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.
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