Please answer the following questions - there is no need to upload to turnitin since your responses will be coming directly from your findings in the book. I will allow you to submit up until Monday evening at 9:00 p.m. Have a great long weekend!
- What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
- How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
- Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
- Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
- Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
- What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
- Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
- “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
- On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
- Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
ReplyDeleteWhen Doc. Mengele asked for someone to be his assistant everyone was very hesitant to stand forward. He had very strict requirements: “someone who had completed studies at a German university, had expert knowledge of carrying out post-mortems and was familiar with forensic medicine.” Miklos was the only one who volunteered to be Doc. Mengele’s assistant. Doc. Mengele threaten the men that were there; he basically said that they better have met these requirements or else. On page 11 Miklos states “was there no one else among then with such qualifications?” Miklos expected many people to step forward and fight for this job. He was very surprised that no one except for him step forward. As a result Miklos was Doc. Mengele’s assistant and the rest were sent to be killed.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
The attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away was very selfish. On page 37 Miklos states “the two executioners who had delivered the lethal gas waited another five minutes to make sure they had done the job properly.” From reading this quote it seems that the executioners had no heart and didn’t care that they just murdered three thousand people.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
The people in the concentration camp would eat watery soup made with rotten vegetables and meat and a bitter drink. The food was worse than pigs swill because when the people ate this food they had diarrhea they were also diagnose with diseases because of either hunger or the food that they ate. In my opinion I think this is horrible because I am very picky with my food so I probably would have died of starvation.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
What happened to the girl was that she inhaled only a little bit of Zyklon. Her body was “knocked over in the crowd that was by then struggling with death; and of how she must have fallen face down onto a damp patch on the concrete floor.” Page 91 Miklos found her laying on the floor and carried her in his office. That was when Muhsfeldt came and made the final decision on what to do with the girl. He decided that the girl has to die because if they would of let her go then she would have told everyone what happened to her. The outcome could have been changed by if she was twenty-years-old then she would know not to say anything or else she will die.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
Sonderkommando were Jewish slaves who worked in the extermination camps. The role of the Sonderkommando members in this book is to remove the dead bodies and ordered to exterminate people. I think that other Jewish prisoners thought that these Sonderkommandos were horrible people. I think this because they are basically killing their own kind. Sonderkommandos are Jewish and they are killing Jewish people. Of course the Jewish people are going to hate them. Probably even more then they hate Germans because I feel like it would hurt more to be betrayed by someone of your own than a stranger.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
ReplyDeleteOberschafuhrer Steinberg’s colleagues were Oberschafuhrer Seitz, Rottenfuhrer Hollander and Rottenfuhrer Eidenmuller. The people that are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed are cruel killers. They have to be very dangerous but also intelligent. The four colleagues were sent five days leave to slaughter humans. There was so much blood on all of their shirts. I don’t think this part of the book was disturbing because I can handle a lot of blood, but I do feel sympathy for these people because they were killed for no reason.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
Doc. Mengele allowed Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter because Doc. Mengele and Miklos has a pretty good relationship. Doc. Mengele was very pleased with having Miklos as one of his workers. When Miklos told Doc. Mengele that he had a family his mood changed. I feel that he does have a soft side but for only people that he has strong connections with. I didn’t find Doc. Mengele’s behavior odd because it’s understandable to be nice only to the people you have a good connection with.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
This quote is referencing to the Third Reich. It is describing how they were “departing from the world stage.” The Third Reich desires to set fires and they wish to set the world on fire and make people suffer in the fire.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
Miklos and his colleague’s first experience of almost being executed differed from their last experience because in his first experience yes he almost died but it wasn’t his time yet. This happened to him many times; where he was about to die but it just wasn’t his time yet to die. However, their last experience was rather spirit lifting. Their believed that it was now their time to die. But on May 5th, 1945 the Germans had surrendered meaning that Miklos and his colleagues didn’t have to die. The difference is in the first experience they still had the possibility of being executed and in the last experience they were free.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
The six methods that were used to kill the people was in the gas chamber, a bullet to the back of the head, being burnt, lethal chloroform injections into the heat, pyres or grenades. I feel that the one that left me in awe would be the injections into the heart. The gas chamber, yes it’s sad but you’re just putting a bunch of people inside one room and exposing them with poison gas. Injection people with lethal chloroform in the heart is by far the worst thing you can do to a person. You have to open up their body and see all that blood and injection the lethal chloroform then sew their body back up. This method is also the worst because they did this to baby twins.
