Shindler's List

What makes a person “heroic?” Does a hero possess certain qualities? Or is a hero defined by his or her actions? Was Schindler a hero?


Heroism is defined through heroic actions that to some degree put the doer of the actions in harms way. Heroic actions include helping others in a major way. Heroes posses several good qualities that make them carry out the daring tasks they perform. Without heroic characteristics one would not be a hero. Once Schindler was aware of the situation for the Jews during the holocaust he immediately took action. As stated in the story he no longer cared about making profit. He was far more involved on saving the lives of as many Jews as he could. Schindler's actions were very heroic and definitely made him stand out as a hero to the Jews. He risked his well fare for the lives of other and went through a lot to save the Jews. He is definitely an up stander against Nazi rule and completely disagreed with what the Nazi's were doing to the Jews and therefore took action. He possessed many heroic traits and through using them he was ale to save 1,100 Jews. Schindler proved to be great man and a hero. 

A poem by Sonia Weitz

The Sonia Weitz poem that appealed to me most was In Memory to My Mother. I was able to annotate a wide range of things including metaphors , similes, questions and a large amount of other interesting phrases or sentences based on her Sonia Weitz's experiences. Towards the beginning of  the poem there were several questions that I found very interesting. The questions were able to relate to provide thoughts for the reader as well give as give one an understanding of how things were for individuals that were negatively affected by the holocaust. This was an emotional part of the poem sharing true experiences filled with sadness and misery to me. Throughout the poem I found a lot of figurative language. This was a useful tool distributing feeling into the poem making it evermore emotional. The last section of the poem the most important to me. The author through out a chain of experiences speeding up the tempo of the poem and explaining everything very thoroughly. The rhyming helped the poem to progress and overwhelmed me with the pain she felt. This poem has done a very good job of combining poetry and personal experiences of the holocaust. A connection I have to the poem would be a bad experience I had as a kid when my dad went away on a business trip for a several months. Being just a little kid I was easily saddened and this was an event which I was very emotional about. I also had see someone leave. Although my experience was nowhere near as severe as Sonia Weitz's it was related. I was very saddened and felt very lonely since my dad was the only family member who somewhat cared about what toys I liked to play with. Of course this was a long time ago and if it was to happen again I would not be so emotional. Overall Sonia Weitz has wrote a very well presented poem filled with emotion, it was her experience of the holocaust and it was the truth behind the fences.

Hitler's struggle for power

 What conditions were present that allowed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party to take control of Germany in 1933? 

During the time after World War 1 Germany fell into extreme crisis with many different political parties all fighting for power. Hitler realized that this would be a very beneficial opportunity for him to sieze the moment and appear as a spokesman for the people. During his struggle for power he was faced with many roadblocks preventing him from grasping power. He was arrested, challenged and misinterpreted but many events were in his and the Nazis favour that led him to power.


In 1923 hyperinflation and economic crisis struck Germany. This was seen as an opportunity by many politicians and political parties to get involved and take power. Hitler being a spokesman in all the commotion was aware that what the people needed was some guidance and he realized that through helping the German citizens he could get the vote and rise to power. From there Hitler could accomplish what he truly wanted to do,  spread all his beliefs through propaganda and make a new Germany, a Germany knowing him as the leader. Overall the chaos enclosed within Germany was Hitler's chance to appear to many as some kind of deity to help them and sustain the nations lack of order. 


In 1933 the Reichstag fire occurred. It is not completely known who or what caused it but many believe Hitler and the Nazis did it. There are many theories about the Reichstag fire and they have mostly been stating that Hitler and the Nazis did it so they could blame it on other political parties to wipe them out. Hitler did this so there would be less competition for him to seize supreme power. This was a key event that allowed Hitler to bring down the communists, enemies of the Nazi party whom Hitler disliked very much. The Reichstag fire was a very contributing factor in Hitler's struggle for power allowing him to wipe out his enemies and let the people of Germany know that he would be there for any cataclysmic events threatening Germany.  

Restrictive Laws in Nazi Germany

1.  Who could now be defined as a "Jew"?
Anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents was defined as a Jew
2.  What was meant by "Aryanizing" Jewish Businesses?
Aryanizing Jewish businesses was when The Nazis dismissed all Jewish worker or managers and replaced with with non-Jews.
3.  How were Jews who were professionals (lawyers, doctors etc.) restricted?
Jewish Doctors were restricted from attending to non-jews and Jewish lawyers could not practice the law.
4.  What did Jewish identity cards need to include now?
If the persons first name was not Jewish sounding the identity cards of Jews had to include the middle name Israel if the person was a male and Sara if the person was a female.
5.  What was the "Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People" 
The Law for the Protection of the Hereditary Health of the German People was a law stating all German citizens must obtain a certificate of fitness if wanting to marry.

Strategized Accusations

What are Civil rights? What are some that we have?

Why might some of Hitlers measures in abolishing personal freedoms and Civil rights be seen by some as a positive, or necessary move?