BOOKS ARE MAGIC! (lots of pictures)

[Buttermilk]

Hey did you know that Prince Edward Island is celebrating a big anniversary this year for "Anne of Green Gables"  Apparently the place is THE hot spot to be for fans of the book this year!  Just thought you'd want to know.  It would be an opportunity to add to your volume with an experience perhaps??

FANTASTIC idea, by the way.  It could become a really neat educational experience for teachers in high schools. 

[oxynitrate]

Nataluna:  Your husband said it beautifully! 

  My parents are both British, as such I've received a lot of criticism from a few of my Native friends.  The standard "your family stole this land from my people".  My parents are the first people from my family that came here, and that was in 1981, so my family did nothing of the sort, however, I remind them that you don't through the son of a murderer in prison because his father killed someone. I could start ranting about reparation payments here, but that's a bit much, and if you're a Canadian you already know how damning these handouts can be. (Side note in Canada women were considered property until 1982).

Selkie: I really would like to know if you have read "Number the Stars".

[selkie]

Oxynitrate - I've read Number the Stars - but it didn't come out until I was in college - there a quite a few teenage books that I've come across over the years that have really impressed me...

Nataluna - I had some experiences in HS - I have blonde hair, blue eyes, a German last name and I took German - there were many unkind comments tossed my way - of course, Senior year when we had our first Holocaust Symposium - I was the one who interpreted a passage from Sophies Choice.

Buttermilk - PEI sounds wonderful - of course I'm the one who waits until no-one will be around before I go someplace - crowds make me crazy - I hope there are lots of pictures...

I love the conversations I have on craftster - and my family likes that I don't have to have the same conversation with them over and over ad nauseum!

Selkie

[byonic_girl]

as with other posters, I have to say that there Jews were not the only people persecuted by the Nazi's.  I'm a Developmental Services Worker student (meaning I work with adults/children/youth who are developmentally delayed), and I can tell you that there are millions and millions of people who had no voice, and never had their stories told.  I did an essay on the people who's stories weren't told (the Autistic, the DD, children/youth/adults with Down's, those who were mentally ill), and I can safely say that there isn't alot of information.  3 weeks of research only netted me 4 years of info.  Alot of the information I had overlapped, or was taken over by other information.  I love what you did, and I hope that nobody forgets that it wasn't only the Jewish that went through the genocide, but those who were perceived to be unhuman, or incomplete.  And your right, books ARE magic!

[doglvr123]

This book is simply beautiful.
     I remember being in 5th grade when we studies the holocaust. I had to study a little boy named Edward. He has young, about 7 or 8 when the Jews were prosecuted. He was so little, he had brownish hair, that looked neat and combed back, and a round face, and i remembered thinking, he's such a small child, how could anyone bear to hurt him? His father was an executive with a company, and he was well off, along with his mother and brother. Eventually, he became ill when the Nazis injected him, at age 12, with tuberculosis, just to see what would happen to him. the was hanged 7 months later, along with his brother.
     I remember going to bed about a week into the project, praying for the souls of Edward and his family, for all the victims, for everyone who had to suffer a horrible death as a result of the holocaust.
     i think theres a lesson to learn from the holocaust. It originated from hate. the hate that Hitler had towards the Jews, to anyone he didnt consider worthy of living. The holocaust was a result of hate, and the 6 million who died wouldnt want anyone else to suffer from hate.

[nataluna]

My parents are both British, as such I've received a lot of criticism from a few of my Native friends.  The standard "your family stole this land from my people".  My parents are the first people from my family that came here, and that was in 1981, so my family did nothing of the sort, [...]

yeah if i ever get any flack from either my Black or my Native American students for being White in the South, i just tell them "hey you know when y'all were having all that stuff going on, MY people were over in Europe killing EACHOTHER..."  (ok i have no idea what 'my people' were doing in the 1600s through 1800s in Europe, but people being human, it's a safe bet)

on the other hand...  on the serious side, it's good to remember in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past, because what tends to happen is people just pick a different group to mistreat and think they are not doing the same thing.  right now in USA, the 'new' second-class existence seems to be for the Immigrants (ok, that's not new).  also Disabled people (especially groups that tend to be institutionalized) have never really gotten off the hook.

[Buttermilk]

Selkie
I have been catching up on the threads I've been reviewing and as I did, recalled your very touching craft project.  I got to thinking after reading one of the postings about the boy named Edward.  My father helped liberate several POW camps.  He's deceased now himself.  He spoke of the horrors a lot with me.  My uncle will not eat grilled meat to this day because he was one of the troops who liberated Aachen (sp?) 

Today while working behind my comfy desk at my well paid job I began to ponder on one of my first jobs--a lot of years ago --when I was a waitress.  I remembered having a particularly tough day and feeling grumpy.  Then I plopped a menu in front of a nice middle-aged lady, thinking to myself that I had just about had enough and I wasn't going to be nice to anyone else after the previous group had stiffed me for a tip and left a heck of a mess.  There I grumbled and got my pen and order pad ready and set my mouth on gripe mode.  Then I caught a glimpse of something odd as I flipped the order book and readied my pen and hovered over the booth.  The frail little well-dressed woman's arm had a number tatooed upon it.  So odd looking--on this perfectly coiffed lady--the tattoo of a letter "A" and some numbers. 

I knew what it meant.  My Dad and Uncle shared each day of my life while we grew up the terrible things they'd witnessed. 

My no good day suddenly melted.  I realized what a selfish no good rot I was for even imagining I could have a bad day in my air conditioned cafe with my little uniform, cap and apron, all the donuts I could hold and soda pop I could drink as pay if I would show up early and help with dishes.  Stiffed for a tip?  Well, as I said, today I sat in the office and said a prayer of thanks to G-d that I did not have a no good very bad day -- ever.
Thanks again for your craft.  Thanks for reminding us all.
Buttermilk

[Nymphara]

Selkie, I wanted to say thank you so much for your project. Thank you for the thought that sparked these conversations, and for the sincerity with which you started this. I think we might have been the same kid growing up! I felt the same way with my kindred spirit, Miss Anne with an E, and was fascinated and horrified by the Holocaust. I studied it almost obsessively for a long time, just trying to understand. I wished then that I could have had the kind of conversations going on now on this thread. You all made me cry at work today, and that's awesome.

[KatyPamKnits]

Selkie, Thank you so much for your craft and this discussion.  It's very heartwarming to have a group of people, strangers no less, talk about a very difficult time in history, be able to openly communicate and not upset someone.  I'm a non-Jew, working for a Jewish organization and thankfully we don't get discriminated for not having lived through the Holocaust, but for not being "G-d's chosen". 

Growing up I would tell people that I was an Irish Communist Nazi, can you guess which nationality that I'm most proud of?  And thankfully, we've since found out that we're not Russian or German, but we don't know what we are......

I had two thoughts about the encyclopedia.  One, could the listing be under genocide?  And, have you done a search to see if the publisher had problems with that edition for omitting the holocaust?

Thank you everyone, for your humbling stories.

[scottie]

Wow. This thread has some amazing comments in it. I just had to hit the "this rocks" button. I think it's amazing what you did, Selkie. I think it's ironic too that Hitler, the evil one, gets 5 pages written about him and the 6 million innocent people get nothing. Also, I was wondering if you've ever read the book "The Wave" by Todd Strasser. It's kind of a short book, and I found it in the teen section of my bookstore. It's a true story about a history teacher who tried to make his student's understand how the Nazis could have so many followers, and how history could repeat itself. It was sort of an eyeopener to me of the danger of the holocaust ever happening again.