Universal Declaration of Human Rights 12/8

Summary:The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is made up of 30 different articles all stating different declarations. The preface of the declaration is about rights that humans have all over the world. Basic rights that humans have would be freedom of speech and the right to be treated like a human. In order to sum up all the articles they all state that a human is human no matter their ethnicity, color, race, skin color, sexuality etc. Every human should be treated fairly no matter what . Many of the articles talk  about liberty. There are also many articles that mention that harassments and punishments are not allowed.

Comment: Reading the Declaration was very interesting. These articles mention pretty much all the rights that we have as humans and its crazy to think that now we do not see people getting all the rights that they deserve for being human. Many of these rights seemed to just be looked over now, people do not really respect these rights at all anymore. Although the articles were very informative they were also very repetitive. I don't think there had to be 30 articles because they basically all said the same thing. I feel like everything could have been summed up into only a few articles.
  

Invisible Hands 12/6

Summary: The first interview was on Kalpona Akter who was born Chandpur,Bangladesh. She grew up in a tin house, but her family was forced to sell it because the house was in a really good area. Her father became a middle man and her cousin worked for her dad. Her cousin ended up stealing all the money from her family and left her and her family with pretty much nothing to live. Her father had two strokes which caused her family to have many financial crisis because of all the hospital bills that they had to pay. Her father wasn't able to talk and he wasn't able to control half of his body. She starting working at a factory, both her brother and mom worked at this same factory. When her factory refused to pay her for her overtime she decided to strike against the company. At the age of only 17 she got married to someone who also worked at the factory. She eventually divorced her husband and got a job at the union in order to help the factory workers get justice. She was thrown in jail because people didn't want her advocating for other factory workers, they didn't want them to have any rights. The second interviewee was Hye-Kyeong Han who was born in Gangwon Province,South Korea. After high school he decided to work for Samsung. She began to feel very sick one day so her mother took her to the hospital and this is when they found out that she had a brain tumor. They started giving her treatment for the brain tumor. Her mother fought that it was the company's fault, but the company would not take responsibility for her having a brain tumor. 

Comment: These stories were very similar in regards to how they worked and all the things that they went through. It is always nice to see when someone stands up for what they believe is right. She wanted to fight for her rights and the rights of others. Reading this also shows us how easy it is for companys to get away with mistreating their workers. In these situations there isn't really much that you can do. The most you can really do is fight for what you think is right, and for what is right for other people. 

Refugee Hotel and High Rise Stories 12/1

Summary: The first interview was about a couple Mahmmoud and Farah. They were both born in Iraq and lived there during the war. Mahmmoud's father was killed by the military because he was an engineer at a University. Farah ended up getting pregnant, so she said she was a refugee and she moved to the US in order to raise her daughter in a better environment. She obviously wanted her daughter to be safe and live a better life than she did. Although they both miss Iraq they are happy that they are able to be free in the US. The second interviewee was Felix Lohitai who was born in Rokon, Sudan. When the war was going on between the North and the South he decided that he wanted to join the rebel army so that he wouldn't have to fight against his own people. He and his family moved to refugee camps trying to stay safe. He faced many problems with money and transportation, but he finally made it to the US. The third interviewee was Dolores Wilson who was born in Chicago,Illinois .She lived in an apartment and had to move because of her husbands job. Around this time MLK had just been killed so there was chaos in the streets. Her son was killed by someone with a sniper and the cops did not worry about bringing the killer to justice. Although it was dangerous she loved where she lived and where she came from. When she was very elderly she had to move due to some construction, and she lost a lot of memories. The last person interviewed in this section was Yusuf Mosely who was born in Columbia, Mississippi. He worked in the fields but obviously his parents wanted him to live a better life than that, they did not want him working in the fields. Where he lived people were very racist, they did not like black people, but they did really like black women. When he was walking on the white side of town he was called out because he was black. He flipped the man off, and the guy decided to try to hit Yusuf with a bat. The police was called and Ysufu was taken into custody even though he wasn't the person that started the problems. He was part of the freedom riders, and then was convicted for murder and thrown in jail for a while. When he was released he had to work in order to get his life in the right direction again.

