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On page 9-10
"ANGUISH. German soldiers-with their steel helmets and their death's-head emblem. Still, our first impressions of the Germans were rather reassuring. The officers were billeted in private homes, even in Jewish homes. Their attitude toward their hosts was distant but polite. They never demanded the impossible, made no offensive remarks, and sometimes even smiled at the lady of the house. A German officer lodged in the Kahns' house across the street from us. We were told he was a charming man, calm, likable, and polite. Three days after he moved in, he brought Mrs. Kahn a box of chocolates. The optimists were jubilant: "Well? What did we tell you? You wouldn't believe us. There they are, your Germans. What do you say now? Where is their famous cruelty."
The Germans were already in our town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict was already out-and the Jews of Sighet were still smiling."
I choose this passage because it shows dramatic irony. The Germans have crossed into Hungary and the Jews aren't worried. Though Moishe the Beadle and Moishe Chaim Berkowitz have warned the Jews of the Germans' cruelty such as, forcing the Jews to work, then killing them, including infants, and Jewish stores and synagogues being attacked, the Jews don't believe them. The Jews believe that the Germans are not brutal people because they were nice and polite.
But this shows dramatic irony because we know more than what the characters know. We know that a huge number of Jews will be killed by the Germans because this is the Holocaust. But the Jews are unaware of their fate and I want to tell them what is going to happen and warn them to escape.
--Janet :)
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I think you picked a good passage... This passage is one of those that caught my eyes when I was reading and I'm thankful that you found it in the same way that I thought of.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Opal; good passage, and it's interesting that the Germans were actually courteous to them before things turned ugly. I wonder why they did that, if they were planning to kill them in the end.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was wondering about that too-why the Germans were being nice if in the end they were going to kill the Jews. Maybe the Germans did that so the Jews wouldn't expect that they were going to be killed and they wouldn't escape?
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else. This was a really good passage to pick. When I was reading this part, I feared of what might happen next.
ReplyDeleteI felt that the Jewish people were optimistic that the German soldiers have changed.
I think that they had courage in God and that he will save them. But that's what makes so ironic. The story, obviously to us, is about the holocaust but they didn't know what will happen and they were having fate in the people around them and whoever was fighting for them.
ReplyDeleteOh, this was such a good passage selection, Janet! It truly demonstrates dramatic irony. As I was reading this, I was like, "NO! THEY'RE BAD!!" because I knew what was going to happen. Dramatic irony really makes the reader anxious!
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