Monday, October 3, 2011

What were they thinking?

Question:
In the novel Night, Elie makes it clear that not everyone in Sighet is being evacuated; only the Jews. What exactly were the rest of the community members doing? Did they not see what was happening right in front of their eyes? Could they not stand up for their own community members? What was wrong with them? Explain what you believe made the non-Jewish community members remain silent as their fellow citizens were marched from one end of the town to the next, and eventually out of town.

Now, imagine if those community members had cell phones with texting capabilities. Do you believe that the community members would have responded in the same way? Why or why not?

After you have submitted your response, be sure to comment on at least ONE other post.

This blog is worth 10 points (4 points for posting an insightful response, 4 points for giving specific examples that support your response, and 2 points for spelling/grammar)

59 comments:

  1. I believe that the other people in the community of Sighet were wondering what was going on and just watched everything. They probably didn’t want to stop them because they worried that they would have to evacuate too. If those community members would have had cell phones with calling and texting I believe that it would make a difference because they could have asked someone what was going on. Then they might have stopped or join the rest of their community members.

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  2. I think they were thinking that if they tried to help they would be shot, or killed. I think people wanted to do it but family members persuaded them not do, because they wanted them to be safe. Most people were probably thinking that it's none of there business and just to leave it alone. The town's people were to scarred of the German soldiers, so they did not attempt to do anything. I think the non Jews were sad and depressed that there friends were being shipped away and they would never see them again. But they couldn't do anything.

    I think if they had cell phones they could have warned other people to try to hide the Jews. They could plan a rescue mission, or an attack on the army. It would have been better with texting, a cell phone.

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  3. The non-Jews probably didn't say anything because they most likely thought that if they did they could get shot or they had to go through what the Jews had to. If they had a lot of more people with different weapons then maybe they would have done something to help them.

    They probably would have responded in the same way because it doesn't matter if they had cell phones or not they still wouldn't want to get shot if they spoke up. They might of used the cell phones to help each other try to figure out what is going on but they would have stayed quit and out of they way still.

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  4. I imagine that some of the other non-Jew members would have tried to stop the evacuation, some of the members could have not cared about the Jews and was for the evacuation, and I think some of the other members just had no clue what was going on. I think if cell phones were around it would make a slight difference because they had a source of communication, but I don't think it would change much because no one would listen to them.

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  5. They probably were thinking if the tried to do anything. That they would get shot at or get killed. They might thought if they tried to do anything that the officer would hurt there family.

    I think that if they had cellphones that they would not have the same response.That they would tried to alert them before the Germany's come. Like send a text message saying that they should leave the town or they could call them and alert them.

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  6. I believe with Jake as he said that if the other community members had cell phones with calling and texting that they would have had a plan before they had to evacuate Sighet. They were just scared to speak up to the German soldiers taking them away.

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  7. I believe that the non-Jewish community members didn't say anything because they were afraid that they were going to have to leave along with the Jewish community members. I also don't think that they fully understood everything that was going on.
    I don't believe that having cell phones with texting would really change what they did a lot. I think they would just try to figure out what exactly was going on, but I don't think they would try to do anything about it because they probably were afraid that they were going to be taken with them.

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  8. The other members of the town probably did not assist their Jewish members because of many reasons. It could have been the simple fact that they didnt suspect anything bad was happening, but i believe that it was because they were thinking about themselves. The people probably felt that it would be too dangerouse to try and retaliate against the Germans to help. They felt like as long as their families and themselves were safe they didn't need to help. Because of the fact that they wanted to protect their families they didn't want to risk their lives to go out and warn their Jewish neighbors.

    If there were cell phones with texting capability a lot of people could have been saved. The people who knew about what the germans were doing could have sent out a mass text to the Jews and warned them of what was coming, so they could have escaped to safe territory before they were captured.

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  9. I believe that the other members were too scared to do anything. They probably thought that they would get taken, if they said anything. Most of them probably thought that they were lucky it wasn't them and moved on with life. I think cell phones have made humans more independent. The non-Jews probably would have told everybody and stood up for the Jews.

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  10. Respond to Skyler. I agree that they would be able to respond a lot better if they had cell phones, I never thought that they would be able to warn each other before the Germans came. But also they probably didn't known when the Germans were coming also so the cell phones would have helped them but at the same time they wouldn't.

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  11. Respond to Addi.
    IF they did have cell phones they wouldn't want to get shot but at least they could warn some of the friends before the Germany's come so they friends don't die.

