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Eva came to us to tell us the pain and suffering that she had to endure through the holocaust. She uses her life experiences, primarily in the Holocaust to illustrate the power of hate and the importance of standing up against forces of racism.In Eva’s life she should have many reasons to hate the Germans. She chooses not to thou. She hasn’t forgiven them but she doesn’t hate. She chooses not to like. After all the German’s have done to her and the Jewish society. She really shows that if she really hated them she would’ve talked about it but in reality hate doesn’t do much to help her. She must forgive eventually and she has forgiven the nazi’s and what they did.

Just like Eva, small really didn’t hate the Germans. It wasn’t his fight to fight and he didn’t hate them but respected them. Eva kind of tied in with small and how she really didn’t know what was going on and why. Most Jewish people didn’t know why they were targeted and most of them were workers in the society that really fit in with the Germans but Hitler changed that idea in the society, that the jews were less than humans. I cant say if Eva respected the German’s because they had dominance over them or if she just didn’t really care about them. Small really enjoyed Bruno’s time spent with each other. Even though he knew that he was German he had no hate towards bruno because they were friends. The movie the boy in the striped pajamas isn’t much of the same as Eva’s life but it shows on how the small becomes friends with Bruno. Not so much of all the bad things that a concentration camp did or does to the Jews. Eva was in a slave camp but they were similar to what she could have experienced. Even that we all know The Boy In The Striped Pajamas wasn’t real but Eva could watch the movie and tie in her experiences with the events in the movie. Her life is the opposite of the movie but is very similar to Small but she was in a different kind of camp in her life than in the movie. She wasn’t in a internment camp like Small.

What is right? What is admirable? What is not-so-admirable? Does everyone agree?  The whole process of the German’s tactics in the war wasn’t the greatest because of all the life’s that were affected especially the Jewish race. The stories of the families likes Evas’ is very admirable in how they survived the war and escaped death from the Germans. All the deaths and racism within the war was the least admirable thing within the war. Everyone agrees with the notion of that the war was a bad process in the world even the Germans of today.

There are many stories on the holocaust that we see but there is many stories that we could actually believe that is the truth and not a story. Actual facts on how the concentration camps were and how they seized the Jews to the camps. Eva’s story was real and very vivid of how she told to us the listeners. There aren’t very many people in the world that would tell their story of their suffering. Eva does this with confidence and enjoys telling us. Her story was inspirational and I would love to hear it again.

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We must be the change we seek to create. -Mahatma Gandhi

In a town at the bottom of a hill where everyone was busy at work and trying to supply for their families, Christine Goldsmith age 15 was assisting her mother with some housework as she did everyday. She would always, everyday stop to wonder if she had invented something that was sure to draw attention to peoples eye, that if the invention would ever be a big seller.

“Mom,” Christine said in her  ripped plaid shirt and her jean overalls, “have you ever thought about inventing something, but you weren’t sure if anyone would like it or buy it?”

“Oh Christine, get that silly thought out of your head that will never work in our town, it’s way to small of a town for anyone to even care.” replied her 40 year old mother Susan in an apron and a black ratted dress.

“But what if this one thing could change our life around? Like if it would draw everyones attention away from what they have to do all day everyday!” Christine exclaimed.

“Just get back to chores.” snapped Susan.

“B-b-but why not?” bottom lip shaking swallowing down her tears, she stuttered as a frown came upon her face. Her mother just ignored her. She had to do what she had to do so she continued on with her chores. Christine couldn’t get the thought of inventing something that could change the society she lived in out of her mind. It was like it took over her brain now the more she thought of it. “Wouldn’t that be great? Changing the society all by myself? People would actually listen to me, and know who I was if I were to walk down the streets of the town.” Christine thought to herself. A smile crossed her face, and her mother quickly noticed it.

“Why are you so smiley missy?” she questioned.

“Oh it’s nothing of your concern, so you really shouldn’t worry.” Christine replied trying to hide her smile.

“You better not be thinking of that silly inventing idea, because that will never work and trust me, I would know.” Susan said with a sharp look in her eye and an angry tone in her voice.

