Morals In Irene Gut Opdyke's 'In My Hands'

The Moral Values of 3 Men
The novel In My Hands, by Irene Gut Opdyke tells about the Holocaust and her accounts with 3 types of German men that play a role in her life. Herr Schultz the cook with the German Army, Major Rugemer of the German Army, and Batallion Commander Sturmbannfuherer Rokita of the SS Hitler’s private Army. These three men are a look at different types of evil that the German Army preforms against the Jews in Poland during the war. Moral evil is committed by free will and includes types of willful acts caused by humans. These acts can range from crimes of cruelty, discrimination, slavery, murder, and other injustices against human rights. There is good and evil in all men and women. It’s in your hands in how you choose to believe, portray your actions, and determine which moral values you share. For someone to be called “evil”, there must be an ultimate good or moral standard to be compared too. You can’t make a comparison without a standard moral factor.
Herr Schulz is a German that will make you stop and think; is he good, or is he evil? The first time Irene meets him, he …show more content…
Then it happened, Irene wanted to protect her sister for Rokita. “Fraulein Gut, how may I help you?”(Rugemer pg.123) He always greeted her this way and with a smile. “I want you to let my sister go back to Radom.” “Her Major, I think you know. Sturmbannfuhrer Rokita is like a spider creeping toward a fly. I must protect my sister. Please send her back to Radom. She is so young.”(Irene pg.123) “Don’t cry. Don’t worry, I’ll let her go.” “But, Irene,” he continued, “you must stay.”(Rugemer pg.124) He had called her Irene. He was making a condition for Janina’s release. That was her first time she saw herself differently and being watched and wanted by Major Rugemer. She had to accept to save her sister. “Yes, Herr Major. I will stay until the end of the war.”(Irene pg.