Thesis: “History is both an unfolding story we write as humans and also a mirror of our humanity. Too often we’re so busy glorifying the first part that we tend to forget the second part.”
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Story-telling, as far as I can remember, celebrates this distinct condition: the human condition. My Lit professor told us back then that a well-reported and written story would make us feel as though we were there, experiencing what the people in the story were experiencing. Well, I couldn’t agree less. After all, the goal of every story, as many would have supposed, is essentially transportation—to transport the reader to a particular place at a particular time.
We are always told since we were kids that history is just a story in itself; that it is just one damn thing after another. It may sound too simple but as we grow, we eventually see it as a process—a process of storytelling in which the story-teller attempts to understand and find meaning in the apparently random events of the past. Nonetheless, history becomes the canvas upon which a great story unfolds. But then, we must as well realize that no history is objective. Each—as we have seen and verified in class—is written with inherent biases and motives. Each is often unfair, incomplete or perhaps dishonest. Indeed, history is about fallible evidence, interpreted by equally fallible people.
I would have to agree with Mark Twain that the very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice. There is no need to look for further examples in history: the Holocaust incident already has it. A concrete example would be that of the influential Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (My Struggle) where it records Hitler’s own history as he saw it. He felt that the Jews were an evil race that was at the root of Germany’s problems and therefore must be eliminated. Hitler and his ideals made it so easy to say it was someone else’s fault, directing anger and humiliation away from the Germans themselves. The Jews—as a consequence—became a scapegoat for racial, economic and political problems of Germany, taking all of the blame without meriting it.
No matter how absurd it may be, Hitler gained further support for his ideas. This was shown throughout the Holocaust movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The popular media—television, books, radio, posters…name it—were completely filled with pro-Nazi material. In fact, even history lessons being taught to children [Bruno and Gretel Hoess in this case] strongly indicated Jews as mysterious, mythical, and evil forces who play sinister roles in history. Adults and children were compelled and brainwashed to believe such stereotypes, causing frequent anti-Jewish violence. It turns out that the Jews were killed and exterminated not for who they were but for what they were. It is even hard to grasp the idea that it isn’t just a million deaths, but a million lives that were cut off all because of racism and hate.
Recall the two named Jews in the movie—Pavel and Shmuel—in mind. What have they done to deserve that kind of treatment, that kind of torture? What have they done to earn formidable cruelty and agony? They did not break the rules―nor did they step on anybody. Eight-year old Shmuel gave a seemingly simple answer: “because I’m a Jew”. They deserved to be tortured and slaughtered just because they were Jews? What the hell. It was as if they were more immoral, more wicked than criminals who bluntly defiled the legal or moral laws of humanity.
To be honest, I really wanted to condemn these Germans – specifically those who revered to Hitler’s prejudiced propagandas, those who tried so hard just to make their nation look superior among the others through whatever means. But reason tells me I couldn’t. Well, I guess it must have been true that men make their own history, but not―for most cases―in the circumstances of their own choosing. In the movie, this idea is clearly manifested by Ralf, commandant in the German Army. He is in fact a good representation of most Germans during Hitler’s reign: although given the capacity to think sensibly for themselves, they would rather just follow, follow and follow. Ralf, as seen in this context, unhesitatingly allowed anti-Semitic thoughts to just swallow him whole, leaving him incapable of utilizing any man’s “luxury of thinking”. Admit it―he is innately a good man: he is in fact a hero to his son, a loving husband to his wife, a good father to his family. He may be very patriotic; he may be someone who does what he thinks is right for his country. But nevertheless, what were his reasons, his grounds, to take someone’s [in this case, it would be Hitler’s] beliefs without even bothering to weigh matters completely? Is it because he is too engrossed in building a seemingly great history? Or is it simply because he has chosen the path of wickedness, the path of evil?