William Portorreal
ReplyDeleteIB history
Ms. Noce
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
On pg 20 miklos sais “I had imagined that I would be performing autopsies in a modern, fully equipped dissecting room, not a crude camp shed.” Miklos wasn’t expecting to be doing dirty work like cutting body parts into pieces and doing more disgusting thing similar to it. He just thought that he was just going to examine the bodies but not experiment with it.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
The executioners could have felt bad about killing those 3,000 people but then again they were just doing their job. If I were in that situation I would feel very bad but I would do it anyways because if I don’t then I would get killed for not following order. You got to do what you got to do in order to live.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
The recipe included foods that any other camp would get such as moldy bread, sausage from a horse but this camp included a soup made from nettles that you would eat with to wash it down. The bad part about it was that after a couple of days you would get diarrhea and a disease that would eventually kill you within a couple of weeks.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
When miklos found the girl alive he was very surprised to see her survive from the gas chamber and miklos and everyone around her immediately went to help. Miklos took the girl with him and asked her many questions and the only thing she knew was that a train brought her to where she was. The outcome of this scene was very sad and it could have been different if they could have just threatened her to not tell anyone about what she experienced. Muhsfeldt didn’t know what to do but since he said that a sixteen year old was most likely going to tell, he got someone to execute her.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
The sonderkommando were basically a bunch of Jews for were forced to work with the Nazis. The role of the sonderkommando group was to help get rid of the dead bodies and help with any execution. I don’t know how they Jewish prisoners regarded to these individuals since they were forced into it but im guessing that some would understand that it was their job and they had to do it in order to live while other would hate them for what they did.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
ReplyDeleteI think that Steinberg and his four colleagues are sick people who are most likely brainwashed and don’t care how and who they kill. I don’t think it was that disturbing but just a nasty event because they didn’t explain how they killed them but just stated that there was a lot of blood involved.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
When Miklos had told Dr. Mengele that he has a wife and a daughter, Dr. Mengele was surprised and asked him if he was sure they were alive. I think that with all the prisoners getting killed and dirty executions Dr. mengele felt bad for miklos since he had hope that his family was still alive and he hasn’t got a chance to see them. Since miklos was his assistant I think that his he let him go much easier, and probably Dr. mengele does have feelings for the prisoners but doesn’t show it.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
I think that this quote is referring to the Nazis because they wanted to take over the world and do unjustified things like treating people like animals. In the end of the war that had nothing to do but surrender and all the Nazis who killed Jews innocently were killed or put in prison, so they basically started these conflicts to only come up death for themselves. I this this quote is very appropriate for this situation.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
In their first experiencing of facing death they were all scared and couldn’t imagine dying so soon. The first experience was the scariest moment of their lives and the felt like they had no hope. In the last experience on pg 168 miklos said “But then again, now, at the end of this long journey, on the eve of liberation, when it seemed we could once more look to the future with hope, despite everything, the time had come to die!.” This quote explains it all, basically it explains that miklos has lived through harsh journeys and facing death again wasn’t as bad as all the other times since he survived them all. He felt like he could accept death this time.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
One that left me in awe on pg 138-139 was when miklos was talking to the little boy and how he explained all the horrors he encountered and how the mom didn’t eat to fee him and his father. Since the mother was eating basically nothing she died and shortly after miklos was with the child and the father they had been shoot and blood was everywhere on the floor. Miklos had to open up the bodies and take out the skeleton because it was being sent to Berlin, which I really thought was disturbing to take out the bones of someone.
Work cited : i was doctor mengele's assistant
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
ReplyDelete- Well as soon as Miklo arrived he was immediately split up from his wife and daughter. That is when Dr.Mengele began to ask for a man with a certain set of skills. If any man was to step forward and Mengele didn’t like the answers given, that person was killed right then and there.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delievered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
- I wouldn’t really know how to describe the executioner’s attitude. I would probably describe it as crazy. I say this because you would have to be crazy if you just can gas people, wait to see if they’re all dead, and then light up some cigarettes and drive off. I would call you crazy because you killed these people with no remorse or any hesitation. Just simply did the job (killing a lot of people) and drove off like nothing happened. I believe the definition of crazy is written all over that.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
- The food given to the prisoners at the concentration camps were horrible! They were given rotten foods that if you ate it, in most cases you would later have diarrhea or be diagnosed with other diseases. That is why it is claimed to be worse then pigs swill. But to be honest, I love food; but if I was a prisoner I would not be eating anything.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
- The outcome mad me furious. I didn’t want to read the book any further after they had killed her. I thought she was a “beast” for surviving the gas chamber. Although she did have no memory on how she survived and that all she remembered was being told to undressed and then pushed into a room. That’s not what got me mad, what got me mad was how much they tried to keep this girl alive but then when she gave them a story on how she survived, the only outcome they had for this girl was being sentenced to death by a gunshot to the head. Only because she’s young and will end up telling people of her experiences that occurred. I just don’t think she deserved to die and that the outcome could have been very different. They could have out her in camp and told her to keep shut. They could have even put her in a closed off room where she had no communication with other people. I don’t care, I just believe she didn’t deserve to die only because she survived the gas chambers.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
- Sonderkommando’s had the job of disposing the Jewish victim’s of the gas chambers in the concentration camp. These Sonderkommandos were like little Nazi work units and if they refused to do the job they were given, they to could face death. But these Sonderkommandos were almost completely made up of Jewish prisoners. I believe the way the prisoners viewed these people (the sonderkommandos), were not in any way positive. I say this because they were killing their own people during this tragic and emotional event. So I wouldn’t like them either if I was a Jewish prisoner.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Stienberg and his four colleagues executed? What was you reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
ReplyDelete- The kind of people capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer pulled were the SS men. I didn’t find it completely disturbing, but I did find it crazy. They left for five days and in those five days they were at a slaughter house killing a ton of people. I’m not saying that this is not disturbing. I’m only saying that it didn’t really disturb me all that much like other parts of the book did.
7. Why did Dr.Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr.Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid, did you see a soft side with him?
- From the looks of it, as I was reading what was going on, I believe that Dr.Mengele happened to be in a good mood when the question came up to go on the search for Miklos wife and daughter. Dr.Mengele was shocked to find out Miklo had a wife and daughter, then he did end up giving Miklo a pass to roam freely around the camp so he doesn’t get killed. I do find Dr.Mengele’s behavior to be a bit odd. I say this because I’m used to seeing him act so cruel and harsh towards people, that I wasn’t expecting him to actually have a heart and give Miklo a pass to go around and search for his wife and daughter. So to answer the last part of the question, yes I did see a soft side of Dr.Mengele.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – Whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
- A pyromaniac is a person who like to set fire to things. By “wishing to set the world ablaze” this means that the Nazi’s thought by making the whole German race dominate, this will only make the world a better place simply by getting rid of the Jews. But in their process, failed, which is why the quote also says “only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” This quote I referencing the Nazi’s and I do believe this is an appropriate quote used to describe the situation of the Holocaust.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
- In my opinion, I believe the first time you face death you’re always going to be more scared than any other times, regardless if your still scared in that moment (the first time will always be the scariest). But the way they differ is that the first experience they encountered was scary to them because they wasn’t suppose to die. But on the last experience, they were okay with being killed. But then the Germans ended up surrendering, which let them walk off free.
10. Dr.Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the on one that left you in awe after reading this book.
- An experiment I found to be disturbing was one of the autopsies that had to be performed on twins. It’s already a twisted idea to kill someone just because of their race, but to have twins killed at the same time to find out how they were born just so they can make German twins, which in effect will expand the Nazi army and German population. That is a pretty twisted reason to kill two people at the same time and then preform an autopsy on them. But the reason why this experiment left me in awe (or kind of disturbed) is because the twins were killed in a messed up way. From being injected with something to the heart, which was causing blood stoppage. This left me in awe AND even surprised Miklo because the twins were suppose to die a natural death but they didn’t.
