Journal Entry #16

Journal Entry #16
Chapter 16 : The Last One

"To destroy a man is difficult, almost as difficult as to creat one : it has not been easy, nor quick, but you Germans have succeeded." This quote shows how the intentions of the Germans to dehumanize and degrade the Jews succeeded. Of course, there were numbers of people, very few, who actually rebelled against the Germans to keep their dignity and still be humans in front of their eyes. The last one to rebell, who exploded the crematorium at Birkenau, was finally put to death while other prisoners were watching.
"Who answered 'Jawohl'? Everybody and nobody: it was as if our cursed resignation took body by itself, as if it turned into a collective voice above our heads." When the German asked if the Jews understood why this man was being killed, people answered 'Jawohl' when they knew that that wasn't what they wanted to say. When the man is killed, and people are dismissed, Alberto and Primo are in great shame of themselves that they couldn't say anyting, or do anything about the man's death. They didn't have enough courage to stand out, which meant that the Germans succeeded in stripping their humanity away.
"We lifted the menaschka on to the bunk and divided it, we satisfied the daily ragings of hunger, and now we are oppressed by shame." The fact that they had to see and feel for themselves that the Germans had succeeded in degrading them was probably very shameful for them. While they could be furious on the inside, no one was courageous enough like the man who bombed the crematorium and actually showed his anger and sense of humanity by action. One thing hasn't changed during these days, or during our days now. People try to fit in and go with the crowd in order to blend in and in order to be not pointed out, but is that a wise thing to do? I think people should step out like the "last one" in order to fulfill their beliefs even though it may be self-sacrificing.