Monday, March 18, 2013

Keep Talking--Danielle Sargent

March 13, 2013


I have learned the importance of communication during this trip, especially in relation to continuing to talk about the issues and events in history.  After the Holocaust, this subject became “taboo” for many people to talk about.  Some people even doubted the fact that the Holocaust even happened at all.  For the survivors, it is understandable why they might have a hard time talking about their story, but I want to express to you the importance of spreading the stories that have already been told.

Without doing so, history can be lost.  Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs emphasizes “resolution of conflict and reduction of cognitive dissonance” in her article, “So Many Questions:  The Development of Holocaust Education in Post-Communist Poland”.  She explains the importance of educating students to learn about the Holocaust so that they have a full awareness of the world’s history.  Also, by learning about this event in history, this can help to diminish the possibility of something like this reoccurring in the future. 

Many people, who have heard about the Holocaust while it was occurring, failed to talk about it because they felt powerless.  This is important to take into consideration.  The failure to talk about something so serious that is happening in the world can have extreme repercussions.  It leads to a lack of understanding as well as a lack of importance to others.  In the case of the Holocaust, it caused millions their lives.  Maybe if someone had spoke up; maybe if someone had shared what they knew; maybe if people formed an organization to rebel; maybe if someone formed an army to take down the Nazis….maybe things would have been different.  This is something that we will never know. 

Having a lecture with Dr. Jolanta in the Przegoraly Castle today definitely brought to life the issues in her article.  She spoke about Robert Traba’s Memory Formation related to World War II that has three phases.  The first phase is the “living memory” phase which occurred from 1944-1949.  The second phase is “legalized memory” from 1950-1979 which is also known as “confiscated memory”.  The third phase is the attempt of “memory reanimation” which occurs after 1980.  Putting this progression of memory into words helps to understand what is going on in the minds of the survivors. 
Our Group with Dr. Jolanta

Unfortunately for many, the survivors must undergo their traumatic experiences and take in what is happening around them (phase I).  Afterwards, those that survived look at what happened to them, but may not necessarily be comfortable talking about it yet.  For many, this was the case (phase II).  Finally, survivors may attempt to portray their experiences to others through speech, writing, or art (phase III).  It is through these three phases that we are able to learn about what happened during the Holocaust.  For it to be such a long treacherous process for the survivors to begin to talk about what they have been through, it almost seems wrong to not keep their stories going in order to let people know what really went on during the Holocaust so that it can be prevented in the future.

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