Introduction

Hi, my name is Tim Jerome and I am a graduating senior at Westborough High School. I was in the Period 3 Facing History and Ourselves class in the Spring 2012 semester. Facing History and Ourselves is a course that gives students an understanding of historical events and how it impacts the world today. People say that it’s a “Jewish course” because it is primarily about the holocaust. That is not true because the course shows more than just the holocaust. It is out to create civic agency I chose to enroll in the course because I heard it was life changing. I had Mr. Gallagher, the course instructor, as a teacher for U.S. History I my sophomore year. As a sophomore I could see the impact that it had on him as a teacher, and the students that were in the class. I knew that it was life changing but I didn’t know what it would specifically cover. I wanted to take the class because I thought it would be interesting and it would make me a better person. While taking the class, it did change my life. The course is primarily focused on movies and documentaries, and as students we share our opinions about what we see on a blog. Some people take it only because it is an “easy class.” Yes the course is not challenging but that is not the point. The point of the class is to show historical events and how they make us who we are today. After taking this class I feel like a changed person who understands how past events impact the world today.

What Facing History meant to me

When I signed up for Facing History, I knew it was going to be an enjoyable class with a lot to learn. Not only did I learn a lot, but it changed my life. The course involved many films. I enjoyed every single film that we watched during the semester. The course started with films that were more about identity and discrimination. The class transitioned into more serious films about the Nazi era and eventually into the Holocaust. Each film tells a different story from past events and has a different meaning to it.

One of the first films we watched at the beginning of the course was Freedom Writers. It is based on a true story. In 1994 Erin Gruwell began teaching at a high school in the Los Angeles area in the midst of the Los Angeles riots. As a new teacher she was assigned low-performing, freshman students. They misbehaved, treated her wrong, and were just rude in general. After one student passed around a picture that mocked another student, she took it and changed the style of her teaching. She spent her own money buying books for her students when the school wouldn’t pay for it. She even got additional part-time jobs. She worked with the students the entire four years that they were in high school. Every single one of them graduated from the high school.

Another film that we watched was The Pianist. This also was another true story based on a pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman. He was a famous pianist living in Warsaw, Poland during the time when the Nazis were invading Poland. He and his family were all Jews. The Nazis relocated his family into the Ghetto with other Jews. A wall was put up that made them stay there. His family eventually ended up getting transported out of the area, likely to be gassed at a death camp. As a class we only watched about half of the movie but we were encouraged to watch the remainder of it outside of school. I did do that, and I was shocked with what happened after. I don’t want to spoil an ending to a film but it was an interesting ending. He actually lived until the year of 2000, still living in Warsaw.

We also watched Uprising, a film that showed the true uprising that happened in the Warsaw Ghetto. As the Nazis were in control of Poland people decided to revolt against them. They got weapons from the outside society and killed as many Nazis as they could. There were several battle scenes where Nazis were killed. In the end the Nazis won the battle and the Ghetto was completely destroyed from fires. The group of people who revolted against the Nazis had a lot of bravery and courage to even attempt to fight the Nazis. They killed many Nazis and some of them died trying to fight them as well. Before watching this film, I had no idea that people tried to fight the Nazis. I assumed that people would just accept it in the hopes of living instead of fighting. It is unfortunate how they couldn’t win but they tried their best.

The last film that we watched as a class was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This was a fictional movie based on a book with the same title. A young boy named Bruno and his family moved from Berlin to the countryside. His father was a Nazi and was likely relocated for Nazi purposes. The place they moved into served as their home and a Nazi gathering center as they held meetings there. He got bored there and wanted to explore more but his parents wouldn’t allow him to go anywhere out of the front yard. One day he was able to go into the back and climb out of the property through a window. He explored until he came up to this electric fence. There was a boy in “striped pajamas” sitting by himself next to the fence. The two started talking and got to know each other. Bruno went to visit the boy practically every day and didn’t want to leave. The movie has one of the most sad and dramatic endings I have ever seen. This film easily was the most influential movie that I watched throughout the course.

What did Facing History and Ourselves mean to me? It meant absolutely everything to me. Before taking the class I knew only a little bit about the Holocaust. This class educated me a lot about the Holocaust. I knew 6 million people were killed but this class showed me how serious it was and how much it impacted the world. This class really educated me not just about the Holocaust but how life should be viewed. Facing History and Ourselves changed the way I thought about people’s actions and my own. I actually grew hatred towards Nazis. I understand now how horrible the Holocaust was and that it should have never happened.

Mr. Gallagher does an amazing job at teaching this course. The course doesn’t have any tests or quizzes because that’s beyond the point of Facing History. It’s main point is to connect with the lessons and understand how this world was such a bad place, and how we can look back on that and make it better. We can all be great people if we can understand how we were bad in the past. If this class didn’t exist at Westborough High School, I would not have a better understanding of this world and it’s past. I thought it was great how Juniors can take this class which started this year. It ties in well with U.S. History II which is the history class in Junior year.

In reflection, I really enjoyed this class. Out of all of the teachers, classes, and subjects I’ve taken in all of my life this has been my favorite. Thank you to Mr. Gallagher and to everyone else who made Facing History and Ourselves become a class at Westborough High School. As I’m finishing high school and getting ready to go to college, I wish everyone the best of luck for their future.

Works Cited

Freedom Writers Poster. IMDb.com. Online Image. 22 May 2012.

The Pianist Poster. Blogspot.com. Online Image. 22 May 2012.

The Uprising Poster. Stephen-moyer.net. Online Image. 22 May 2012.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Poster. IMDb.com. Online Image. 22 May 2012.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Railroad Entrance. Simplygroups.co.uk. Online Image. 22 May 2012.