Recalling his devoted years to the Hitler Youth program, author Alfons Heck states “I have never once during the Hitler years thought of myself as anything but a decent, honorable young German, blessed with a glorious future” (206). This honesty conveyed by Heck elucidates the selfish ideals of those in the Hitler Youth, a theme apparent in the novel A Child of Hitler. Although Heck’s thoughts are self-conceited, they convey the opinions of those decieved by the Hitler Youth principles. As politically incorrect as these principles were, A Child of Hitler portrays them differently than other literature reporting on the subject. Through his descriptions of daily activities, Heck describes the pressure that children faced as Hitler Youth.
Published in 2014 by Bloomsbury in London, Ask The Beasts: Darwin and the God of love , is a book written by Elizabeth Johnson who turns her attention as to what she likes to call “the second big bang” which is evolution. Exploring the Christian tradition, she seeks to find an understanding of the religious meaning of the ecological world of species. Illustrating passages from Charles Darwin and his book “The Origin of species” and the Christian Story of the God of mercy and love in association with the Nicene Creed, she begins to talk about the relationship between the evolving world and God. In Chapters 2-4, Johnson focuses on the evolution of species and on Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. Next, Chapters 5-8 bring the Christian stories
Through his interview, he discussed important topics like how he came up with the idea to write In the Garden of Beasts. Larson also discussed the way Hitler came to rise in power and to his eventual position of Fuhrer. Dodd receiving the position of ambassador to Berlin was also not expected and Larson described what happened behind the scenes to make Dodd a candidate for that position. In the Garden of Beasts is an interesting and historically accurate book full of suspense and important historical backdrop that the reader may not fully understand on a first
Bunting, Eve, and Stephen Gammell. Terrible Things: an Allegory of the Holocaust. Jewish Publication Society, 1989.
“Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again.”
In “The Beast of Waste and Desolation” in Barry Holstun Lopez’s book Of Wolves and Men, he writes about the attitudes he encountered from people when discussing wolves. These attitudes came from several different sources, ranging from several different Native American tribes and field biologists to ranchers, trappers, and general residents of the areas where he conducted his research. Lopez expressed his discomfort when he spoke with the latter group, as those people that felt there was nothing wrong with killing wolves, and that the practice, overall, was a good thing. Lopez writes that it seemed many of these people appeared to be filled with a general hatred; of government, laws, and wolves. The killing of wolves held a vengeful element, with no remorse or regret. He goes into detail of the single-minded persecution of the wolf, even though many of the conflicts with wolves were man made. One example provided was of man depleting many of the wolves’ natural prey sources like elk and buffalo, and as a result the wolves turned to preying on the domestic stock instead. Suddenly, man was justified in killing wolves as it became necessary to protect livestock. The larger questions
Fear is deeply embedded in the human genome as a defense mechanism. It is so old it is coded into the oldest part of the human nervous system. Throughout history, fear has been used to manipulate whole populations into starting wars and revolts, and perpetrating genocide and discrimination. Never has that been more true than in Adolf Hitler’s Germany, and his rise led to the deadliest conflict in human history, World War II. His consolidation of power and control over the people of Germany can be attributed to using fear as a weapon of manipulation. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson, follows the first American ambassador into this dystopia, and the fear he experiences while there. Erik Larson chose to set In The Garden of Beasts in
The one documentary film that really stuck out to me was the first film of the semester, Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere. Author Poe Ballantine, or locally known as Ed Hughes, documents the mystery behind the newly hired math professor, Steven Haataja disappearance. One of the main controversies behind this case is that Haataja’s cause of death, to this day, is still unknown. This mystery splits the town in half, the ones who believe it was a suicide and those who believe it was a murder. There is evidence that can point to either cause, such as, his some of his last whereabouts was buying coals and peppermint schnapps but on the other side, how did he tie himself up to the tree?
Imagine, living in a peaceful environment surrounded by your loved ones, and suddenly watching it crumble to pieces in front of you. As morbid as that sounds Antonina and Jan Zabinski had to prevail through a constant state of peril, but they did more than just survived. In the midst of World War II, as Germany was invading Poland, the family managed to save about 300 lives by allowing shelter and hiding places in their zoo while working with the Underground; a resistance group dedicated to riding Warsaw of the German Nazis. The family overcomes many hardships that I would love to inform you of because truly this book is like no other I have read, and I say that with respect and awe. This novel contains laughter, sacrifice, and bravery in all of its forms.
Therefore, the reader feels compelled to discover and learn more about the atrocities and crimes committed by the soldiers of the Reich. On the other hand, the way the family maintains united and has faith that good things will happen is really heart-warming because it illustrates the idea that someone can take away our car, our house and all material things we possess (as the Germans did), but it is not possible to remove the love and hope inside every single one of us. In addition, the author offers the reader many facts and real events about the War, which makes the book even more captivating and engaging to
The books Maus I and Maus II, written by Art Spiegelman over a thirteen-year period from 1978-1991, are books that on the surface are written about the Holocaust. The books specifically relate to the author’s father’s experiences pre and post-war as well as his experiences in Auschwitz. The book also explores the author’s very complex relationship between himself and his father, and how the Holocaust further complicates this relationship. On a deeper level the book also dances around the idea of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders. The two books are presented in a very interesting way; they are shown in comic form, which provides the ability for Spiegelman to incorporate numerous ideas and complexities to his work.
The painting “Threesome”, by Felix Nussbaum, conveys the pain caused by the separation of families during the Holocaust, as does the book “Night”, by Elie Wiesel. “Night” reveals how as soon as people arrived at the concentration camps, they were split up. “Men to the left! Women to the right!” an SS man commanded upon Elie’s family’s arrival at the camp (29).
“The Meaning Of Hitler,” by Sebastian Haffner, translated by Ewald Osers, is an excellent read for those that wish to jump inside the mind of the military and orator genius, Adolf Hitler. The negative stigma surrounding Hitler is very well accounted for; he killed of millions from the relatively defenseless, Jewish population. However, this book breaks down Hitler’s life from his childhood to his eventual suicide at the end of World War II, and looks at the side of Hitler that made him stand out from the rest, explaining Adolf without the stigma attached. While doing this, he also realizes that Hitler was a normal human being, so he includes his mistakes and crimes alongside. The book is split into seven different sections, explaining the wonders
Without any exaggeration or platitude, I can definitely say that Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is the most challenging book I’ve ever read at Somers High School. The book begins as an autobiographical recount of the immense human suffering the author encountered in the Nazi concentration camps, particularly the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Frankl offers his personal reflections, interspersed between anecdotes from the camp about men at their lowest moments. The horror of the camps is undeniable, but despite his tragic stories of hopelessness and anguish among, there’s an odd feeling of emotional subversion and insult when he uses collective pronouns to describe his personal convictions.
The evolution of style in these book differ, but not as much as one would think. The Secret Garden is definitely more formal and has terms that would be said in the 1910s. It also seems to consider girls as incapable of doing certain things just because they’re girls. It's certainly not as plot twisting as The Raven King and is a very slow book to read. The Raven King is a very modern book that has interesting things happen and with phrases heard in today’s age for example foul language. There is a strong female role in it and the book does not care for “gender roles”. You see more things that are impossible to happen in The Raven King like magic and talking trees.