“I’m not, don’t worry…” Christine said realizing that her mom thought it was stupid to do such a thing and she didn’t believe in her at all.

“Why can’t my mom just see that this invention could make them well known and famous. This could be a huge deal for us, we would be life savers!” Christine thought. “Whatever, I guess I will just have to prove her wrong, and then she will have to apologize for not believing in me.”

Christine finished up with her chores and she bolted up to her room to think of things that others would be interested in. “If I think of something that will draw attention to people, then they will be sure to buy it!” she said aloud. She pulled out her favorite notebook labelled “Christine’s thoughts and ideas” and began to jot down some notes on what she likes, and what she thinks other people would like.

“Christine!” Susan shouted from the bottom of the stairs, “what are you doing? You ran away so fast I couldn’t even thank you for sweeping the floor.”

Trying to think of an excuse she replied, “nothing mom, just trying to write out a story.”

What a good little girl. Always studious and always keeping her brain in gear! “Okay, keep up the good work.” said Susan.

“Okay she bought it, now time to think about what to do..” Christine thought aloud. “Hmmm, something people will actually purchase… Oh! I know!!! Maybe someone will want a car!! Or a cell phone!!! That’s a good idea! Now, time to get down to work.”

The day seemed to go by so much faster when Christine was trying to think of what to draw and how she was going to get the supplies. She had decided that a cell phone would take less time and it would take less supplies to build it. When she checked the clock at one minute she would look back to what it seemed only lasted 10 minutes but really was an hour or so later. The day was going by faster now that she had an invention to create, and she could already smell the roast that her mom had cooking in the oven downstairs. “I need to draw these blueprints for the cell phone and find a place that no one will ever think of looking for them.”

“Christine, supper time!” Susan said excitedly.

“Hopefully she didn’t hear me thinking aloud,” she thought. “Coming mom!”

She raced down the stairs thinking nervously if her mom had discovered that she was inventing something after she told her not to. The look of nerve crossed her face and she tried to hide them. “Is there something wrong dear?” asked her mom.

“Urrm no! Nothings wrong” Christine replied in a panic.

“Okay then…” she said.

Christine had felt very guilty from keeping such a secret from her mom, so she had to tell her at that moment. “Actually mom, there is something, I know you told me not to, but I have been in my room inventing a cell phone. I’m sorry, you can ground me, or tell me not to proceed with my invention, but I’m going to. I may not succeed but if I do, we could become rich and famous.”

“Christine,” sighed Susan, “I’m not gonna stop you, I’m proud of you.”

“Why?” she questioned.

“You stuck up to me. You stuck to what you believed in, and if this makes us rich it will change our whole world around. Thank you.” Susan implied with a tear in her eye.

Giving her mother a hug, Christine burst into tears. As she tried to say, “thanks mom for being proud of me. I will definitely do my best.”

They sat at the supper table in silence. Christine wanted to hurry and eat so she could get back to what seemed to be the most important thing going on in her life right now. She finished her roast, washed her face and dishes, excused herself and went back up to her room to finish up.

Christine worked very hard from dusk till dawn. From the moment she woke up, she would already be getting ready for continuing her invention.  Susan would bring her breakfast, lunch and supper. Sometimes she would sit in and watch Christine hard at work. The rest of the town did not know about this invention and they had never really asked about it. When Christine was finally finished, she tested the phone out. She prayed in her mind that when she dialed the phone number for her house and pressed talk that their house phone would ring. At the moment when she waited for the call to redirect and phone the house, she felt that she had failed. Then, the house phone rang. Susan answered it just to make sure it wasn’t someone else trying to call and it wasn’t! Christine had succeeded!

“Now,” with a smile painted on her face, “we will have to show the world and say Christine Goldsmith age 15 created the first ever cell phone.”

Hugging her only child, Susan burst into tears of joy. “You made me proud, Christine, and if your father was still with us he’d be proud as well. I hope you continue to invent and be well known and famous.”

