Dreams and Analysis
I had the oddest, oddest dream. I dreamt that a guy in my Holocaust class asked me out, and he failed the first time because I was with a friend. We were in the cafeteria getting soup and he called at me to get some special ice cream if I mentioned his name at the counter (I bought Haagen Dazs ice cream today). But nothing happened to that, and the dream SKIP SKIP SKIP to:
The second time. He sent a really, really nice letter, and I think we were in Washington DC or something. For some reason I got a hold of his diary (or something like that) and the book said something like “I want to show her Nazi Germany. Those are my flowers to a girl.”
Looking back, the entire thing was LOL, but I think in the dream I went ‘awww’. And looking back, I seem to remember whatever he wrote was kinda misogynistic, actually. Sheesh.
So I went for my counseling appointment today. Dear God, that was unpleasant. I told myself to not cry at all. I managed for the first half an hour, and then I CRIED. Christ.
Valkyrie
Whazzhername? Mylie Cyrus? Myli Cirus? My citrus? My big circus?
Whatever.
I’m both excited and apprehensive for Valkyrie. I mentioned to Julia the other day that after the masterpiece that was Der Untergang, it just doesn’t feel right if WWII films set in Germany has everyone talking in English. With Tom Cruise American, Bill Nighy and co. British, Christian Berkel and Thomas Kretschmann German, accents are going to be flying all over the place. I think that’ll be the stage for some major lulz.
Also, I’m sure they’ll be taking some liberty with the original event that occurred, so I’ll be the one in the theater yelling about the inconsistencies.
More WWII stuff
I’m sorry that my recent entries have always been about Nazi Germany. The family’s in Malaysia, I have nothing to do, and Nazi Germany is absolutely a fascinating entity to study. I think I would’ve been a WWII historian if not for the fact that I don’t understand a word of German, and probably never will. Except ‘Deutschland’.
I’ve finished watching Triumph of the Will (y’know, that 1934 Nazi propaganda film) in its entirety, and my feelings can be summed up thusly:
Holy shit mother of God.
One thing I hate about borrowing from libraries is that you have to return it one day. I don’t know why, but this puts me off from reading it in the first place. I like to own a book, and I don’t have that feeling of having to return it by a certain date. I don’t want to feel like I’m being rushed to read, which borrowing always does. I still haven’t touched Goebbels’s diaries yet, and I think I’m going to return them without finishing it. I’ll probably buy them when I have the money.
I did a quick search on Amazon for ‘Hitler’, because I remember reading a really extensive biography on his life when I was 14, and I’d like to read it again. ‘Hitler’ has 82,810 entries in books alone… Oh wait. Okay, the search function on Amazon is screwed. What does ‘Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia’ have anything to do with Hitler? ‘Adolf Hitler’ narrows it down to 28,000 or so, but ‘Ronald Regan’s diaries’ are still part of the search results… I’m just rambling here.
I’ve thrown up a bunch of Nazi-related books and Hitler biographies on my Amazon wishlist. It’s kinda odd to see ‘Disney on Classic 2007′ listed side by side with ‘Mein Kampf’, but whatever. I’m definitely buying Ian Kershaw’s stuff, though, and the WWII documentary Laura recommended me.
I AM BOOKMARKING THIS PAGE FOREVER.
If I could go back in time…
I’d want to meet Hitler. The motherfucker would, in all probability, shoot me for being non-Aryan, but damned if I’m not curious enough to meet him in the flesh.
Random thoughts
I’ve been studying up for my Holocaust midterm, and I’ve been reviewing all the readings I’ve had. Among them was Hitler’s Mein Kampf (again), and I have a quote for you.
It doesnt even enter their heads to build up a Jewish state in Palestine for the purpose of living there; all they want is a central organization for their international world swindle, endowed with its own sovereign rights and removed from the intervention of other states: a haven for convicted scoundrels and a university for budding crooks.
I don’t know how people can say that with a straight face, honestly. Even in the 1930s, there must have been some little mechanism in the head that was going ‘HAHAHAHAHAHA’ at that.
Secondly, saying ‘I don’t know how to put it in words’ and then complaining that I argue my side too well is not a valid excuse to bitch about me. You’re just stupid.