Comment: I think the interview that bothered me the most was the interview with Yusuf. What he had to go through was sort of unbelievable. I don't understand why people need to be racist. He was arrested just because he was black and the guy that actually started the problem was white. Our community even now is a lot like this. There is a lot of problems concerning police brutality and how the police handle certain situations especially with people of color. I think we as a community can do a lot more to help these type of things change. We need to stand up for what we think is right and help  people defend their own rights.

Inside this Place and Throwing Stones 11/29

Summary: The first interview was about Ashley Jacobs who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was sent to jail because she stole money from both of the jobs that she worked at. When she was sent to jail she was pregnant. Although she didn't show any signs of going into labor she still had to have her baby in jail. She was sort of forced into having a c-section. Shortly after she was forced to have the baby in jail she was released. When she was released she realized that she could do better so she started turning her life around. The second story in Inside This Place is about Theresa Martinez who was born in Los Angeles,California. Theresa has spent her life in and out of jail. At a very young age she was sent to live with her grandparents after she was taken from her parents. She left her grandparents house to go back and live with her mom. When she moved in with her mom she changed a lot, she started going out a lot and started doing a lot of drugs. When she was young she was sent to juve multiple times, then eventually she was sent to prison. She had her baby in prison. It seemed that she did even worse in prison because she would do more drugs. Whenever she got out of prison she wasn't clean, she would be doing worse drugs. All the drugs she did caused her to have many different side affects. In jail the doctors tested her blood and said she was HIV positive but she really wasn't. She was given medication in order to treat the HIV, so that medication affected her body very badly because she did not have HIV. The third interview was about Sergio Diaz who was born in El Jobo ,Bolivar, Colombia. Sergio loved to play soccer. Growing up he lived in a town that was really affected by the military. It was extremely dangerous to live where he lived. One day he went out with his dad and he accidentally stepped on a land mine. The land mine blew off his leg, which caused him to have to learn how to walk with a prosthetic leg. This was very difficult for him. Especially because he loved soccer.


Comment: These stories were extremely interesting. Reading about Theresa and all the things she went through and all the drugs that she did was crazy. She did a lot of different drugs and they affected her body in a lot of different ways. I don't think I could ever do that many drugs and have my body feeling very poorly. I think the story about Sergio was very sad too. I think reading his story made me even more sad because I also love playing soccer. I wouldn't ever be able to imagine losing my leg and having to stop playing the sport that I love.

Ruth Gibson 11/22

          Ruth Gibson came in and gave a presentation on her views on prisons, gun control and the recent election. Her presentation was very interesting because she had a very strong opinion on the prison systems and how they currently work, and how they should work. She made it very clear that she thinks that prisons should no longer be called prisons but should be called facilities. She believes they should referred to as facilities because she wants them to seem like better places, she wants people to to believe that prisoners are able to change their persona while they are in these 'facilities'.  Part of me   agrees with her but part of me disagrees . I don't necessarily believe that people in prison should be given any special treatment, yes everyone should be treated like a human but no one that has committed a SERIOUS crime should expect any help. She was a very interesting speaker with some very good ideas.

Nowhere to be home/Patriot Acts 11/22

Summary: The first story is about Kyaw Zwar who was born in Rangoon,Burma. Kyaw is a political organizer. Growing up he considered his family middle class. The Ne Win government abolished the currency notes so they lost all their money because it was worthless. Some people even burned their money. Students no longer had money for tuition, food, or transportation. Students were very angry and started protesting against the government. The protesting got intense and the army soldiers starting shooting at the students. When he was put in prison they said that there couldn't be any "political prisoners" so they went on a hunger strike. When he was in prison he was beaten and extremely mistreated. The second story was about Adama Bah who was born in Koubia,Guinea. She came to the United States with her mother when she turned 2 years old. She attended public school until she was in seventh grade. She refused to pledge allegiance to the flag of the Unites States of America. She said " I am not an American now. I am a refugee."

