough to fit in this paper. A single essay cannot do justice for this memoir. The Jews in Night were treated so inhumanely throughout the course of the entire holocaust, but even though they were treated like sickly animals they treated each other just as bad.

In literature as in life people experience tragedy and suffering. Survivors of the Holocaust can relate to this in more ways than one. In the memoir, “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, it shows how humans can be cruel and kind. During the memoir, it also shows how courage and hope assist survival. Throughout the memoir, there are situations of dehumanization, cruelty, and suffering. This affects people in a such a way that causes intense diseases that they live with for the rest of their life. In contrast, kindness and compassion can positively affect people in their lives even while suffering through the worst of times. In the memoir, many people are faced with different challenges showing how their courage and faith can help them endure the toughest

Traumatic life experiences can have a variety of effects on a person, like constant flashbacks, PTSD, or depression. But very difficult life or death experiences can also seriously change a person’s personality. In Maus, Art Spiegelman explores how living through the Holocaust affects his father’s personality and personal relationships. By showing us Vladek’s story in both the past and the present, we get to see his experiences in the Holocaust changed who he is as a person thirty years later. On the surface, modern-day Vladek appears to be an uptight, miserly, crotchety old man, but by examining how his experiences in the Holocaust and what he had to in order to survive, we can see how they continue

This torture began with stripping the prisoners of their clothes, shaving all the hair on their bodies, and giving them a tattoo on their forearm. The disgusting living quarters were also a part of this torturous treatment and was so bad even animals shouldn’t have been living that way, but not only were the living conditions bad, but the way the “prisoners” were inflicted with such maltreatment was terrible. All of this treatment happened because of one man named Adolf Hitler who was a Nazi and wanted power, and the more he could get, the better. “It is easier to tell kids about those who escaped (the survivors and their rescuers) than to focus on the millions who were victims and perpetrators and bystanders.”Rochman, Hazel. "The Holocaust Survivors." Booklist, 15 Sept. 1998, p. 216. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A55052619/GLS?u=j036903001&sid=GLS&xid=8a0341bf. Accessed 19 May 2018.Thousands of innocent people were killed in the cattle cars on the way to the camps because they were either killed by the Nazi’s or died from heat or malnutrition. Those who survived the trip and made it to the concentration camps were forced to work, and if they didn’t work “properly” or according to the Nazi’s standards, then they would be killed, whether it be from gas chambers also known as “showers”, being shot

When most people refer to literature that concentrates specifically on the Holocaust as the subjects, the first thought usually isn’t in the form of a graphic novel. Most people would believe a graphic novel is something only a child would read or someone to the same educational equivalent. Due to their engaging stories and appealing visuals though, graphic novels are idea for visual learners, inexperienced or unenthused readers, and just about anyone else who may not find traditional print books enticing. Graphic novels tend to show a relationship between the images and the text that makes for an experience in itself (1.). Sometimes even taking on a difficult subject, an example being the Holocaust can make for a different kind of experience. In Maus I & II, the author chose graphic novels as his medium. For that, “Maus shines due to its impressive ability to ‘speak the unspeakable’ by using the popular maxim, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ to perfection” (3).