The Mysterious Major

When he said that when he crushed the boy he crushed something in himself, he meant that seeing the boy crushed made him feel bad. It probably made him feel guilty for doing such a thing to a boy. (He said, "Sit down you little Jack***!.") He basically destroyed the boys pride, and his courage and took control of him using a tactic of fear. For the rest of the year the boy never spoke again. This is basically what the Nazi's did except they did this to everyone. Crushed their hope and their pride and took control by fear because they wanted to completely dominate germany. If you spoke out against Hitler you were killed. If you told others about the concentration camps, you were killed.

In Memory to My Mother

In class we chose one of three poems written about the holocaust by Sonia Weitz. I chose the poem In my memory to my mother. This poem is about when the Nazi's took her mother away. She used a lot of synonyms and hidden messages. The poem starts with the lines;

Where is your grave? Where did you die? Why did you go away? Why did you leave Your little girl That rainy autumn day? This part is Sonia saying of all the people taken and killed, "Why was it you and not someone else? Why you?" This conveys her emotion of Confusion and sadness all at once. It's like when you don't do your homework and your teacher asks you for an answer, but the emotional intensity is multiplied by ten. The next part;

I still can hear

The words you spoke: "You tell the world, my child."

This part is her memory of her mother telling her to tell others about what is happening. To not let it be forgotten. This was courageous of her mother. She knew that she was going to die but she didn't want to die in vain so she told her daughter to tell others of her death. This was very brave. She died without fear. The next part;

I promised I would
Tell the world...
But where to find the words
To speak of
Innocence and love,
And tell how much it hurts...

About those faces
Weak and pale,
Those dizzy eyes around,
And countless lips
That whispered "help"
But never made a sound...

To tell about
The loss...the grief
The dread of death and cold,
Of wickedness
And misery...
O, No!...it can't be told.

This was probably the most emotional part of the poem. Personally It made me feel sympathetic and sad at the same time. She said, "I promised to tell the wold of the innocence...But where to find the words... And to tell how much it hurts." I know how this feels when someone hurts you or you get so mad that you don't know how to feel. You feel pain, loss, fear, hate, and suffer at the same time. It's unexplainable in such few words. That is what she was trying to say in the last three lines. No one could ever feel the way she did unless you experienced it first hand.

1933-Contributions to Hitlers Rise to Power

Hitler had many contributions to his rise to power. He had the advantage of the hyperinflation in germany, the crash of the stock market in the U.S.A., the burning of the Reichstag, and the death of Germany's president. Hitlers first if not most important advantage was the hyperinflation in germany. The hyperinflation was due to a treaty that Germany signed after world war I. This treaty forced germany to pay large amounts of money which eventually was worth more than the country was worth. Because the country kept printing off money, it lost it's value and eventually became worthless. Because of this Hitler had an advantage by saying that he would get rid of the treaty of Versailles and remake Germany. The Germans believed him too because they wanted anyone in office who they thought could turn Germany around. In addition, When in the U.S. when the stock markets crashed Germany suffered severely. All of the people soon found out that their money and money put away for their kids was worthless. This gave Hitler a great opportunity. All he had to to was to do was to give the other Germans the idea that he would help them regain their jobs, get enough money to support their families and that would ensure that the Germans would vote Hitler into power. Finally the last advantage that helped get Hitler into power was the death of president Hindenburg. At the time when president Hindenburg died, Hitler was the chancellor. This meant that Hitler would basically have power in the government but he would still be under the supervision of the Government. This would tame Hitler while giving him power therefor pleasing the public but when the president died things turned for the worst. Hitler decided to combine the roles of Chancellor and president therefor creating the role of Fuhrer which Hitler appointed himself as finally giving him complete control.

Neremberg Laws

1. Who could be defined as a Jew?

In the Laws created, A Jew was anyone who had a grandparent that was Jewish. Even if they were Jewish and converted they were still considered Jews. If the person themselves were Christian but had a Jewish grandparent they were considered Jews.

2. What was meant by "Aryanizing" Jewish Businesses?

By This it meant that the Jewish workers would be fired, and the owners had to sell their business to a non-Jewish person. 3. How were Jews who were professionals (lawyers, doctors etc.) restricted?

The layers weren't allowed to practice law, Jews had to sell their businesses and Jew doctors could only treat other Jews. 4. What did Jewish identity cards need to include now?

Now the Jewish identity Cards needed a J on them to define them as Jews Unless their name was obvious like Israel or Sara. 5. What was the "Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People"

It was a law that made sure that people getting married were fit and not disabled which allowed be Hitler to sort of dictate the kind of german kids and families so that they would be ideally German.

Civil Rights

What are civil rights?

Civil rights are rights that we are entitled. They are rights that say we can not be discriminated against for any reason. Some of our rights are:

• All humans are born free and equal,
• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law and,
• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Why do you think some of the people of Germany thought that the abolation of civil rights was necessarily?

After the fire at a government building in Germany, Hitler immediately blamed the Communist and Social Democratic parties. He felt that this was the perfect opportunity to start tearing down the democracy in Germany and all those who opposed him. Now that Hitler was running the country, he passed two new laws. A law, “For the Defense of Nation and State” and a law “To Combat Treason against the German Nation and Treasonable Activities”. These laws basically abolished the public civil rights. What did the public do? Nothing, most thought it was a good idea. The German people thought it was a good idea because it would help to catch the "Terrorists" in the country and find any traitors in their nation. As a result, the government could tap private phone lines, read mail, search homes, and confiscate property.