“I couldn’t have done any of this without your help, mom.” Christine implied.

“I guess if you want to make a change in the world, then you must somehow yourself, be the change.” Susan had replied, “and Christine, you were the change.”

Realizing that her mother was right, Christine hugged her and said as she twirled the cell phone in her hand, “thank you mom. Now let’s go out on the town and show everyone how to work this thing.”

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The Holocaust was an extremely dark time within human history. I would go so far as to say it was the darkest event in human history. The Holocaust was driven by hatred, prejudice, and racism. In the events leading up to and during the Holocaust, people, children were fed Nazi propaganda and were indoctrinated. All of this also ties into Eva Ollson, a Holocaust survivor. Through her life, she has experienced terror like no other. She has had the horror of watching and experiencing what I would say is true evil. Through it all, after experiencing such terror, Eva Ollson has come to us to share her knowledge, and experience on the matter. I also had the pleasure of watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It’s a movie that in its core talks about the innocence, and ignorance of youth, aimed mostly at the main character, Bruno during the Holocaust. Both stories gave me an insight to what really went on during the Holocaust, and what happened in the Aushwitz concentration camp.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas gave us an insight to the lives of a German famiy during the Holocaust, rather then that of say a Jew during that same period. One underlining idea from the movie tht stood out to me personally more then anything else was the father of Bruno’s idea that life isn’t so much about choice, but rather duty for ones country. How is it that a person can inflict such damage, enough so that they destroy lives without even hating or disliking the faction of which they are inflicting pain upon? Can there be no compassion, no sympathising for the pain being dealt by the hand that deals it? I’ve found that the only way for a person of the pain-inducing state to sympathise with that of the pain-induced state is to be oblivious, ignorent to the fact altogether. That was the main issue conflicted upon Bruno in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas which led to his inevitable demise.

I try to make it a habit in my everyday life to follow the Golden Rule. Because of this, I find it nearly incomprehensible what the Nazis inflicted on the Jews. How is it that one group of people could muster up that kind of hatred for another group that before lived right side by side with them. What I find even more terrifying and incomprehensible is that the Holocaust was executed by relatively normal people, and that the actions they were performing they considered normal and necessary as outlined by their state. Something that really caught me off guard during Eva Ollson’s presentation is how she let go. She let go of all the pain, the suffering and hatred that was inflicted on her. I know for me personally, I wouldn’t be able to let go, there’s just no way I could and it’s one of my major flaws. I also found it surprising how the little jewish boy in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas could forgive Bruno, after Bruno had flat out lied about the little boy stealing food. It’s people like Eva Ollson who will be able to break this cycle of hatred as well as evil that seems to plague humanity, and the world.

It’s hard to let go of the pain and suffering, no matter how small. I, like most people have a hard time letting go of hatred inflicted upon me, but that pain and hatred is nothing compared to what Eva Ollson went through, what she has had to endure. It’s because of this that I can find inspiration in her words and get a better understanding of the Golden Rule. Beyond Eva Ollson, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas gave me a small glimpse into the innocence of the children of the time of the Holocaust, which further still increased my understanding of the Golden Rule. By empathising with Eva Ollson and what she went through, it allowed me to lighten up, to let go of some of

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[youtube video=pRpeEdMmmQ0&ob=av2e]

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, use three photos to tell the story of a relationship. You can use “real” photos that you’ve taken in a relationship. Or search for Creative Commons images on Flickr and find a story to tell with what you discover. You can find a bunch of examples at Slate today. http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/love-in-three-frames/      http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/01/love_in_three_photos_tell_us_your_story_for_valentine_s_day.html

Screenshots of my photoshop project:

I chose this assignment because it was really the only one that caught my eye, it looked good on the examples that the website had so i wanted to try it, and now that I am finished, I am very happy with my end results. In my opinion my project turned out pretty good.