Dianna Colon
ReplyDeleteIB History 11
Ms.Noce
March 17, 2014
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
- Miklo’s expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant were bad. He thought that he was going to be taken somewhere and be treated badly. It was normal for him to think this because they all were scared and lost hope of their future once they got sent to concentration camps. Miklo’s expectations were wrong and he realized it himself. He realized that after all, his situation was not so bad because Mengele was going to need his skills as a physician. Also, instead of being dressed in some prison uniform, he got dressed in elegant civilian clothes.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
- I think the executioners who delivered Zyklon B were neither happy or sad/mad. All they did was deliver the Zyklon B and stay an extra 5 minutes in order to see whether they did their job right or not. After they find out that they did the job right, they just light up cigarettes and leave. It’s hard to tell whether or not they felt any sympathy for what they just did (killing people).
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pig’s swill?”
- My reaction to the recipe for concentration camp dysentery was a sad one. I feel so bad for everyone who went through it. They got taken away from their home/family, they got all of their belongings taken away, they were put with many other people going through the same thing, they were taken to Auschwitz, and put into barracks with bad conditions. The food was worse than “pig’s swill” because they ate mouldy bread (a mixture of flour, sawdust, synthetic margarine, and three decagrams of sausage made from the meat of a mangry horse), which eventually would give them diarrhea and eventually be a disease that ran its course.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
- When they seen that there was a girl alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber, they told Miklo. Once Miklo went to see they all helped him to take out the girl’s body and see what was wrong. Miklo gave her three injections instantly. The men covered her body with thick coats and someone went to the kitchen to get the girl some soup or tea. Every one was trying to help the little girl. The injections were working slowly but eventually she regained consciousness. I felt so bad about the outcome. Muhsfeldt decided the outcome. Since the girl was sixteen, it was said that the first thing she would do is tell the first person she saw about what had happened to her and so she had to die. The outcome could have changed if she was older. It also maybe could have changed if Muhsfedlt never saw the little girl.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
- The role of the Sonderkommando members in this book was that they had special tasks. They were well fed, had elegant civilian clothes, and had the worst job. I think other Jewish prisoners were somewhat jealous of the Sonderkommando members because they had more rights then them and got treated slightly better.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Obserchafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
ReplyDelete- The kind of people that is capable of the actions that Obserchafuhrer Steinberg and his colleagues executed were the crematoria’s cruelest killers. I reaction to this part of this book was a crazy, sad, and shocking one. It’s so sad and disturbing to know that they slaughtered humans.
7. Why did Dr.Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr.Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone horrid did you see a soft side with him?
- I think Dr.Mengele allowed Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter because Miklos does his job good. Miklos knew that Dr.Mengele liked collecting items, so he grabbed the stones he found in the man’s gallbladder, cleaned them and put them in a jar for Dr.Mengele. I think Dr.Mengele appreciated what Miklos did and he was in a good mood so he let him search for his family. I do not really find Dr.Mengele’s behavior odd because he always treated Miklos well. I did see a soft side with him because knowing how he is, such as being a horrid person; it was soft for him to let Miklos look for his family.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
- The quote was referencing to the pyromaniac of the Third Reich. I think it is an appropriate quote used to describe the situation because it is true that the wish was to kill everyone and take over the world but they ended up stopping all the deaths. They no longer were killing people in the concentration camps.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
- The first experience of Miklos and his colleagues being executed was when the first explosion occurred. They were taken out of there work place to the courtyard and had to lie down. They were kicked and hurt and were so close to being shot in the back of the head, but Dr.Mengele came and ordered them to return back to their work place and get their work done. The last experience of Miklos and his colleagues being executed was when they were gathered all together. They thought they were going to die because it is said that no one was supposed to leave alive, but they ended being free.
10. Dr.Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
- The one experiment that left me in awe was when Dr.Mengele ordered Miklos to experiment the father and the son who were crippled. Miklos started conversations with them in order to make them feel better. Miklos already knew that they were going to die because Dr.Mengele had sent Obserscharfuhrer Muhsefeldt a letter. Miklos offered them food and they were very hungry so he ordered for someone to bring him some meatloaf and macaroni for the father and son. Miklos knew that that would be their last meal but they did not know it. After he finished experimenting them they were sent to Muhsefeldt, where they were eventually killed. Their bodies were then sent back to Miklos so he can experiment them again. This experiment was so sad and shocking. Everything that went on in this book was crazy and sad.
