The Holocaust in Film essays

The Holocaust in Film essays Films greatly enhance and enrich our understanding of the Holocaust. Besides serving the obvious function of scribing history, film adds a third dimension of understanding that we as humans are programmed to understand and relate to better. Being able to see the looks on the Nazi faces as they try to squirm their way out of an uncomfortable question clearly gives you a better sense of understanding about their mockery of the holocaust. You could read that Hitler was an evil man, but until you see his face, and the way people seemingly worshipped him during the holocaust, your imagination is left to wonder; and ultimately, importance is taken away from the catastrophe of the Holocaust. Film puts you there, in the situation, painting a scene so vivid that you can become emotionally attached. Also, film allows you to catch clues that you may not have otherwise seen. In the film Genocide, we saw the German commanders being interviewed after the holocaust. You could tell that they w ere lying, because during dishonest statements they would literally smile. The third dimension of film and emotional appeal can not be understated. Its because of this reason, that film has a greater effect on most people than text, or other avenues of research. One example of increased effectiveness is the film Shtetl that we viewed in class. Shtetl was one mans journey back to Poland in order to figure out exactly how the holocaust happened, and what happened to his Jewish relatives and the Shtetl (small town in Yiddish) they lived in. Through this film, it became evident that even today there are varying degrees of anti-Semitism in the places (more specifically, Poland), where the German invaders were ousted. A lesson should have been learned in these places that suffered great hardship and atrocity, but in this video we saw that many people still held hatred towards the Jews. Anti-Semitic behavior...