Venice Delos Reyes

11 STEM AMETHYST
UCSP

Task 1: Reflection

Holocaust, a topic that severed my questions about how inhumane the Nazis who came in power
in Germany back on January 1933 according to the records of history who highly think of themselves
‘racially superior’ calling other races as inferior. Since I had encountered this lesson back in junior high
school, it made my curiosity about the World War II to grow more and delve deeply into the facts seeking
what truly happened. Elie Wiesel quoted ‘Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no
future.’ It caught my interest thinking that this statement of his describe the whole concept on how the
world survive such eras which resulted to significant happenings that left us hanging and clinging to it
every generation, studying it again and again making us not to forget the decisions and actions of our
ancestors that lead us today. The Jews who was considered to be the deadliest menace to the German
Volk, the word suffer is not enough to describe what their race had gone through in the brutal hands of
these German authorities. The poisoning, torturing, slave working until death, shootings, and mass
murdering of their standard races of people as ‘inferior’ were vicious and unacceptable ways to save the
purported purity of the German race.
The stock knowledge I have before indulging myself with the provided videos and articles were
just a faint understanding of the systematic murder of the European Jews and other ‘undesirable’ during
World War II by the Nazi Germans and their allies. Articles, books, documentaries, and traditional
narrative forms of testimony are ways to speak about the unspeakable information about the historical
narrative of the Holocaust and protect against the assault on historical memory. These instruments forces
every each of us to take responsibility for the act of remembering. In my utmost perspective, the tyranny
ended on May 8, 1945 was not the ending of the suffering of the victims but another crisis to face in order
for the Jews and other undesirable to continue living with the scars left by the past. It is indeed
unimaginable for the Nazis to even account themselves for establishing a policy around the Europe ‘Final
Solution’ in fully eradicating the European Jews living in different countries. How could a concept of
superiority result to such measures of millions of killing of people, species that is no different from the
perpetrators of the Holocaust? What’s infuriating the most is their ability to institute killing centers called
extermination camps for the primary cause of murdering the Jews community.
The statement,’In permission for the destruction of worthless life, a noted jurist and a
psychiatrist argued that people deemed without value should be eliminated,’ what power does these
people own to have the right to determine a person’s value whether it is worthy or unworthy to live? It is
a sin to even have these thoughts but the Germans do not deserve any amount of thought that they belong
to the human race in the history. Regardless of the race, religion, appearance, or ethnicity, every life
counts and valuable to live. Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but above all, thou
shalt not be a bystander. A quote that generalizes this whole reflection, the history will never change but
the decisions of our ancestors shall not be repeated. This whole generation are onto something that might
be great, the ideals of every individual is shared, and judgements around the world is inevitable.
Task 2: Manya Friedman

‘The transition to normal clothing from the lice infested camp garments was an easy task, but the
nightmares and the memories of the camps still linger on.’ Manya Friedman, a victim, a survivor, and a
volunteer to be one of the voices to speak for her race until her last breath. A daughter to her loving
parents and a sister to her two younger brothers whom she have never seen again. The uncertainty she had
while writing her piece of shared memory to the world was eased by her desire to share the painful scars
of her life that contributed to who she was after surviving the dreadful mass murdering of European Jews
and the undesirable in the brutal hands of the Nazis. She was trapped in to something that was
unimaginable for a girl to go through. The slavery, the harsh treatment, and the wonder she had every
single day of when she will reach her death while working with a vulnerable body. The experience she
wrote was undoubtedly about her journey in coping the aftermath of the Holocaust. The way she
remembered the exact image of the two dresses she received upon surviving was like a symbolic way of
saying that she was beyond thankful for the Swedish people who were very generous upon helping them.
Manya was indeed one of the brave survivors who paved her way to move forward in life. The
reluctance and suspicion she felt when she first followed the Red Cross workers when they were rescued
was only natural, a feeling of doubt that she own, a hesitation to not trust anyone but herself. In disbelief,
the rejoicing they’ve shared upon hearing the end of war was the beginning of picking up their lost life.
Freedom to live was already at their hands, Manya chose to hold it dearly while making sure to treasure it,
but not everyone of them has the strength to overcome the nightmares of the past. It was definitely
unfortunate for Manya to think that she will rejoin the human race again, the fact that she considered
herself like that added to the unforgivable deed of the Nazis. The description she had for herself while
looking at the mirror was amiable, it was enough reason to conclude that Manya had become a strong and
inspiring woman with scars, devoted herself to live again with the memories of her loved ones.