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  12. I think it would be different because the word would be spread more quickly. More people would be aware of the situation and the Holocaust would have ended earlier than 1945.
    The community members wouldn't have really did anything different, obviously if there are people in charge, the people watching would be afraid and not act up; however they would've known before hand about the Holocaust because of texting capabilities. So, it might have changed much more than if we didn't.

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  13. In response to Lizzy B's blog....
    I think she is spot on with everything she said, but i think the cell phone's would have done more. They could have planned something to do so there friends, or family weren't captured.

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  14. I agree with what kelsey said about the non-Jewish community. I don't think that they really knew what was going on, and I also agree with what she said about cell phones helping them find out what was happening.

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  15. I think that the people in Sighet were scared to speak up. The were scared to speak up because they didn’t want to go with the other Jews. They couldn’t see what was going to happen to them , but I bet they had a good idea of what was going to happen. They weren't doing anything wrong, but they just didn’t want to get shot or even go with the Jews. I think that he was scared to talk or even say good bye to there friends.

    I think that they could have saved a lot more lives, because they could have call or texts someone about what they are doing. They could have responded in the same way, but I think that I would have call or sent a text about what they were doing. If they didn’t call or text someone they were scared or they didn’t want to go with the Jews.

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  16. I believe that the other community members were just really confused and scared about what was going on in their town. Nothing like this had ever happened before and they didn't know how to react to it. If they helped some of the Jews, they were probably afraid that they would have been evacuated with the rest of the Jews. If they didn't help in any way, it could have been for the best just to stay out of the way and not get into any trouble if they didn't have to.

    If there would have been cell phones back then, I think that it would have been easier to communicate with other non-Jewish people about what they could do to help or understand what was happening around them. They could have talked about plans to help some of the Jews and ways to hide them.

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  17. In Response to Conner's Blog... I agree with the first part, but I disagree with the cell phone part. I think it would make a huge difference.

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  18. In response to Skylers' post from what I could understand;
    I agree what the consequences could have been,
    for trying to stop the evacuation of the Jews. They were scared that they would have hurt their family and/or friends.

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  19. I believe that the non Jews in Sighet didn't make any steps to stop what was happening because they didn't really understand themselves. In the book Elie talks about how the Jewish community members were oblivious; the same was probably true for the non Jewish community members. When the Jewish community members were actually being evacuated, the non Jewish community members were thankful it wasn't them, or tried to tell themselves to believe whatever false reasons the German soldiers gave for the deportation of their friends.

    If the community members would have had cell phones with texting capabilities, I don't believe it would have changed the ultimate course of events. The people who did nothing would probably still do nothing. I am sure many more Jews would have been saved or hidden, but I doubt a grand resistance would have taken place. The outcome with cell phones would have made somewhat of a positive impact, but not a huge one.

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  20. In responce to Skyler... I agree with your opinion. The people of the town probably were very scared of getting shot. Also ,yes, I agree with youre idea about the text messages. They would have helped get the word about the Germans around.

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  21. I am responding to Kelsey's blog.
    I agree with what she said about the non-Jews scared that if they helped, they would also be evacuated. If they just stayed out of the way nothing would happened to them. Also, if they had cell phones, they probably would have been texting about ways to help out.

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  22. I think that the non-Jews were probably scared to speak up or do anything because they didn't know what was going on, didn't care, or just didn't want the same fate. They could have gotten shot, or taken to the camps as well.

    If they had cell phones I think a lot of people could have been helped by this. People today text a lot about anything and everything, so I'm sure that if they had the phones and texting they would have tried to plan escape, or as soon as friends who were non-Jews found out they could have helped get the Jews out. People would know and try to stop it more, because there were more ways to do so.

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  23. I think that if the non-Jewish had cell phones they wouldn't of done anything because they would be scared that they would be shot for doing something. I also think that if they would of tried to help they would have saved some people then get caught.

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  24. I think they were too afraid to do anything. The other community members didnt want to end up like their Jewish community members. The SS officers could have even threatened them we don't know. I think if they had had cell phones back than, people would have found a way to help the Jews. The Russians could have even gotten there faster.

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  25. The reason that the non-Jewish people didn't act upon the situation was because they didn't want to be in their shoes. They were okay with just sitting back watching the Jews beg and plead for mercy as long as it wasn't them or their family. They wouldn't want to be on the inside looking out because they just took one look at those people and they were just scared to stand up to the SS officers because they didn't want to be shot or become one of the starving and very sick people that were marching out of town with nothing to them but skin and bone. Honestly if it were me I wouldn't want to be either.

