Before the Law Assignment

Thesis: We as humans like to think that we need to be accepted into society, therefore we feel the need to do everything we can to do so.

Pieces of Evidence (6):

1. The Doorkeeper acts as society, holding the man back from going past the door. He says he needs “permission” from him, meaning he needs to figure out what he has to do to get through that door ( the door represents “being accepted”).
2. The man represents us humans, as how we try so hard to get accepted, so we try to do everything possible like buy “trending things” which are the gifts that the man gives to the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper accepts them, but tells the man he only accepted them so he doesn’t feel any unfinished business, which is his way of saying that he at least tried to get through (like he tried his best to fit in).
3. As the man sits patiently to wait for years to get an approval to go through, it represents how we’re willing to wait for them just to accept us, because that’s how desperate we are.
4. The fleas on the doorkeeper’s collar represents how we bug society to just let us in already, but even when we’re rejected, we still try to find a way to be accepted anyway.
5. The man growing old represents us changing for something else instead of changing for ourselves, thus making us feel weaker. With this mindset, we don’t feel like ourselves anymore.
6. When the doorkeeper says “No one but you could gain admittance through this door, since this door was intended only for you. I am now going to shut it,” it means that society has already accepted us for who we are, we were just blind not to see it. We try so hard to get accepted when really, there was never really something to be accepted for. All we had to do was walk straight in.

Conclusion:

We try so hard to get accepted when really, there was never really a reason to be accepted for anything. All we had to do was walk right into the door, with no hesitation. Our problem is that whenever we see the newest and hottest trends that are going on, we just go with what others like nowadays, so we can fit in. But we never really show them who we truly are, because we’re so blinded by “the catchiness of the music” and how nice the beat is to it. But all of that has a meaning behind it, and we fail to see that. We don’t need to do anything to be accepted into society, all we have to do is be ourselves and get along with others.

Group Reader Response LC #1: Dialectical Journal Practice

1. When Eliezer was warned to leave their town, him and the rest of the Jews didn’t believe it at first. Moshe the Beadle ran to Eliezer’s house, warning them to leave before it was too late, since he didn’t want them to go through the same thing he’s been through. But they just shrugged it off and went about with their own lives. The first decree was when the Jewish leaders were arrested by the Germans, and the first step for the Jews were that they couldn’t leave their house for three days on pain of death. The book didn’t really say much on how they felt with this part of the book, assuming that the Jews probably didn’t really feel the need to be concerned about it. On that same day, the second decree was made, which was that they could no longer own any gold, jewelry, or anything with some type of value, The Hungarian police took everything that they owned, leaving them with nothing. None of them showed signs of concern, but Eliezer’s father thought it was a good idea to hide their savings. When the three days were up, they had created a third new decree, saying that they must wear the yellow star. Again, the Jews showed nothing but ignorance. None of them had the mindset of anything dangerous happening, so they continued on with their lives. They’ve just been piling up new decrees, saying that they aren’t allowed to go to restaurants or cafes, to travel the railway, to attend the synagogue, and to go out into the street after six o’clock. Still showing nothing but ignorance, the Jews of Sighet were forced to live in the two ghettos that were created.

Quotes	Commentary
“I managed to get back here. Where did I get the strength from? I wanted to come back to Sighet to tell you the story of my death. So that you could prepare yourselves while there was still time.” (pg. 5)	This is an important part of the book, because Moshe the Beadle was warning Eliezer and the rest of the town to leave when they still had time.
“...They were issuing new decrees. We were no longer allowed allowed to go into restaurants or cafes, to travel on the railway, to attend the synagogue, to go out into the street after six o’clock.” (pg. 9)	The Jews were stripped of many privileges, making it very hard for them to live their lives. This led to the Hungarian police taking them in and handpicked people to work and for the rest to go to the crematory.
“There are rumors going around...that we’re going somewhere in Hungary to work in the brick factories.” (pg. 11)	The Jews started figuring out what the Hungarian police were up to, but they didn’t really believe it, as they only believed they were “rumors.”
“No one prayed, that so that the night would pass quickly. The stars were only sparks of the fire which devoured us quickly...There was nothing else to do but to get into bed, into the beds of the absent ones; to rest to gather one’s strength. (pg. 18)	They started to get concerned, and soon enough, they found out that there was something off. People started to just go straight to bed, without praying, “so that the night could pass quickly.”
“Yitgadal veyitkadach shme raba… May his name be blessed and magnified” (pg. 31)	His father whispered this saying under his breath, as he was just hoping that nothing wrong happens to the both of them. They were terrified, while Eliezer felt that he was facing the Angel of Death.

