Irena’s Vow is a story about a young Polish woman who saved thirteen Jewish refugees during World War II from the German Nazis who invaded Poland. As the audience walked into Wright Curtis Theatre at Kent State University on October 14, 2016 for opening night of Irena’s vow, they got to witness an unusual sight. There were two young gentlemen waiting upon the stage for the show to begin. As they leered over the incoming audience and the set design, people began to take their seats. The large worn wooden crates on the stage looked to be haphazardly placed, which created a surreal environment. As the play began, Jess Tanner, who played Irena Gut Opdyke, was incredibly captivating with her charm and wit. She told the audience that she was once their age, not an old lady like she was now. She was once a young 19-year old and she took into her protection twelve Jews, which turned to thirteen later in the play as they voted to take in Henry Weinbaum. Towards the tail end of the play Ida Hallar and Lazar Hallar, two of the Jews, had a baby boy. They named him Roman.
Using Wright-Curtis Theatre, which is a stage ‘in the round’, was an innovative decision. To place an incredibly emotional play in a small theatre where everyone can easily see others reactions, made it easy to gauge how others are responding to a scene. There were definitely disadvantages to having it in an arena style theater, there were many times where the actors would have to freeze on stage. The actors would have
January 30, 1933 started the calamity that would result in the mass murder of some six million Jews. It occurred in all countries that the Germans, also known as Nazis, occupied during World War 2, including Germany and Poland. Jews were sent to enclosed ghettos where they were given insufficient amounts of food and were in unsanitary conditions. By the time of 1945, the Germans and their collaborators killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the “Final Solution”, for their plan was to wipe out the Jewish people. Jews were sent to death camps of which they were put into gas chambers and killed. Many died from malnutrition. It was the time of genocide, of mass destruction. To the leader Adolf Hitler, Jews were considered a threat to German racial purity and community. They were an inferior
In the selection, “Isabella Katz And the Holocaust: A Living Testimony”, by Richard L. Greaves, the author tells about the Holocaust, the destruction of the Jews by the Nazis and the terrible experiences of people who were there. Оne of the participants of these events is Isabelle Katz that lived with her family in Hungary. In 1944, Hitler occupied Hungary with the idea to kill all the Jews. One day, fascists took her family and all other Jews from their homes. Later, all of them were transported to the camp of Auschwitz. Upon arrival at the camp, all families were separated. Isabella heard screams of people burning in crematorium within 9 months when she was there. The Jews in the camp were on the brink of their life and death, depending only
Throughout the Holocaust, Jews organized resistance movements in ghettos, concentration, and extermination camps. Although they had virtually no weapons and faced one of the largest arsenals in the world, the Jewish people fought for their honor and freedom. Without any hope victory and in the face of death, resistance fighters found the courage to take on evil in its purest form. Their efforts must not go in vein; to them we must accord our respect. This is a brief testimony of their fight against the Nazi regime.
Elizabeth Feldman –de Jang and Nathan Nothman are both survivors of the Holocaust, but just like every individual survivor, they share different stories. One of the few things that may unite them is the specific fact that they are both Jewish and despite all odds, they managed to survive and share their stories.
Anxiety washed over the poor boy. It was dark, darker than Zerdek had ever know. With each second that passed, a low mumble could be heard from the corner. Something or someone else was here with him. Wherever here was. He shut his eyes thinking about the light. Thinking about anything that would make it seem like he was back at home. Home. He tried to remember the faces. He tried to remember each of the tree top building. Yet it was a blur. Everything that had happen with-in the last few hours, day, months was a giant blur from him. He had no concept of time. A click came from afar, as light came barreling in. Zerdek let out a low growl as he covered his eyes, unable to adjust to the light quickly enough. Arms reached out and pulled to two
Carrying Chaim close to her body, and fearfully looking around, she ran home, the first place she could think of. For the first few minutes, her husband, Victor was relieved to see her alive; his moods changed drastically when he realized the danger they will face with Chaim at home.
