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.