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  26. In response to Summer's blog:
    I agree with you that the non-Jews were probably thinking about themselves and their families, and were scared that the families would be killed if they left them to warn Jewish neighbors. So they weren't just being selfish, they were just trying to protect themselves and family.

    As for the mass text idea, that would be a huge disadvantage to the Germans. It would help the Jews a lot, but might make the Germans mad if their 'prey escaped'.

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  27. I think that the non Jew members of the community knew what was going on, but they didn't want to help because they didn't want the Germans to make them march with the Jews. While this was happening the no Jewish people were just sitting there and watching what was going on with all of the Jews being marched from town to town. I think they could have stood up for the people of there community, but the chose not too.

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  28. I believe that that the non-Jewish part of the community did not help there fellow neighbors first because they were afraid of what would happen to them. They didn’t want to put the their lives and the lives of their family in danger. That the Nazis would take them away like they did with the Jews in the community. I also think that they were selfish and wanted all of the Jews belongs for themselves.

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  29. I believe that the non-Jewish community members didn't say anything because they thought if they did, they would end up getting over powered by the Nazis and get shot, or get deported with the Jews also. I think they were also scared to try and defend their fellow Jewish neighbors. I think the use of cell phones would be a good tool for them to use, but if they told someone they might not of listened. The usage of the cell phones could of been either good or bad.

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  30. The community wouldn't want to be hurt if they tried to free the Jews from the Germans Who could kill them for trying to save the Jews. The Jews went to concentration camps which were really bad places to be at the time for the Jews. if the community had phones with texting capabilities they could have saved the Jews.

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  31. I am responding to Brooke's blog.
    I agree with what she said about the Jews being scared to speak, being scared to go with the Jews because they didn't know what was going to happen to them.

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  32. I think that the people of Sighet were really confused and boggled about what was occurring in their community. They were probably thinking that if they tried to interfere, that they would be taken away too. I see both sides of what they did. They were probably scared for their neighbors, but didn't know what to do or if there was anything they could do. If they had cell phone capabilities then, I think the news of what the German army was planning would have gotten around a lot faster than what it did. I think people would have been more informed which would've allowed them enough time to react to it.

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  33. I agree with what Kelsey is saying about having more connections with the cell phones and being able to ask others what was going on. I think it would have helped both the Jews and the non-Jews because they would've become informed earlier allowing more time to plan what they were going to do about it insted of doing nothing and just letting it happen. Cell phones could've changed the Holocaust completely.

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  34. I agree with what Jake said about them not wanting to help because they thought they would get shot. I also agree about the cell phone thing. Maybe if they got enough people to help attack the German army; it might have not been as bad as it was.

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  35. In response to Hanna's I agree with her because it wouldn't have helped if they told someone because they wouldn't do anything either.

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  36. I am responding to Connor M.
    I agree, all of those are possibilities.
    Also, yes, even if we had that kind of communication back than, people still wouldn't listen. People never wanted to hear about those kinds of situation and people still don't, which is sad and needs to stop.

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  37. I believe that if the non Jewish people had cell phones that it wouldn't have changed anything about what was going on with the Jews. I don't think they could have done anything about this.

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  38. I agree with Niki, because there is no way to no way to know how texting would have effected the course of the holocaust. You don't know how many lives it would effect.

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  40. I’m responding to Dalton’s blog. I agree with what he said about how they were afraid that if they were to help the Jews that they would be taken away just like they were. Also that if they would have had cellphones they could have help them by standing up for them.

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  41. If they had cellphones I think that they could have saved many lives by first finding out whats happening. They could also communicate with each other without the Germans knowing, and try to help the Jew by protecting them or hiding them.

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  42. If they had cell phones and texting like we do now they could get in contact with each other a lot quicker. In my opinion I don't think it would have changed a whole lot because if the German Soldiers were smart enough they would that them away and get rid of them as soon as possible. They could have gotten the word out sooner to the U.S and Russia and that might have helped to get the Jews a lot of help a lot quicker.

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  43. In Response to Hanna H....
    I agree with her that they would have been over ruled by the Nazi's because there were so many of them. I also agree with how she said that the texing could be either good or bad.

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  44. I think that most of the members of the town wanted to stop the evacuation. I think they didn't because they were scared of standing up to the German police officers, because they might of thought they might get shot or killed. I think some of the people were going to say something, but the other family members wouldn't let them for their own safety.