“I pray you never stand at any crossroads in your own lives, but if you do, if the darkness seems so total, if you think there is no way out, remember, never ever give up. The darker the night, the brighter the dawn, and when it gets really, really dark, this is when one sees the true brilliance of the stars.” These words were spoken by Gerda Klein, a Holocaust survivor. Her story is filled with desperation and an overwhelming sense of hope. Gerda Weissmann was born in Bielsko, Poland. Both of her parents and her older brother died during the Holocaust. She was somehow able to survive “the ghetto, deportation, slave labor camps and a three month death march. She was rescued by an American soldier named Kurt Klein. She ended up marrying him and moving to the United States.
During the reign of the Third Reich, the symbolization of the pink triangle was used to identify the thousands of gay prisoners who were sent to extermination camps under Paragraph 175, the law that criminalized homosexuality between men. Researchers say that an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 gay men died in these camps, however this figure does not include those who were interned and later released, let alone those who died undocumented and forever forgotten to history.¹ These thousands of men were forced through excruciating cruelties with little to no reprieve or recognition of the atrocities perpetrated against them. It is because of this that while they are not a distinct racial, ethnic, or religious group, the treatment of those who bore the pink triangle during the Holocaust follows the genocidal process and as such gay Holocaust victims should be considered sufferers of genocide.
Survival is living on the hope that better things are yet to come in your life. Right now in our country people survive because of hope and the belief that people are good and they will help them out. People survive when they are homeless on the streets only because of the people who are good at heart and give them food or money to buy clothing for the winter. Gerta survived because of her family and friends. Anne Frank survived because she believed that “Despite all the evil going on in the world I still believe that all people are good at heart.”
Wiesel had a typical childhood until 1939, the year when Germany invaded Poland and Jews were forced under Nazi rule. Elie Wiesel was born on September thirtieth 1928, in Sighet, Romania. He wanted to grow in his relationship with God as a young man and even had a spiritual mentor. However, during this time Jews were being prosecuted. His family was forced into Jewish Ghettos under the Nazi regime. The ghettos were a part of a city, especially a slum area occupied by a minority group. The family was not able to escape in time and had to deal with the loss of their home and possessions. Elie and his father were prisoners at Auschwitz, the main concentration camp, here, Wiesel witnessed the death of newly born babies and the killing of hundreds
As things could get any worse, Irena was captured and put to work in an ammunition factory. She was acknowledged that she understood German and spoke it well. She taken to work in the kitchen and serve food with Herr Schulz. She quickly noticed that Schulz was not like any German, he demonstrated kindness and generosity. While she was working, she observed soldiers shooting many Jews in the Jewish ghetto just outside of the dining hall. She now knew how the soldiers handled their “Jewish problem.” Within that day, she knew she wanted to help Jews in any way possible. It was told that if one was caught helping a Jew, death would be their punishment. She began to place food in a metal box and placing it under the fence. She soon
Over the years and past life there has been so much genocide in this planet earth, the ones who suffered were the gay,german,jews,and the special needs. About 6 million jews and 5 million non jews were sadly dead and murdered.What's genocide some may ask genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation, people have learned to trust and treat everybody equally and with respect and let nothing tell each other apart. And in the huge event called the holocaust where such genocide happened with hitler there were some specific people who helped save jews even knowing the circumstances that come with it.
The Holocaust began on January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, to May 8, 1945, when the war in Europe officially was over. About six million Jewish civilians perished because of it. There were some people that survived. What impact did the Holocaust have on its survivors? When the Holocaust ended, all survivors suffered from different emotions because they survived the tragedy. The survivors lost loved ones, and they had to keep that memory of the event with them for the rest of their lives. As a result of these emotions, they coped in many negative ways. Survivors of the Holocaust experienced guilt, isolated themselves, and suffered from a mental illness.
The Holocaust was an example of how horrible humanity can be, with over 6 million deaths, it is still remembered today. Throughout Europe, many people were placed in concentration camps, and most were placed in ghettos before this. Many groups decided to rebel against this, however, including within the ghettos.
Budapest in January of 1945. Lantos went around trying to locate his family that he had