Thursday, May 2, 2013

Survival


“Look, Mommy. I admit, I’m very hungry. And I will eat half of the soup. But you must eat the other half because you have become very thin and every drop of food you deny yourself may prove disastrous”.  I Have Lived a Thousand Years, p. 167

This quote just explains to me how horrible the Holocaust was. They didn't even give you food and if they did it would be nasty or too little. Everyone was really desperate for food in the holocaust that they will eat whatever they gave them because they were really hungry. It just gives me a picture of how awful the Nazis treated the Jews and how strong the Jews are for some of them surviving the holocaust. People changed how they looked because anyone could see there bones of how skinny they are because they had minimal amount of food.

This quote reminds me of the theme choice less choices. The theme choice less choices connects to this quote because you had no choice of eating the meal. If you didn't like it then you would still have to eat it because then you will die of starvation and many people did pass away because of that. If you didn't eat then you will get diseases because of the lack of nutrition. I can also connect this quote to the theme hope and hopelessness because the people who ate the food the Nazis gave them still had hope of them surviving. The people who died of starvation because they didn't eat anything had hopelessness because they gave up. I could connect this quote to the Donner Reed Party because they both had to survive by eating something. Instead of eating regular food the Donner Reed party ate each other which is called cannibalism. The Donner Reed party got diseases to because of the food just like the Jews in the Holocaust. They all had to eat to survive but they were both in a different situation.


7 comments:

  1. As a parent that quote makes me feel very sad and does really point out the horrible choices they had to make. This child wants her/his mother to eat but I'm sure the mother was sacrificing her food so her child could have a better chance of surviving. But what is survival to a child if it means losing her/his mother? The Jewish people had to make terrible choices no one should ever have to make.

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  2. Steven,
    Boy, it really brings home to me how lucky we are to have the choices we have, even when neither choice is appealing. What sort of choices do you have to make that challenge you?
    Between friends? Homework or TV? Spend or save?
    I guess beside the choices in the story, none of these is too bad.
    Posted by Bob Cohn

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  3. It is very true during the holocaust they would eat anything that the Nazi’s gave them because they were hungry. I would disagree that it was hopelessness that they gave up eating because they were given way to little food. There comes a point when you are in starvation called the point of no return where even if you get as much food in you as possible you will still die. They reason you die is because when your body goes into starvation your body starts eating away your organs that you use to ingest food to give energy to the rest if the body. When you hit the point of no return and you eat a lot of food your stomach would have been too far along to take it in. Your body literally eats itself alive. The last thing that goes is your brain, heart, and lungs. So even if there was a way to get enough food to the Jews some wouldn't have survived. When the allies had reached the concentration and brought the Jews food many died within hours because their starvation was too far along to help them. Even if they had eaten the little amount of food that they were given, they still could have died.

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  4. It is very true during the holocaust they would eat anything that the Nazi’s gave them because they were hungry. I would disagree that it was hopelessness that they gave up eating because they were given way to little food. There comes a point when you are in starvation called the point of no return where even if you get as much food in you as possible you will still die. They reason you die is because when your body goes into starvation your body starts eating away your organs that you use to ingest food to give energy to the rest if the body. When you hit the point of no return and you eat a lot of food your stomach would have been too far along to take it in. Your body literally eats itself alive. The last thing that goes is your brain, heart, and lungs. So even if there was a way to get enough food to the Jews some wouldn't have survived. When the allies had reached the concentration and brought the Jews food many died within hours because their starvation was too far along to help them. Even if they had eaten the little amount of food that they were given, they still could have died.

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  5. That was a very descriptive and strong quote from the book "I Have Lived A Thousand Years" that you chose. As sad as it is, it’s true that they would make you starve to death in the Holocaust. Starving to death is the worst way to die as I've learned from my teacher Mrs Ripley. There is a point in where you are starving and if you don’t eat food in a long time, then you finally eat food; You will not be able to digest the food so you die because your organs that usually break up the food died off. This happened a lot when American soldiers gave the Holocaust survivors food. A lot of them died in an hour or so after. I couldn't stand the fact of saying what that child said to their mother in your quote. Also the fact that they are not even eating food, they are eating soap, really makes it depressing. You made some really good connections and I like how you express the theme survival.

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  6. That was a very descriptive and strong quote from the book "I Have Lived A Thousand Years" that you chose. As sad as it is, it’s true that they would make you starve to death in the Holocaust. Starving to death is the worst way to die as I've learned from my teacher Mrs Ripley. There is a point in where you are starving and if you don’t eat food in a long time, then you finally eat food; You will not be able to digest the food so you die because your organs that usually break up the food died off. This happened a lot when American soldiers gave the Holocaust survivors food. A lot of them died in an hour or so after. I couldn't stand the fact of saying what that child said to their mother in your quote. Also the fact that they are not even eating food, they are eating soap, really makes it depressing. You made some really good connections and I like how you express the theme survival.

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  7. Just reading this makes me want to tear up. It gets me thinking how horrible the Nazis had to be to not have a single care for the Jews. Jews are people too. They have the same necessities as any other person, and that includes eating. Just because someone’s different does not mean you have to treat them cruelly and starve them. The Nazis did not have a legitimate reason to starve these people in concentration camps. If I were one of the many Jews in the concentration camps, I would not last a week due to how picky I am. The parents must have been heartbroken to be unsure of their kids’ future due to how bad they were treated. The parents could not have known if they would survive and get of of the camps when they weren’t given enough food and were weak. I would definitely give my mom my food because I love her so much, just as the little kid must have to share his soup with his mother. The little kid must have been scared to see his mother starve and become a living skeleton before his eyes.

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