Auschwitz Partner: Kari

During the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler devised a policy known as the “Final Solution”, which meant he was going to purify Germany through the slaughter of those he deemed unfit, which comprised of Jews, artists, educators, Romanis, communists, homesexuals, disabled, and more. This gave birth to Auschwitz a death camp, which included three camps during its operation, Auschwitz I in April 1940, Auschwitz II in October 1941; and Auschwitz III in October 1942, “between 1.1 million to 1.5 million people, the vast majority of them Jews, died at Auschwitz during its years of operation. An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 Poles perished at the camp, along with 19,000 to 20,000 Gypsies and smaller numbers of Soviet prisoners of war and other individuals”, (“AUSCHWITZ”). To know that such large amounts of people perished because of their identity is saddening. These victims were unable to reverse who they were, and because of that they had to die or endure an inhumane predicament. The oppressors who committed such cruel actions would separate the incoming people by those who would immediately die or those who’d slowly die by determining their fitness for labor, those who didn’t died an unjustified death, “The bathhouses to which they marched were disguised gas chambers. Once inside, the prisoners were exposed to Zyklon-B poison gas”, (“AUSCHWITZ”). Those who were outcasts to Hitler’s Aryan race, which included Germans who possessed blonde hair and blue eyes were forced to these barbaric murders, and with that in mind it would forever leave a stain onto the world. Many Jews today have the knowledge that their ancestors were a part of one of the world’s most horrific genocide. To make matters worse, many people who were a part of Auschwitz, still have discriminators perpetuating hatred onto them . It will be a long time, before the entire world can accept each other regardless of their identity.

Zofia Stępień-Bator, a witness to the holocaust showed compassion to a fellow Jew, in times where most had the strength to only care for themselves. “Nobody helped me. Prisoners barely able to stay on their feet were passing us”, (“Witnesses accounts“) Stępień-Bator assisted a young girl with minimal strength during their journey, at the time people were unable to do such a thing, because the holocaust had drained everyone’s strength. The brutal labor that the oppressors had forced upon them, subsequently murdered people’s compassion. However, Stępień-Bator went against one of the oppressors goals: annihilation of kindness through helping someone experiencing a similar journey as Stępień-Bator, but not everything lasts forever. “ A moment later, there was a shot. It was my poor little ward, whom I had promised not to abandon. She had stopped suffering... the echo of that shot still rings in my memory... ", (“Witnesses accounts“). Stępień-Bator was unable to help the little girl anymore because of the how the holocaust had continually drained her of life in all aspects, physically, psychologically, spiritually, and emotionally. This was what it meant to be in the holocaust, to be ruthlessly stripped of what makes you human, and Stępień-Bator was no exception. The cost meant that she was unable to help that little girl, subsequently the little girl died.

2 Modern Day Genocides

Kari Lau

Angela Faye N.

Rocky Ramones

• Aleppo genocide
• In Aleppo, Syria there is a modern day genocide occurring. The government that is led by president Bashar Al is murdering citizens who are against the government. During this time, those who were against the president had control of the eastern side of Aleppo, while those who were pro-government were residents of the west. However, in December the government acquired the city as a whole. So, they started to evacuate to find refuge. However, the evacuation failed and attacks resumed. Many people started to die, there are mass executions taking place across the city, according to Heavy. For instance, women and children are being burned alive rather than surrender to the government. However, this genocide did not just occur now but throughout the 6 year period that civil war has been taking place in Syria. According to the LA times, “ Since the war began, an estimated 400,000 people have been killed, some 4.8 million have fled the country and 6.6 million more have been internally displaced”. These murders were all handled by the government through stunning, chemical weapons, executions, and more. Truly a sad event in history to occur.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/38303230

http://stopgenocidenow.org/actions-3/2016/12/listen-alarm-bells/

• Listen to the Alarm Bells
• People have been focused on Aleppo, with a good reason. But while their eyes are focused on Aleppo, South Sudan is on the edge of genocide and no one is watching. “A steady process of ethnic cleansing inderway in several areas of South Sudan include starvation, gang rape, and the burning of the villages,” according to the UN commission on South Sudan. The world’s youngest country is hidden with the forgotten conflicts, just in the shadows and set out to be worried about later. 70% of women from the Civilian Protection Camps have reported of being raped, and 78% had been forced to watch the violent sexual attacks. It’s far worse than “things might get bad in South Sudan.” It’s already bad enough, and it’ll get a whole lot worse. 1,263,681 refugees have fled the violence, according to The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 3,500 have fled each day, during the month of October, and the death toll is rising. Many of them worry that once the rainy season stops, the situation would only get worse.

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