The Nazi Effect in Europa Europa

The film Europa Europa clearly showed how fear of the Nazi’s was enough to turn Jewish Solly away from his own faith and beliefs. I liked the film because it gave a good account on the effect that the Nazi’s could have on young, confused, German children. Several times Solly questions his position, knowing he is a Jew by body, but allowing his mind to stray from his real being. In the film, the most obvious violation of human rights is the right to religion, as the Jews were persecuted. This persecution also goes along with the right that all men are born free and equal, the most massive human rights violation during WWII. The Jews, although a religion and not a race, were believed to be of entirely different blood than the “pure-bred” Germans. According to the lessons the Hitler Youth would learn, they had distinct characteristics, such as ape like walks that could tell them apart in a crowd. As shown by the scene in class, the Germans had measurement tools that would determine a Jew. Yet these “tools” pronounced Solly an Aryan, showing their ineffectiveness. I found this scene an important one to understanding the Nazi youth, because it showed their true cluelessness. They were all completely brainwashed to believe the Jews were inhuman creatures. Most of the young boys had probably never even seen a Jew, yet the pride they felt for the Reich was enough to believe everything they heard. When singing “sink the knifes into Jewish flesh and bones,” the Hitler Youth showed their strive towards killing off these humans they are taught to dehumanize. This scene not only shows the dehumanization of the Jews, but of the Germans as well. I thought the film successfully captured both sides, effectively showing how incredibly brainwashed most of the Germans were. They were raised from a young age and taught that they were superior to all. The scene when Solly finds out Leni’s only incentive for a relationship was to produce an Aryan child for the Reich provides the audience with a true account of the pride Germans felt for their country. All other races were inferiors, and it was their job to carry on the Aryan race.

Europa, Europa and Infraction of Human Rights

Europa, Europa was intriguing right from the moment it began. This film was capturing, but at the same time it was devastating to watch some of the horrible treatments the Jews received. Although, I have previously learned about the Holocaust, some events in the film took me by surprise. It was astonishing to watch the class at Hitler Youth where they learned about ways to identify Jews, sang murder songs about Jews, and filled poison about Jews in the minds of the students. Hitler Youth exposed the extent to which Hitler was going to ensure that Jews would be abhorred by the Nazis. Along with facing the external struggles due to the Holocaust, Solly was in a dilemma about lying about his religion for the sake of his survival or being killed by revealing the truth. Ever since he had lied about being a German, he felt as though he was losing his own identity and betraying his people. He was accompanying the people who were after his own family and religion. There were several instances when he considered telling the truth about being a Jew, but in order to survive he realized he had to live with the lie. Leni, the girl Solly liked, was completely Anti-Semitic, and in one scene she told Solly that she would slice a Jew’s throat which made Solly slap her. He was overwhelmed by his guilt of lying about his identity, and at this moment he firmly stood up for the Jews. After that he travelled to the Jews ghetto in order to look for his family while observing the extremely unpleasant environment and conditions the Jews were forced to survive in thus causing him more remorse and disgust. Towards the end when he couldn't take it anymore, he broke down in front of Leni’s mother and told her that he was a Jew.Throughout the course of the film there were many instances shown when human rights were being violated. The most prominent one was dehumanization and persecution due to religion. According to Article three of Universal Declaration of Human Rights “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”. This was clearly violated when the Jews were either killed or put in gruesome conditions just for being a Jew. Some people were pretending to be Nazis in order to survive while others stayed with the Russians like Isaac, Solly’s brother.  The Jews were forced to live in ghettos or taken to concentration camps where they were treated in an atrocious manner. This movie highlighted the most significant violations that occurred during this time which was completely dehumanizing the Jews and taking away Jew’s right to live. Europa, Europa provided a true depiction of what it was like to be a Jew during the Holocaust along with supplying insight into the relationship that Nazis had with other Nazis while telling a true story of a survivor of the Holocaust. 

The Stories of Survivors- Nick Dillard

• In the film Europa Europa, Agneiszka Holland depicts the desperate times of a hopeless boy growing up in the midst of Nazi Germany. Literarily, the film is superb. Although Europa Europa is not in English, I could still experience the suffering Solly went through after his human rights were repeatedly violated. Starting on Solly’s birthday, coincidentally his Bar mitzvah, Jews were first denied one of the most fundamental human rights: the freedom of religion. Juxtaposing Kristallnacht with Solly’s Bar mitzvah emphasized the struggle between his heritage and the oppressive society he existed in. After escaping Nazi Germany, Solly did not receive any sort of religious liberation. He faced more human rights violations in a soviet orphanage, separated from his family, denied of any political or religious beliefs. It was impossible for me to relate to anything Solly was going through. Growing up as a millennial in America, I have never seen or imagined what it’s like to be denied freedoms based off color, religion, political beliefs, etc. Because I have not been exposed to anything similar to what Solly went through, it was particularly eye opening to see how cruel our society can be. Watching Europa Europa made me realize that my generation lives in a bubble. Essentially, our worldly knowledge is minimal, and for the most part we don’t care about human rights violations outside our bubble. For these reasons, the film had a profound impact on me. We have all studied the holocaust at some point in school. We have heard the overwhelming number of deaths and cruel ways Jews suffered. However, few of us have truly been able to fathom what this means. Europa Europa bridged the gap from statistics to emotions. Agneiszka Holland truly connected me to Solly’s life and feelings. While watching this film, I witnessed what its like to be separated from your family, religion, and way of life. I believe it is particularly important to study human rights violations beyond generic means: 11 million deaths, concentration camps, torture. It is through the stories of survivors that give us a glimpse at what it actually means to have our human rights stripped. 