Comment: Reading these stories, just like the other stories was very difficult to read. It's hard to think that they had to go through all these things. They were treated very poorly. When I read Adama's story I wasn't really surprised at how poorly she was treated and that is sad. There is obviously something wrong with our country if I was not surprised about that. People do not deserve to be treated like that, especially in our country. People come to this country to be free, and to be able to live a better life. So in my opinion if someone comes here for a better life then we should respect that, we shouldn't have anything negative to say about them. Everyone deserves an equal chance at being happy and being successful. Especially in our country, the land of the free. 

Out of Exile and Hope Deferred 11/17

Summary: The first story is about Achol Mayuol who was born in Marial Bai, South Sudan. Her along with many other children were taken when the Murahaleen attacked Marial Bai. They were told that their parents were killed and that their village was gone. "They were selling cattle at the same location. We were the same as the cattle." She was sold to a rich old man and had four kids. When she was taken into town with her children and her owner she was recognized by some Dinka men which helped free her and she was able to return home to Marial Bai and be free. The second story is about Alweel Kol who was born in Mulmul, South Sudan. Allele was only ten years old when she lost both of her parents. She continued going to school after she escaped and she lived with a very nice family. She got married to a man named Akaich when she was still in high school. When she got married she was pretty much considered his property and he could do whatever he wanted with her. She had a child with him, and not even a year later she got pregnant again but Bkaich claimed it was not his child even though it was. She was raped while in prison and became pregnant due to the rape. The third story was about Pamela and Themba who were born in Harare, Zimbabwe. Pamela grew up in a nice house and lived a modest life. This was during the time of the "Black Market", there were shortages everywhere, even food shortages. When Pamela and Themba had children it was very difficult for them to live. They had to decide to either stay with their children and watch them starve, or leave their children in order to go work somewhere else and send them money for food and other stuff.
Comment:  These stories just like all of the others we have read are very interesting and heart felt stories. Whenever I read these stories I feel very grateful for all that I have and I think about how good I have things in my life. There are also times when I read a story and I am able to relate back to it. One thing I found sad especially in these particular stories is when Achol said "We are the same as cattle." I don't think anyone should ever have to feel like this, shouldn't have to feel any less than human. Something else that I found very touching and that got me thinking was Pamela and Themba's story about their lives and how things changed for them when they had their children. Like every parent they just wanted what was best for their children and I think in those circumstances it was hard for them to actually give their children what they deserved. If I were in that situation and I was't able to give my kids what they needed then I don't know how I would feel.

11/15 Voices from the Storm/ Underground America

Summary: The first interview was on a man named Dan Bright who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dan Bright was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and was released in 2004. Bright grew up in the projects, 'the real projects' where guys got killed everyday he even had a brother that was killed. He was put on death row but he kept fighting and finally got a new trial from the court. Now that he is out its hard for him to get a job because everyone just sees him as an ex-convict that was on death row. One night Dan was stopped by the police and taken into custody, there was a warrant out for his arrest but it was a misdemeanor so he shouldn't have been taken in. He was in lock up during Hurricane Katrina and he said it felt as if he were on death row all over again, and he hated the feeling. He was left in prison in the cell during Hurricane Katrina, all the prisoners were trying to escape in order to save their own lives. All the prisoners were placed on one football field at another prison and were treated like animals and had to pretty much fend for themselves. The sheriff lied and said that he got the prisoners out but he didn't.
The second interviewee was Lorena, who was born in Puebla, Mexico. Lorena crossed over to the united states with her mother, step father and two brothers at the age of six. Her father was an alcoholic and used to beat her mom. One day her father kidnapped her in order to get back at her mom. The first time Lorena and her family attempted to cross the border it was unsuccessful but then they tried again not even a day later and they made it across. When they first got there they were really poor and could barely afford to eat. She started school the day after she arrived to the U.S. She attended Fresno state in 2002. She continued to fight for people's rights even when she came back from her trip.
The third interview was Mr.Lai, who was born in Fujian, China. Mr.Lai had many problems because his family broke the one-child policy.