This project wasn’t very complicated, my first step was to find three pictures of relationships I have with people, in my next step I used picnik (a photo editing website) to put the black and white effect and the old fashioned camera border around them, next I put them into photoshop by saving all my pictures to the desktop and opening them in a new document and from there I had to copy and paste the picture to my project document. As soon ad I had my three pictures in the document, I shrunk them all down to fit the page by using the scale then I used the rotate tool so all the pictures were on a different angle. I took screenshots every once in awhile to show the progress I made from when i stared to when I finished (screenshot by pressing *command shift 4* then I dragged my mouse to highlight a box around the image I wanted a screenshot of, from there I uploaded them into my blog. The space that my pictures was originally in was too big so I used the “canvas size” under the images category to reduce the height of the paper so there wasn’t such a big gap in between the pictures and the top/bottom of the picture, once that was done I was pretty much done, I moved the pictures around to where I wanted them and then I saved the final result, this explination was how I did my project, there wasnt alot of complicated steps to make it, it was actually pretty easy and I am very happy with the results I got out of the project.

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When I got home from school today my mother greeted me like always and asked how my day was. I told her like always that school was good but today we did these new drills so that we know what to do in case of a bombing. We had to hide under our desks and cover the backs of are necks so that we weren’t burned by the radiation. The drills took hours but it did get us out of math class. The teachers were really strict about it and some kids even got the strap for not taking this seriously.

Now mom is a bit worried. Her and Dad have been talking with the neighbours who just built a fall out shelter. They said that we should consider one. So of course Dad started right away. Dad is also very concerned because my oldest brother Stephan was just sent off to Camp Desert Rock to learn military maneuvers and working with nuclear tests. We got a letter from him today telling us not to worry and that they told him that he only has to worry about flash, heat, and radiation. But radiation is the least important. He also mentioned that the explosion will be the most beautiful sight made by man.

The next day my brother took me to my 4-H meeting after dinner. At the meeting we were shown a video called Bert Ducks and Covers and what we should do in case of this scenario with the atomic bomb. It seemed to drag on, but once the meeting was over that’s all anyone talked about. My brother insisted in stopping at the Atomic Cafe to get a treat before we went home. When we get there, he and his friends start talking about this bomb and how cool it is. Just makes me sick with worry.

When we got home mom and dad are listening to a man named Lewis Strauss on the radio talk about the atomic bomb. He mentioned that the wind failed to follow the predictions but I didn’t quite understand that. Dad was also telling mom that the boys at the office were saying that if we are twelve miles away from the blast we would have a good chance of surviving. I kind of got tired of listening to all that so I went to my room, did my homework and waited till I could use the radio to listen to my own shows. When it was my turn to use the radio, I flipped it to my channel and started to listen to Popeye the Sailor. All of the sudden my program was interrupted.

The man was saying, ” this is not a test. We are under nuclear attack!”

“Martha! George! Come quick!” yelled my mother.

Mom and dad grabbed both of us, the radio and other stuff that mom thought we would need and took us down there. This was the first time I had seen the shelter and it really did look like a house. There was a bedroom for the four of us and a kitchen with a living space. After dad closed the door and locked it we all sat on the bed and waited. A couple of times we heard knocks on the door and people screaming, but dad refused to open the door.

“What’s going to happen to us?” George questioned.

“Well I’m not exactly sure kids, but what I do know is that we are a family. And we will stay down here until it’s safe. I would never let anything happen to you.” dad replied.

“I think you kids should get some rest while your dad and I make something to eat. Have a good sleep children and see you in the morning!”

When I woke up the next day I forgot we were even in the fall out shelter. It seemed kind of like home, but mom doesn’t think so. And from there on we just kept living our normal lives. My brother and I still did our school work, we still had chores and even did a Sunday mass. It was a little different in some areas. I didn’t have 4-H anymore, I didn’t get to see my friends, and we didn’t get to go outside. We didn’t do a lot of playing either because there was so much work to be done. And dad was always busy trying to fix any little thing and mom just cooked and prayed all day. And that was it, we kind of just continued on and hoped for the best. Until one evening when we all sat down to read, my brother stood up and threw his book across the room. He started to shout saying that he couldn’t take this any longer. He was tired of just sitting in this prison and rotting like a vegetable. He wanted to go up to the surface again. Everyone knew exactly how he felt. George started to run frantically towards the doors, but dad stopped him in time and tried to settle him down. Since that little tantrum, no one really does anything out of the usual. Everything was routine and it never changed.

