Keren D project
Contents
Front page
Keren, Your recorded presentation is very powerful. Can you have authorstream convert it to youtube so we can add it to the class video on Kaltura? In addition, you need to fill in the front page with the name of the project, your name, the research question, date and your teacher's name.
Thank you.
--Nellie Deutsch 21:00, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
The research question
Do teenagers in Israel know the story of the "Lopohov Forest"?
Introduction
I chose a subtopic from the Holocaust: THE LOPOHOV FOREST. I chose this subject because when I went with the group from my school to Poland. It was one of the most difficult and emotional experiences I ever had. The fact that you are standing there, where so many people were butchered; I can't even describe the feelings with words. Another reason is that now, after I had been there I understand that people don't know almost nothing about The Holocaust, and my goal is to keep telling what I saw from the remains of those places, from those stories and history. Actually, I have started to perform my goals. I gave a lecture on the International Holocaust Day with other friends from the group and I helped to lead a fundraising day for Holocaust survivors in my school. At this work I'll tell the story of the Lopohov forest from my knowledge from the journey and from other options. Later, I'll give the survey's analyzed results.
Body
Lopohov Forest:
Lopohov forest is a forest in Poland. During the Holocaust, the Jewish people from Tikochin town were brought and were shot down into pits. In Tikochin, there always lived a small number of Jews; the Jewish community was established in 1552. Slowly the community got stronger and famous to such an extent that more than once the "Four Country Committee" was assembled in it. Before the Holocaust there were about 2500 Jews in the town. At the beginning of the war, the Nazis didn't hurt the Jews from the town, but in September, the army units broke into the town and put the whole Jewish community in the church without food or water and in horrible conditions. On the 16th of August, 1941 five gendarme men appeared in town. First they moved the people from house to house to confuse them, requested their forgiveness for the interruption, and prohibited them from leaving the town. There was a rumor that those 5 gendarme men were responsible for excavation of 3 pits in the near forest- Lopohov Forest. On Sunday 24th – August 1941 at 6:00 pm, the voice of the town crier was heard: "all the Tikochin Jewish people, women and infants, except ill or crippled people will stabilize tomorrow, 25th of August at 6:00 am in the plaza of the bazaar". The day after, thousands of families were visibly glowing in the plaza of the bazaar. At 7:00 am the Gestapo men appeared with trucks. They made a selection- the men to one side and the women, old people and infants to the other side. The men were put in order from the tallest to the shortest and started to march into death. They were forced to sing, if they didn't do that, they were shot and if they couldn't walk anymore they were shot, too. The Nazis told them they were going to the Ghetto but that was a lie! A BIG lie!!! Every 10 minutes a truck arrived and took away tens of Jews. The truck traveled to the Lopohov Forest, there were 3 shooting pits. Two of the tree pits were very large, the length of each one- 12 meters, the width- 4 meters and the depth- 5 meters. The third was smaller. Into the pits the people were thrown by shots, and in this way, every ten minutes it was repeated.
After the murders, the Nazis took Polish people to cover the pits. They told them it's the remains of the soldiers but they knew it was a lie. Afterward the polish people told that the land moved from the fibrillation of the death people and that it received a red color due to the blood. The day after the gendarme men took the women, the old people and the children to the forest, too. And in the same cruel way they were murdered. At 2:00 am of the 26th of August, the Nazis finished their work and the Tikochin Jewish community was destroyed cruelly. Those who succeeded to escape were caught and led to the third pit. Only a small number survived from the biggest community of Tikochin.
survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=g2IIPXLwiymieq6ho0AvUg_3d_3d
Conclusion
From the survey which I did, I could see that most of teenagers know about the holocaust. From 42 teens that answered the survey 78.6% know about the holocaust and are interested, too, 14.3% just know about the holocaust and only 7.1% don't know anything. In addition approximately a half from the teens that answered the survey knows the story of the Lopohov Forest. I think the result of the survey reflects a good side about the teenager's society and about the Israeli nation. Until I did the survey I thought that the teens don't know anything about the holocaust because they are "busy" on other things, I was sure that only those who go to the journey to Poland are exposed to the whole story of the holocaust, but now I understand that it's doesn't true. There are many teenagers whom are interested in this subject. The only problem is that only a few try to keep telling and passing the story and the history of the Jewish in these years. But that's another argument which I won't open in this work. I'm really satisfied from the results, I'm glad to see that the Israeli people don't forget the nation story and that we don't forget from were we arrived.
Reflection
Physically the research went excellent. It was so interesting to learn more about this community. When I was there many times I didn't hear the explanation of my guide from the shock, so I learned new things from this work. Besides, it was enjoyable to do the survey because it changed my point of view about the teenagers in Israel. I was surprised, but glad to see that I was wrong with my assumptions about the teen's knowledge about the Holocaust. Emotionally it was very difficult because every word and word that I read made me remember the day I was there, the feeling I felt, and the ceremony. It looks like a normal forest. Firstly the guide didn't tell us it was a place of a shooting pits... we thought it's just a walk in a forest, like a short trip, and when she told us it was even more traumatic for us. It's so hard to explain, but you can be sure it was worth every tear and tear because I learned so many things about the holocaust and about myself too.
Appendix
Today, The 2.10.07, The third day of the journey, we are doing our way to the Lophov Forest after a tour in the synagogue of Tikochin. We are arriving to the forest… from outside? It looks like a normal forest… Covered by millions of tall and green trees… But it's not a normal forest at all…in this forest millions of Jewish were butchered!!! While the thoughts are running in my head, we arrive to a limited area… but it's not another area in this forest…on this area there were shooting pits. It was shocking to think about those Jewish… standing in lines, hopelessness, humiliated and naked… Later the shooting voice comes… One by one- and there's a yell A yell – SHEMA ISRAEL And then…then there is stillness… Before they fell into the pits they shouted SHEMA ISRAEL, so our guide decided to play us the song SHEMA ISRAEL of Sarit Hadad. We stood on silence and listened to the words… and then, then there was stillness.
Bibliography
Wikipedia –
My friends and my memories and photos.
