But something about the cattle cars has begun to dissolve the ties which are so central to this Jewish community. Marian made a good observation in the last chapter about the cattle cars dehumanizing effects, and I think that his in fact is also the key to the devolution of the Jews unity. From the moment a fellow Jew is assigned to ensure that everyone remains in the cart, with the penalty of death if the orders aren't followed, the Germans begin to pit the Jews against one another. As opposed to the situation being an "us" against "them" scenario, it's now becoming a "me" against everyone else because now everyone has to protect their own skins.
This is perhaps the most detrimental physical and psychological tactic of the Holocaust because it forces everyone to endure the pain and fear of their brutality alone.
I like that you chose to discuss something besides the woman screaming about fire. Division will certainly destroy the people as a whole. Unity was the only reason they remained so optimistic in the beginning, but being shoved into cattle cars, with no room to sit or lay has started to take a toll on them. I don't think they have completely divided yet and I hope they can maintain some sense of unity through this whole ordeal because without that, like you said, they'll start to have a "me versus you" mentality which will eventually tear them apart.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very interesting point of view in that the Jews stopped seeking strength and hope in others in the cattle cars and I think it also shows their disintegrating faith in humanity as well.
ReplyDeleteYvonne, I think you made a very good point about the disintegration of faith in humanity because at this point, the Jews have only seen the darkest and most terrifying aspects of life, and this is before they've even entered the camps. I hope and truly believe that they won't lose all faith however, and that they will like Mikaela said, find a way to retain their sense of unity as they endure turmoil.
ReplyDeleteThis an excellent observation about tactics the Germans used to break the Jewish will. Do you think these tactics will make the Germans job easier by turning the Jews against each other? Or do you think the Jews will be able to stay sane and persevere?
ReplyDeleteYour observation's very insightful, Chinyere. I agree that it could be one of the most destructive tools and I believe this chapter, though a short one, served to gently transition us to the immense upcoming disasters and to the devolution of unity that goes along with them. The sense of unity had kept them in optimistic and confident shape and allowed them to endure the series of events prior to entering the train, and seeing how they already start to lose that before even reaching the camp will allow us to slowly understand how they suffer through worse conditions without it
ReplyDeleteGood observation Chinyere, but I feel that the Nazis just exploited a problem already found in the Jewish community. The evidence for this is that the Jews are not an ethnicity or "race" but people who follow the religion of Judaism.
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