Comment: These stories were very sad but also in a way very inspiring. The story I can relate to the most is Lorena's story. When reading her story it reminded me a lot about my mom and what she had to go through. She came to the united states at a very young age and she had to work, go to school, and pay for her own things. Lorena talks about how she continued to go to school because she felt as if that was the least she could do in order to repay her mom for helping her. She wanted to make something out of her life and actually make a difference. I am some what similar to Lorena as well. Although I did not have to cross the border in order to get to the U.S I consider myself Mexican because my mom was born there. My mom although she has lived in the United States for many years and is a U.S citizen she is still very proud of being Mexican and loves  her culture. Reading these stories also just gives me a different view on people's lives and makes me think about all the things that they go through.

Palestine Speaks 11/8

Summary: The first interview was of a women named Ibtisam Ilzghayyer who was born in Battir, West Bank. She is the director of Ghirass Cultural Center, Ghirass serves more than a thousand youth annually and also provides literacy programs for women. Living in Battir most of her neighbors were farmers, her parents farmed as well but her father was also a chef. There were nine people in her family and she explained how there was no tv's no computers and there wasn't even any toys. She likes this because she felt that everyone was pretty equal. At two years of age she got Polio which caused her to have to wear a brace in order to be able to walk properly. People looked at her differently and she was excluded from a lot at school because of her disability. Her parents wanted her to do well in school so that when she grew up she would be able to be independent regardless her disability. She did not do well in school until one day she succeeded on a test and she said " I tasted success just that one time, and I realized I loved it." Then she continued to do well in school and loved attending the University of Jordan in Amman. When she returned home she wasn't able to find a job with her economics degree, so she ended up working with people that had disabilities. At first she wasn't too happy about that but later realized that she actually enjoyed it. When she went to school she learned a lot of history but nothing related to Palestine and her own culture. They wanted to start the center during the first intifada, in order to teach children the Palestinian culture, but it was hard because it was forbidden for them to read any books about Palestine. The way she was treated at the Palestinian checkpoints was indescribable. She fights everyday for her rights and for the rights of the young children in Palestine. 
The second interview was of Jamal Bakr who was born in Ganza City, Ganza. Both times that they saw Jamal he was not fishing, he was just watching the boats come in with all the sardines that they had caught that day. There are about 4,000 Gazan fisherman that make a living from catching fish in the Mediterranean, but the distance that they can travel has been very restricted. Jamal always wanted to be a fisherman ever since he was a young kid, it was like a family job that was passed down. During the blockades Jamal wasn't able to make a single penny and there were even days when he owed money to the gas stations, so when he did find fish he still wouldn't make any money. He would some days just feed his family with the sardines that he was able to catch and they would eat them for dinner, sometimes even for lunch. Jamal was scared for his life every single day because fisherman would be shot to death everyday for no reason. One day he was scared that he almost lost his son, and the soldiers even destroyed his new boat. "But I never feel discouraged. I'm always hoping for the best."

Comment: Both of these interviews were very interesting and very heart felt. While reading these interviews I just thought to myself that it's absolutely crazy that people treat each other like this, it is completely inhumane. Everyone deserves to be equal and deserves to get an equal chance at everything. Living in Palestine was very difficult, I don't think I would have been able to keep living my life normally with everything that was going on. It is amazing to me how in most of these interviews people do not seem to lose any hope. They continue to do what they love and fight for what they believe is right. When reading these interviews it makes me happy to know that people did not give up and it sort of in a way gives me hope and motivates me to do well because I have a lot of freedom in my life which they did not have.

Position on Capital Punishment

I think Capital Punishment is a very sensitive topic and I do not think I can choose a side on whether or not I believe it is ok. There are some situations where I would agree that the death sentence is the best option, but then when I really take the time to think about it I really do not believe that it's the right thing to do. It is very, very hard to give my side on capital punishment because of many many reasons. Some reasons are a little more personal than others. One example where I believe capital punishment is 100% reasonable is the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where twenty-year old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between the ages 6-7 as well as 6 adult staff members. He also killed his own mother before heading to the school. This is someone who I think would have deserved the capital punishment if he had not committed suicide before the police got to him. My views on the death penalty are on going and I can argue about it forever. I can not say I am completely for capital punishment, but I am definitely not completely against it.

