What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me

What Facing History and Ourselves Meant to Me

Over the course of a semester I took the “Facing History and Ourselves” class taught by Mr. Gallagher. This course I believe is very important for every student not only in Westborough High School but every high school to take, because each year the topics that this class covers I believe are getting lost and people are starting to forget the topics such as the Holocaust and all its concentration camps. Which is why I believe that it’s important to keep this class alive, and running so that all of WHS and other schools can get to know about these important historical topics. This class really showed me many things about these past events that I already wasn’t aware of. Before taking this class I had the general idea of the holocaust but “Facing History and Ourselves” really showed me what it was like to be in the situation that those people were in.

As a student this course really benefited in all good way. Because it showed me that you shouldn't judge someone by the way that they talk, move, their skin color etcetera. In no manner should you be judging someone. When I came into this course I was what you would call a bystander in a hazing situation, if someone was getting picked on because of who they were before taking this course I would probably stand back and just watch thinking to myself “Wow what an ass of a person.” This of course would be going towards the person doing committing that act of hazing or whatever the case may be. By taking “Facing History and Ourselves” it had changed my whole mindset towards that, and now that I have taken this course I would feel a lot less reluctant to be walking down the halls and if I ever saw anything happening like this, I would no doubt in my mind say something towards that other student. This course not only did it make me a better student in these ways but it has also made me a better person in general. Before taking this course I would think in my head before speaking to someone of different ethnicity, what if me and this person won't have anything in common and I would reluctantly approach this person to talk to them. Now I don't have that resistance going towards someone to talk to them, Facing history showed me that no matter what ethnicity or nationality or whatever the person is like their just another person and you shouldn't be disinclined to approach that person to have a conversation with them especially if you see that they are getting called name and picked on by someone else. This course showed me to not be worrisome to put myself out there and help others when they are in need.

Some of the facets that this course offered that were most meaningful to me were the film “Boy in Striped Pajamas”, this was the most meaningful to me because it showed how innocent that the child (Bruno) was, he befriended a Jewish boy, despite how “different” that boy was Bruno just wanted a friend and he didn't mind who it was how they looked what they did. I believe that everyone should watch this movie at least once. After watching this movie I had came home and told my family and some of my friends that they should definitely watch the movie. Another facet of this course that was very meaningful to me was the interview that we had watched with Resi Kraus. Resi Kraus had called the Gestapo to watch her neighbor because Resi had seen her neighbor bringing Jewish people into her home to protect them Resi being a faithful Hitler follower reported this, and the Gestapo had come and taken her neighbor away. This one particular woman while watching her interviewed made me want to stand up out of my chair and call her so many names and such. This really showed me how ignorant and stupid she was because even though the interviewer had the letter that she had sent and the her own signature she would deny to the fullest that this document is true, Resi is seen saying that it is “rubbish” and “not true” when asked “can you explain this document” she says that she doesn't know and later says she can't remember. This just showed me the ignorance of this woman and just selfish and how someone could ever live with the thought that you had sent someone to their death in that way is beyond me. One other facet of this course that was meaningful to me was the movie that we had watched titled Swing Kids, this movie that was an amazing creation, it was meaningful to me because most of the movie was all new things that I hadn't known happened in Nazi Germany. Also it had showed me how Hitler was able to control the minds of the youth at that point in time which was just insane to me.

In conclusion I thought that this whole course of Facing History and Ourselves should be taken by every student from every high school across the United States of America, because it keeps these subjects alive not only the holocaust and nazi germany but also Facing History had shown me new things that I didn't already know about in the Jim Crow era and how the blacks were getting treated in our own country. Which to me is sickening just thinking about that, discrimination happened in our own “backyards”. I know for certain that every student that took this class must have hopefully left with a different mindset to make a difference in the world around them because that is how I am personally feeling, I am very glad to have taken this course because now I am no longer a bystander, I feel as though I have broken free from that.