Germairy Roman
ReplyDeleteMs. Noce
IB History 11
3/17/14
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
When Miklos volunteered to be Mengele's assistant I think he was more than willing to become his assistant. When Dr. Mengele stated the qualifications, Miklos was wondering if he was the only one with those qualifications because nobody was volunteering. Miklos quickly made up his mind and decided to volunteer. I believe Miklos realized that by joining a team of physicians he wouldn't be treated as badly and saw this as a rare opportunity. He would be treated like a human.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
The executioners who delivered Zyklon B were very careless. They delivered the gas and also executed the murdering of three thousand people. When they finished and drove away they started smoking and that just shows that they don't care that they've just committed mass murder and carried on. They're very disrespectful and have no hearts.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
When I read the recipe for concentration camp dysentery I felt disgusted by the way that these humans are treated. People are taken away from their homes and are striped away from all their belongings and are tortured while staying at a crowded ghetto for six weeks. These people were then transported to Auschwitz in cattle trucks (which only contained a bucket of foul water) with hundreds of other people. When people arrived at Auschwitz they'd be put in barracks with thousands of other prisoners and live in Terrible living conditions. They were fed mouldy bread, synthetic margarine, and three decaf rams of sausage made from the meat of a mangy horse. All of this foul food came to a total of 700 calories a day. After that the victim had to eat soup that didn't contain any fat, salt, or flour. After about four or five days the victim would have diarrhea. Three or four weeks later the victim would die due to this disease. The food was worse than 'pigs' swill because it wasn't fit for humans. That kind of food isn't supposed to be consumed by a person but probably more like animals.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
Miklos was informed by one of the Gaskommando that somebody was still alive among the corpses in the gas chamber. When Miklos went to inspect the girl he found her convulsing and wheezing loudly. This situation had never occurred before. I found this situation to be very peculiar because the men of the Gaskommando seemed like they cared about this girl because they wanted to help her. After Miklos gave her three injections the Gaskommando wanted to provide for her. They covered her with their thick coats and gave her some tea or soup. When the girl regained consciousness we learn that she is sixteen and she arrived to the camp with her parents from Hungary. After deliberating, Muhsfeldt decided that the girl should die. He decided she should die because he felt that she would tell everyone about all of her experiences and that she survived after being put in a gas chamber. Muhsfeldt said if she wasn't sixteen and was a few years older then she could've stayed alive. She was shot in the back of the head. I feel like this outcome was unnecessary. They didn't have to kill her instead they could've given her a second chance. She could've been used for labor and given rules. If she talked about what happened to her then maybe she should've been executed. She did nothing wrong in the first place to deserve this fate.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
ReplyDeleteThe Sonderkommando were people who worked in the crematoria. Their jobs were to cremate corpses and also collect valuable belongings from the Jewish prisoners. The Sonderkommando were given better living conditions and new clothes. They didn't have to wear prison uniforms and slept comfortable. They looked more like humans than the prisoners did. But overtime members of the Sonderkommando were murdered just like the prisoners. I think the Jewish prisoners didn't have much to say about the Sonderkommando because they didn't know what went on in the crematoria. When Miklos went to find his wife and daughter at the barracks, prisoners were asking him about what the Sonderkommando do and what goes on in the crematoria. Based on that I believe that the Jewish prisoners didn't have much insight on the Sonderkommando. If the prisoners did know about the Sonderkommando then I think they would be angry at them because they volunteered to work at the crematoria and help the nazis.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
Oberschaführer Steinberg and his four colleagues who were Oberschaführer Seitz, Rottenführer Hollander, and Rottenführer Eidemmüller committed a large crime. Steinberg and his colleagues said they were taking a five day leave but that wasn't true. They actually spent thos five days at a slaughterhouse killing people. Miklos went to the Sonderkommando kitchen and a French cook named Michel showed Miklos the shirts of Steinberg and his colleagues which were stained with blood. I wouldn't consider this part of the book to be disturbing but rather shocking. I don't find it disturbing because there wasn't much details about the slaughtering and it was just straightforward. I do find it shocking that five days was spent just killing people.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
I think Dr. Mengele allow edge Miklos to search the camp for his family because Miklos has gained his respect and trust. I didn't find it odd because Dr. Mengele never had to scold Miklos or was disappointed by Miklos' work so that could've been a reward. His rewarded Miklos with a pass that allowed him to roam the camp and find his family. I didn't see much of a soft side because this was just one good thing that he did against a lot of terrible things that he committed. Also after Miklos found his family in Section c, Mengele said Section c was to be liquidated in the next two weeks. This shows Mengele doesn't have a soft side.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
This quote is referring to the whole Nazi party. The Nazis want to take over the world and make all of its population German. They want the "master race" to take over. They want to exterminate all minorities by cremating them and gassing them in gas chambers. I believe the pyro can be the fire and smoke that comes out of the chimneys of the crematoria. I think this an appropriate quote because the Nazis want to set the population who aren't German on fire and get rid of them.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
ReplyDeleteOn multiple occasions Miklos thought he and his colleagues were going to be executed at one point or another. He knew that their execution was inevitable and they were beginning to lose hope of liberation. Miklos and his colleagues knew that Sonderkommandos were executed after a period of time. They thought there was no escape. At the beginning they thought that there was no way around execution but towards the end Miklos was starting to regain hope.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
The one disturbing experiment that left me in awe was the twin experiment. Dr. Mengele wanted to figure out how to production of twins was possible. He wanted to discover the secret so that German mothers can produce more humans of the "master race". I found the twin experiment disturbing because Mengele would make Miklos dissect many pairs of twins. Mengele didn't care what age the twins were. In one part of the book, Mengele made Miklos dissect pairs of twins who were under the age of ten and that is saddening to me. Also twins who were teenagers were dissected as well which is heartbreaking.
Work Cited - I Was Doctor Mengele's Assistant
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ReplyDeleteSamantha Foster
ReplyDelete3-17-14
Dr. Mengele's Assistant
1.What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
I think when Miklos volunteered to become Mengele’s assistant, he would be things a normal physician would do. I don’t think he ever expected to do autopsies and work at the crematorium.
2.How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
I think the executioners who delivered Zyklon B had gotten a little too used to their job. They waited an extra 5 minutes to see if their job was completely done, lit of up their cigarettes, and drove off so calm and casually as if they hadn’t just killed 3,000 people.
3.Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
Reading about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery left me feeling conflicted. I thought that what the prisoners ate couldn’t be called food. It was worse than pigs’ swill because they ate moldy bread that was made flour and sawdust, synthetic margarines, and sausage meat from a mangy horse. I wondered to myself how anyone could eat that. I would have a hard time trying to keep everything down. The meals these prisoners ate lacked the proper nutrients that they needed. It’s no wonder they got diseases within weeks.
4.Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
I was really upset that the girl died. This was the first time I’ve heard of someone actually surviving the gas chambers and I thought that it was a sign saying she was meant to live on. I honestly don’t know if the outcome could have changed. If they had let her go, then there was a high risk of her telling someone of her experience and exposing what truly went on at Auschwitz. That was obviously something the SS didn’t want to happen so they had no choice but to kill her. Another part of me says that she could have lived on. All they would have to do is threaten her not tell and I’m pretty sure she would have. Although tears were in her eyes, she did not burst into hysterics like some girls her age probably would her age. Something tells me she was mature for age and she was wise enough not to tell anyone is she wanted to continue living.