Over the years there were a few exciting things that happened out of the everyday routine. Dad built a new room with some of the supplies that he had kept down there just incase we needed to repair or expand. Mom started to write down and put together recipes for a new hobby. But in the midst of all that we added a new addition to our family, baby Susan. She is a very sweet baby but I don’t like how that puts extra work on me. I am always doing all the cooking and cleaning now. Not to mention taking care of Susan. But no one ever helps me because mom is always tired and George says that watching a baby is women’s work. Sometimes he can be really bossy but I guess that’s what big brothers do! I wonder if Stephan was ever bossy to George. Where is he? Did he knock on our door but dad wouldn’t answer or was he killed by all the radiation? I hope he is alright!

I always wonder if we will ever get to see the surface again. And if we do, will America even be there? Will my friends all be okay and come up as we do? I really don’t understand why anyone would want to drop a bomb on us. Our country is constructive, not destructive. And we certainly wouldn’t want to hurt anyone. But I guess that’s not up to me. I do recall dad saying when we first came down here that we just have to wait for the authorities orders and relax. But that surely didn’t happen.

A few years later after I turned twenty-seven, dad decided it was okay to go up to the surface and see what had happened. Mom was of course scared to go up because she did have a baby since they had left what was once our beautiful country. But finally dad talked her into it and we all went up. We reached the surface and saw the strangest sites. There were giant buildings everywhere, cars flooding the streets and all kinds of different people. We were astounded. Mom and dad were so fascinated and wanted to build a house somewhere in this huge metropolis. After months of searching, we finally came across a little house out of the city. We did have tons of money left over from what mom and dad saved in the fall out shelter but I wanted to do my part in helping them get some money. So I started working at a diner just a couple of miles from where we lived. It wasn’t the best job but I managed.

Trying to fit in was hard for mom and dad though. They both tried to find work, but couldn’t be accepted because they didn’t have any education. They also tried hosting parties and tried to be apart of the community but that didn’t work out either. One night at the dinner table mom and dad sat George, Susan, and I down and told us that they didn’t like it here. They missed the shelter and being able to do what ever and not having to pay bills all the time. They decided that they were going to build a new fall out shelter near this house. I completely understood, I mean I was having a tough time myself. I had to work all day then come home and help Susan with her homework and do most chores on my own. George didn’t even help me anymore. He was too busy with his work and his new girlfriend. And now that mom and dad are going to be working on the new fall out shelter, it’s all up to me to keep this house running.

After mom and dad finally finished the shelter, restocked everything, and moved in they left the house to us kids to live in. And if they ever needed anything they would just come up to the house tell us what they want and we would get it for them. George and his girlfriend got married and are now living in the house with Susan and I and their two children. Which once again leaves everything up to me since Susan is in school and everyone else is too busy to help with anything around here. I remember when we were younger and lived in the fallout shelter, I thought George was really bossy. Well he looks like an angel next to his wife. She is always demanding everything and treats me like the help. People just don’t understand me but I guess it’s just something I have to cope with!

Sometimes when my parents come up to the house and stay for dinner I remember all those good times we had back before everyone was worried about the bomb and all we did was eat dinner as a family then enjoy the radio. Or when we all lived in the fallout shelter and thought that we were part of the 10% of Americans that lived. But this particular dinner when mom and dad came up they started to talk about the good old days before the bomb. All of the sudden Alyssa, George’s wife, burst out laughing. We all stared at her in confusion as she started to laugh even harder.

Finally as she caught her breath she said, ” you people are a bunch of loons!! There was no bomb are you stupid?! When people panicked they went into their fallout shelters and came out shortly after! Nothing actually happened you bunch of half wits!”