The Voice of Witness Reader pg.9-84

Summary:The introduction of this book explains how they interviewed people and asked them about their experiences during the civil war. They listened to their stories and they were completely astonished. They explain how important oral history was, and how we don't have it written down in actual history books. Studs Terkel was mentioned as the person that's the best able to bring oral history to a large. The introduction also just informs us and gives us examples of the interviews that we will read throughout the book. The first interviewee was Chris Ochoa who was born in El Paso, Texas. Ochoa was wrongly convicted of raping and murdering Nancy DePriest who was his manager at Pizza Hut where he worked. Chris talks about his childhood, his teen years in school, and eventually the future and how he ended up being convicted for a horrific crime. Chris Ochoa gave us specific details about the interview and the things that the officers were doing in order to get him to plead guilty to the crime. On Christmas eve Chris had been in jail for 10 years and he had thoughts of ending his own life but then he decided not to. His life in prison was really hard, he felt as if he were completely alone. When Ochoa was finally released from prison he was not angry and not bitter, he was just happy that he was finally out. When Ochoa was released from prison he had a fresh new start and got accepted into the University of Wisconsin Law School. The next person interviewed was Beverly Monroe, born in Marion, North Carolina. Beverly found her companion Roger Zygmunt de la Burde dead in his house and the medical examiner concluded it suicide. Eventually Beverly was forced into confessing to her husbands murder even thought it really wasn't her.

Comment: Reading about these interviews was very interesting. It is very hard to believe that they were both falsely convicted of a crime that they did not commit. If this were to happen to me or someone in my family I would be absolutely devastated. When I was reading the interviews I was in complete shock. The stories were very interesting, they both made me want to keep reading and know more about what went on. One thing that really surprised me especially about Chris Ochoa is that he never lost hope in himself and he was never angry when he got out. He was just happy that he was out and he was able to start fresh. If I were in his place I would be very mad, I don't think I would be able to forgive the people that locked me up for more than 10 years of my life. I am very interesting in reading more stories in this book.

The Voice of Witness 10/27

          The Voice of Witness website is a very interesting and informative website. I opened the website and first just took a little bit of time on the home screen, I read a few of the little posts that were on the home page. Then I clicked on the 'About' column, and that is where I found their mission, their history, and the programs that they have. The website also shows us that they have books that are available for us to read. There are a series of books that all look very very interesting. After that i went to the  'Get Involved' column. When I clicked on this it showed a few different ways that we could get involved and help out. You could either subscribe, volunteer or donate. After I looked through the website I decided to take a little bit more time playing with the map. Not sure if I used the map correctly but I clicked on the name ' Yasir Aladdin Afifi' and it took me to a page that talked about the book "Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post- 9/11 Injustice". Reading the summaries of the stories that are in that book are really surprising/sad.


          In the book Patriot Acts named above there were some stories that made me feel sad. In the book there is a girl named Adama and it states, "a sixteen-year-old Muslim American who was abruptly seized from her home by the FBI on suspicion of being a suicide bomber. Even after her release from detention, she was forced to wear a tracking bracelet for the next three years." This is crazy to just think that at such a young age she had to go through all those things that she went through. There was also a story about Rana who's a Sikh man whose brother Balbir was gunned down outside the gas station where he worked. Balbir’s death was the first reported hate murder after 9/11. This is another thing that is just unbelievable. It crazy to me how badly people are treated. It is honestly very sad. It is something we should all step up to change and make a difference in. 