5.Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
It was the sonderkommando’s job to pretty much dispose the corpses of other prisoners that were Jewish, Gypsies, etc. Many people from the sonderkommando were Jews themselves. They were basically there to clean up the mess the Nazis created. When their deed was done, they too would perish along with the other Jews. The prisoners most likely viewed them in a negative way. I myself would probably feel envy towards them. They get fed well and get decent clothing while I have to go about in my lice infested garments and eat the poor excuse the concentration camp calls food.
6.What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
Only men with no hearts can pull of what Steinberg and his colleagues did. To go to a slaughter house and kill so many people that you need to wash away the blood on your shirt, takes a man who has no remorse whatsoever. This part was a little disturbing for me because I can actually picture the bloody shirts the cook was forced to wash.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete7.Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why Dr. Mengele let Miklos search for his family was because Miklos asked him when he was feeling happy at the moment. Miklos was also an effective worker who met his standards so he saw no reason why he should say no. To me, this wasn’t Dr. Mengele showing a particular soft side. He was just rewarding Miklos for his hard work and he was in a good mood anyway.
8.Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
I think this quote works quite well to describe the thinking process of Hitler and his followers. They thought they were making this better by eliminating Jews and trying to make the Aryan race the “supreme race”. Obviously, there were so many fallacies with their line of thinking which made the line “only to ultimately perish in its own fire” really stand out to me. This quote pretty much sums on WW2. There was so much destruction and murder it was almost as if someone wanted to watch the world burn and perish.
9.On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
Their first experience differed from their last because in the end, they were okay with dying. When Miklos and his colleagues first entered the sonderkommando, they dreaded the day they were going to be executed because they still had hope that things would get better and make it out alive. Having been through hell and back, they saw no point in living and many had come to terms with their fate. Their last experience was also different from their first because they actually fought back. The sonderkommando managed to get their hands on weapons and used them against the SS force. Their little revolt had ultimately failed and when the SS force finally subdued them, almost all were killed right on the spot with machine guns.
10.Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
I think all the experiments that had to do with children really disturbed me. I fathom why anyone would experiment on corpses for the sake of science. It’s sad that these poor children can’t rest in peace probably because their bodies are being cut open and experimented on. I think was makes the situation even worse was the discoveries the Miklos made. The was once I time when Miklos preformed autopsies on two year old twins and discovered that they were given injections straight to the heart to make them die faster. That whole scene left me in shock and really disturbed me.
Dimas A. Amezquita
ReplyDeleteIB History
Ms. Noce
March 17, 2014
Dr. Mengele’s Assistant Blog Questions:
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
- When Miklos went to the constitution camp, Dr. Mengele needed an assistant and asked the men that were heading to the constitution camp of anyone wanting to be his assistant, but no one even wanted to stand forward except Miklos, who volunteered to be the assistant. Dr. Mengele was very strict on what he wanted with his new assistant, he wanted someone who completed studies at a German university, an expert of post-mortems and was familiar with forensic medicine. Mengele even threaten all the men if they did not met all the requirements of being an assistant that he will probably kill them. Mengele thought many of the men would step forward for the job, but he was surprised to see no one wanted to step forward except for Miklos. So the assistant for Mengele was Miklos and the rest who did not step forward ended up being killed.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
- The way the book showed the executioner’s attitude who delivered Zyklon B that they lit up their cigarettes and burned many innocent to death. On page 37, it states that the two executioners that burned the Jews with lethal gas waited some few minutes to make sure the job was done. I felt that the executioners really did not care about the innocent Jews that were going to be burned to death. They did not even think about what they were going to do, they just did not have any heart for those Jews who eventually were going to get burned to death.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
- Many of the people in the constitution camp would eat soup that was watery and had rotten vegetables inside of the soups. Another thing was them eating rotten meat and drinking bad liquids. All these different gross foods that the Jews in the constitution camps had to eat to survive made them get diarrhea and also get diseases like food poising, which could end up killing them. They were so hungry that they did not want to think about what they were eating, they just wanted food in their stomachs. I think it was sad to read about the foods that they was eating and getting sick by eating these types of foods. I would probably have died from eating these foods, I like to have my foods nice and warm, but the foods were bad and cold. Also it would be hard for me to not eat anything, if I starve myself; I will eventually die of starvation.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
- The girl inhaled a little bit of the gas that she passed out and fallen face first onto a “damp patch on the concrete floor.” The girl was the only one who was breathing from the “crowd that was by then struggling with death,” which mostly all of them died except for the little girl. Miklos was ordered to bring the little girl who was lying in the floor passed out to his office. Then Muhsfeldt came to Miklos office to tell Miklos on what to do with the little girl’s body. His decision was to kill the girl because he was worried that the little girl would go to someone and tell what just happened to her and rumors starts to spread around the camp. Miklos did not want the little girl to be killed, but he agreed with Muhsfeldt’s point of the little girl telling the truth to everyone else in the camp, that he agreed with Muhsfeldt to kill the little girl. If the girl was much older, the outcome would have been different with an older girl would know the outcome if she told anyone what had happened.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
ReplyDelete- The Sonderkommando members were these Jewish people that worked in constitution camps. Their jobs as Sounderkommando members were to remove many of the dead Jewish people and were ordered exterminate many of their Jewish people. I think the other Jewish prisoners think about the Sonderkommando’s was a bunch of murders and slaves because they are mostly Jewish and is killing many of their own people just because they were ordered to do so or eventually if they disobey, they would have ended up being killed. It is hard for Sounderkommando’s killing their people and being seen as murders by their Jewish people. I think it also was hard for the Jewish community to see the Sonderkommando’s were Jews and knowing that they were killing other Jews than the Germans doing the killing.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
- Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues were sick and twisted people because they loved killing innocent Jews when they are sent five days leave just to murder them. They were killers or murders that were brainwashed on killing Jews. My reaction to the disturbing part of the book was sadness for the Jewish people that were being killed by the four colleague psychos. It was not that disturbing because the book did not explain the ways the four colleagues kill the Jews, but it only states that there was a lot of blood and the colleague’s shirts had a lot of blood too. I could image the ways they killed the Jews and how bloody it would have looked like.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
- The reason of Dr. Mengele letting Miklos to search the camp to find his wife and daughter was because even though Mengele thinks that Miklos family could be dead he may be felt bad to see his great assistant have so much hope of his family being alive that he could not resist of letting Miklos to give him a pass to find his family. Also Miklos was a very good assistant that Mengele liked his autopsy observations which it made Mengele trust Miklos on anything and knows that Miklos would not do anything suspicious. May be Mengele has a soft side, but that is only for people that he trusted or had a good connection with. Mengele’s behavior was not that odd because it is understandable to give someone that you trust or felt bad for a pass to see their family.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
- I think the quote is referring to the German Nazis because Pyromaniac means a person who likes to set anything on fire that it refers to the quote “departing from the world stage,” with the Nazis wanted Germany to be powerful than any other nation and the only way to conquer this type of goal was for them getting rid of the Jews. The Nazis did was burning the Jews that are in their way to take over the world.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
- Many people will think that experiencing death for the first time could be a lot scary than the other times because it is like the first time that was unexpected. Like Miklos and his colleagues experienced more than one occasion that they were going to die, but in their last experience of death they was OK with it because they believed it was time to die and live free. Then in May 5th, 1945 the Germans surrender from war which means that Miklos and his colleagues was able to live and walk free.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
ReplyDelete- There were six methods that was used to kill the Jews are the gas chambers, a bullet in the back of the head, burnt to death, lethal chloroform injections into the heart and pyres or grenades. One part of the book that was disturbing in my opinion was when Miklos had to perform an autopsy or experiment on twins that had been injected with lethal chloroform injections into the heart and it caused blood stoppage which the twins eventually died at the same time just to find out the way twins are born and it to be useful for Germany to create more babies faster so it could expand its Nazi army and Germany’s population in the future. The reason of why this part left me awe or disturbed was because the twins got injected in the heart just to be experimented, it was like scientist experimenting animals, but Germany they were experimenting on humans.
Dinia Clairveaux
ReplyDeleteMs. Noce
IB History
3/17/14
Dr. Mengele’s Assistant
1.What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
Miklo’s had expected to be working in a “modern fully equipped dissecting room not in a crude camp shed”(pg20). He had never thought in all his years working as a physician he would work with insufficient equipment.
2.How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
I would describe their attitude as a sense of job accomplishment. They had fulfill their duties and i'm guessing lighting up cigarettes was a routine. You could tell that these men thought of the Jews of nothing. They just killed thousands of innocent Jews and did not care because they were of no relation or importance to them.
3.Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
It was worse than pigs will because the prisoners were fed “moldy bread made of flour sawdust, synthetic margarine and three decagrams of sausages made from manry horse. Then they would drink soup made from nettles of swede, with no fat salt or flour”(pg77). The food gave them diarrhoea.
4.Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
I was very surprised that anyone would even survive the gas chamber. the girl was very lucky to some extent. But I felt bad that she go killed in the end.. The doctors spend all of that time trying to save her just for her to die. What really tick me off was the Sonderkommandos using the phrase she was going to run her mouth as an excuse to kill her. I believe the outcome could have changed if the Sonderkommando would let the doctors talk to her and told her to keep quiet she wouldn't be dead.
5.Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
The role of the Sonderkommando was to manage the prisoners, to kill them when they were ordered too and to burn them. They were Jewish guards that only live up to three months. They are killed because the SS or officers felt that they knew much of what take place in the camps.
6.What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
The kind of people that were capable of Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues actions were old policeman that had killing experienced. And that's the reason that they were granted leave to exterminate all the people that they killed. I wasn't surprise at all because, all the book is about is killing.
The job that they got was another method that was used to kill innocent Jews and other unfortunate souls.
ReplyDelete7.Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
Dr. Mengele allowed Miklos to search for his family because he was shocked that Miklos even had one. He had never mention anything about them. I didn’t find his behavior odd because it seem throughout the novel that Dr.Mengele grew very fond of Miklos. Due to the work that he had conducted for him. Yes I did it only appears to be for Miklos, because for some strange reason he seem to have a connection with him.
8.“Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
This quote is referring to the Third Reich. The metaphor views the Third Reich as a manic with the desire to set fire on the world and also kill itself in the process. I think it is an appropriate quote used because the Third Reich killed many prisoners and all around are the ashes of the innocents. That was that it was created to do kill and burn people.
9.On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
There experienced differed from the last because first they believed they were going to die after the Sonderkommandos but they did not. What killed them was the march from Auschwitz to the other concentration camps. All aside from two of the companions that were shot in the march and Miklos who died of a heart attack the rest died of hunger, the weather, and other conditions place upon them by the SS. They did not die in Auschwitz like the Sonderkommandos.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
Out of all the experiments that were performed by Miklos during the book It would be the one with the father and son that i found the most disturbing. They were crippled; the father had a hunchback and the son had a deformed leg with was held by steel braces and a thick orthopaedic boot. While they were still alive, Miklos examined the father first and found that his hunchback as caused by rachitis. Then Miklos examined the son found that his right leg had an inborn defect called Hypomelia. They were hungry and asked Miklos for food. He feed them beef stew and macaroni. 1 hour 30 minutes later they were killed and autopsies were performed on them. when doctor Mengele arrived he asked that they did not burn the bodies. He wanted to conserve the bones to send to the Anthropological museum.
Miklos had to rid the bones of flesh so he used the fastest method he knew, he boiled the bodies in barrels. No one was watching the barrels, when some of the prisoner believing it the bodies were meat went and ate some of the flesh from the father and son. They were horrified when they found out what they had just eaten
sources
Nyiszli, Miklós, and Witold Zbirohowski-Kościa. I Was Doctor Mengele's Assistant: The Memoirs of an Auschwitz Physician. Oświęcim: Frap-, 2001. Print.
