“Hey, kid, how old are you?”
The man interrogating me was an inmate. I could not see his face, but his voice was weary and warm.
“Fifteen.”
“No. You’re eighteen.”
“But I’m not.” I said. “I’m fifteen.”
“Fool. Listen to what I say.”
Then he asked my father, who answered:
“I’m fifty.”
“No.” The man now sounded angry. “Not fifty. You’re forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty.”
-Inmate, Elie, Elie’s father. ~Night page: 30
Imagine being told you are something or someone who you are not. Being told your new identity. Jews during this time period experienced that. I personally think it’s sad that some of them basically had to have a whole new identity. Even though it’s sad that they had to have a whole new identity altogether, I believe that it was a safer choice for some of them. It’s either have a new identity and lose your old one and possibly be safe or keep your old identity and you may die sooner or have things happen that you do not want to happen. In a way this is similar to choiceless choices, they more than likely wanted to keep their identity, but on the other hand they wanted to be safe.
These people had a say in their identity but at the same time they seemed as if they didn’t. Yes, they could choose whether or not they wanted papers to change who they are to cause them to be safer but it’s somehow like they don’t have a say because if they don’t change their identity they could be harmed even more. These poor people did not deserve any of what was happening to them. They had such horrible choiceless choices that basically determined if they survived or not. This is similar to the story “The Bear That Wasn’t”. In that story there was a bear who kept being told he was not a bear and it was like they were taking his identity away from him. The bear kept saying that he was a bear and eventually it was like he started to believe he was a bear. But these two things are similar both involve being told you are something and/or someone that you are not.
This is an interesting and sad point of the time of the Holocaust. It is very hard to believe that this is what the Jewish people had to do to just survive through each and every day. Each day more and more of Jews would walk through the gates of a concentration camp or into a ghetto, and then they would have to experience something completely different from where they came from. Worst of all they had no say in this because it was just what needed to be done or die trying to live the way you had before. I agree with this post and how this was probably better for the people, but regardless is still a very sad thing to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a very sad thing to think about. It's so hard to believe that someone could be so cruel and so rude that they could go against everyone of a religion that hadn't harmed him.
DeleteIt's sad that people have to be someone who they really aren't to stay alive. The men and women who were there throughout the holocaust shouldn't of had to do that. Even though it does make more sense and will keep them alive longer. But having to change your entire identity is really sad just to stay alive. It will keep them safer that way. The men and women will live better that way but it's kind of disgusting that it has to go that far for someone to just stay alive. They may have a better life that way but in a way it really isn't their life. It's all fake so that they can stay alive and hard to think about the fact that people actually had to do that at some point. it's very sad that the men and women didn't have a choice in any of it, and just had to do what they were told. I do agree with this post and think that it is entirely unfair.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is very sad that they had to change their whole identity to live. Just having to change it a small bit is horrible. It is so horrible that this was going on.
DeleteThis is very sad and is entirely unfair. Yes, the people that have a fake identity will have a better life. But it's not entirely their true lives with a fake identity. How can they be happy without being themselves and pretending too be someone else? With the fake identities they would be safe and have more of a chance to survive. It's also sad that people have to do that to try to stay alive and they aren't even sure how much longer they will be alive. It's actually kind of disgusting that people had to go that far with things to stay alive. It's hard to think that people had to do that, and hard to believe that people had to fight to stay alive. This part is definitely unfair. It's hard to believe that people in lived throughout the holocaust had to go through this.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they could be happy. If I was in their shoes I wouldn't be happy having to be someone else. Yes I would feel a little bit better knowing I had a better chance in being safe but I wouldn't be happy.
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