A Group Without Rights

The film, Europa Europa, is a heart wrenching story showing how horribly the German Nazi’s treated the Jews. I like the film in the sense that it is based on a true story; however, since it is based on a true story, it is difficult to watch out of disbelief. Treating someone inhumanely just because they differ from you in one small aspect of life is nearly impossible to imagine. The Nazi’s take many rights away from the Jews. A major right they take away is freedom of religion. They persecute the Jews because their religious beliefs differ from Hitler’s. Since the Nazi’s believe the Jews are inferior, the only way to better the world, in their opinion, is to eliminate the entire Jewish society. This leads to the next right the Nazi’s take away, the right to live. The Nazi’s kill many Jewish people in horrific ways simply because they are Jewish. Hitler believes in the Eugenics, or the study of race. The Jewish people did not encompass all the same physical traits of the “superior Aryan race” leading to Hitler’s belief that the Jews are inferior.  The Jews endure cruel and unusual punishments, even though many documents prevent such occurrences. In the film, as Solly is riding through the ghetto, he sees out the trolley window how badly the Jews are treated. The reality disgusts him. Out the window, he notices how frail many Jews have become from lack of food and water. He witnesses a woman get pushed down and kicked by a few young boys. The Nazi’s also take away the right to a trial. They imprison millions of Jews and kill them without the single thought of a trial to share their side of the story. The right to bear arms is taken away, because as Solly found out, no Jew obtains a gun in the army. 

In addition to taking away basic rights, the Nazi’s dehumanize the Jews by their tone of language towards them. The Nazi’s use slang names and show disrespect to the Jews. Often times, the Nazi’s call them cruel curse words. The words chosen by the Nazi’s show how much hatred they have for the Jews. Hitler wants to “re-educate” the citizens, beginning with the children. He requires each girl to bear one child to give to him to help in his plan. Leni decides that Solly is not Aryan enough and chooses a boy who looks more Aryan to produce the child to give to Hitler. When Solly discovers this, he is crushed to find out the girl he likes has the same immoral concept of Jews. The movie as a whole clearly shows the countless number of rights taken away from the Jews in a drive to dehumanize and exterminate the race. It is a shocking truth about a corrupt past.

Europa Europa and Human Rights Infringements

Beginning with the first scene, Europa Europa captivated my attention, and no matter how graphic or explicit the movie became, I was unable to peel my eyes away from the screen. World War II is a historical even that has always fascinated me: it was a major turning point in world history; my grandfather was an officer in the military during this time; and the human rights violations were astounding, and worth further investigation.
Coincidentally, the other class that I am taking this summer is called "Social Movements." Over the course of this semester, we will study different social movements during the 20th Century: the Civil Rights Movement, Workers Movement, Gay Rights Movement, etc. All of these topics intrigue me because the social movement is sparked by oppression of a people and the stripping of their rights. My point is, human rights, and specifically violations of these rights, is a topic by which I am incredibly fascinated and in which I am quite interested.
It seems as though every movie, film, or documentary about the Holocaust and/or World War II includes videos and pictures of Jews and other groups (gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally impaired) suffering in concentration camps. This is done in an effort to raise awareness about the cruelties of the war. Europa Europa did an outstanding job of depicting the horrors of World War II, but in a way that was quite contrary to the other films that I have seen about this time period. Only briefly were we shown images of Jews that had been living in concentration camps, yet I found myself more moved by the end of the film than I had ever been before by a film regarding this topic.
Europa Europa presented the audience with a completely different viewpoint of the War than we were accustomed to seeing. Instead of viewing the happenings from the eyes of the oppressed, we saw everything through the eyes of the oppressors, the violators of the human rights. It was interesting to see the Nazi's, and even at points, the Russian's justifications for their actions.
In the movie, I think that the most prominent human rights infringement regarded the freedom of religion. Over the course of World War II, there were many groups of people that had their rights taken away, but the group on which there was the most focus in Europa Europa was the Jews. There were two moments in the movie that stuck out to me as the two biggest violations of the freedom of religion. The first occurred in the Russian school where Solly lived for two years. The Russians were of the philosophy that God did not exist, and religion was banned from the school. The Russian people have the right to believe what they want, but it becomes a violation of human rights when beliefs turn to Antisemitism. In the same way, the Jews should have the right to believe what they want to believe, and to have the freedom of religion. The Russian leaders of the school were instilling their beliefs into the minds of children that had no choice but to conform to these Antisemitic beliefs. The second violation was similar to the first, but it occurred in the Hitler Youth Academy which Solly attended for a period of time. Solly's first experience in this academy was listening to the rest of the boys sing a song about the murder of Jews. Just as I stated before, each one of those boys has the right to believe what they want, but the second that they impose their beliefs on someone else, it becomes an infringement of human rights.

