Abstract In all the literature, art, and film that have been devoted to describing and memorializing the horrors of the Holocaust over the years, few could be as different in tone as Elie Wiesel's horrific autobiography of his Auschwitz experience, "Night" and Art Spiegelman's comic-strip portrayal of the Jews and the Holocaust, "Maus". The paper shows that the only thing these two works have in common is the fact that the authors are attempting to encapsulate for readers the experience of the Holocaust. The attitudes, however, are markedly different, but no less moving for the reader. The paper shows that these two works serve to give readers interested in learning more about the Holocaust a wider perspective from which to study this horrific chapter in the history of the world.
From the Paper "Whereas Spiegelman's father survived by relying on his wits, skills, and strength, Wiesel survives more on his luck. He is more passive while Vladek is more active. Wiesel can do nothing but watch as his family is first forced into the ghetto and then forced to flee that and go to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. He could do nothing but watch as his family suffered horribly and died. This is not pointed out as a judgment on Wiesel's passivity. Rather, the point to be made here is that both men managed to survive; their approaches, however, were different. This isn?t all that surprising when one considers the differences between the two people to begin with. Vladek was a strong, adult man and able to deal a little better with the environment in which he found himself. Wiesel, on the other hand, was just a young boy and was coping with the situation in which he and his family found themselves as best he could."
Abstract This paper discusses how William Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice" presents an almost unimaginably terrible moral dilemma to the reader. It looks at how in the novel, the character Sophie and her two children are taken to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Nazi purge of the Jews and how in order to be spared, Sophie must choose the life of one of her children over the other. It analyzes the several ways that one can ultimately view Sophie's decision to save Jan, her elder boy, such as using a Kantian, a utilitarian, or a relativist moral perspective. It also evaluates how Sophie's decision, for Styron, ultimately serves as a theological proof, a proof that, by extension, serves to show that Styron believes in an inherent meaning to morality very much in the same manner that Kant does.
From the Paper "From the example of the terrible choice that Sophie is forced to make, one might ultimately conclude that Styron, then, accepts a relativist position on morality. Almost anyone would have to reject Kantian values in this application?by applying the categorical imperative Sophie would have almost certainly lost both of her children, and how could anyone call a mother immoral for being unwilling to sacrifice both of her children to the "higher cause" of an abstract ethical system? Making such a choice would seem terrible, cruel, and inhuman, so we can say of the Kantian analyzing Sophie's situation that, if he is willing call her unethical, he may be "theoretically" correct, but he has no heart. Utilitarianism seems similarly flawed, and Sophie's good faith efforts to save one of her children probably did not work?regardless she is at best uncertain as to her son's survival and doubts of it."
This paper reviews Abram and Joseph Korn's "Abe's Story: A Holocaust Memoir", a story not only of murderous actions and mass genocide but also a story of survival.
Abstract This paper explains that, after Abram Korn's death in 1972, his son Joseph began compiling and editing his father's writings to be published as a reminder to the world of the atrocities which occurred during the Holocaust and to serve as an example of his father's will, determination and human strength. The author points out that the story relates the survival of Abram Korn, who, during the entire war, was a Jewish prisoner inside various ghetto's, concentration and work camps and the Death March from Auschwitz. The paper relates details of his life during the Holocaust, from the daily life inside the ghetto, which called for extreme patience with extremely long lines to get food, water and even to be buried, to, finally, after many concentration camps, the afternoon of April 11, 1945, when out of the blue, Abram heard singing coming from outside his barracks and soon witnessed German solders being bound together and brought in front of the prisoners, helpless for the first time.
From the Paper "In the early morning hours of September 1, 1939, Abram Korn, along with many Polish citizens, was awoke by the sound of air raid sirens as Hitler's air force, the Luftwaffe, began their invasion of Poland marking the start of WWII. "Even though the number of injured in this initial attack was relatively small, the bombing foreshadowed a war that would destroy millions of people and would touch uncounted lives with misery" (Korn). Soon after the invasion Abram and his family were deported from Lipno to the Kutno Ghetto."
This paper reviews and discusses Holocaust survivor and author Eli Wiesel's 1960 novel "Night" which has become required reading in most U.S. high schools.
Abstract The writer of this paper details the horrors of the Holocaust, and Auschwitz in particular, in Eli Wiesel's novel "Night." The writer also examines whether parts of Wiesel's writings are autobiographical, as it's clear the author struggled with his memories and tried to set apart some scenes he would write about whereas others remain locked in his own memory.
From the Paper "Time and time again, the book brings us back to Wiesel's feelings and comments about God. He occasionally seems to give up on any hope for humanity. But, he retains his faith in his Jewish heritage. This, of course, happened to Elie the novel's narrator, and to Wiesel the actual writer and humanist today. In looking at the copyright date, 1960, it is obvious that Wiesel struggled with his memories and tried to set apart some scenes he would write about and others that would remain locked in his own memory. Still, he has no master plan in what he has decided to write about and just how intimately he is willing to share the Truth as he lived it, with the reader who can only imagine the awfulness of all those years."
Tags: book, novel, holocaust, auschwitz, birkenau, concentration, camp, nazi
Abstract The paper relates that "Shoah" consists of many hours of interviews with three categories of characters: survivors, witnesses and perpetrators. The paper explains that, in order to depict the historical reality, the director takes the survivors back to the places where their story happened. The paper relates that there are four places which concerned the director: Chelmno, Treblinka, Auschwitz - Birkenau and Warsaw ghetto. The paper maintains that Lanzmann succeeds in passing down a message about man's capacity for cruelty to his fellow man to the coming generations and in publicizing the Jewish tragedy around the world.
From the Paper "Shoah consists of many hours of interviews with three categories of characters: survivors, witnesses and perpetrators. In order to depict the historical reality, the director takes the survivors back to the places where their story happened. He makes them face the places where the terror took place. The particular medium of the documentary film work describes the historical reality of the holocaust through people who lived "shoah" , history is told by the people who survived, witnessed or people who were directly involved in conducting the holocaust."
