Saturday, February 24, 2007
Introductions
Welcome to this online discussion of All But My Life by Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein.
- Please introduce yourself. Tell us about any previous class in which you have studied the Holocaust or comment briefly on a Holocaust-related book that you have read.
- Are there school-related or community service projects in which you would like to be involved? Please share this information.
A sincere thank you to all blog participants for introducing yourselves and for joining in this project with enthusiasm and interest! Pease see comment # 48 from Darryle Clott and comment # 57 from Bill Younglove in response to your questions about suggestions for other Holocaust books to read. Recommended fiction, biographical, and historical titles (with reviews) can also be found on the Museum Fellowship Teaching Resources Website.
Charles, German II, 2nd Block:
As a student studying the German language, history, and culture I find this book to be pretty darn hard to stop reading and I have only started reading! 😉
o3.02.o7 Hi..I’m Jaime!And, I am from Pennfield HS. We are currently reading G.W.Klein’s book, All But My Life in my German 2 class. I actually already know much about the concentration camps, as I have visited there when I traveled to Europe. The book is very interesting to read, and I am looking forward to eventually read the whole story. My class is planning to help out our community at the Salvation Army kitchen soon. (..just waiting for verification:) That will also be fun, and helpful at the same time. Enjoy reading and blogging everyone!
Hello, my name is Wilhelm Schmidt. I am from PHS and I am in German II. I am very excited to hear a new perspective on the Holocaust. I have studied the Holocaust in US History and World History.
My class is planning to participate in a community project within the next few months. We will be volunteering at a soup kitchen in Battle Creek. That’s all for now.
Peace.
Charles, German II, 2nd Block:
Oh yeah, my class is also planning to do some community service, possible working at a soup kitchen! I forgot to mention it earlier with all the excitement after reading the first few chapters of the book. Have a nice day.
Kiley, German II, 2nd Block:
I’m a junior in my German II class, and we have started reading G.W. Klein’s Book. All But My Life has been, so far, a great reading experience, and I hope to finish the book soon. I have been learning about the Holocaust in both my World History Class, and my English Class. …yup…
Heather, Advanced Lit. 1st block: At Harper Creek the Holocaust is talked about in many of our classes. In English I we read “Diary of Anne Frank” and had brief class discussions about it. In American Studies II we watched several movies on the Holocaust such as “Warsaw Ghetto” and many other documentaries. Now in Advanced Lit. we have read Gerda’s book “All But My Life” and are awaiting to listen to her speak. In this unit’s theme, Man’s inhumanity to Man, we have also started reading “Lord of the Flies.” We have watched Hotel Rwanda and The Last Day’s of our Life as well to study the theme. As a class we are deciding on what community project we would like to try to pursue.
from Bill Younglove, Instructor/Teacher Supervisor at California State University Long Beach. To Vanessa, Abbey, and any others who want to “go beyond” ALL BUT MY LIFE…. I agree with Darryle Clott that Gerda’s A BORING EVENING AT HOME, besides being a funny title, is a good read, as is Elie Wiesel’s NIGHT. In a reading survey I conducted for the USHMM a few years back, these titles were also very popular: DRY TEARS by Nechama Tec, THE CAGE by Ruth Minsky Sender, I HAVE LIVED A THOUSAND YEARS by Livia Bitton-Jackson, and, if you consider yourself a very mature reader: SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ by Primo Levi. Like Darryle, I think that the willingness of many of you to do community service,, actually helping people right in your area, even if your school or district “requires” it, is the fastest way to break down walls between people. You are to be commended!
Kathi, Advanced Lit. 1st block
I have taken several classes in my school in Germany, in which we talked a lot about the Holocaust.
In 9th grade we went on a class trip to Poland. During that trip we also went to Auschwitz, an experience I never want to miss.
We went to Poland because of a project we started in sixth grade in my social studies class.
The project was about people who were forced to work for the Nazis in my hometown, Bonn. These people visited us several times at our school because they heard about our project and wanted to meet us. After the second visit they invited us to come to their town, Zdunska Wola, to show us how they live now.
This journey was really moving and I’m still in contact with some students in Poland who will go on with this project in their home town.
Jenna, Advanced Lit 1st block
I have had some previous experience learning about the Holocaust. It was briefly taught in my recent history and English classes. In American Studies II, I watched a couple documentaries about the holocaust and did a research project about it. In my English I class, we read about the holocaust and briefly talked about it. In Advanced Literature we just finished reading All But my Life and are working on a unit based on man’s inhumanity to man. We just finished the movie Hotel Rwanda and we are currently reading Lord of The Flies to get a better perspective about man’s inhumanity to man.
Adam, Advanced Lit. 1st block: I have had many history and literature classes in which we have studied the Holocaust. I have read the Diary of Anne Frank, as well as All But My Life, and Mans Search for Meaning. I feel I haven’t learned nearly enough about the Jewish culture pre-Holocaust.
from Bill Younglove, California State University Long Beach: Now that I have had a chance to read the 60 introductory posts, I want, again, to commend those of you who are involved in so many different community service projects. You perhaps have no idea how much your touching those human lives means to those you interact with. I can see that many of you are reading widely in Holocaust studies; that is good…
Adam had an interesting comment at the end of his post, “I haven’t learned nearly enough about the Jewish culture pre-Holocaust.” Not being Jewish myself, I felt the same way. Just to read and understand Elie Wiesel’s life in Sighet, Hungary in NIGHT more fully, I had to learn much about the Jewish faith. Many of the Holocaust memoirs commence when the survivors lived as children in vibrant learning communities, large and small, across parts of Europe. Anne Frank, whom many of you cite, came from Frankfurt, Germany to Amsterdam, cities which both had longtime Jewish communities. I am sure that people in your own school, libraries, electronic sites, and Jewish Community Centers nearby will have answers to most of your questions.
Neil, 1st Block, Advanced Lit.
Hi, my name is Neil, and i haven’t had much teachings on the holocaust, but I have read the book called “Ann Frank.” That was about all that I have studied on this subject. Thank you all for this wonderful experience.
I’m glad to be here blogging at Lakeview HS. I’m a member of the Lifelong Learning program at Kellogg Community College. This is an interesting subject. I was able to see Gerda Klein’s powerful film yesterday with the Lakeview students.
– Elaine