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  46. In response to Jake B's blog..
    I agree with him because I think the community members were scared to stand up for the Jews, and they were scared of being killed or shot.

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  47. I believe that the non-Jewish members of the community(s) did not speak up because they
    were afraid of being hurt or held prisoner, like many of the Jews. I think that they might have
    wanted to speak up, to tell and to not be silent any longer, but they were too afraid of what might
    happen to them.

    If they had cell phones with texting, I think it might have been a little bit different. I mean,
    they would have still probably been afraid to speak up, but maybe if they had the
    capability to text, the Jews would have been warned more quickly, and they would
    of had time to have evacuted their homes and go into hiding.

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  48. I think the reason the non-Jewish people didn't do any was because they where afraid the Nazi's would shoot them.
    They could have called or text the Allies so that they would come and stop the Nazi's.

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  49. I agree with Carters blog. I agree how the none Jewish people just stood there and watched all the Jews march out of the town since the Germans were making them. They could have stood up for there town and to the Germans.

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  50. I agree with Briana W. I agree that the non Jewish people were scared of going out there, because they thought they would have to march and be with the Jews to. They were okay with not going and they would probably missed there friends.

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  51. Well I think that the community did notice that all the Jews were getting evacuated! They did notice, but maybe they thought that they where getting saved not enslaved. The community could have thought that they where actually being put into hiding! Or the community members just didn't care about any of the Jew that lived in Sighet. From what I remember the Jews didn't even know that there was a war going on, and didn't realize what was happening to other Jews in other parts of the country.

    If they did have cell phones it could have made things much easier; but only if every Jew had each others phone numbers! They probably could call there police, but since their police was run by their enemy it probably wouldn't be a good idea. They also could send chain mail and send it to all the Jews in their contacts, but with one click you could send it to the wrong person and get punished.

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  52. I think that if they had cell phones it could have changed some of it. Some people still would have been kept hiding and you could text if they were out there or not, but Germans still would have found some people. They Jews could have contacted the Russians and get help quicker.

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  53. I agree with Jake B. about what the non-Jewish people thought about. I also agree that they should have planned a rescue mission to stop the Nazi's.

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  54. I think that the non-Jewish community didn't want to get caught up in what was going on, some turned a blind eye on the Jews because it didn't concern them, and others may have feared what would happen to them if they did interfere.
    If they had cell phones, people would have known what was going on via phone call or text. People may have understood better what was really going on and people could have sent picture messages to show people what the conditions were like.

    In response to Brianna's blog. I agree with her because the Germans were smart and they took all of the valuables away from the family and cell phones are valuable and cost a lot.

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  55. I'm responding to Summer W.
    I agree with your comment about how a lot more Jews could have been saved if we did have texting; and that the families didn't really care because they just wanted to protect their family.

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  56. My response to Courtney C's Blog;
    I agree with everything her blog says. Especially about how the non-Jews
    were afraid of what could happen to them if they spoke up. I also agree with
    the cell phones part, because if they had cell phones with texting then the
    could have planned escapes, and maybe the war could have ended sooner.

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  57. I dissagree with anyone who says that the community members didnt know what was going on because it's a self explanatory site. They didn't know where they were going but when the Jewish part of the community is being taken away by the SS, German, and Italian forces all armed with guns you can tell that something isn't quite right.

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  58. I believe that the non Jews did not know how to respond. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened. They didn't know the outcome if they interfered. Jews were being beaten, put out of business,and families were separated. No one knew if they wanted to risk it all for their family to help out one a few people. Who could unintentionally persecute them, if the Nazi's discovered them harboring Jews.
    If people back then and technology capabilities like we do, that it would depend on how close the community was. For instance, a young non Jew couple who has a young child, who just moved into the community, verses a non Jew middle age couple that grew up together in the same community that they live in now. They young couple would probably hesitate to leave but if the situation was dangerous enough then they would flee. But on the other hand the older couple probably wouldn't leave the support they have. And even then technology can separate us. some one blaming someone else for something and as the word spreads it gets twisted and warped because if you on the receiving end you cant see the person's face and sometimes cant even hear their voice.
    In response to Brooke M.
    If they had called or texted then I’m sure it would have been easier for Nazi‘s to locate Jews anyway, with almost instant communication.

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  59. I believe that the non-Jewish people were afraid to speak up, because they saw what was happening around them and they knew if they were to speak up or just to help the actual Jewish people they would be killed. The Nazis didn't just kill Jewish people they also killed people who helped the Jewish people try to escape.

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