The Power of Propaganda

Europa, Europa is one of the few Holocaust and WWII movies that gives a truly unique perspective of the War and beyond. The story of Solly and his deception of the German government shows the difficulties of staying safe in Nazi occupied Europe. However, unlike many other Jews who just went with what the Nazis forced them to do, Solly struggled to survive by becoming a Nazi himself, brilliantly immersing himself in the Hitler Youth. The camouflage of Nazi support allowed him to be safe throughout his life as a Hitler Youth. This excellent movie showed me that the best way to throw an enemy off your tracks is by becoming exactly like him. Walking his walk, talking his talk. However, the moral implications of this assimilation may be too much for many people, as it almost was for Solly. Solly saw himself becoming the exact entity that had tormented and separated his family. The pain of listening to the onslaught of Anti-Sematic propaganda tested Solly throughout his stay as a German soldier and Hitler Youth. His urge to defend the honor of his people boiled up until the moment when he hit Leni for her Anti-Sematic attitudes. Leni was the perfect German citizen in the eyes of Hitler. She was a loyal Nazi, a staunch Anti-Semitist, and a fierce supporter of furthering the cause of her Homeland. She was so loyal that she was willing to procreate with another man of pure German ancestry and give up her only child to the country that she supports so fervently. She was even quoted to say that she would cut the throat of the next Jew she saw. She is a prime example of how the Nazis have desensitized the German population by dehumanizing the Jews. Hitler successfully created a community that could remove the rights of an entire people without a second thought towards the fact that the Jew are people too. The Jews were stripped of their rights on many occurrences throughout the movie. They lost their businesses and livelihood like when Solly’s father. They lost their right to live where they wanted when they were placed in the ghettos. Then they finally lost their right to their livelihood as Hitler put the Final Solution into effect.

The Human Rights Horrors of Europa Europa

Astonishment is a feeling that people get when they see something that truly surprises them. After watching the movie Europa Europa, the feeling of astonishment overcame me, and it was definitely not for good reason. This movie focused on the monstrosities that Nazi Germany carried out as well as the tragedies that the Jewish population of Europe endured during World War II. As a viewer, I received a firsthand look at what Jews went through at the time. Sickened is one of many words that could be used to describe what I felt. The Jews were targeted, beaten, starved, killed, and made a national enemy. In the movie I saw bodies hanging along the road as Solek marched with the Nazi army, people shot because they were Jewish, mass graves when Solek was with Leni, and degrading language used towards the Jews throughout the movie. This really affected me and allowed me to see how horrid people can get when the wrong leader is in charge. I really did love this film. After viewing it, I received a greater appreciation for the life I am able to live today. 

In the movie Europa Europa, human rights were nonexistent for the Jews. Hitler was able to get inside the minds of his citizens and made them view Jews as monstrous creatures who were ruining the genetics of the German population. I really got to see this in Hitler’s youth academy. In the beginning of the movie, Jewish businesses and households were specifically targeted. There were people beaten in the streets, windows shattered by bricks, and people such as Solek’s sister killed. Solek was very lucky to have escaped to the Soviet Union. Back home, his Jewish peers were gathered and put into forced labor camps and ghettos. During Solek’s travels in the Nazi army, I saw how the Jews’ basic human rights were taken away. They lost their right to live at home, to partake in their religion, to basic necessities, to do what a human should be able to do, and, in many cases, to their own life. The Nazi army depicted Jewish people as inhuman and different. I could not believe how horrible the Nazis were. People did not care about the Jews whatsoever. A great example of this was when Leni talked about how she would love to slice any Jews’ throat. This became too much for Solek. Solek went through a very rough time. In order to save himself, he had to disguise who he truly was and join those who were destroying his race. Eventually he actually became friends with some of the Nazis which only confused him more. They were such awful people, but they were being friendly towards him. This internal conflict had a deep effect on Solek. He came to hate who he was for a while and demonstrated this by using thread to try to hide the fact that his penis was circumcised. Eventually he broke down and told Leni’s mother everything. I cannot even imagine the pain he went through. This movie truly did a great job of depicting the life of a Jew at the time.

 Thank you for your time.

Garrett Gresham