Week 3

This week we focused on survivors of the holocaust, particularly second generation survivors. From the readings and class discussion I leaned about the different effects the events of the Holocaust and its aftermath had on those who did make it out alive. Many survivors did not want to have children but those who did often had many as though to make up for all of those lives lost. These parents also tended to be overprotective and and quiet about their past.

I also learned more about what is known as the 1.5 generation survivors. These survivors were children during the Holocaust (up to 14 years old) and usually resided in camps or ghettos. These children could be spit up into groups depending on their level of development and ability to comprehend what was happening around them. This 1.5 generation is named because these children were said to be too young to have completely grasped the situations they were in and therefore should not be labeled as first generation survivors. Many of these children, specifically ranging from 11-14 years old were forced to grow up very quickly and make decisions they would never have been faced with otherwise.
I was curious about how exactly these choices and forced maturity affected them through the rest of their lives, did they expect their children to take on responsibility at a young age? Or did they shelter them from adulthood and keep their children's childhoods as carefree as possible?

Lastly, we watched a video of a woman who managed to survive five different camps with her sister. Since the war she has written many poems and stories about her experiences particularly about her father and their last goodbye as well as her rescue. I found her poems to be very vivid and heart-wrenching but it gave me much more insight into the turmoil and experiences some of the Jews went through while inside the camps.