Carlos Callejas
ReplyDelete1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
Although he was nervous to volunteer, he at the very least expected to survive. Due to his high level education and training, he was in all capability of performing dissections and forensic analyses so therefore he expected to do that in order to be essential to his captors and avoid execution.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
Since the executioners were German, it is obvious that they were to have negative views towards the Jews and minorities they were executing. Their attitude is nonchalant, the jews were insignificant and their job was no more than spraying insecticide on a bunch of ants. They couldn’t care less about what they just did; it was simply another day in the job.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
I have witnessed what some of the poorer people ate back at my country (water with a bit of corn flour) and I thought that was unacceptable. Eating rotten vegetables and meat with dirty water sounds like a horrible situation, I am very tolerant of shock, disgust and other emotions like that so I didn’t go beyond saying “ughhh”. It indeed sounds awful, and the little “official” food they got just gave them more dysentery and barely any energy to be alive.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
I felt it was unfair to kill the girl, her survival was miraculous as it was and she should have been given a chance to live if she made it through the gas chamber. It could have been changed in that nothing should have been said about putting her back in the “able camp”, instead it should have been proposed that she stays at the crematorium so as to not let the oh-so-important secret of the showers/crematorium escape the building.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
They are temporary workers at the camps. They are privileged in that they get to eat well and live in proper conditions during the little time they spend alive at the camp. They operate the crematoriums and clean up the gas chambers; they also perform other tasks that they may be asked to, such as escorting prisoners. I would believe the other Jews feel envious of them or even angry at them in that they are well-fed but working with the Nazis; their view would be such because nobody has ever lived to tell the other Jews that the Nazis liquidate all Sonderkommando after about four months; they will die just like them
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
ReplyDeletePeople capable of murdering so many people must be brainwashed or at least very confident and determined in what they are doing. I will not say: “a senseless killing machine” Because they were still humans and had sense, they thought and rationalized, but the way they thought was very different to ours. I was not very disturbed, mainly due to the lack of “sensory aids” that are required to actually disturb me, mainly the fact that I was not there and that there are no clear images or sound accompanying this scene.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
He allowed him to look for his loved ones after Miklos told him about them. I believe that if he did not tell Mengele, he would not have seen them again. I also think that since Mengele and Miklos worked together for quite some time, Mengele formed some sympathy for Miklos; Dr. Mengele indeed had a soft side, but this side only came out when the person he talked with meant something to him, if that person was not a mere number, he may sympathize or even gain empathy towards that person.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
I believe this quote refers to the Nazis, the “fire” they caused was the war and they “perished in their own fire” in that they brought the war onto themselves and it caused their “death” or defeat. It is very appropriate in that it describes the fate of the Nazis at the time of the end of the war.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
In his first experience, he and his colleagues are scared and panicking since they still had hope of surviving. But after all the things they have gone through, the things they have known, the things they have witnessed and/or done they gave up on surviving and accepted that they were going to die; they may even feel glad to die so as to become free from all the pain and horrors they have been through.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
I was not really shocked by the book, in fact I was just curious and to a certain point mesmerized by Miklos’ findings; quite likely due to the fact that I am very interested in biology (and by extension, medicine). Perhaps something more on the emotional side would be when he gave the father and son their last meal and talked with them, learning about their sad stories only to have them be killed and sent back to him so their skeletons could be extracted (something that sounds bloody).
Naomie Bourdeau
ReplyDeleteMs.Noce
IB World History
March,17,2014
Dr. Mengele's Assistant
1. What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
-He expected this experience to be a mystery. However, he ended up feeling awkward because he did not know what to expect. After he realized he was technically a concentration camp prisoner he made a promise to himself to never fall into despair. Miklo began to feel that his situation wasn’t so bad because his skill was needed. He was given elegant civilians clothes instead of prison uniform. So he had no way of telling what the real future holds.
2. How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away? –The way I would describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B is that they did not care at all. Not only that, but these two executioners who had delivered the lethal gas waited another five minutes to make sure their jobs were done properly. They lit up the cigarettes and left. They had no sympathy at all; they didn’t acknowledge that 3 thousand people were murdered.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”-My reaction towards this recipe was insane. These people in the concentration camp were heartless. They would actually cook with rotten vegetables and meat. Not only that, but they would feed it to the prisoners to make them have dysentery. I don’t think anybody could be this cruel. The food was worse than pigs swill because, the produce of the food was rotten.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?- The young girl that was found by Meklos ,she inhaled some of the Zyklon so she was in critical condition. She had also fallen onto the ground which was made out of concrete. Mushsfeldt, had the chance to save her life but he was afraid that the girl might run and tell everyone what happen. So she had to die. I feel as if this outcome was not fair, because nobody should have the power to make a life decision for someone. This outcome could have not change in my opinion because back then people had that power over prisoners.
Mu Ying Yu
ReplyDeleteIB World History 11
Ms. Noce
March 17, 2014
Dr. Mengele’s Assistant
1.What were Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant?
-- Dr. Mengele is very straight up when he asked for volunteer, he gave out the requirements that he expected the volunteer to know about medication. Miklos is the only one there who meets the requirements. Miklos’ expectations when he volunteered to be Mengele’s assistant were working at a clean place that with all the equipments and will not call out to cut exhumed bodies, or the bodies of whom had committed suicide or murdered. “I had imagined that I would be performing autopsies in a modern, fully equipped dissecting room, not a crude camp shed (20)”. This quote shows Miklos’ expectations to work at a modern room with equipments not in a crude camp shed.
2.How would you describe the attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away?
-- The attitude of the executioners who delivered Zyklon B then lit up cigarettes and drove away was forced to do it. In there, everyone had to follow the rules and orders giving by the camps; if you are not following you might be the one who got kill next. I said they forced because its a way to keep their life and they also felt bad for killing so many innocent lives for no reason.
3. Describe your reaction when you read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery. How was the food worse than “pigs’ swill?”
-- My reaction when I read about the recipe for concentration camp dysentery was so disgusting and they did not treat them like humans but animals. They snatched a person, no matter man, woman or child, they took all their belongings and weakened them, then sent to Auschwitz and with one full bucket of foul water. The food was worse than “pigs’ swill” because the food they giving are mouldy bread, break with the mixture of flour and sawdust, synthetic margarine and three decagrams of sausage made of mangy horse. Even pigs eat better than them.
