Holocaust Museum Field Trip

        On Thursday, our class went to the Holocaust Museum. I was really excited to go because the Holocaust is one of my favorite topics to learn about and I'm always open to learn more about it. When we got there, we starting walking around with our guide. We each got headphones that helped us hear our guide better, and I thought that was a great idea because it made us focus more on what we were hearing. Looking around, it was really cool to see real items in person. With everything we looked at, information about it came with it and I liked the fact that everything had a story behind it because it gave the items much more depth. We saw real clothing, real items that belonged to Nazis, and other real artifacts. We also saw many pictures. Getting visuals made everyone able to picture what we heard more clearly, which in my opinion is a great way of learning, so we all learned a lot from what we saw.
        Right when I thought I learned as much as I possibly could about the Holocaust, I learned even more. Before I went to this museum, I thought resisting was just fighting and conflict. After I went to this museum, I learned that it was so much more than that. Resisting is not always violence. People resisted in smaller ways, which were bigger ways at the same time. For example, people helped victims even though it was against the law and risked their lives in order to hide and shelter others. This required no violence to do, but it was still resisting, and it made a big change to many lives. Other topics I learned more about was life before the Nazis, the Nazi rise to power, and life after the Nazis. Overall, I thought this field trip to the Holocaust Museum was a very great and educational trip and I'd definitely go again.

Diary Entry

March 13, 2016

Dear Diary,
        A couple of days ago I watched a documentary called "I'm Still Here" in class with my classmates. It told the stories of Holocaust victims through their diaries. I have decided to use their ideas of writing in a diary to tell you my reaction to this documentary. Starting off, their stories were devastating. To even just hear the amount of pain that the innocent victims suffered throughout the Holocaust was an immense experience itself, I can not even imagine how it must have been to live through it. They went through extreme hunger, thirst, physical pain, emotional pain, loss, and more. It made me realize how thankful I should be for everyone and everything around me.
        Although the stories in this documentary were tragic and horrific, it was very informal to me and I enjoy watching documentaries like this one for many reasons. For one, it made me realize hidden traits of myself like that fact that I am very selfish. I complain that I am hungry after just two hours, sometimes even less, of eating a full meal. Seeing the people in this documentary starve for days or even weeks, made me open my eyes to the fact that I need to be grateful and not throw a fit over the smallest things.
        Something else I realized is that I need to be more appreciative of my family and friends. The people in this documentary had their their loved ones taken from them repeatedly, sometimes even ripped from their arms. Today, that could still happen to anyone. I now acknowledge the fact that all life really is precious and that nothing lasts forever, so everyone should enjoy and treasure what they have before it's too late.

Daniel's Story Quote

“We must live, and when this is all over, we must work to make the world a better place.  And if we die, we will die knowing that it was not our fault, that we did our best, and we can go to our deaths in dignity… I want you both to live…And to remember...You must choose love.  Always choose love.”  

(from Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas, page 70)

This quote reminds me of my mom because my mom is such a wise person and she frequently guides me with motivational quotes like this one that Erika said to Daniel in Daniel's Story. My mom always tries to get everyone look on the bright side of every situation and if there is no bright side, then she creates one herself. Her doing that has made me do it myself and it's great to say that I've accomplished something in this world. My mom is also very determined to improve the environment in any way that she can and if she can get others involved to help then she definitely will. That is another reason why she is such an inspiration to me.