Finally, you know that you’re reading too much Psychology when you refuse to answer the following question:
Of the two events listed here, what was most significant to the Nazi party’s rise to power: The putsch of 1923 or the passage of the Enabling Act?
You refuse to give a proper answer on the premise that the putsch and the Enabling Act have no common independent variable, and it is thus impossible to compare the effects of both in relation to each other. Everything was important to the Nazi rise to power; why are you making me choose?! Why do you have to make my life so difficult?! *cries, whines, footstomp, etc*
ETA: Also, I now equate conspiracy with paranoid schizophrenia. There is no conspiracy to keep you down, honestly.
Between Dignity and Despair - First Impressions
I didn’t like this book very much. I thought it was a rather unique book at first, as Marion Kaplan compiled a bunch of anecdotes from Holocaust survivors together and fitted them into this book, giving us a truly realistic and personal view of the Jewish life in Nazi Germany.
The anecdotes are heartbreaking, touching and celebratory all at once. You cheer when you read a German standing up to a Nazi soldier during the 1933 Jewish boycott, or Germans insisting on continuing their friendships with Jewish friends. And then there are stories of Jewish women having to perform sexual favours in order to get their immigration papers, or how Jews were slowly excluded from the most basic of clubs. It’s incredibly interesting to read, and the glimpse into Jewish life is fascinating and truly different from a normal ‘historic’ book.
The problem is Kaplan won’t stop hammering it in on how ‘brutal’ or ‘cruel’ or ‘painful’ it was for the Jewish people. Kaplan uses the word ‘brutal’ 4 times in 3 paragraphs, and by the end of the Introduction(!) I was already screaming ‘Yes, I know Jewish life was painful; everyone knows that, so stop using all these loaded words!’ Kaplan doesn’t need to tell us that it was horrible to live in Germany in the 1930s; the anecdotes she collected speak volumes already.
The way she writes is weak, and the anecdotes are the only things that hold this book together. Firstly, for all her attempts to show that the Jewish experiences were diverse, she does a fantastic job in colouring the German side the same shade of evil. All Germans - be it a civilian or a member of the SS - behave the same. There are the occasional hopeful stories, but it seems like the Germans are never human. They are simply grouped into a single word - ‘Germans’. Coupled with the loaded words Kaplan loves to scatter in what moments she can spare between anecdotes, the whole thing just smacks of bias.
Granted, Kaplan writes the book wholly from the viewpoint of the victims in Nazi Germany, and after some thought, I could let the German homogeneity and loaded words slide. What I cannot forgive, however, is speculation, and getting horrendously biased sources.
At times Kaplan attempts to give us a brief summary of the events that happened in a certain year, and the aftermath of said event. No historian in their right mind can ever say “Well, I have no sources on this, but I can say that…” You can’t do that. You are not a historian if you speculate on events that you have no proof for. Kaplan, unfortunately, speculates so eagerly and explicitly, and she actually used the phrase “There are no sources, but…” She seems to want to capitalize on the Jewish suffering so badly she winds up adding on more theories of how Jews suffered when she even lacks the evidence for it. I can assure you that the lack of proof is not going to add on my sympathy for what happened in the 1930s. It makes me pissed that I’m reading a completely biased source and now I have to take all the anecdotes I read with a grain of salt.
Also, getting data from German sources about almost anything Jewish in the 1930s would be biased. Percentages will be skewed, attempting to show progress, or just for propaganda. The same thing can be said for Jewish sources. Isn’t there a possibility that the percentages might have overinflated? I can’t remember which year the data was published, but either way, there is a possibility that it might be biased, simply because you’re taking Jewish data for Jewish suffering in WWII. There isn’t any comparison to German sources or even independent sources for balance. I cannot just take Jewish sources as fact and leave it there. Once again, Kaplan seems to want to bludgeon us on the head with the phrase ‘THE JEWS SUFFERED IN WWII!’
I KNOW. IT HURTS BAD, AND YOU’RE NOT EXACTLY HELPING MY SYMPATHY ANY.
I don’t think Kaplan wanted this to be a historical or accurate source. She has provided us with anecdotes, and we all know how tricky the memory can be. I can accept that, but when Kaplan switches to a summary of events that everyone knows (translation: turns historian), takes percentages from biased sources and conjures theories out of thin air, I have reason to disbelieve anything she says.