Many would now say that evil is not something radical. It arises out of the tendency of ordinary people to follow orders, to accept what they’re told by authorities, to conform to the prevailing opinion. We are humans, and we can’t get away with the fact that we are given this ability to think rationally for our own. Acting out a thing just for the sake of obeying―whether it would be for history’s sake or not―has long been a problem for most of us. Even worse is the fact that most of the times, we act without thinking of the possible consequences it would bring us, the future generation, and the society as a whole. We even lack the guts to let our own judgment preside. It’s either because we are too afraid to defy the crooked, or we are just too lazy to take part in administering change. Notice Ralf’s face on the last scenes of the movie. That kind of face implies a painful realization when it is important to question the way things are and when it is important to just follow orders. And that made me think about how people, who do not often question or think about things critically, can be easily misled and deluded.
Having all these things said, we can now see another important thread within reflections on history. It concerns the relation between history itself and the constitution of humanity. In the movie, Ralf once told his son Bruno that the Jews―those strange “farmers” who always wear “pajamas”―are actually “not people at all”. Well then, I find myself asking again and again: what does it really mean to be human? I find in myself the same feelings of confusion when it comes to the issue of what makes us human. How can people be so blind as to be able to ask questions about “quality of life” as if only a certain quality of life makes one human? Are people human only when they are not tagged as “Jews”? Are they less human if they do? Have they lost humanity if they do?
Suddenly I came to a realization. When we use the word ‘human’ and its variants – humanity, humanitarian, humane, humanize – we almost always imply a quality that is unique to human beings: that is, to feel and to empathize. To feel is to be conscious of other people’s needs; it is to be aware of what one is doing, and of course, to be aware of his fellow’s well-being. If we cannot observe ourselves and see what we are doing and the consequences our thinking, our talking and our actions have (not only individually but in groups and as a nation), then we are acting blindly; and we do a tremendous amount of damage. Lieutenant Kotler is a perfect example. He is very full of himself, taking himself superior over the defenseless Jews. He doesn’t care whether his actions inflict harm to these people. He treats them as though they were animals; he treats them as though they don’t deserve to exist. Yes, he may be human complete with a thriving existence―but he, sad to say, certainly lacks this thing called humanity.
But as Elie Wiesel―a Holocaust survivor―puts it, the cruelest lesson of the Holocaust was not man’s capacity for inhumanity – but the far more prevalent and dangerous capacity for indifference. This indifference may weigh equally as cruelty because if we become indifferent to the suffering and pain of others, we likewise become cold-blooded and heartless. Hitler was to a considerable degree simply voicing the conventional wisdom of his times and he was far from alone in doing so. The plain fact is that it was not just the Nazis who brought about the holocaust. To its shame, the whole world did. During the Holocaust incident, there were millions who knew and did nothing. There were “good people” who were “aware” of what was happening, but all they did was to watch. Take Elsa, Ralf’s wife, as an example. After recognizing what awful things her race has been doing to the Jews, she felt and knew for sure that it was wrong. Yes it may be relaxing to know that such people still exist. But really, has she done something to rectify what she knew was wrong? “To be silent in the face of evil is to acquiesce in it, encourage it, and help it grow strong.” History, in this light, teaches us that evil will still triumph when good people remain idle and silent.
Grandma said to Bruno: “You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you’re pretending to be.” Being human is to have compassion for others― it’s like seeing with them, feeling with them. Being human is being conscious that this life is short and that we should make the best life we can for ourselves. Being human is having good morals. Being human is being an honest and decent person.
Yes, humanity comprises all these and all that. Complicated, isn’t it? But the bottom line is this: we must come to a different dimension of ourselves, where the search for truth and the capacity to love are set on the spotlight. History is not just about the details it present; it is used to give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity. History, as we have been stressing out since the first day of class, is not utilized to simply glorify the brilliant success brought about by brilliant people from the past. Instead, we must apply them to represent the right way of acting, and to justify our society’s conduct in the present, and yes, in the time to come.
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Hi18--Western History Class, Ateneo de Manila University
Ohh, this is my favorite paper I've written for this class. :)
Reflection Paper inspired by the Holocaust Movie Boy in a Striped Pajamas
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