Introduction

My name is Jenna Kelley and I am currently a senior at Westborough High School. I am 17 years old and I spend most of my time playing sports. I play soccer and basketball for the high school teams and I also play soccer year round on a club team. I plan to go to college to study nursing and I hope to someday work in a prominent hospital as a pediatric nurse.

As a senior in high school, the first two words that came to mind when choosing what classes to take were easy and interesting. I wanted to take classes that wouldn’t require me to do a tremendous amount of work, but yet would still be interesting to me. Choosing my history electives might have been the hardest ones to choose because history has never been one of my favorite subjects and I didn’t want to pick an elective that I would hate going to everyday. I had heard of Facing History & Ourselves from seniors who had taken it the year before. They told me it was a class that everyone needs to take before graduating from Westborough High School. They said it would change who I am and that it would ultimately be the best class I had ever taken. I trusted them and signed up to take the class, but I sort of shrugged off the idea that a class could actually change who I am.

Facing History & Ourselves did in fact change the person I am today. This class has changed the way I perceive myself and other people, and it has also changed the way I make choices that affect my life. Throughout the course, we watched movies and documentaries about the Holocaust. We were able to see what truly happened to the Jewish people during that time period. The films we watched showed realistic scenes from the concentration camps and the conditions that the Jewish people were forced to live in. Facing History & Ourselves showed us details about the Holocaust that we had never seen before. During the class, we also talked about current events that were relevant to how the choices people make in their lives affect them in either positive or negative ways. Every documentary, film, and movie that we watched, made us think about the choices we make in our everyday lives and how they are not only affecting ourselves, but also the people around us.

Reflective Essay

As I walked into Mr. Gallagher`s room on the first day of school of my senior year at Westborough High School, I had mixed feelings about the course, Facing History & Ourselves. I had heard what a great class it was and how it would change me as a person, but I didn’t always believe that it truly would. I sat down in my seat with an opened mind and before I knew it, I was a changed person because of one high school class. Growing up with a Jewish mother and many Jewish relatives, I was well aware of what the Holocaust was. I had learned about it in school and have always had lessons on it in my history classes. Although I knew what the Holocaust was, I never knew it to the extent that Facing History & Ourselves brought it to. By watching films such as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Grey Zone, and Sophie`s Choice I was able to see the Holocaust and the effects of the Holocaust in a different light. The films showed what it was like for the Jewish people up close and personal. The films and movies were not the only things that showed what the Holocaust was really like. The Auschwitz album that was shared with the class at the end of the course made the events that took place even more real. Seeing pictures of the children and their families walking towards their deaths put everything into perspective.

Throughout the course of the class, many different films were watched and each one taught me a different lesson. Out of the three movies that really stood out to me, The Grey Zone was definitely the most graphic one. It showed the brutal and inhumane treatment of the innocent Jewish people. The film also showed the moral dilemma of the Sonderkommando Jews and their steps to complete an armed revolt. The Grey Zone was able to show me that no matter what the circumstances are, something good can come from one`s choices. The Sonderkommando Jews knew they were going to die very soon, but they still put in every effort to save the little girl who survived the gas. They made a choice to save the little girl. They knew it was the right thing to do even if they would ultimately be killed because of it. They risked everything they had to save the life of one girl. People make choices every day that affect themselves and the people around them. This film showed me the importance of making the choice to do the right thing.

Making the choice to do the right thing was reiterated in the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but it taught me something different as well. The viewers of this film were able to form connections with the characters, especially the two eight year old boys. One of the eight year old boys, Bruno, showed how naive the German youth were about the Holocaust and the Nazis. He had no idea what was going on behind his house and what his father was doing as part of his job. Bruno made a choice to help his Jewish friend try to find his father. Bruno chose to do the right thing, but was ultimately hurt in the end. As the movie was brought to an end, the death of the two little boys affected the whole class as everyone sat in silence for a couple of minutes. It was an awful feeling to watch two young boys die, and I wasn`t even thinking about the thousands of other people who have died because of the same reason. This film put the Holocaust into perspective for me. The number of Jews who were killed during the Holocaust was portrayed through the two little boys who died in the gas chamber. The mother in the film stuck out to me as a bystander. Once she had learned what was going on behind her house, she wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. She was thinking about her children and herself, but not about the people who were getting hurt. Before taking this class, I would have classified myself as a bystander. I didn’t like speaking up or getting in people`s business even if I knew it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to stand out and be different from everyone else. The most important thing that this class has taught me is to not be a bystander. I have seen the affects that are caused from being a bystander and I have changed the way I now act. I am not afraid of speaking up when it is the right thing to do. I am no longer worried about being the odd one out or of what people think of me. I no longer classify myself as a bystander after taking this class.   

Sophie`s Choice was a short segment that was viewed during one of the last days of the class. It captured the tremendous amount of fear that the Jewish people had in merely a couple of minutes. It also showed how important the choices that one makes are. A woman was forced to choose between her two children and which one would be sent away with the Nazis. No mother would ever have ease to make such a choice. The woman refused to make the decision at first, but then was forced to give her little girl away to the Nazis. The choice that this woman was forced to make will affect her forever. Watching this woman have to make this decision made me so angry. I was very upset with the way she was treated. This segment along with other films that we watched has caused me to be aware of how I treat people now. I pay attention to what I say and how I act. I feel that I am a better person now because of it.

During the final week of the class, Facing History & Ourselves, as I was sitting in my seat looking at the photos from the Auschwitz Album, I realized how much I actually have changed as a person. After enduring all of the heartbreaking and realistic films of the Holocaust, I can now say that I am a better person and student. I now am fully aware and have a great understanding of the Holocaust and the events that took place. Watching the events take place has made me a better person. I now pay close attention to how I treat people and how I act towards people as well. The greatest change that has come from taking this class is that I no longer see myself as a bystander. I have made a great change in myself when it comes to speaking up for what is right. I am no longer the shy, quiet girl who doesn’t want to be noticed. I find myself going out of my comfort zone and standing up for what I believe in. This class has made me realize that I do need to speak up and do the right thing even if I am the only one doing it. This class has enabled me to answer the question "Who am I?". I am a participant who stands up for what I believe in and what the right thing to do is. Facing History & Ourselves has forever changed me into a better student and a better person.

Works Cited

Children in Auschwitz Album. Google Images. Image. 12 January 2012

Jewish Boy in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Google Images. Image. 12 January 2012.

German Bystanders. Google Images. Image. 12 January 2012.

Sophie with her Children in Sophie`s Choice. Google Images. Image. 12 January 2012.

Young Girl in Grey Zone. Google Images. Image. 12 January 2012.