Berlin Memorial Reflection

     The activity we did today in class was very informational and I actually learned a lot during this time period. I did have a bit of background knowledge when it came to the restrictions that Germany put on the Jewish community. I've felt that over the last two days I have gained more knowledge on how the government functioned in Germany and the laws they passed. The Nuremberg Laws which was task four of the web quest did give me a bit of information on how the Jewish people lived prior to the construction of the concentration camps.  The major thing I learned is that there is over 400 Jewish decrees and how the Nazis hid their plans during the Olympic Games. I find it surprising that history doesn't go into detail when it came to the Berlin Winter Olympic Games. The detail and fact I learned over the course of this activity is that almost all European Jews were in concentration camps in 1944. When I first learned about World War II which was last year it seems as if I only knew how the Jewish people suffered in labor camps, concentration camps, etc. This activity helped me gain knowledge on how Jews in the city also suffered, in which the government restricted human rights.


    The monument in Berlin was built to show the world how much the Jewish community suffered even when they weren't in concentration camps. In the pictures that were shown in class I noticed that each one had a different image. If we look back at the images it shows a bread and one displays musical notes. The German government wants to show local residents and even tourists that we must feel gratitude for the amount of accessories we have at home. The laws with the pictures were possibly built to provide people with historical facts that can reveal even more horrors prior to the Holocaust. In my opinion I think that the majority of people in the world do know about the horrors of the camps, but I'm thinking only thirty to fifty percent know about the Jewish laws. This memorial is there to teach people more about the topic and how it impacted the world. The major thing I noticed about the laws is that at first the government was only taking away jobs, education, and public places from the Jews. Then after the Olympic Games the government started to take away basic things such as milk, pets, etc. The other thing that I noticed was that in 1944 no law was passed.

   
    When looking at the timeline from 1933 to 1945 it seems that the violence in Germany started in 1938 when Kristallnacht occurred which was the "Night of Broken Glass". It was also when Germany started to invade smaller countries in which it eventually led to the beginning of World War II. The violence continued for the next 7 years until May 1945 when the Allies won the war in Europe. The restrictions that I would have the most trouble dealing with is not being able to go to school and being banned from public places. In every country of the world you need education in order to get a job and if this is taken away from you the job options started to slowly change. The reason I enjoy going to school is because it gives a person the opportunity to meet new people. A student is exposed to numerous topics which can shape their interests and have an impact in their education. If I were banned from public places such as restaurants and movie theaters it would seem boring just stay at home everyday. We as humans need entertainment even if it comes from movies, books, or television.
I myself like reading and watching movies, so that is why I couldn't deal with these restrictions.

This photo represent post-World War I Germany in which every citizen was either unemployed or didn't have enough money. The picture shows that Germans and Jews suffered together during this time period and that they helped each other. The detail that I can't understand is why didn't the country think before they went into action. I don't comprehend why citizens didn't think back to the days in which they helped each other. 

This week I will comment on Jenna, Autumn, and Steven's Blogs.