Discussion Questions
1. In Kluger’s view, should we preserve and visit places such as Auschwitz? What arguments speak for and against it? What is your opinion?
In Kluger’s view, we should not necessarily preserve and visit places such as Auschwitz. The author explains her views while talking to graduate students. The students claimed that, “Preservation was a form of restitution” (p. 64). Although they agreed that no one liked the touristy action of people gawking at Auschwitz, they stated that the “site of suffering has to be preserved” (p.64). Despite the students’ input, Kluger is not in favor of preservation. She feels like it does not help survivors leave their ghosts of the Holocaust behind. She poses the question, “Do we expect that …show more content…
She claims that, “The role that prisoner plays in the life of an ex-prisoner cannot be deduced from some shaky psychological rule, for it is different for each one of us, depending on what went before, on what came afterwards, and on what happened to each during his or her time in the camps” (p.66). Thus, survivors must be open to hearing the variety in one another’s stories without pre-determined outcomes on their minds. I agree with Kluger’s viewpoint. I think that it is imperative for survivors to continue to learn from one another. I assume that it could be easy for survivors to define the Holocaust based on their individual experience, thus, they may be able to have a fuller understanding of the Shoah by listening to several …show more content…
However, based on the statements in the text, I think the experience of the Holocaust positively affected their relationship. There were several moments in the memoir where Kluger recalls seeing her mother in a different light compared to her negative portrayal of her mother in Vienna. For example, in the transport of Kluger and her mother from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, the two experienced a very overcrowded freight car filled with fear and excrement. There was a woman sitting near to Kluger’s mother who was visibly struggling to keep her composure. The woman reluctantly urinated on Kluger’s mother’s lap. Instead of showing the woman unkindness, Ruth’s mother carefully removed the woman from her lap without disdain. Kluger claims that “At that moment her mother became a role model of her, which generally she was not” (p. 92). This experience illustrates Ruth’s new viewpoint on how her mother viewed humanity when she had every right to express
1. In Kluger’s view, should we preserve and visit places such as Auschwitz? What arguments speak for and against it? What is your opinion?
In Kluger’s view, we should not necessarily preserve and visit places such as Auschwitz. The author explains her views while talking to graduate students. The students claimed that, “Preservation was a form of restitution” (p. 64). Although they agreed that no one liked the touristy action of people gawking at Auschwitz, they stated that the “site of suffering has to be preserved” (p.64). Despite the students’ input, Kluger is not in favor of preservation. She feels like it does not help survivors leave their ghosts of the Holocaust behind. She poses the question, “Do we expect that …show more content…
She claims that, “The role that prisoner plays in the life of an ex-prisoner cannot be deduced from some shaky psychological rule, for it is different for each one of us, depending on what went before, on what came afterwards, and on what happened to each during his or her time in the camps” (p.66). Thus, survivors must be open to hearing the variety in one another’s stories without pre-determined outcomes on their minds. I agree with Kluger’s viewpoint. I think that it is imperative for survivors to continue to learn from one another. I assume that it could be easy for survivors to define the Holocaust based on their individual experience, thus, they may be able to have a fuller understanding of the Shoah by listening to several …show more content…
However, based on the statements in the text, I think the experience of the Holocaust positively affected their relationship. There were several moments in the memoir where Kluger recalls seeing her mother in a different light compared to her negative portrayal of her mother in Vienna. For example, in the transport of Kluger and her mother from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, the two experienced a very overcrowded freight car filled with fear and excrement. There was a woman sitting near to Kluger’s mother who was visibly struggling to keep her composure. The woman reluctantly urinated on Kluger’s mother’s lap. Instead of showing the woman unkindness, Ruth’s mother carefully removed the woman from her lap without disdain. Kluger claims that “At that moment her mother became a role model of her, which generally she was not” (p. 92). This experience illustrates Ruth’s new viewpoint on how her mother viewed humanity when she had every right to express