Monday, February 14, 2011

Chapter 4 (pages 47-65): Am I Jewish?

How is the story of the young French woman important?

3 comments:

  1. The French woman who was Jew. Although she was at the camp working alongside her fellow Jews, she was not there as a prisoner. Somehow, she had been able to pass of as an Aryan. This is an important part of the story because it shows discrimination and an instinct of survival. The Nazis didn't suspect her as an undercover Jew, perhaps on her appearance. If she was able to pass of as an Aryan, she must have looked like an Aryan; blonde hair and blue eyed. Maybe she only possessed one of these characteristics, but it was enough for the Nazis over look her. Perhaps if she had the stereotypical nose and bushy eyebrows the Nazis associated with all Jews, she wouldn't have passed as an Aryan for a second. Her instinct of survival drove her to pass of as someone she was not. She had to basically forget her language, her family, perhaps even her name and all she knew to be able to pass as an Aryan. She must have done it well to have survived and not have been discovered by the Nazis. A regular person living under normal living conditions wouldn't have had this instinct of survival at all.
    -Genesis

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  2. The story of the French woman who was a Jew herself was important for me because it showed the discrimination that the Nazi's were portraying. The French woman was actually a Jew, she worked with the prisoners, but infect was not a prisoner herself. She had passed as Aryan, not because of a passport or identification, but because of her looks. She probably had blonde hair and blue eyes, that shows how discriminatory the Nazi's were. It didn't matter who they actually were, if they looked like their fellow Aryans, they passed. Maybe if she was actually and Aryan with dark hair and something stereotypical of Jews like Genesis said, she might not have passed. Her time during the Holocaust was an act, she had to be someone totally different than herself just to survive.

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  3. The story of the French woman is very important because, like Genesis and Emma said, it showed the discrimination that the Nazis represent. The French woman was a Jew, but she acted as an Aryan with the help of her false papers. Like Genesis and Emma said the French woman probably had different futures from the other Jews and that helped her pass as an Aryan. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been brave enough to get false papers and say she was Aryan. I think it was difficult for her to forget her religion and see the other Jews suffer. She was very brave to speak in German to Elie when we was hurt and crying, but she knew Elie wouldn't tell anyone else.

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