ISU Task 4 Blog Entry 6 ~ Night by Elie Wiesel

Article: http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2015/05/12/democrats-demand-investigation-into-discrimination-against-jews-gays-on-middle-eastern-airlines/

   The following article discusses a recent issue that's been taken place in a Middle Eastern Airline flight. The recent issue happened when the Middle Eastern Airline attendants discriminated passengers that may have been Jewish or gay. This has been a big deal mainly because most of the passengers that was discriminated is American and they have filed a complaint to the American government stating that they were harassed and racially abused for being either a Jew or a gay.

Our society try's to reduce racism but yet we fail to spread the word to stop. This can be related to the story "Night", as discrimination reduced later, but yet still we find a way to make someone an outsider when their different from society. In WWII Elie faced these concepts when being forced into the concentration camp with his family due to the fact that they were Jews. These two concepts relate to each other because many passengers attending Middle Eastern Airline are being discriminated because they are a Jew. Elie on the other hand, also was harassed because they were simply Jewish.   

ISU Task 4 Blog Entry 5 ~ Night by Ellie Wiesel

Poem about the Holocaust 

http://www.auschwitz.dk/id6.htm

Holocaust by Barbara Sonek We played, we laughed we were loved. We were ripped from the arms of our parents and thrown into the fire. We were nothing more than children. We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.

   By looking at this poem, I can easily see the similarities of my novel "Night" and this. Both are taking place during the same time period and both this poem and the novel are being spoken by a Jewish child. These two selections can link to each other because both are hoping to have a great future with jobs they are dreaming of. But when the second World War  begins their dreams are crushed and this can relate to Elie's childhood back in the day as well. He may have been hoping to have a great job when he gets older and having a great family by becoming a doctor or lawyer but once the war began, his dreams have been crushed. This can not only relate to Elie and the poem but the millions of other Jewish children that were impacted by the holocaust.

ISU Task 4 Blog Entry 4 ~ Night by Elie Wiesel

Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/a-half-century-of-progress-and-black-americas-still-burning/article24329853/

    The following article I chose shows the specific social issue of the story "Night". In this case, the article discusses about the conflict occurring down in the United States and how its "black majority" is easily getting mistreated and discriminated by the authority of the local police as well as the "white" citizens. After several protests, the 1965 legislation confirms that all "Black/African" Americans are equally treated as everyone else. But still as of today the legislation has not met its standards. "Black" Americans are always being accused of crimes such as murder, stealing and many other things. It's not only happening in the United States but also in several other places around the world. People often see different skin colours as a stereotype, whether if its brown or black, but in this case many are seeing African Americans as the "gangs" and "crime starters" in the United States mainly because of the fact that they are comparing and looking at them by their stereotypes. Just because some African Americans break the law and start crimes doesn't mean that everyone else cam judge the whole African American race in my opinion.

   This can relate to the story "Night" because this is what similarly happened in WWII. German troops, the United States, Canada and many other troops and nations around the world were judging the Jewish race, just like what the Americans are doing to African Americans today but in a less violent way comparing to the WWII era. Jewish people were mistreated, being called dogs and non humans just because they were just, Jewish. This is a type of stereotype that has been evolved over the years, from the end of WW1 until today. Even though we try reducing the discrimination of Jewish people, some still tend to make them as a joke. Back in WWII, German soldiers killed and out them into concentration camps because they are the type of race they are. We as a society should change our attitudes on how we look and compare with people and their races, which can make things worse if we don't stop as there will be more riots and protests from the discriminated victims around the world.

African Americans Protest in Baltimore (May 2015) for discrimination and racism taking place on their own kind by the police and government.

Slam Poem Used in ISU ~ Night

The following poem will discuss the social issue of the story as well as what the main character (author) has to face as a Jew during WWII.

~Poem~

The year of the 40's, 

Following by the late 30's,

The second great war rises from the dark death of millions,

Bringing destruction and chaos back towards the only world we have,

Walking down the streets,

Without being one of the deceased,

A miracle they say,

But no,

As cold blood enters,

The gas chambers inverter's,

Rises to bring in the slender,

Being discriminated,

Seeing the chambers smoke out the incineration of many,

A Jew they say,

I'am a Jew,

I'am a Jew watching the rest of my family die,

I feel no pain,

Because I have nothing to gain,

I see the light shining through my tear drops,

I will escape this he says as he reaches his hands towards my mother and sisters,

Rising to the sky,

They'll stay in a better place now,

Because I see their souls rising out of their dead bodies.

~End of Poem~

War and Conflict - Artifact

John F. Kennedy's quote he made a couple years before he died shows how tragic and the devastation war can cause.

      "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to man kind." - War is occurring in many different parts of the world and what John F. Kennedy states is very true. This is due to the fact that when nuclear bombardments were introduced at the ending of WWII, the biggest scenario was the bombing in Japan which spread across 1000 of kilometers and destroyed millions of people.