Man's Search for Meaning 9/20 pg.43-93

Summary: It was only his second night at the camp and he was thinking about his wife because it was her birthday and he couldn't be with her. Frankl explains how he taught a friend how to have a sense of humor. He explained how important it was to have some kind of humor in order to get through the days in the camps. When they got taken to Dachau they thought it was going to be a lot worse but then they realized there was no "ovens", crematoriums, gas and no chimneys. That was a relief for them all. It was better than Auschwitz because there was chimneys there. The men envied each other for the different jobs that they had, some men even considered themselves lucky.  Frankl says, "No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same." When they were sick they were able to take breaks in the hut, they would all gather around for body warmth. The prisoners in the camps were really happy just to get a little piece of bread and some soup. The men in the camps were herded just like sheep. They lost their self-respect and descended to animal level. The prisoners in the camps wanted to be alone, they craved solitude. Frankl was trying to help patients but then he became weak and exhausted from a serious attack of typhus. The prisoners in the camps became nothing but a number, it didn't matter if they were dead or alive. The prisoners were separated in groups and Frankl said that he was a doctor, but he still got moved around a lot. Frankl wrote a will, and in the will he just talked about his wife and how much he loved his wife. He wanted to make sure that his wife knew that he loved her more than anything. The prisoners were so desperate that they started eating the human flesh off the dead corpse. He attempted to escape from the camp but it wasn't successful so he returned. The second time he was going to escape he decided not to because he wanted to stay and help his patients. As soon as he decided not to leave he said that he felt an inward peace that he had not felt before. The negative feeling that he felt had gone away. People then tried to escape but it was still pretty difficult to escape. Prisoners felt utterly degraded.

Comment: Reading all this makes me have manny different emotions. I can not even imagine being in this situation, I would never want to know what it feels like to be completely separated from my family. I also do not want to know what it feels like to be completely robbed from my identity. It would be very hard to see myself as just a number, I would not be able to handle being so dehumanized. I would do all that I could in order to escape from the camps. I would think day and night of ways to get out of the camp. I would also try to find a way to get others out of the camps as well.The camps are such a terrible place to be. I don't know if I would be able to turn down an opportunity if it meant potentially getting out of the camps. So for Frankl to do that was very brave in my opinion. Although Frankl was going through a lot in the camps all he was able to think about was his wife, and that to me means a lot. He had so much love toward his wife and he wanted to make sure that she knew how much he loved her. This is true love and care, he didn't even want to think about his wife suffering or having to go through the things that he went through. This was a very good part of this book. 

Holocaust Memorial- Lincoln Park

The second memorial I got a chance to visit was the Holocaust memorial at Lincoln park in San Fransisco. This memorial in my opinion had a lot more meaning just because of the statues that were laying on the ground. "We will never forget the genocidal slaughter of six million Jews, including one and a half million children in the Nazi Holocaust of 1933-1945." This is on one of the plaques that was at the memorial site. There was also a plaque with the names of some of the people that were killed during the Holocaust and that was really sad. The names sort of reminded me of the 911 memorial in New York that had everyone's name around it. This was a very beautiful memorial that I would recommend everyone go and visit. 

Pink Triangle Park and Memorial

Visiting the Pink Triangle Park and Memorial in San Francisco was a very nice experience.  The Pink Triangle Memorial was made in remembrance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims of the Nazi regime(1933-1945). Although the memorial itself is pretty small it has a lot of meaning. When you walk up to the memorial there is a little trail that leads you through a triangle on the ground that is filled with little pink stones. Around the memorial there is also around 20 or so triangle shaped pillars that are pink at the top. After a little research about the Pink triangle I found out that the men in the concentration camps had to actually wear a pink triangle badge on them because of their homosexuality. In the years 1933-1945 there were between 50,000 and 63,000 men convicted for homosexuality. This is really sad that all this happened, and I think it is very important to learn about these past events.

