The Holocaust in Film
Films greatly enhance and enrich our understanding of the Holocaust. Besides serving the obvious function of scribing history, film adds a third dimension of understanding that we as humans are programmed to understand and relate to better. Being able to see the looks on the Nazi faces as they try to squirm their way out of an uncomfortable question clearly gives you a better sense of understanding about their mockery of the holocaust. You could read that Hitler was an evil man, but until you see his face, and the way people seemingly worshipped him during the holocaust, your imagination is left to wonder; and ultimately, importance is taken away from the catastrophe of the Holocaust. Film puts you there, in the situation, painting a scene so vivid that you can become emotionally attached. Also, film allows you to catch clues that you may not have otherwise seen. In the film "Genocide", we saw the German commanders being interviewed after the holocaust. You could tell that they were lying, because during dishonest statements they would literally smile. The third dimension of film and
Still today, that powerful German propaganda rang true, as many elder people still tolled the bell of anti-Semitism. It was an average town, which could represent any in Poland. Film permanently holds the truth now, instead of history dieing with the World War II generation, it is forever captured for us to study and learn. That's what makes film so powerful; the fact that it's a picture, rather than an interpretation of the reality someone else saw. We are able to make our own conclusions based on what we see. However, sometimes editing can become problematic when discussing video. For instance, in "Shtetl", did they purposely make some of the Poles out to be evil, heartless people who only cared about themselves? I don't believe this conclusion is proper because there is no single situation that could warrant such comments and their degree of ignorance. The film's producer may have paid these people to make such comments, at which point I would be proven wrong, but there is some degree of trust one must have in media. The same shortcomings apply more so in text, because you don't
Some common words found in the essay are:
War II, Genocide German, Holocaust Besides, Jews Anti-Semitic, Rethinking Holocaust, Germans Overall, Holocaust Film, Poland German, Poland Film, , enrich understanding, third dimension, emotional appeal, german propaganda, film emotional appeal, film emotional,
Approximate Word count = 738
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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