      Nuclear Warheads are now even more improved in our current Modern Day era and if another World War occurs (in this case, WWIII), it will be very likely that the next war will be used by nuclear weapons which can wipe out the whole world. Relating this to John F. Kennedy's quote he made shows and describes what can possibly happen if we continue having conflict in many parts of the world. Everyone will be in danger no matter who and where you are located.

      In order to resolve this issue on conflict, mankind must put an end to war, which can be possible. This is because of instead of always killing each other and spending billions of dollars on weapons, governments can resolve the conflict in the old school way, which is talking it out or negotiating which can help out by not having a war. Everyone should just get along with each other because if war continues like this, it can get wars and can end mankind for good by using powerful weapons like the atomic bomb which can wipe out the whole world using today's technology.

ISU Task 4 Blog Entry 3 ~ Night By Elie Wiesel

The following links at the bottom will contain articles about the social issue of the story "Night", and the life as a "Jew". The links will be explained as well.

http://forward.com/articles/216963/voices-of-holocaust-survivors-resound-in-words-of/

The image above was taken in a concentration camp in WWII, similar to the one Elie in the story had to stay with his father. The link for this picture explains and tells the reader the road Elie had to face when publishing his book/story (Night) and how he had to secretly get help by a publisher to help him publish the book so the world can read the things that him and his family had to go through as a Jew in the 1940's. While the struggle to survive in the concentration camp was key in the story, Elie first wrote his story in a Jewish type of language and then wanted to publish an English version of his story due to the fact that the majority in the world speaks English. He also had the chance to translate his story to French as well. The social issue mentioned before is that even when war is over, Elie as a Jewish man didn't have any sort of chance to publish his book due to racism and discrimination by other publishers that wanted to hide his story. Elie was lucky to have a backup plan to contact another publisher to help him make people around the world read his book and understand the struggle, pain and hard effort to survive he had to go through.

I also had the chance to find a album done by the Partisans of Vilna that published an album dedicated to the life in the ghetto back in WWII. 

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/songs-world-war-ii-jewish/id2568541

Several songs like "Under the White Stars and "You Jewish Partisan", goes through the life of getting hurt and discriminated by Nazi Germans in concentration camps and the life in the ghetto. 

The Sniper Short Story Summary and Thematic Paragraph

    There is a revolution for independence taking place in Ireland in the early 1920’s. It's now evening in the city of Dublin during the month of June and a republican sniper is laying on the roof tops by the O'Connell bridge watching for any enemies. Hungry with nothing to eat since morning, he continued to lay on the roof until he decided to quickly smoke a cigarette when an undercover sniper out of nowhere shoots at him and luckily gets missed by the bullet. He then noticed an armoured vehicle crossing the bridge and stopping. The sniper anxiously wanted to  start shooting at the vehicle but there was no point since the armour in the vehicle was too strong. He then spots an old women that is walking towards the vehicle who noticed the republican sniper and points her finger towards him. The armoured vehicle spots the sniper and gets out the machine turret and begins to shoot the sniper on the roof tops. The sniper had no choice but to shoot the man on the turret so that is what he did. Fortunately he also shoots the old women (who he realizes was an informer) falls into a gutter. The sniper steadily shoots the  man using the turret as well. As the armoured vehicle moved away after the tragic event, the Sniper still had to deal with the other undercover sniper in the other end of the street. Then as soon as he started to think everything was over, gets shot by the enemy in the other end. The sniper realizes the bullet was shot into his arm. As he rips his shirt using his pocket knife, he opens his field dressing kit in one of his other pockets and opens an iodine bottle, he dips some of the liquid to his wound as he applies bandages to the wound and then comes up with a plan to get rid of the enemy sniper once and for all. His plan was to fool the undercover sniper on faking his death by taking off his cap and placing it over the muzzle of his rifle. He then decides to put the muzzle over the parapet so the enemy can see it and get distracted by it, so then the Sniper can have a perfect chance to shoot his enemy. He becomes very successful by lifting his revolver above the edge of the parapet and shooting him. He gets a good shot and watches as his enemy sniper falls off the roof in the opposite side of the street. Curious, the Sniper gets to the streets and wanted to know how the enemy sniper looked like. Once he reached to him he realizes the enemy sniper was his own brother.

    War can not only lead to harsh conflict but can also affect many families in a negative way. In this case, in this short story "The Sniper", the main character the "Sniper" shoots the enemy sniper who realizes that the enemy was his own blood brother. This shows the cruelty that can occur during conflict, which can not only split peoples ideologies by starting violence, but can also split family to end up killing one another. Realizing that the brothers didn't know each others identities and thinking that the two of them were just enemies are another reason the author shows that violence and conflict can tear families apart.