After watching the chapter 2 and 3 of the video of Oprah and Elie Wiesel at Auschwitz, answer the following questions on your own blogs
Describe the areas the Orpah and Elie Wiesel visit in Chapter 2 & 3.
In the video, they visited the museum where they overlooked all the children's shoes. they also visited the gas chambers where the Germans found easier and more efficient way of killing the Jews. They came across the crematorium but did not go in for the reason being that Elie Wiesel was so traumatized by the horrors he has seen in there that he doesn't want to go back in and relive all those memories.
Why do Oprah and Elie Wiesel refer to the camp as a "death factory"? how was it "industrialized"?
The camp(s) were referred as a 'death factory'because hundreds and hundreds of people died each day. They were either, worked, tortured, starved, or burned to death. And when that didn't do the job of killing them German Nazis would shoot them.
When they say the 'death factory' became industrialized it means that the German Nazis have found new innovative and more efficient ways in killing large masses of Jews in faster and easier way. This is where gas chambers came in. German nazi soldiers would cram in hundreds of Jews into one room or cellar, turn on the poisonous gas. The Jews would inhale this and die.
What is the significance of the hundreds of labelled suitcases? of the baby clothes? of the shoes?
Before the Jews even knew they were going to die at the concentration camps they thought they were being brought into a new more wonderful place where they could work and earn money, they were told to pack a few of their most precious belongings to bring with them onto the train. Eager to escape from the bad economy they were living in, each suitcase was labeled with its own owner. When they had arrived at the camps, they were told they were going to take showers and left all their belongings and clothes with German soldiers thinking they were going to be returned back to them. But showers turned out to be gas chambers and they died leaving their precious belongings with them. So each shoe, piece of clothing, and suitcase represents a life that has been taken away all with their own personal true story. We have no idea what these peoples' significance in life could of been. In the video, Elie mentioned that any one of these people who have died could have found a cure for aid and cancer, but we would never know.
How is this video different in video technique and style from most videos or movies that you are used to seeing? (think about your answers to question 2 on the previous reflection)? Do you think the difference in style was effective? Why or why not?
I think this video is very different from all the interviews i have ever seen or have done myself. I think this particular way of interviewing is so much more effective because of the topic they are focusing on, more of a dramatic and emotional interview. The technique being that we could see long shots of both Oprah and Elie talking and how they react to what each other says.
After watching the video and reading the book, what is your impression or response to this thing called the Holocaust? How did the experience of watching the video differ from that of reading the book for you?
While reading the book, it felt so unreal that humans were doing such inhumane things to other humans. It was so hard to picture the dead bodies piled high on each other until i saw the book. When i watched the video I could not only read about it but now I can visualize and see all the things that happened inside the camps. And especially with Elie's voice himself talking about brings so much more emotional and meaning to the words in the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment