final post

I really like the book Escaping into the night because it was an action packed book. Also because it was about history and the bad things that happened. I think if you wanted to know how the Jews that were on the run were thinking you should read this book. Also i like how one of the main characters were really brave even though she was real small. I liked when the three friends Rueven, Batya, and Halina only knew each other for a little while and they cared for each other.I think that up stander encompasses the novel. Throughout the entire story the Jews fought back and stole food from them which means they weren't just going to roll over.

I've learned from the novel that people should be allowed to believe in anything they want. Without people judging them for it or punishing them because they believe in someone else other than  who you believe in. I think that meeting deadlines are very important because if you don’t you might face the consequences of being behind or home work. I also feel like i have more knowledge on the Holocaust than i did before we started this. I think that most people would like to learn about this being that it’s kind interesting and it kinda makes confused people would do anything like this. If teens would learn about this topic they would know that it should never happen again. Thanks to all the people that gave us feedback and helped us improve our writing.

last couple words

Escaping Into The Night

I thought the Ziemlankas were never going to find the russians. I thought they would have to go somewhere else like hide somewhere else. Maybe they should’ve traveled to the russian army earlier. My opinion is the book was good because the book had a lot of action. Especially the parts when Rueven, his brothers, Bataya, and Halina, were all running into the forest. Even the part when they were hiding from the Nazis because they were shooting when Halina went to go rescue Bataya. I thought the biggest theme of the book was human nature because people in the book were changed a lot by the end of the book.

I learned more about the Holocaust and about the struggle that some Jews went through. I learned how to do a good blog too. Like a better blog than I thought it was good and I liked the book. It is important to be a part of this project so people get better at blogging. Also so that soon we get better at doing it again and again. Also to get better at connection and better at reading. Soon it shouldn’t be a problem.

Final theme

     

I liked reading this book because it was based on something that really happened. I also like it because it explained what the Holocaust was like for Jews, Nazis and everyone else. I also liked the ending because it was a good ending and that was because of hope because hope helps people survive. One of the major themes in this book I think was fear because fear was there most of the time. Fear was there because almost everyone was afraid maybe of different things like some people were afraid of loss, and some were afraid of death or torture. Another major theme I thought was hope because a lot of people had hope in surviving or maybe helping others survive. The reason I said almost everyone was afraid is because hope is the only thing stronger than fear so, and not everyone was afraid because some people had hope. Hope and fear were major themes in the novel and probably in the Holocaust in general. This novel has helped me a lot because it taught me a lot more information about the Holocaust.

From reading this book I have learned that I should always have hope no matter what hope should always be there. I think that because hope is the only thing stronger than fear, and hope would help achieve almost everything because it helps you be brave and do almost anything without being afraid. For a specific part of the book that taught me that I should always have hope is when Reuven had hope that Halina would come back from the German soldier’s house so he waited for her in the barn so he can help her. That shows that hope should always be there because if Reuven wouldn’t have had hope he wouldn’t have waited for Halina and then Halina wouldn’t have found her way back to the camp. I also want to thank all contributors for taking their time to comment on our posts, those comments were really good. It is also great that we got to know what others think of what we write and if they agree or not. I really liked this project.      

post 2

“you can’t expect to live by rules”    Batya said the quote, pg 48, Escaping into the night  

This is saying that Hitler made rules for Jews to drive them out of Germany. I thought that was really just to make a fool of them. Even though the Jews’ only option to live was to break the rules by escaping one of the camps or the ghetto. It’s was really hard for them to escape the camps. If they did they’d struggle to to survive by having to get their own food in the forest. The rules that were being made were just not fully thought out so that shows Nazi’s  didn't treat Jews like humans they were treated like animals. Also they were making rules to just force the Jews out, but as time went on things got worst. Nazi’s moved Jews  in small apartments with 2 families. Then Nazi’s  took Jews  who could work to camps and killed some Jews.  

