Jack Tragakis
Period 3
What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me
Facing History and Ourselves was a class full of new experiences and ideas. The class caused me to stop for a second and take the time to realize what all this information truly meant to me. I had been taught about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany many times before but this class was able to show me so much more then I ever imagined. What I knew before was simply the tip of the ice burg. I was aware of Hitler coming into power and leading Germany
When I saw the pianist it gave me a sense of hope. It proved that even when it cant get any worse, even when everything seems to be weighing against you, holding you back, there is a light at the end. If you try and have a will to survive just get through these situations, it is possible to accomplish anything. It is possible that even the weakest and most unlikely person can make a difference and break away. This is the thing that sticks with me the most from that movie. When all your chips are gone and there is nothing, it seems absolutely nothing left, there is still hope. There is still a sense of hope that remains inside. Some people lose this sense of hope and when that happens nothing can be done. If a person does not believe, truly believe that they can do what they are set out to do, they cat. But if a person has hope they have everything they need. They have the drive that will push them to accomplish anything. I loved this movie and I will be sure to recommend it to anyone who is interested in listening. Once I saw this movie I feel I almost changed as a person. I would before get mad at myself or others around me and wish I could just run away because I had it so bad. This movie showed me how good I actually have it. I live in a great town surrounded by great people. I have that drive and because of that I can accomplish anything.
Another thing that sticks with me is the Documentary about the camps. This video showed the raw and actual footage that these allies witnessed when coming through German territories. The pictures and videos that are shown are extremely graphic but the importance of seeing these things are of the highest level. It is one thing to hear about the holocaust, it’s another thing to actual see the horrific effects of these camps. When watching a movie about the holocaust such as the gray zone it is very sad to think about these people and the tragedies they faced. Not until you see the documentary, will all of the things come together. Yes the grey zone is sad but not real. It does its best to show the conditions but truly can’t bring them to life in the way the documentary did. These images are actual footage of the terrible things witnessed and without recording these things; people might find it hard to believe what actually happened. I think it is of the most importance to show this video and make it mandatory for everyone too see it. The video makes all the stories we’ve herd and all the things we’ve seen real to us. It makes us think about those people not as actors or actresses but as ordinary people. That could have been me. I could have been unfortunate enough to go thought the things all these people did. Simply because I believed in a certain religion or had objections towards the Nazi party, that could have been me. This class has taught me a lot but I think the biggest thing it taught me was to be thankful of who I am. I live a great life surrounded by wonderful people and I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else. It is mine; no one else can say that. My struggles are my own but they have not even a slight bit of comparison to some of these people in the camps. I think a lot more about myself now and realize so much more about my peers taking this course. 
Everyone is titled to their opinion, but that does not make it right. Everyone can have a point of view and try to tell you what they think is right. You are your own person and your opinion is important. This class made me feel like I have a say, that I can have my own opinion on anything I choose. I can argue and bicker but my opinion is my own and none can take that away. I think that I learned a lot from this class and I’m glad I was able to take such a wonderful course. I could keep righting this essay on all the things I learned but I don’t think id be allowed to turn in such a paper. I recommend this class to every single student in this school because not only will they learn about all the history packed into this class but they’ll learn something even more. They will learn about themselves and that is a gift on its own. This class shows what type of person a certain individual is. They learn more about themselves and more about the people around them. Work Cited
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