Recap

So my project is complete and I think my presentation went well :) I like the way this project allowed us to choose an point that interested us and present it in the way we desired. I think since I actually wanted to learn about the topic it wasn't boring and I felt like I wasn't just doing research without a purpose. I'm going to keep the blog I made up on tumblr, too much work to just delete it. The link is us2jpierre.tumblr.com if anyone wants to take a look.

STUCK.

Wah, I was on a roll and ready to finish but now I'm stuck. Sad face.

Just some info I used in my project

I haven't really posted much of my researched info on here, just my methods.. but here is some information I threw into the diary that I want to share with you guys.

I answered this briefly without much research but after looking through some different articles and discussion forums. I think the US could have HELPED but not STOPPED the Holocaust.

The United States focused more on themselves during this time and did not try to give help to those who were facing the more severe issues. I think if there weren't so many anti-Jewish sentiments the Jews would have had a place to escape to. So that's my first point-- America being unwelcoming. Number two would be a little more dramatic but still get the job done-- America invade Germany. This would have made them realize Hitler was not as powerful as they thought; it was the fear among the people that led him to have so much control in Germany at the time. It wouldn't be smart to go in alone considering the strength of the German army but the idea of join with another country to invade Germany would have been helpful.

On a different note, I think FDR was trying to protect America for the future because helping the Jews would have resulted in more chaos in America, economic issues, and he would have been known as someone who couldn't keep his word..as he promised not to focus on foreign affairs.

Project Venue

I've chosen my method of presenting my project and I plan on making something like a electronic diary--via tumblr . It's going to be written through the eyes of a survivor and different entries will talk about how this victim feels things should be different and things she observed throughout the time.

Essential Question and Objectives

My essential question is "Could the United States have prevented the Holocaust?"
Through cursory research my answer to that is yes. From what I know now I think America could have been more accepting to Jewish families. I am starting to look into this and find reasons that support my answer.
As for objectives, I will explain why women, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, expressed a sense of nationalism even though they were discrimnated against.
I will explore the perspectives of the bystanders, victims, rescuers, and perpetrators too. My last objective is how the Holocaust led to the creation of organizations.
The source I stated in my last post will help because the first hand account of the surviving victim answers a lot of questions, like how victims and bystanders were treated and she speaks on the role of women and how families were affected. That is the only survivor story I am using in the form of a documentary but I'm also using documents online like this one.

A Helpful Source

So far my research has been done mostly through internet sources but I've also had the oppurtunity to hear the words from a Holocaust survivor. Her name is Gerda Weismann and she lived in Poland at the time. Listening to her story really got me emotional. In the video I watched she tells that she was fifteen years old at the time. She gives a first hand account as to how difficult it was and that she was literally fighting for her life. She watched her old brother get taken away & he was only nineteen. The graphics in this film also surprised me because the beginning of it shows dead bodies laid out on the ground and being dragged to find a place to bury them. She gives a lot of details about watching her family get sent to death camps and her best friend dying in her arms. I plan on using this movie a lot during my project because a first hand story is more beneficial than any website. If anyone here is focusing their project on the treatment and conditions of victims, bystanders,and perpetrators you should look into asking Ms. Roy for this video because I think it can help.