“We are lost and helpless. Like lifeless matter we are carried along on a powerful conveyor belt toward an unknown fate. The smooth operation of the process is strangely reassuring.” I Have Lived a Thousand Years, p. 25
Being in this situation must have been difficult and discouraging. It really puts the Jewish people’s experiences into perspective because some of them felt that they were lifeless matter heading to an unknown fate. I just cannot wrap my mind around how Elli was feeling. This quote amazed me, angered me, and taught me new things because it shows me how helpless and unsure the Jews were and how they were forced to give up some of the things they loved. They had to give up some of their most prized possessions. They had to give up their homes, their pets, their jewelry. I cannot imagine the pain and hopelessness they were experiencing. The impact this quote actually had on me was amazing. It dazed me and taught me new things about what the victims of the Holocaust felt. The targeted people had no idea as to what was going on and they took any sign of hope, even if it was false hope and they absorbed it, transformed from it. They took this false hope and made it comforting and reassuring.
Being in this situation must have been difficult and discouraging. It really puts the Jewish people’s experiences into perspective because some of them felt that they were lifeless matter heading to an unknown fate. I just cannot wrap my mind around how Elli was feeling. This quote amazed me, angered me, and taught me new things because it shows me how helpless and unsure the Jews were and how they were forced to give up some of the things they loved. They had to give up some of their most prized possessions. They had to give up their homes, their pets, their jewelry. I cannot imagine the pain and hopelessness they were experiencing. The impact this quote actually had on me was amazing. It dazed me and taught me new things about what the victims of the Holocaust felt. The targeted people had no idea as to what was going on and they took any sign of hope, even if it was false hope and they absorbed it, transformed from it. They took this false hope and made it comforting and reassuring.
When this I read this quote I think of the theme victim. I think of victim because the Jews were victims of the Nazis and their acts of hatred. The Jews were victims because they were forced to give up their possessions and homes for the use of the Nazis. My connection to this quote is, “You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit.” I connect these two quotes to the theme victim because if you have once been a victim you should not victimize others because of it. Hitler victimized the Jews in many ways. He victimized them by taking away their rights, then he deported them to ghettos, and then he transported them to work camps, and death camps. The Holocaust was a major event in our history that was built because of victimization.
This is a great post. I like your point about it being discouraging and helpless. I especially like what you said about them being unsure of the future. The picture is a nice visual aide(:
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