4. Analyze the scene where the girl was found alive among the pile of corpses from the gas chamber. How did you feel with the outcome? Could the outcome have changed?
-- I felt the outcome was so sad and angry. The girl survive was a miracle even though she lost her memories. I think it was a good thing for her to forgot about the past and start a new life, new memory. But then on the other hand they killed her. What’s wrong with her survive from the gas chamber, she just escape from death and now they put her on the spot to death again and this time no more miracle to survive. Aren’t they felt bad to kill a innocent girl? I don’t think the outcome could have changed because Jewish born to death, no one can escape.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?
-- Sonderkommando members were Jews, who forced to work at the death camp prisoners to bury dead bodies. Their job in the camp was to remove dead bodies and help any execution is needed. They force to work because they are working under a unit of Nazi, they can die easily by not following the rules. I think other Jewish prisoners look at the Sonderkommando members as traitor because they killing their own people, the Jewish.
6. What kind of people are capable of the actions that Oberscharfuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
-- The kind of people that are capable of the actions that Oberscharfuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed were the crematoria’s cruellest killers. My reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book was crazy and sad for slaughtered humans. They stay there five days just to killed the people at the slaughterhouse.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
ReplyDelete-- Dr. Mengele allowed Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter because Miklos done his jobs well and he had gained Dr. Mengele’s trust, Dr. Mengele gave him a pass to fo freely around the camp without get kill. I didn’t find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd but a soft side of him. At the beginning, I view him as cruel and horrid person, but while he gave Miklos a pass to search for his wife and daughter, I saw the soft side.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote -- whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
-- This quote is reference to the Nazi. It is an appropriate quote to used to describe this situation because is a true thoughts, the Germans set everything up and wanted to take over the world, but by doing that they had to stop what they are doing now, stop the innocent killings.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
--Their first experience is differ from their last experience because at the beginning, they almost shot to death but Dr.Mengele came and save them. The last experience was really the time they felt will die soon, but it came out they are free, no more afraid of deaths.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods -- describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
-- The one that I found most disturbing was the father and son who were crippled, because first, the father had hunchback and the son had a deformed legs held by steel brace with a thick orthopaedic boot. Second, Dr.Mengele want to kill them and sent their bones to the Anthropological Museum. Miklos was there to found out what happen had made these injuries on them and he gave them food to eat. After they get kill , Miklos is there to help take their bones out without any meat on it. The way he used it was to boil it in the barrel. I find not only this part is so disturbing and cruel but the whole book.
Source:
** Miklos Nyiszli
I Was Doctor Mengele’s Assistant: The Memories of an Auschwitz Physician.
5. Describe the role of the Sonderkommando members in this book. How do you think other Jewish prisoners regarded these individuals?-
ReplyDelete-The Sonderkommando was a group of prisoners that was used for special tasks. These members were never allowed to leave their kommando, they were fed well and had the best civilian clothes .Some of these task could have been removing some dead bodies. There was actually a process these members would go through every 3-4 months. These members would get liquidated if they deemed that they knew too much. They were sentenced to die basically. I think the Jewish prisoners seen how these “Members” were getting treated but didn’t have any sympathy for them because they had the most living conditions possible. So I don’t think the Jews regarded these individuals.
6. What kinds of people are capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinberg and his four colleagues executed? What was your reaction to this incredibly disturbing part of the book?
-The kind of people that were capable of the actions that Oberschafuhrer Steinburg and his four colleagues executed had to be very treacherous and cruel. Also they needed some sense of intelligence. These people would have to have guts to kill random people like the four colleagues did. In all honesty, this part of the book was the most disturbing to me because I didn’t know a human being could have such a disconcerting mindset like that. These people died for not reason and that’s not fair at all.
7. Why did Dr. Mengele allow Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter? Did you find Dr. Mengele’s behavior odd? For someone so horrid did you see a soft side with him?
- Dr.Mengele allowed Miklos to search the camp for his wife and daughter because he was preparing to leave. Since he instructed the SS man that as far as his work was concerned, they were to answer to only him. He made sure that not one SS man in the crematorium premises had the right to give miklos orders. I truthfully thought this was odd in every single aspect. He does actually have a soft side, because he allowed Meklos to search for his wife and kids.
8. “Like a pyromaniac it had wished to set the world ablaze, only to ultimately perish in its own fire.” Analyze this quote – whom is it referencing? Is it an appropriate quote used to describe this situation?
- This quote I believe is mentioning about the German Nazis because the word Pyromaniac definition is a person who likes to set anything on fire. That automatically gets me thinking about the Nazis. “Departing from the world stage,” I think this part of the quote was talking about how the Nazis wanted Germany to be authoritative than any other nation. They thought the only way to do that was to exterminate the Jews. The Nazis did was burning the Jews that are in their way to take over the world. I think it was a bit inappropriate because it shouldn’t have been used in the book.
9. On more than one occasion Miklos and his colleagues thought they were going to be executed. How did their first experience differ from their last experience?
ReplyDelete-They were different because in his first experience, he and his colleagues were very frightened to the point where they even started to feel anxiety since they still had courage to stay alive. Since they been though a lot and had gotten through it, they knew things because they experienced it. Now the last experience they gave up on surviving and acknowledge that they were not going to make it.
10. Dr. Mengele asked Miklos to perform many disturbing experiments and methods – describe in detail the one that left you in awe after reading this book.
-The most disturbing experiment that was the most disturbing to me was one day, after the gassing of a new shipment of prisoners, Miklos was summoned by prisoners working in the gas chambers who had found a girl alive under a mass of bodies in a gas chamber. Miklos and his fellow prisoners did their best to help and care for the girl but she was eventually discovered by SS guards and shot. It was so disturbing because he tried everything to save the girl, but it left me in awe because the girl had a chance to live but the SS Guard took that chance away from her.
Works Cited
“I was a Doctor Mengeles Assistan” by Miklos Nyisli