We were all still in shock. Mom then started to cry and ran back to the shelter. Dad of course followed her back as George and I just looked at Alyssa like she had just dropped the atomic bomb at that very minute.

” What did I do?! You guys were bound to find out someday. Besides you guys probably still thought that Harry Truman was still president! Oh wow you guys are real stupid people!!”

Susan ran to the bedroom after hearing that. I was frightened as well so I thought it would be best if I just followed. When I closed the door I could hear George shouting at the top of his lungs telling Alyssa that she was no longer welcome here and had to leave at once. I was very proud of my brother, he normally doesn’t stand up to anyone but I think that he only did that because she upset little Susan. But I guess Susan isn’t that little anymore! After all she is eighteen and has a job and everything.

After Alyssa left and everything was well again everyone was much happier. I finally went back to school and got a job as a grade five teacher, Susan got married and started her own restaurant next door, and George works at the restaurant with his new girlfriend Sam. As for my parents, well they still live happily in the fall out shelter.

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Respond to the presentation by Eva Olsson in a post of 300-500 words. Choose your focus from some idea or image from her presentation.

Consider other focus questions or other topics related to character building.

Consider sources from the “Holocaust Literature” thread in the forums.

Be personal, reflective, philosophical, engaging.

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Freud : So Eliot, you seem a little down on yourself lately. What is with the melancholic mindset?

Eliot : Just been wondering about whether things should stay how they are or is she worth disturbing the universe. That is.. if I could change my outward appearance.

Freud : Your internal fear is inhibiting your ability to act with confidence. Inevitable for the melancholic, you’ve managed to split your ego. Your id and ego are under conflict. Your id controls your desires and doesn’t consider the reality of the situation and whether their needs are actually attainable. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run.  Its the ego’s job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation.

Eliot: Explain furthur.

Freud : I’ll use a real life example to help you understand. We are born with our id and it allows us to get our basic needs met as a newborn. When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing. Within the next three years, the ego begins to develop. It helps the child realize that the parents are busy or that the bottle is in the microwave.

Eliot : Oh, that makes more sense now. What do my conflicting ego and id have to do with my love life?

Freud : They have causes you to posses a self consciousness and believe yourself to fail if you attempt anything out of the ordinary.

Eliot : All I see and feel is familiar and predictable. I have known them all; experienced human life. I know all the variations of what I seek, of love; love of a woman.

Freud : The key problem with your mindset is the idea that the characteristics that an individual, you in this situation, attaches hatred and self-loathing to in themselves is actually a manifestation of some recurring problematic trait found in an object of desire or love. Basically, you see in yourself what exists in others, and in others what lies in yourself.

Eliot : What is your point here?

Freud : I’m getting to it; be patient. You see yourself as a complex creature incapable of direct formulation. Remember what I said about your characteristics actually being a manifestation of another object? This is how you view women. When you claim to have known all woman and your capability in formulating them in simple phrases, you actually see this as truly existing in yourself.

Eliot : I’m sure what you are saying is true and you sound very intelligent but frankly, it doesn’t make much sense to me.

Freud : Don’t fret. Just know everyone possess this same brand of insecurity. It is easy to group people into clusters which we then turn into symbols. Stop with the pessimism and  resisting making decisions for fear that their outcomes will turn out wrong. Stop worrying that you will make a fool of yourself and people will reducible you for about your clothes, bald spot, or other insecurities you possess.

Eliot: You’re right. Time is passing and I’m growing old. Maybe I will change my hairstyle and clothes and try next time..

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O Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the glory of Christians, the joy of the universal Church, and the hope of the world, pray for us. Kindle in all the faithful a lively devotion to the most Holy Eucharist, so that they may all be made worthy to receive Holy Communion every day.

Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us!

Amen.

Reflection Question
May is the month of Mary; take this time to reflect on what tremendous hardships she must have endured as the mother of Jesus.

Discussion Question
Even through those tremendous hardships, we feel/experience the loving, serenity of Mary, just as one sees with a mother and her child. When you think of the Mother Mary, what feelings come to you?

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