This connects to North Korea’s Pleasure group. Every September in North Korea Kim Jong-un pick 50 girls who just turned 18 and graduated from high school. The girl don’t want to do it but they have to do that. That's just like Jews because they got treated hard and was forced to do something they don’t like. Also the girls in the Holocaust were raped by men in concentration camps with them. According to http://www.wunrn.com/news/2012/04_12/04_23/042312_holocaust.htm.The women also didn't like it but really couldn't do anything because they were not liked, but in North Korea if you're leader chose you, you had to do it.

http://www.azernews.az/region/44441.html

http://www.wunrn.com/news/2012/04_12/04_23/042312_holocaust.htm

Take Notes

“I used to take singing lessons before the war.”

“You don’t need singing lessons. I wish you could teach me how to sing like that. I sing like a frog. I let this do my singing for me.” “He pulled out a violin case out of a rucksack and opened it. then he patted the smooth wood of the violin, tucked the instrument under his chin, and began to play the same song I’d been singing.” Eli and Halina, Escaping Into the Night, p.77

I think Halina can probably say the same about herself if Halina tries to play the violin. Eli kind of sounds competitive. 

Why does Eli even have a violin?

Also I wonder if Eli was in the ghetto with Halina. Eli and the others might have escaped earlier than Halina. Also almost everyone in the camp said the Nazis are close around them. How don’t the Nazis know that they are there? I kind of think the Nazis aren’t as close as the ziemlankas say they are. I’m just saying it’s better safe than sorry.

This reminds me of The Pianist movie I saw in Social Studies about the Holocaust. When Halina said she used to take singing lessons before the war it reminded me that the pianist most likely did practice before the war. Vladek was in the ghetto and in the ghetto and many people were killed but, Vladek and the people in the forest from the book Escaping Into The Night. The book relates to reality because some people escaped from the ghetto into the forest. In the forest, according to the book, they had groups and I think it relates to reality because many people escaped and joined the groups. I might have joined a group to be safe. I think it’s always good to get out of a bad situation.

blog post 3 s.s.

• Think about the terms “help” and rescue.”  What is the difference between these two terms?  In the context of the Holocaust, how do you understand the difference between these two terms?  Can you think of a specific time when help was needed rather than rescue, and of times when Jews needed to be rescued?  Would you characterize those individuals who helped Jews as heroes?  Why or why not? (Echoes and Reflections)

The difference is that help is when you make things easier for someone. To rescue is when you save someone from a dangerous place. In the Holocaust people rescued people from the camps when they needed  a place to lay low. For example Elie Wiesel spent a few years in a French orphanage   Also the Americans helped Jewish Holocaust survivors by making a museum for them. That way they could tell the stories on how they were treated in the camps and how they survived. The Jews needed shelter and a French man Si Kaddour Benghabrit helped over 1,000 helped them to get it. I’d characterize  the helpers and rescuers as kind of up standers and really brave, because they didn't speak up about what was happening and they helped and rescued the Jews.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_and_groups_assisting_Jews_during_the_Holocaust

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_and_groups_assisting_Jews_during_the_Holocaust

Save a Life and Save the World

Reflect on the meaning of the statement from the Talmud.  “He who saves one life, it is as though he has preserved the existence of the entire world.”  

I like that statement because of the way it says that if someone saves one person it is like he has saved the entire world. I also agree with that statement because it is totally true. If you save a person’s life you are helping the world, and saving  the world too because then that person will survive and probably help others survive too. That person you save makes you mean a lot to the world because then there is a big chance in life going on. I am going to connect this statement to the novel Escaping  into the Night,and how  when a German soldier wanted to kill Batya and Halina and Halina escaped but she came back to save Batya’s life. Reuven also helped save Batya’s life. In fact it was his idea to go back and save Batya. Even though they weren’t really close friends, he knew it mattered to save her life. These are the reasons I like this statement and think it is true.