The Holocaust And its Aftermath

John K Roth spoke to the audience about during and the effects of the Holocaust. He mentioned many people and books . Ernst vom Rath who worked for the German Embassy in Paris was killed by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish Jew. The death was used as the excuse for Kristallnacht, a two-day, nationwide pogrom against Germany’s Jews. “Moments of Reprieve” written by Primo Levi is his own story living during this horrific time. The book takes place during World War II within the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Jews were transported from Europe to do hard labor and when they were no longer needed, killed.

Lorenzo Perrone was one of the Italian bricklayers working who were transferred to Auschwitz during the camp expansion plan. While working Perrone met the prisoner Primo Levi, and a friendship came about. Perrone gave Levi more food from his rations, saving his life;

Perrone died of tuberculosis and is one of the Righteous among the Nations in 1998 by the Yad Vashem Museum of Jerusalem.

Elie Wiesel author of “Night” tells its readers about a young boy Eliezer and his father who are separated from his mother and sisters. the Jews are evaluated whether they should be killed immediately or put to work. Eliezer and his father pass the evaluation, The Jewish arrivals are stripped, shaved, disinfected, and treated with cruelty. They arrive in Buna, a work camp, where Eliezer is put to work in an electrical-fittings factory.  Mrs. Schächter a character from Elie Wiesel’s “Night” is a middle-aged woman who loses her mind after being separated from her husband and packed into a cattle car headed to Auschwitz.

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Throughout the journey in the train, she screams and rambles about fire and flames, warning and begging the Jews on the cattle with her to see the fire.

They don’t listen to her warnings and they beat her instead of acknowledging the danger they are in. She not only foreshadows the death that is to come for all of them, but the literal way everybody will die—their bodies burned in the furnace of Auschwitz. These were just some of the references given by Roth as he explained this horrific time. I was able to connect this to a book which was later made into a movie I saw. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” written by John Boyne and directed by Mark Herman tells a story about a young boy named Bruno living in Nazi Germany. His father is given a new position of power at Auschwitz, and the family is forced to move to a house outside of the camp. The camp is seen from the family’s house, and curious Bruno walks along the fence each day. He meets a boy wearing striped pajamas and a golden armband on the other side of a fence, and becomes friends with. Bruno’s imprisoned friend Shmuel asks for Bruno’s help in finding his father. Bruno disguises himself as one of the prisoners and enters the death camp.

It was very hard reading and watching this and also hearing what Roth had to say. It’s hard to believe the amount of innocent lives lost during this time. Many families were separated and young children were put to work under hard circumstances and later killed. The Holocaust was a terrible shock to the world, and fifty years later, we are still trying to understand it. ‘We Know Our Relatives: Indigenous Nations Rejecting Colonial Borders’ With Betty Lyons Betty Lyon a proud citizen of the Onondaga Nation and President of the American Indian Law Alliance spoke about the Onondaga nation and how they live. The Onondaga lake which is special to the nation is the birthplace of democracy but is the most contaminated. The immigrant population that are fishing and eating out have a mercury level that is four times higher than average human , health didnt do anything. She mentioned the Doctrine of discovery, the notion still held and exercised as law that we are less than human and therefore have no rights to land and resources.

The Onondaga nation continues to be seen as disposable. The Haudenosaunee women choose their leadership through their clan family. The only title not chosen by the women is Tadodaho. This title is chosen by the forty nine Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Clan Mothers chose leaders based on the individual’s character. The potential leader must be compassionate, kind, honest and loyal. All of the six nations are matrilineal. The Clans are passed through the women to the children. The land is also passed on through the women. Lyon mentions how the United States patterned their US government after the Onondaga nations government. She says how two critical aspects were left out, the rights of Mother Earth and the rights of women. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy or “Iroquois Confederacy” was finally recognized for this by the US Congress in 1988.

They have an Edge of the woods ceremony still used today, they greet delegations at the edge of the woods. It’s the first extension of greetings and welcome. They greet their guests with songs meant to assure their sincere intent and to help uplift the spirits of their visitors. The speaker then expressed their gratitude to the guest that they have arrived safely.The speaker acknowledges the burdens of the journey and offer words of condolence for any suffering to restore their good minds. They cleanse the guests and provide them with food and shelter and when the people who are carrying grief they use a soft deer hide to wipe your tears so that in peace they will see clearly again. Lastly, they offer a pristine drink of water so that the guest can drink freely.

Lyon also mentions the separation of families and the criminalization of people who just want a better a life. She also mentions racism and being judged. She talks about her son and how he is judged and talked about for “looking different” than others and how hard it is for him to deal with his everyday life. Lyons pushes on her audience that we are not less than we are equal and that people should not be judged for how they look, were they come from, or what they believe. She says not to sit by and be quiet,rights cannot be deferred. I was able to connect this to a reading in my Columba class where a African American who wasn’t harming or bothering anyone was being judged because of a horrible stereotype against African Americans. This is hard to believe that people are being judged. We should all be treated equally and no one should feel uncomfortable for who they are because of society.