Man's Search for Meaning Pg.41

Summary: Frankl is writing this book to show us how everyday life was for him and others in the concentration camps. He originally wanted to just write the book anonymously just using his prisoner number but that would make the book lose half of its value. When they had arrived to the camps they were separated to two sides, the left and right side. Those who were pointed to the left would be sent to the crematorium and those who were pointed to the right were lucky enough to live another day. Frankl was fortunately sent to the right. Families were separated, and even the children were sent to the 'baths' and crematoriums. Everyone slept together on the broads, there was only two blankets shared between nine men. Some advice they were given to stay alive was to stay looking young. Stay shaved and clean, they had to shave even if it was with a piece of glass . The children worked in the snow without any shoes on, their toes had become frostbitten. Frankl explained how the dying and the dead stopped moving affecting him because after just a few weeks at the camps he was used to it. When the men died Frankl just watched a as people came and took stuff off of the dead body, shoes, clothes, etc. He started to lose emotions, he sipped his soup as he watched the dead corpse leave the room. One day as Frankl was working on the railroad he decided to take a little breath, and right when he did that the guard turned around. He explains that he wasn't beat by the guard, the guard only threw a stone at him. But this hurt Frankl even more than actually getting beat because he felt that he was being treated as less than an animal. Frankl explained to us how one night a fellow prisoner was having a terrible dream, but he decided it would be better to let him have a terrible dream than wake him up to the reality of the camps. The prisoners were just given the basic amount of food to live.

Comment : There aren't enough words to describe how I felt after reading some of this stuff. It is unbelievable to me how inhumane they were towards the prisoners. It isn't fair that they had to go through the things that they went through. I think the part that affected me the most was reading about the children and the way they were treated. If I were ever put in this position I don't know what I would do. I can not even think about my family being taken away from me. My family is the most important thing to me and if that was taken away from me I don't think I would be able to continue living on with my life. In Frankl's situation it is very hard to decide what the wrong and right thing is to do. Everyone is trying to live to see the next day and maybe the only way to do that was by taking things away from the dead corpse. If that was the only way I could stay alive I can't say that I wouldn't do the same thing. It is very sad to think about but all of the prisoners were put in a very hard situation. My favorite part of this section in the book had to be at the end when the prisoners were looking up at the sunset. A prisoner said, "How beautiful the world could be." This is very true even today in our world. There are a lot of things going on that should be changed.

From Cruelty to Goodness

Summary: 

                 There can be many different forms of cruelty, people are not only tortured with hard weapons but also by peoples words. There does not have to be any pain or bloodshed for there to be any from of cruelty. In the camps they were treated as less than animals, they no longer had dignity nor self-respect. Eventually the slaves the started to think or themselves as just as things, tools of their owners. Heinrich Himmler, head or the Nazi SS said. "The jewish people will be exterminated." Douglass made it a point that the white people treated them the way they did for no reason but because they can, they have the physical power to do whatever they want. There were words like "nigger" and "slave" used and this was enough for blacks to be under the 'power' of whites. A little kindness does not make up for all the cruelty that the slaves faced. The children had their finger tips cut off, their little bones broken and a lot more by the white people. After reading other stories he realized that the opposite of cruelty was hospitality. The young girl that was saved by the people of Le Chambon said that if they are not bitter people like most that survived the holocaust it is because the people from Le Chambon showed them that life could be different, and that their is actually people that care. There is a lot that the people of Le Chambon taught the others. The survivors of the Holocaust continue to suffer long after the torture is actually over. He explained that he received a letter from someone in Massachusetts , "Your people and the people that they saved simply do not exist."

Comment:

                 This reading was very interesting but also difficult to read on some parts. When he explains what cruelty really is it got me thinking. It is obviously more than what the dictionary says. There are times when people might say something and it hurts more than actual physical abuse. There really does not have to be any abuse or bloodshed for it to be cruelty. I think the most difficult part to read in this story is what happened to the children. When I read about the the children getting their fingers cut off by the white people, I just didn't know what to think of it. I can't believe someone could actually do that to someone else, especially children. If I were to see the people that hurt the children I would feel a lot of anger toward them. I also can not believe that someone from Massachusetts really sent a letter saying that the Holocaust was no big deal. "Your people and the people they saved simply do not exist.." This is very wrong. No one has the right to say anything like this. This is difficult to read and brings out a lot of different feelings.

                  

All done:)